Penelope woke with a start. It took a few moments of looking around the room to reorient herself to the fact that she was at the hospital, sleeping in the rollaway bed they had provided. Iris was sleeping next to her and she took a deep breath as she sat up, pulling the baby into her lap.
Dave was next to his Erin, his head pillowed on one arm, the other carefully draped over Erin's stomach. The night nurse had been the one to break the news to them that the baby she had been carrying had not survived the accident, and that had caused Rossi to break down once more, sobbing over his beloved's inert body.
Her children had left shortly after that, not wanting to intrude too long on their silent vigil, and it had been up to Penelope to calm both Iris and Dave. The child seemed to pick up on their emotions so easily and she had not stopped crying until Penelope had soothed her. She vaguely remembered the nurse coming in and checking Erin's vitals at some point during her sleep and Penelope wondered what she made of their ragtag trio.
The date on the whiteboard had been changed already, and there was a hopeful smiley face drawn next to the day nurse's name. Saturday, the woman had proclaimed, would be a wonderful one. Penelope hoped that same cheer would rub off on Dave and her at some point, since she firmly believed that staying positive sent off positive vibes, healing people more quickly. Iris stretched and yawned against Penelope's chest. "Milk?"
"One second, Iris," she murmured, crawling out of bed. Patting down her hair and grabbing the diaper bag, she carried the child out into the hall, looking around for a nurse. Finally spotting one, she hurried up to her side and stopped her. "Excuse me, I need to make a bottle up for Iris. Is there somewhere I can heat the water?"
"Certainly, just follow me." The nurse led them to a lounge area where there was a microwave and sink. "Take your time. I assume you and Ms. Strauss's fiancé are going to stay here awhile."
"We are. I can't thank you enough for letting us sleep in the room. I know Dave wouldn't want to be apart from her until we know more about what's going on."
The woman smiled kindly, and Penelope finally looked at her lanyard to get her name, Jill. "We understand that. When you've finished feeding Iris, I do have some news for all of you."
Penelope nodded and set Iris down on the table so that she could dig out a fresh bottle and the can of formula. It didn't take long for her to get the bottle to the right temperature and Iris hungrily began to suck, quickly downing the entire thing. She knew enough to burp her afterwards and then she checked her diaper, changing it with only a little difficulty. It had been some time since Henry had been in diapers, and she was a little rusty at it.
Walking back to Erin's room, she quietly talked to the baby girl, trying to get her familiarized with her. Opening the door, she saw that Dave was awake and gently massaging one of Erin's legs, Jill working on the other. Intuitively, she knew that this was to keep the blood flow going, since Derek had mentioned once that that's what they did to coma patients. "Hey, I'm back."
"Hi, Kitten. There's no change in her this morning."
"Change doesn't happen overnight, you know. Now, Jill, you mentioned that you had news for us?"
The woman nodded. "Yes, Alison made it through her surgeries just fine and is awake. She has a long road to recovery, but she would like to see her daughter today. The doctor told her about what happened to her husband, and she feels like she needs to hold her baby."
"Of course. Does she mind us taking care of Iris?" Penelope asked, rubbing the girl's back.
"No, she's grateful for someone stepping up to do so. And she's concerned about her mother, of course. Please try to stay as upbeat and positive as you can when you speak with Alison."
Penelope nodded, smiling at Dave. "I'll go up and see her after I get something to eat, then." Jill nodded and then entered something on the laptop that sat in the corner of Erin's room. "Thank you, Jill."
"You're welcome." She left them alone and Dave sighed deeply.
"What is it, honey?"
"I know that I can't expect an instant fix to this whole situation, I just hoped that there would be some noticeable change, you know?"
She sat next to him, wrapping her arm around his waist. "Just keep talking to her, letting her know you're there. And when I get back from seeing Alison, I want you to take Iris and go for a walk around the block, okay? We both need to get fresh air today at some point."
He nodded half-heartedly and she rested her head on his shoulder. Soon, an orderly came by with a food tray for them and she quickly wolfed down the orange there. "What, no bacon for you?"
"Not after seeing Kevin eat it on donuts for four years straight. There's only so much a girl can handle," she lightly teased, hoping to get a smile out of him. It worked, a tiny little flicker of one ghosting across his lips. "Now, we are going up to visit Alison, so remember, talk to her. Tell her happy memories."
He nodded and she kissed his cheek before gently ruffling his hair. "Maybe I'll tell her about that time you accidentally came on to Reid, thinking he was Morgan."
"You do that, my sweet Italian Stallion." She was smiling as she left the room, going up to Jill at the nurse's station. "Hey, so what floor is Alison on?"
"She's up on eight, room 829 to be exact."
"Thank you!" Penelope sashayed off and was soon riding up the elevator to the right floor. By the time she found the room, Alison was sitting up, eating breakfast. "Hi, Alison? I'm Penelope Garcia, and I work with…"
"Iris!" the young woman interrupted, holding out her arms to her child. Iris began to squirm against Penelope and she quickly closed the distance between them, handing the baby over. "I hope she hasn't fussed for you. How's Mama?"
