Chapter 29
It was a Sunday evening, and everyone was feeling a little on edge, it was the start of exam week at Waterloo road tomorrow and all the girls were feeling the pressure. Hannah had never taken proper exams before; Hannah was struggling quite a lot at school at the moment and was absolutely dreading tomorrow. She was also having quite a tough time with her friends, a few of them in the group seemed to be really picking on her which was bringing her down.
She had a Geography exam tomorrow and was desperately trying to cram in as much as she could, she also wasn't feeling that well which didn't really help, all evening she'd felt shivery with a sore stomach and head. She hadn't told Rachel though as she knew that she'd just think she was trying to get out of tomorrow.
Rachel had been giving the girls a bit of space as she knew they were feeling stressed, when she saw the clock though she realised it was getting really late, she'd put Ivy to bed a while ago and had lost track of time since, so she went into the living room where the girls were studying.
"Girls are you going to pack your stuff up now and head to bed"
"Yeah, I don't think I can handle looking at this history textbook any longer" Gaby sighed
"Same, I don't know why the two of you are stressing so much, it's not like yours actually matter, mine are proper GCSE mocks" Amy said
"Yeah but no one wants to end up in bottom set, do they? With the people who can barely spell their own name" Gaby retorted
"Hey that's enough, that's not a nice way to speak about people is it?" Rachel said
Amy and Gaby rolled their eyes and then said goodnight before going up to bed.
Hannah hadn't moved, she still had her head in the textbook, Rachel sat down next to her, she noticed how quiet she'd been recently
"Are you okay Mrs?" Rachel asked
"Yeah I'm okay" Hannah said unconvincingly, she really wasn't feeling that well and she was so nervous about tomorrow
"You know I don't care how well you do; I know how hard you've worked"
"I know, I just don't get this stuff" Hannah sighed
"Let's have a look, although Geography was never my best subject"
Rachel took the textbook off Hannah and had a look through; she went through it with her for the next 10 minutes and in the end, Hannah finally started understanding it.
Rachel couldn't help but worry about Hannah, more so than any of the other kids really, she was just so young for her age and she always felt protective over her.
"Is it bedtime then?"
"Yeah okay" Hannah said
Rachel looked at her closely, she was looking quite pale and not that well.
"Are you feeling okay, you look a bit pale"
"I'm okay, I've just got a bit of a cold I think' Hannah lied
"Well let me know if it gets any worse okay?"
Hannah nodded and the two of them went upstairs Rachel was feeling tired now too so decided to go to bed as well.
"Night Hannah, try and get a good night's sleep" Rachel said to Hannah
"Night" Hannah replied before going into her bedroom and changing into pyjamas.
Hannah tried to go to sleep but it was really hard, she wasn't feeling very well, and she was so nervous.
It took her ages to get to sleep and when she did, she was very restless. She woke up suddenly at about 2am.
She felt really ill and was shivering rapidly, she didn't know what to do, she walked to the bathroom and splashed her face with water.
Suddenly she heard footsteps coming, she quickly went back to her room and dived into bed. Her door opened and Rachel walked in.
"Hannah" she said sounding confused as she walked over "I heard you walking around, is everything okay?"
Hannah nodded looking frightened
"You don't look very well love" Rachel said
Hannah didn't say anything, Rachel could tell something was up
"Has something happened?" she asked gently
Hannah suddenly started crying, Rachel sat on the bed next to her and put an arm around her and Hannah cried into her.
"shh it's okay, it's okay Hannah" Rachel soothed as if she were Ivy's age. "What is it? You can tell me I promise"
"I'm just a bit nervous about tomorrow and I don't feel all that well"
"Oh Hannah, it's only some tests, it's nothing to worry about I promise. Should we go and get you some medicine, that'll make you feel better"
"Yeah okay" Hannah said, following Rachel downstairs.
Rachel got her some water and a couple of paracetamols. Hannah took them and sipped her water slowly.
