Bianca was waiting for visiting hours. Her gaze fixed at the ceiling, at the three pictures carefully pinned to the tiles and she smiled as she thought of her family. She was still stuck in her bed, but now she could feel it under her back, and if she concentrated her could brush the fingers of her right hand through the soft cotton of the sheet. David told her not to overdo it, but the novelty of moving a finger, or flexing her toes after all these weeks was so amazing she couldn't stop herself.

The door creaked and Bianca was surprised to see Tad hobble in, struggling with his crutches and a large carrier bag.

"I'm afraid it's just me today." he said, lowering himself onto the chair close to the bed. "Miranda had a bit of an upset when she visited Erica…"

"But she's alright?" Bianca asked urgently.

"She's fine, Kendall's had to take her and Gabby home though, I think it was a bit too much for her. Dixie is taking little AJ to see his mom, for his three o'clock song-time and so I'm afraid you're stuck with me."

"And how are you?" asked Bianca, feeling oddly chipper despite the upset of not getting the chance to see her girls or her sister.

"I'm much better." said Tad, "Thank you. I hate the crutches but it just feels so good to be up and about again. You have no idea how frustrating it felt just lying there stuck in that bed for weeks on end…"

Tad stopped when he realised what he just said and turned bright red.

Bianca laughed at his discomfort.

"I think I have some idea!"

"I am so sorry." Tad gasped.

"You don't need to be." said Bianca. "Hopefully soon I too shall experience the joy of not being stuck in a bed."

Tad laughed, although clearly still feeling a little awkward.

"Well to that end I come bearing gifts." He pulled out the large carrier bag, which had given him so much difficulty when he first came in. "Your delightful children decided if three pictures could help you get your feeling back down one side, then they would give you a whole lot of pictures to make you all better. They roped in half the town. My kitchen looks like Laurel and Hardy did the decorating for me there's so much paint everywhere."

"I'm sorry if they made a mess…"

Tad gave her a dismissive wave.

"It's fine, it washed off, which is lucky for Gabby's sake!"

"What did Gabby do?" asked Bianca curious, and a little worried.

"She was her usual adorable self." said Tad cryptically. "So do you want to see your pictures?"

"Yes please." said Bianca grinning.

"This is like pot luck." said Tad rummaging in the bag. "First out is… Miranda, she has drawn you a princess riding a unicorn. Next is Emma… who has also done a princess riding a unicorn… hmm I think some copying was going on there… Next we have Ian's effort, I'm not sure what it is…"

"If it's Ian it is either a dinosaur or a fire-truck." said Bianca. Her brow furrowed as she considered the picture, "Or it could be a dinosaur on a fire-truck?"

"Now we have, one of the adult's contributions. Madison has painted you a vase of flowers. I think she was showing off a bit there, being a professional artist and all that!"

Bianca smiled; Madison had drawn a beautiful picture.

"So the kids roped some adults in as well?" asked Bianca, delightfully surprised at all the thought that had gone into this.

"You'll be surprised by some of the contributors I'm sure – but we all knew it was for a good cause."

Bianca smile grew even wider, flattered by all the care and compassion being shown by her family and friends.

"Ah - My two girls next. Kathy has painted you a rainbow, to make you happy and Jenny has drawn you a duck pond, I'm not entirely sure why."

"Duck ponds make me happy too." said Bianca diplomatically. "They are very good."

"But you ain't seen nothing yet. Here is my contribution. Signed by the artist you might note."

Bianca laughed.

"A bunch of grapes."

"Well with new hospital guidelines you aren't allowed to bring in the real thing anymore so I thought it would be perfect for the hospital patient who has everything."

"It is perfect." agreed Bianca.

"Right who's next, it's like being Santa… AJ has drawn you a house with a tree house and what looks like three heads poking out of it."

"He was really looking forward to moving into our new home and being Miranda and Gabby's brother." said Bianca.

She smiled but she felt the sadness of what she had lost, and she felt the fear. With Marissa trapped in a coma and Bianca still stuck in a hospital bed, she was scared that particular dream might never come true.

Tad showed no signs of seeing her sudden change of mood, but pulled out more pictures from his bag.

"Aha here we go. This is Gabby's fluffy bunny rabbit." he said. The picture was a big white and brown blob with a hint of things that could be two ears, two eyes and a wiggly mouth. Most of the picture was obscured by a big red splodge that looked a lot like a face print.

"Gabby decided she wanted to send you a kiss to help you get better. She stuck her head in the paint tray before anyone could stop her. Then we had to stop Trevor and Ian from trying to do the same. It is actually three magic kisses, I'm sure you can tell."

Bianca found herself smiling again.

"How can my little girl be so adorably cute without any effort at all?"

"She gets it from her mom." said Tad, then turned a little red faced again, from Bianca's amused glance, "I'm just saying..!"

"Why Mr Martin are you flirting with me?" asked Bianca playfully

"Well you know me and pretty girls…" joked Tad. "Just don't tell Dixie."

Bianca laughed.

Tad quickly went back to his pile of pictures,

"Speaking of Dixie, she had drawn you a hot-air balloon and Frankie has drawn you a racing car, not entirely sure of the significance. Trevor and Jake together have produced this masterpiece, I think it should be entitled stick men verses the blob. Randi has also drawn you some flowers and a butterfly… very pretty. Kendall has drawn you 'The Little Mermaid' to keep you inspired… I'm sure that's a joke between sisters I'm not getting."

Bianca just grinned.

"Ryan with the help of Gabby has also drawn you a fluffy bunny rabbit, and a frog. The frog was apparently very important to Gabby although they wouldn't tell me why."

Bianca didn't know either.

"Okay, Spike has drawn you a boat being attacked by a shark, always a comforting scene." Tad smirked. "David has drawn you an apple – to keep the Doctor away."

"David." Bianca asked surprised, "David, David?"

"Dr Doom himself. Like I said everyone pitched in. Scott has drawn a beach house by the sea. Krystal has drawn you a duck on a pond, now we know where Jenny got her inspiration. Amanda had drawn you a spotty dog on a surf board. I think she was getting instruction from Trevor. Cara has done a picture of a unicorn being ridden by a fluffy bunny rabbit; I think you can guess who her advisors were… Stuart has sent an excellent sketch of Wildwind, which should probably be framed rather than stuck to the ceiling and last but by no means least is Chief inspector Jesse Hubbard who has done a biro sketch of a bird in a tree."

"That's a lot of pictures." said Bianca amazed.

"Well you inspire a lot of love." said Tad. "There are more coming. That's just the ones I collected this morning."

"Thank you. Thank everyone for me. This is the most amazing gift I think I have ever had."

Bianca was so overcome with emotion she was unable to say any more and found herself crying tears of pure delight. Tad, also a little overcome, wiped away a few tears of his own.

...