"Hello?" said Kate whilst keeping her eye on the busy motorway traffic. Her phone was connected to the blue tooth to allow her to answer hands free. She was on her way south after receiving Joe's phone call. Ted had thankfully let her take as much time off as needed once she had informed him of Steve's attack. She had hurried home to pack as much as she could before heading straight to the hospital where Steve was being operated on, Brian in the front passenger seat beside her with his doggy seat belt fully on. Kate worried that this call would be bad news as all she knew was that Steve was in a serious way in the emergency theatre.
"Kate?" said a female voice she recognised as being Steve's mother's.
"Yes?" said Kate as she gripped the steering wheel in preparation of what she might be about to hear. "Any news?".
"Not really, he's still in theatre," Mrs Arnott said. "Listen I'm sorry to trouble you but I wonder if I can get you to divert to Steve's flat?".
"Oh. Ok," Kate said, instantly worrying why Mrs Arnott didn't want her at the hospital. Maybe she didn't like her?, "I don't know where that is," she pointed out. She'd only been to Steve's parent's house in London.
"I'll give you the address," Mrs Arnott said. "I'm with Mia and she's very upset after I told her about Steve being in hospital. She's asking for you,".
"Of course I can," Kate answered, realising she had been worrying over nothing. If Mia wanted her then she would go. "Tell her I'll be there as soon as I can,".
Mrs Arnott looked very weary when she first opened the door to Kate, but on seeing who her visitor was a look of heartfelt gratitude spread across it. "Hey, Mia," she said to her grand daughter who was clutching at her leg, "look who's here,".
"Hey Mia," Kate said. Brian wagged his tail excitedly beside her at seeing his friend again. Instead of greeting Kate, Mia held her arms out to her indicating she wanted to be picked up. "Come here, sweetheart," Kate said as she stooped down to pick the little girl up before settling her on her hip. Mia clutched Kate tightly around her neck and Kate gave a worried glance to her grandmother. This wasn't the precocious little girl that she knew.
"Daddy's been hurt," Mia said quietly.
"I know," Kate replied.
"I'm sad," Mia revealed.
"Me too," Kate said as she hugged the little girl tightly back. "We'll have to try and cheer each other up,".
"Why don't you come in Kate," said Mrs Arnott. "I'll make us a drink after your drive,".
"Thanks," said Kate as she followed Steve's mother in to his flat, Brian close behind.
En route to the kitchen, Mrs Arnott gave Kate a brief tour. "This is Steve's bedroom," she said, stopping at a closed door. "I've put clean sheets on the bed for you," she mentioned.
Kate followed Mrs Arnott to another room. This one had the door open, the pink colour scheme and the vast amount of stuffed toys that decorated the room told Kate this was Mia's room.
"This must be your room," Kate said to Mia who was still on her hip. Mia nodded shyly. "It's a very nice room," she complimented the little girl before following Steve's mum to the kitchen/diner/living room.
Kate took a seat at the table with Mia on her lap whilst Mrs Arnott made them both a drink. The flat was smaller than hers but she could tell it was filled with love. Hundreds of photos of Steve and Mia filled the room. The fridge proudly displayed lots of Mia's artwork.
"Here you go," Mrs Arnott said as she set a drink down in front of Kate before taking her own seat. "Would you like anything, Mia?" she asked her granddaughter. Mia just shook her head. "She hasn't let me out of her sight since I've told her about Steve," Mrs Arnott informed Kate as she observed the new woman in Steve's life tenderly stroke her granddaughters hair in a comforting gesture.
The two women chatted about anything as they had their refreshment, trying to sound cheerful for Mia who remained quiet. "I better get back to the hospital," Mrs Arnott said as she finished the last of her drink. "I'll phone the minute I have any news,".
"Thanks," replied Kate. Mrs Arnott rose and got her belongings before heading to the front door. "You be a good girl for Kate," she said to Mia who was once again on Kate's hip. Mia nodded. "Goodbye Sweetheart," she said to her granddaughter before she gave her a kiss on her cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow," she promised before turning to Kate. She enveloped both her and Mia in a hug. "Thank you Kate for doing this,".
"I'm glad I can help," Kate replied. "I'm probably more use here than sat around at the hospital. Joe said they just wanted next of kin there really, and that certainly isn't me,".
"I'll see what I can do about letting you see him," Mrs Arnott promised. "You've quickly become an important part of Steve's life,".
"Save it for when he's awake," Kate suggested. There were a few things she wanted to say to him and it would be best if he were awake to hear them.
"I think I'm going to be having the same conversation with him," Mrs Arnott said as she departed the flat. She would definitely be having words with her son about scaring her silly with his actions.
"Right then," Kate said to Mia, once it was just the two of them together, "what do we do now?". She'd never been responsible for looking after a small child before on her own and felt a little like she had just been thrown in the deep end. Sink or swim? She would definitely try the latter. She owed it to Mia and to Steve to succeed.