"That's it, I'm sure that'll help" Rachel said
"I couldn't get to sleep for ages" Hannah told her
"it's horrible when you can't sleep isn't it? You can come in with me if you want"
"Gaby and Amy will laugh and say I'm a baby and they'll tell people at school"
"No they won't, Gaby always used to come into my bed whenever she was upset or not feeling well" Rachel said
"Okay" Hannah said, "Rachel what if I don't do very well tomorrow"
"Oh darling, don't worry about it, you've done your best and that's all that matters to me" Rachel said
They talked for a bit longer before going up to bed, it took Hannah quite a long time to fall back to sleep but eventually she did.
She woke up feeling absolutely terrible, her whole body felt really achy and she felt all sick and dizzy.
Rachel had been up a while and had just came out of the shower when she realised Hannah was awake.
"Hey love, you still don't look that well" Rachel said
"I'm okay" Hannah said unconvincingly
"Are you going to be okay for school?"
Hannah nodded, although she really didn't feel well at all, she was also getting extremely nervous about her test.
She got out of Rachel's bed and went into her room to get changed into her uniform. She was thinking about her exam this morning, even though she'd revised hard nothing seemed to have gone in, she couldn't remember anything. Her head was hurting so badly that she felt like she wouldn't be able to concentrate at all.
Hannah stayed really quiet throughout breakfast and on the way to school, Rachel couldn't help but feel really worried about her.
"Hannah are you sure you're going to be alright staying at school, I can get Grandma to pick you up" Rachel asked when they got to school
"I'll be fine" Hannah said before walking off
She wasn't sure where to go, she felt so nervous about the test, and also extremely unwell. All she wanted to do was go back to bed and get some more sleep. She ended up going into her form room, there was nobody around, so she decided to get out her Geography book and do some last-minute revision.
As she skimmed the pages of the book, Hannah became increasingly worried, she couldn't remember anything, and she was sure she wasn't going to be able to answer any of the questions on the test. If only there was some way of remembering it all.
Suddenly Hannah had an idea, she felt really bad about it but it seemed the only way that she could get through the exam. She thought of writing down some of the facts she needed on a piece of paper and hiding it on her lap, surely no one would really notice, she thought.
Checking no one was around her, she got out a piece of paper from her notebook and started writing, she felt really guilty as she was doing it but really didn't know what else to do, at least this way she wouldn't look like a complete idiot.
Before long other people filed into the classroom, they all seemed really nervous, none of them had ever taken proper exams before.
They were told to leave their bags in their classroom and take their pencil cases through to the hall, where they'd be doing the test.
Hannah took her bit of paper and put it carefully in her pocket, as they went through to the hall.
It seemed very formal in there, with lots of little desks all carefully spaced out apart from one another.
Hannah sat down; she was shivering quite rapidly despite the fact she had a temperature. She positioned the paper when no one was looking, she couldn't believe she was doing this, but she didn't really feel like she had another option.
As soon as the exam started Hannah turned the paper over, she looked at the questions and instantly began to panic, her brain just didn't seem to be working properly, her head was pounding and she just couldn't concentrate.
She tried to answer as best she could and then moved onto the next page, she was sure she'd written something down that would help her out, cautiously she looked down at her piece of paper and then began to write, unaware that she'd been spotted by one of the teachers in the room.
She continued glancing down at the paper every so often and she moved onto the next question, but Mr Ryan had noticed her and moved behind her.
Hannah didn't spot him standing over her until he bent down beside her, she then jumped, and couldn't believe she'd been caught.
"I think we best go, outside don't you?" he said quietly
Hannah instantly felt terrified, she felt mortified that she'd been caught cheating and that her auntie was now going to find out all about it, what was she going to say?
Trembling, Hannah stood up and followed him outside, she could feel everyone's eyes on her as she left.
"What were you thinking Hannah" he said as soon as they were outside, "it's completely unacceptable, if that were a formal exam your paper would have been ripped up"
Unfortunately for Hannah, at that moment her head of form Miss Jones was also walking by, Miss Jones was young but extremely strict and Hannah knew she wasn't going to be happy.
"What's all this?' she asked as she walked by
"I caught Hannah cheating in her exam, she had some notes written down on paper"
"Hannah you do realise how serious that is?" Miss jones asked, her expression reflecting her anger. "What were you thinking, we don't tolerate any form of cheating in this school as you should know"
Tears started to form in Hannah's eyes, she felt so weak but also so ashamed of everything.