There were bright tears in the woman's eyes, and for a moment, Penelope knew what Erin looked like when she was just as young, just as innocent. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she shrugged, tearing up herself. "She's in a coma. Her vitals looked the same this morning as they did last night. Dave's with her, still hasn't left her side."
"That's David for you. Ever the faithful and loyal lover. He's made Mama so happy these last few months. Did, did the baby survive?"
"You knew about her pregnancy?"
"I was the first one she called with the news. She was so ecstatic and yet apprehensive. She knew it would be risky, but she wanted to finally make David a father."
Penelope felt her face fall as she shook her head, wrapping her arms around her waist. "No, Alison, the baby didn't make it." She nodded, holding Iris a little closer to her.
"Do you know what Iris's first word was?" Penelope shook her head. "Cara. She'd heard David call Mama that so much that she picked it up. Mama told me that if the baby was a girl, that was going to be her name." Alison clutched her baby close to her chest, rocking back and forth as she cried. Penelope scooted closer to her, letting an arm come to rest around her shoulders, drawing her close. "I can't lose Mama, too. She's lost so much already, and so have I, and I need her."
"Like I told Dave, we have to hold onto hope. She hasn't died, not yet."
"No, she's just in a deep and dreamless sleep."
It was weird to hear her words parroted back, and she nodded a little. "Where is that line from, anyway? I know I've heard it before."
"O Little Town of Bethlehem. It's one of Mama's favorite Christmas hymns." She looked up from her child's shoulder, smiling gently. A yawn broke across her face. "I'm getting tired now. They said that would happen quite quickly, while I healed up. Iris, you're going to go back with Miss Penelope, and she's going to take care of you while Mommy gets a bit stronger."
She held Iris out and Penelope took hold of her, cuddling her close. "Thank you."
"No, thank you. Mommy loves you, Iris."
They made their way out of the room as Alison settled back in the bed, her eyes closing the moment her head touched her pillow. Penelope made her way back down to Erin's room, leaning against the door jamb, watching Dave finish up a story. "We're back, and Iris could use a walk outside now."
He looked up at them, his eyes cloudy with tears. "That sounds nice." He stood and picked up the coat that was part of Iris's things, putting it on her. Then he shrugged into his own jacket before taking Iris from Penelope's arms. "We'll see you in a little while, Kitten. She, she likes it when you talk to her."
She nodded and gently pushed him out of the room. Once the door was closed, she sat next to Erin's bed, picking up her hand. It was still cool to the touch, and she sighed as she entwined her fingers with Erin's. "So, Dave seems to think you like to hear stories. I wish I had some good ones for you."
There was just the slightest little twitch in Erin's hand and she stopped speaking, looking intently at the woman's face. There was no sign of awareness there, but she felt the first flicker of hope, true hope, rise in her breast. "Yet in thy dark streets shineth, the everlasting light," she murmured, her mind going back to the hymn.
No further movements came from Erin and she sighed once more. "I miss you, you know. It's only been, what, less than a full day since I last heard your voice, and yet, I expect to hear you calling me, telling me about how you beat that last craving. I've come to really respect your friendship, Erin. Don't you dare leave me, you hear?"
She tightly gripped the woman's hand as she began to sob, finally letting out the sorrow and terror she had felt ever since Dave had told her there had been an accident. Jill came in at some point, resting her hand on Penelope's shoulder, and she looked up into her clear blue eyes. "I know how hard you're trying to keep up your brave face. You're perfectly okay, letting those feelings out."
"I know. I just really want everything to be okay, you know?"
"Well, how about this bit of news, then. Her vitals are picking up and she's responding to stimuli. You can see that here." The nurse pointed to the machines that Erin was hooked up to, and Penelope did notice that there had been a change from the previous day. "Keep talking to her, keep telling her that she's wanted and needed here."
"I will. Thank you." Jill nodded, making a few more notations on the laptop before leaving the room. "Did you hear that, Erin? You're fighting your way back to us! I know that this is probably one of the hardest battles you've ever fought, but you came back from alcoholism, so I know you can come back from this."
Penelope brought her other hand to rest on Erin's stomach, thinking about the baby, about Cara, a wash of sadness once more coming over her. "Oh, Erin, when you wake up, we'll have to tell you about your losses. And if you guys really want a baby, if she wasn't just some wondrous surprise for you in your autumn years, I'll surrogate for you. After all, that's what friends are for, right? To show love and compassion and caring."
She laid her head down against Erin's arm, watching her stomach move up and down with her breaths. "I hated being in here, you know, back when Battle shot me. I felt enclosed, trapped, and all I wanted to do was go home. But, oh, I saw Alison this morning. She looks like you, you know, even with her black hair. And she wants to see you soon. But she has to wait, probably until the doctor says that she's stable enough to move. The surgeries seemed to go well, though, since she seemed alert."
Penelope continued talking about Erin's daughter and then granddaughter until she felt her eyes grow heavy with weariness. Yawning deeply, she rubbed her cheek against Erin's arm, fighting to stay awake. It was a losing battle, though, and she let her eyes close, barely acknowledging the way Erin's fingers tightened against her as she drifted off to sleep.