While Keith and Mrs. Kelly were eating, Emmet had stepped out of the waiting room long enough to call Sharon. When he came back in, he told Mr. Kelly, "It's all settled. Sharon's booked two rooms at a hotel close by, one for your family and one for us."
"She doesn't need to do that..." Mr. Kelly started to say, but Emmet cut him off.
"She does," he said. "She told me to tell you that she said she'd do anything she could to help, and she meant it. You're not to worry about where you'll be sleeping or the expense of staying nearby; you've got enough to concern yourselves with. And if you haven't got a car here, we'll bring you back and forth."
"That we have got," Mr. Kelly said, smiling. "A neighbor drove us here in our car and another followed to take him back to the Moy."
"Good," Emmet said. "From what Ryan's told us, the Moy is a wonderful place, I'm sure you'll have lots of support from there as well."
"Aye,that it is. I'm sure the whole town knows by now, and they'll be taking over care of Ryan's pets and such while we're here. That's just the way it works."
Fiona stepped into the waiting room, partly to give Mr. Kelly an update and partly to meet Emmet. She told them that Ryan was stable, nothing had changed. Mr. Kelly introduced her to Emmet, and she told him that she'd heard them sing and how much she enjoyed it. He replied politely, but it was clear that his mind was elsewhere. She smiled as she stepped out of the room. The doctors were due up for evening rounds, and now she could tell them that she'd met two of the men the Kellys wanted to add to the visitors list, and that she didn't think it would be an issue.
Shortly after she left the waiting room, the doctor arrived. He reviewed Ryan's chart and then went into his room to conduct a short assessment, greeting Raymond and Colette absentmindedly, clearly focused on his patient. When he came out again, Fiona pulled him aside.
"Dr. Reilly", she said, "This patient's parents have requested a special favor for visitors for him." She explained about Ryan's career and the link he shared with the other singers. "The Kellys would like to have the other singers allowed to visit with Ryan as well. They feel that their presence would be as supportive to him as their own is."
"Hmmmm..." Dr. Reilly considered this. "I can certainly see how that would form a strong emotional connection which could be helpful. But I'm not sure we need a bunch of temperamental spoiled artistic types getting in the way."
"I can assure you that at least the two who are already here at the hospital are neither temperamental nor spoiled," Fiona told him. "I've met both of them, and complimented them on their singing; one completely ignored it as he was focused on getting Mrs. Kelly some dinner, and the other simply gave me a polite reply and went on to other matters about how Ryan was doing."
"There are two of them already here?" Dr. Reilly said. "Where are they?"
"Keith took Mrs. Kelly down to the cafeteria, and Emmet is with Mr. Kelly in the waiting room."
"I did see Mrs. Kelly downstairs when I passed through to get some tea," Dr. Reilly said. "I assumed the young man with her was another of her sons, based on their behavior towards each other. I would never have guessed he was a celebrity. Do we know how many more are coming?"
"Definitely two, and I think there was a slight possibility that two others might come as well but they weren't sure if they could yet."
"Well, let me think about it, and see how Ryan does through the night," Dr. Reilly said. "I'd rather not allow that many more visitors until we see how he's doing. You say Mr. Kelly's in the waiting room? I'll go speak to him now."
When Dr. Reilly got to the waiting room, Keith and Mrs. Kelly had returned, and Emmet and Mr. Kelly were preparing to leave to get something to eat. As he walked in, Emmet was explaining the hotel arrangements to Keith and Mrs. Kelly. Dr. Reilly arrived just in time to hear the explanation and to see Mrs. Kelly give Emmet a hug and say, "Oh, thank you, dear, I honestly don't know what we'd be doing without you two right now."
"Starving and trying to sleep on the couches in here," Keith said wryly, which made Mr. and Mrs. Kelly both laugh. The two exchanges confirmed the opinion Fiona had shared regarding the two young men.
"Mr. and Mrs. Kelly," Dr. Reilly said. "I've just been in to check on your son, and so far he's holding his own. I'm not seeing any major changes one way or the other right now. Do you have any questions for me right now?"
"Not about Ryan, no," Mr. Kelly said. "Did Fiona tell you about our request? These are two of the other singers, Keith and Emmet. Neil and George are on their way. We're not sure yet if Paul or Damian will be able to make it in from the States."
"Yes, she did," Dr. Reilly replied. "It's nice to meet you two, and I can see you are taking good care of the Kellys. If Ryan continues to remain stable overnight, I will most likely allow these gentlemen access to his room tomorrow. However, if we do see that it becomes too much for Ryan and he is showing signs of stress, then I may rescind that permission."
"That's understandable," Mr. Kelly said. "Thank you, Doctor, I appreciate your willingness to consider it."
The doctor excused himself to continue his rounds, and Emmet and Mr. Kelly took their turn in the cafeteria. When they returned, Mrs. Kelly went in to Ryan's room to let Raymond and Colette know the updates on their end as far as the arrival of the boys, the hotel arrangement, and the doctor's willingness to consider allowing the boys in tomorrow. When she came back, she looked quite exhausted.
"Are you all right, dear?" asked Mr. Kelly.
"Yes, I'm just very tired," she replied. "Raymond and Colette made me promise to go to the hotel and try to sleep. They'll stay here overnight."
"Emmet, why don't you go with the Kellys to the hotel?" Keith suggested. "I'm more of a night owl than you are. Just bring me my guitar up before you go, would you, or I'll go nuts with nothing to do. I'll have to see if I can find a store that sells drawing supplies nearby, then I might actually be able to sit still for a while."
"I can do better than that," Emmet said. "I have one of your sketch pads in my car, it got mixed up with my stuff after the promo tour, and I hadn't seen you to give it back. I'll bring that up for you, and take your guitar to the hotel so you don't annoy everybody all night."