"and crying isn't going to fix anything" Miss jones added sharply
"You do realise Miss mason will want to know about this" Mr Ryan said "We'll go up to her office now, I dare say she's not going to be happy"
Hannah felt too unwell and weak to argue, and the three of them walked up to her auntie's office.
Miss Jones knocked once on the door before Rachel shouted them in.
As soon as she saw Hannah, she could see how unwell she looked.
"What's happened?" Rachel asked
"I'm afraid we've had to bring Hannah up here because of her exam, Mr Ryan found her cheating, had a piece of paper on her lap" Miss Jones explained
Rachel looked at Hannah, tears were in her eyes and she was shivering as she stared at the ground. In any normal circumstances Rachel would be furious, however, her anger was also paired with quite a lot of concern.
"I couldn't believe it, it's not like Hannah at all and obviously completely unacceptable, I explained if it were a formal exam she'd be disqualified" Mr Ryan added
Rachel was still looking at Hannah, as Mr Ryan said this. Both teachers seemed a little bit surprised by Rachel's lack of reaction.
"We've told her exactly how disappointed we all are, and I've told her that …"
"Thanks for letting me know what's happened, I'll deal with Hannah now" Rachel said cutting her off and indicating for them both to go, tears were falling down Hannah's face.
Miss Jones and Mr Ryan left, closing the door behind them.
"Why did you do it?" Rachel asked calmly
"I'm sorry" Hannah mumbled, not making eye contact with Rachel
"I didn't ask whether you were sorry, I want to know why you did it" Rachel said, her tone still calm
Hannah was surprised she thought her aunt would have been furious.
"I just knew I was going to do so badly and I didn't want to let you down" Hannah said
Rachel sighed; despite what she'd done she couldn't help but feel sorry for her
"You know I don't care how well you do as long as you do your best, I know how hard you worked so I would have been proud of you no matter what the result" Rachel said
"I'm really sorry" Hannah cried
"You'll have a week's break time detention and I want a written explanation of why it's wrong to cheat, is that clear?" Rachel asked, she knew she was letting Hannah off lightly, but she could see how unwell and upset Hannah was and she just couldn't bring herself to shout or punish her too harshly.
"Yes" Hannah replied
"Okay, then we'll say no more about it other than if there's ever any repeats I'll be extremely disappointed, I expect better Hannah"
"I know and I won't ever do it again I promise"
'Right, now sit down on the sofa and let's get you a drink, you look terrible" Rachel said
Hannah did as she was told, Rachel got her some water and came and sat down next to her.
She put an arm around her, and Hannah instantly rested against her
"Rachel I really don't feel that well" Hannah cried, it was true, the headache seemed to have got worse, she had a really high temperature, and everything seemed to hurt.
Rachel put a hand to Hannah's forehead, she was shocked when she felt how hot she was
"God you're burning up, why didn't you tell me this morning how poorly you were feeling? I'd have never brought you into school"
"I don't know" Hannah said "I think I need to go home"
"I know you do; I've got loads of stuff to sort here, but I'm going to drop you off at grandmas okay?"
"Okay" Hannah mumbled
"I'll give her a call now"
It took a while, but eventually Rachel managed to get through.
As soon as she'd finished on the phone she turned back to Hannah "Grandma's just about to go to a hairdressers appointment but she'll be back in about an hour, she offered to cancel but I said you'd be okay to wait in my office with me until then"
"That's okay" Hannah said, although all she wanted to do was go to sleep.
"You can sleep on the sofa if you want" Rachel said as if reading her mind. "You can put my cardigan around you as a sort of blanket"
Hannah laid down on the sofa, however as soon as she did, she suddenly felt really sick
"Is it okay if I go to the toilet"
"Yes of course, you don't need to ask"
Hannah instantly ran off, as soon as she got there, she ended up being quite badly sick. When she'd finished, she felt weak and shivery. She had to stay there a while before getting up and going back to Rachel's office.
