A/N: The took me way longer than I thought :( Sorry guys!
"Her eyes full of hope, her voice full of mourning, and lips as red as a shepherd's warning. She said 'I, I would die for you.'"
It was close to nine o'clock by the time she woke up; she'd slept for nearly twelve hours. She rolled over and grabbed her phone off the night stand. Two missed calls and one voicemail. They were close to three hours old. They were from Holly.
Honest to god, Gail wished she had her gun on her. The flight wasn't even an hour long but so far she had spent the entire time being unpleasantly jostled as the back of her chair was kicked repeatedly. She should only have fifteen minutes left. Now she knew why her mom always flew first class. However, that wasn't really an option when you bought a ticket two hours before take off. Did this plane even have a first class? Gail peeked up the aisle; that would be a negative. She had always been fond of flying. She thought she loved flying. Gail was realizing however, that she loved flying first class. They weren't even serving any alcohol. Granted, it was only 11:55 on a Wednesday, but whatever, these business people totally wanted to get wasted. Gail really hated her uniform sometimes. She was probably about one drop of bleach away from being allergic to the fabric. It was too hot on warm days and not warm enough during the winter. The boots were heavy and the hats were dorky. All that said, Gail would have given anything to be wearing her uniform and duty belt right now. She would rise from her seat, slowly turn around, and stare at the small buggery child and his guardian until they had both shit their pants. She would then smile kindly and return to her seat, guaranteed not to be disturbed for the rest of the flight. She should have brought a flask. Sweet, they just turned on the seatbelt sign. The end was in sight. Isn't your job as a parent to raise your kid to be someone the rest of society doesn't want to murder? Gail concluded the person in 18B was failing hard.
Gail scanned the terminal lobby as she descended the escalator. It was pretty sparse; it was the middle of a weekday. Gail's eyes fell on a tall brunette holding two Starbucks Trienta cups. Thirsty much?
"Where's Holly?" Gail adjusted the bag on her shoulder.
"Ditched her," Summer shrugged nonchalantly and trust one of drinks towards Gail, "iced latte?"
"Sure," Gail eyed the drink suspiciously and followed Holly's younger sister out the doors. It dawned on her that this was the closest thing to food she'd had all day. Summer walked towards a car with it's hazards on, parked in the pick up line. Gail recognized the slate colored Acura from Holly's parents' driveway. "I don't really think you're allowed to park here," Gail looked around for security.
Summer pointed the electronic key at the car and the trunk popped open, "they won't tow me," she pointed to the special government license plate and the courthouse parking decal.
"Nice," Gail threw her carry-on into the trunk. "But actually, where's Holly?"
"Like I said," Summer opened the driver door and slid into the black leather seat; it burned a little, "I ditched her. I asked her if I could come and she said no." Summer turned the ignition and joined the stream of traffic. Gail could barely hear the car running, it was definitely a hybrid. Of course it was. Holly's family was pretty near perfect. "So I took the keys while she was in the bathroom. I needed to get out of there."
"Well thanks for picking me up instead of heading straight to a bar," Gail took another sip of the latte. This cup was huge but she was hungry so she kept drinking.
"No, thank you," Summer took another sip of her drink before returning it to the cup holder, "mom and dad; and Holly; well even Ev are like, good at that kind of stuff. I can't stand it there. I mean, dad and Hol are doctors. Holly like cuts dead people open for a living for christ sakes. It's too sad. Not really my thing." The trees were zipping by on the seemingly country road they were on. Gail chanced a look over at the speedometer. Well on the bright side, when Summer made fun of Holly for driving slowly she put her money where her mouth was. However, if she was pulled over she would definitely have to pay a pretty hefty fine. Thankfully the airport access road merged with the highway and Summer slowed down considerably now that there were more than a couple other cars on the road.
"So, how is your grandma doing?" Gail didn't really want to push it with Summer but she did want to have a general idea of what she was going to be walking into. Holly's message had been mostly incomprehensible but Gail had been able to make out a labored 'can you come?'
"Bad," Summer flicked her blinker on and looked left before she switched lanes, "I think we're basically just waiting until my uncle get's back from China."