'Hannah I was just about to check on you …. you're white as a sheet"
"I was sick" Hannah informed her
'Oh dear" Rachel said, "You're really not very well are you; I wonder what's caused it"
Hannah went and laid back down on the sofa, Rachel sat next to her, stroking her hair gently
"Rachel?" Hannah said
"what is it love?"
"I'm really sorry about earlier"
"Shh, it's alright, you just have a little sleep Hannah"
"Are you angry"
"No, it's all forgotten" Rachel soothed.
Hannah closed her eyes, but even when she did her head was still pounding, her hair was sticking to her face because she was that sweaty, but she still felt cold.
Eventually she managed to fall asleep, though she wasn't particularly comfortable still. Rachel watched her from her desk, she was getting quite worried, it was really unlike Hannah to get unwell.
She woke up a little while later feeling worse than before. Rachel was so absorbed in the work she was doing she didn't even notice Hannah had woken up for a few minutes.
"Hey darling, how are you feeling?" She asked before going and sitting down next to her.
"Not very good" Hannah said, trembling still. "I feel sick and my head really hurts"
"Do you want to go to the toilet if you feel sick?"
"Yeah" Hannah said, she moved to get up however, as soon as she did her headache got worse and she felt really dizzy
Luckily Rachel grabbed her and sat her back down again.
"I think we need to get you seen to, don't we? Should I make a doctor's appointment?"
"No, I'm sure I'll be okay, I think I'll feel better once I've slept some more" Hannah said, although Rachel remained unconvinced
"Are you sure Hannah? It's really not like you to be poorly?" Rachel said
"Honestly I'll be fine"
"Well do you want me to come home with you, I'm sure I can get my work done at home"
"No, I'll be okay at Grandma's" Hannah said, not wanting a big fuss made
"Okay, but you know you can ring me if you get worse and we'll go to the doctors'
"I know" Hannah said
"Should we head to Grandmas then, she should be back by now?"
Hannah nodded, so Rachel helped her up and put her coat on and grabbed her bag.
Luckily everyone was still in lessons, so it didn't take them long to get to the car. All Hannah wanted to do was go back to sleep, the light was making her head hurt even more.
The drive to Joan's house wasn't a long one, but the car ride was making Hannah feel even worse.
"You feeling sick?" Rachel asked, to which Hannah nodded
"Do you want me to pull over?"
"No, I'll be fine"
"Let me know if you want me to, it'll only be another couple of minutes"
They eventually arrived and Rachel helped Hannah out of the car. She noticed as she was walking, she was swaying slightly and seemed unstable on her feet.
Rachel knocked on the door and more or less straight away Joan answered.
"Oh Han you look awful, come on let's get you inside chicken" She said, giving Hannah a hug.
Hannah followed Joan into the living room, although all she wanted to do was go to sleep.
"Grandma, I feel really tired, is it okay if I go up to bed?"
"Of course, it is, I think I've got some of your pyjamas here from last time you stopped over, Rachel why don't you go up with her and check, I'll stick the kettle on for us"
'Okay, but I can't stop too long Mum, I've got to get back to school"
Rachel took Hannah upstairs, they found her some pyjamas, so Hannah went off to get changed.
"Are you going to hop into bed then?" Rachel asked and Hannah nodded
She went through to the small room at the back and got into bed.
"This was my room when I lived here" Rachel said "your Mum got the big room"
"How come? You were the eldest"
"I know, I can't believe she managed to get a bigger room than me, we used to have some fights over it" Rachel said "Your Mum always did manage to get a good deal out of things" she added laughing slightly
"Sometimes, but only over daft things, like clothes and boys" she said "We got on pretty well most of the time"
"Mum would have been angry if she knew I cheated"
"She might have been, but she'd have soon got over it. Your mum was no angel when she was younger"
"Were you?"
"oh yeah, although I'm not sure Grandma would agree" Rachel said smiling
"Worse than me?"
"Hannah you're absolutely nothing compared to what me and Mel used to be like at your age, we were a nightmare for Grandma, honestly we used to cause all sorts of trouble"
Hannah laughed, she couldn't imagine Rachel and her Mum being naughty when they were younger, it made her wonder what sort of things they got up to
"Anyway, I think you need to get some sleep now Mrs, hopefully that might make you feel better"
Rachel kissed here forehead, she then closed the blinds to try and make it a bit darker in the room before going back downstairs.
Joan had made her a coffee, so she sat down in the living room to drink it
"Hannah looked really ill"
"she's really not very well at all, I might try and get her a doctor's appointment later" Rachel said "God she'd had a crap day the poor kid"
"Why?"
"Well she got into a right state about the mock exams we make them do and ended up writing some of the answers on a piece of paper, anyway she got found out and hauled up to my office, she was so upset"
"Did you tell her off?"
"No not really" Rachel sighed "I didn't have the heart to, she was so upset anyway as well as feeling poorly, I just didn't want to make her feel any worse. I gave her a detention and told her it was wrong, but that was about it"
"She's just so vulnerable, poor girls had so much happen to her really, what with losing her Mum and Dad, she just always seems so young for her age as well"
"I know she does, it's hard to imagine there's not much age difference between her and Gaby" Rachel said "She's so well behaved really and just wants to please people, that's part of the reason I didn't make a big thing about the cheating, I know how upset she'd have been about me finding out about it anyway"
"I'll keep a close eye on her today, I bet she'll feel better for a sleep, it's probably a virus or something"
The two of them continued to chat for a little bit longer before Rachel decided to head back to work, she went up to check on Hannah before she went, however, by now she was fast asleep, and Rachel didn't want to wake her up.
Joan got on with some housework for a bit before deciding to make some soup for herself and Hannah, thinking this would be good for Hannah to have while she was unwell.
When it was ready she decided to go up and wake Hannah for lunch.
Joan shook Hannah awake gently, when Hannah woke up, the whole room seemed to be spinning, she sat up but ended up being sick all over the bed.
'I'm sorry" Hannah said, feeling embarrassed, she couldn't believe how ill she felt, she'd never felt like this before in her life.
"It's alright daring, gosh you're really not very well are you? Jump up and let me get the bed sorted"
Hannah did as she was told but as she stood up, she felt herself go even more dizzy, she felt as if she could faint.
Joan quickly sorted the bed out before turning her attention to Hannah.
"I think we need to get you seen to don't we, should I call Rachel?"
"No, she'll be really busy" Hannah said
"Han if you're really poorly then she'll want to be with you, not at work" Joan said
"I'm sure I'll be fine"
"Why don't you come downstairs with me for a bit, I've made some soup"
"I'm really not hungry" Hannah said, the thought of food made her feel even worse
She went downstairs with Joan anyway though and laid down on the sofa, Joan sat down next to her.
"I'm sure your friends at school will be getting worried about you" Joan said "Why don't you text them"
"It's fine" Hannah said
Joan noticed that her voice had a bit of an edge to it. "Is everything alright at school at the moment?"
Hannah nodded but then felt her eyes fill up with tears and Joan put an arm around her.
"Oh Han, you're having a rough time of it at the moment, aren't you? What's being going on at school?"
"Nothing" Hannah mumbled
"Come on, whatever it is we can talk about it. I'm not going to get cross"
"It's just some girls that I'm friends with, they're just leaving me out and picking on me a bit that's all, but they're only doing it to be funny" Hannah said
"Well it doesn't sound very funny to me, how longs it been going on for?"
"Just a few weeks, but it's okay"
"Have you told Rachel about it?"
"No, don't tell her" Hannah said suddenly sounding panicky "It's nothing really"
"Why not? I'm sure she'd want to know about it"
"She'll tell them off and it'll just make it all worse, please don't tell her"
"Okay I won't" Joan said, although she was thinking she'd have to have a discrete word with Rachel about it at some point.
Hannah tried to make herself comfortable on the sofa, but nothing really seemed to be helping, she felt truly awful.
"Hannah I really think I need to call Rachel; you need to get checked out love"
This time Hannah didn't protest, she just wanted to feel better.
Joan picked up the phone and gave Rachel a call, she agreed to come straight away.
Hannah tried to sit up but immediately fell back down again, she was very weak.