"China?" Gail was curious.
"Yeah, I guess he was doing some big business thing over there for like a week so my aunt and cousins went along, and they stayed and travelled around for a while after. They've been over there for a few weeks now I think. They left a couple days after I got to Ottawa to visit gram and gramp."
"Wow," Gail's parents had taken her to Europe a bunch of times, but she had never been to Asia.
"Yeah, sounds like they were having a really cool time," Summer sighed, "but they couldn't get back until like tomorrow afternoon. It's like a twenty hour flight or something crazy? How was your's?" Summer glanced over at Gail for a second.
"Meh, pretty sure I was sitting in front of the next David Beckham. Could have been worse though I guess." They turned onto another highway and were now driving along next to the river. Gail couldn't help but think that it was kind of pretty.
"That's the worst," Summer rolled her eyes, "fuckin' kids. Actually, one time we were all on our way to France and they went around serving breakfast. Anyways this kid in front of me like turned around in his seat making faces at me, cool, fine, whatever. Then he drops this giant drool bomb and it nails my croissant."
"That's disgusting," Gail loves croissants.
"Yeah, it was gross. But luckily Holly was in the bathroom so I just traded with her," Summer smiled to herself.
"Did she eat it?" Gail was horrified.
"Nah, Ev ratted me out when she got back but I'd already finished mine," Summer smiled to herself about a job well done. They turned onto a more residential road and then turned into the hospital complex. Gail started drumming her fingers on the top of the coffee cup. Actually, it was more like a jug. She looked down at it and realized she had drunk most of the liquid. Barely any of the coffee remained; there was mostly ice left. Gail could practically feel her stomach being eaten away. Summer pulled into a spot on the bottom level of the garage. She turned the car off and unbuckled her seatbelt but didn't move to get out the car. Instead, she reached for her phone and tapped away at it for a minute before finally looking up, "Hol and mom took Gramp Ed to the cafeteria to get some lunch, they're probably still there," she grabbed her coffee before opening the door and jumping out. Summer said 'Gramp Ed' like it was one word; there had to be a story behind that. The hot summer air was a stark contrast to the cool air conditioning of the car. Gail followed Summer down through the main entrance and down the hall. The inside of the hospital was much cooler than the outside air; almost too cool. Gail could see the cafeteria at the end of the hall. She was pretty sure her hands were gushing sweat and she could hear her heartbeat in her ears. She was broken out of her trance when Summer gently swatted her arm and said, "gotta pee first," as she ducked into the restroom. Super, completely on my own now. Gail started walking faster towards the cafeteria and continued the pace as she scanned the room for Holly; headed towards nowhere. Then Gail saw her at the far left end of the room. She was just turning away from a table with a tray of cups and wrappers. Her back was to Gail as she walked a few steps to the trashcan and slid the tray's contents into the flap and then placed it atop the wooden receptacle. Without even thinking Gail was walking towards her even faster now. Actually, she wasn't walking anymore. Gail was doing that socially awkward half jog half speed walk thing that she never did. Only losers did that. Holly had turned back towards the table when she saw Gail doing what could only be described as a mix of jogging, walking, and tripping over cafeteria chairs. And now she was only a couple yards away and she slowed to a walk. How was she supposed to greet Holly? Gail wasn't a hugger, but Holly was. But did Holly want a hug from her. She hovered a few feet away, "hey, I came as soon as I could-" Holly had pulled her into a tight hug. Holly squeaked out a "hey" as her hands hooked under Gail's arms and came to rest at the back of her shoulders.
"Hey," Gail instinctively reached round the top of Holly's back and pulled her in closer as Holly choked out, "I'm really glad that you're here."
Holly slowly pulled away and turned to her mom and grandfather who had stood up from the table, preparing to leave; "Gramp Ed, this is Gail. Gail, this is my grandpa, Dr. Edmund Stewart."
He offered his hand out to Gail who took it, "Ed," he corrected Holly, "it's a pleasure."
"Her eyes full of hope, her voice full of mourning, and lips as red as a shepherd's warning. She said 'I, I would die for you.'"
- Matt Walters "I Would Die For You"