"Easy does it" Joan said
She couldn't believe how hot Hannah felt, she tried to take the blanket off her, but Hannah grabbed it back
"You're boiling hot Hannah; we need to get the temperature down"
"I'm freezing" Hannah said, shaking and closing her eyes "Can you turn the light off?"
Joan did as she asked, feeling really worried now.
Hannah fell back to sleep; she didn't wake up until Rachel came in. Rachel immediately went over to her, looking extremely concerned.
"Hannah, I think we need to get you to hospital, just to check you're okay" Rachel said gently
Hannah felt too weak to respond by now
"Can you hear me?" Rachel asked, Hannah gave a small nod of the head in response.
"God she's got a lot worse" Rachel said anxiously to Joan
"She was really badly sick earlier too" Joan informed her
"I'm going to take her into hospital now" Rachel said "she needs to be seen, Mum can you do me a massive favour and sort the kids out tonight, I don't know how long we'll be in for"
"Of course, do you want me to come in with you now?'
"No I'll be fine, I'll keep you updated" Rachel said "Come on then love, let's get you sorted"
Hannah tried to move but didn't seem to be able to very well. Rachel had to practically carry her out to the car.
She got into the driver's seat and set off as quickly as she could.
"Feel sick" Hannan mumbled
Rachel tried to find somewhere to pull in, but it was too late, Hannah had started being sick again.
"Sorry"
"Alright darling, it's okay, we'll get you into some new pyjamas at the hospital" Rachel soothed
She knew they needed to get to the hospital as quickly as possible, so ending up speeding the whole way there, she was certain she'd been caught by a speed camera at one point, but right now she didn't really care.
Hannah was really floppy when they got there, and it was hard for Rachel to get her out the car and into the hospital.
As soon as they got in Rachel went to register Hannah. They then sat down and Hannah leant against Rachel, who put her arm around her.
It didn't take long for them to go through; Hannah was put in a wheelchair and they went into one of the cubicles.
Hannah looked really scared and didn't seem to be with it.
"Hello is this Hannah? I'm Samantha one of the nurses, a doctor will be with you shortly. Can you tell me a bit about what's been going on?" She asked "We can get you a hospital gown in a minute, to get you feeling a bit cleaner"
"She's been feeling quite ill since last night, but it seems to have got a lot worse over the last few hours. She's been vomiting quite a lot, feeling dizzy, high temperature, and she seems to be really sensitive to the light"
"Okay, I'm just going to do a few checks, has she ever been ill like this before?"
"No never" Rachel said, the panic now evident in her voice
The nurse did Hannah's temperature, blood pressure and heart rate.
"Okay her temperature is a lot higher than we'd like, and heart rates pretty high as well. I'm going to get the doctor to have a look at her as soon as possible" she said "Hannah I'm going to bring a gown through for you, so you can get changed, we'll close the curtain and Mum can help you"
"I'm her Auntie" Rachel explained "Thanks, I'm sure she'll feel nicer in some fresh things"
The nurse went off and brought the gown through to Hannah before closing the curtain.
"Han we'll just get you changed okay love, get you feeling a bit fresher"
"I want to go to sleep" Hannah said, clearly confused
"I know love, it'll just take a minute then you can"
She helped Hannah out of her things, however, when she took her top off she noticed a strange rash across her stomach.
"How long have you had this love?" She asked worried
"I don't know" Hannah mumbled
Rachel didn't know what to do, she was sure that this wasn't a good sign and wasn't sure what might have caused it.
As soon as Hannah was changed, she got straight back into the bed and closed her eyes.
A few minutes later one of the doctors came in.
"Hello, I'm doctor Green, I know a bit about what's been going on but can you just go over it again with me"
Rachel told her exactly what she'd told the burse but then added "Just now as I was getting her changed, I noticed a rash on her stomach"
"Can I have a look?" the doctor asked, and Rachel nodded
"Hannah, I'm just going to take a little look at your stomach okay?" she said, although Hannah was asleep
The doctor undid the gown and had a look, suddenly she started to look really worried. "Give me two minutes, I'm going to get one of the consultants to take a look"
The doctor came back a few minutes later accompanied by someone else. He spoke to Rachel before taking a look at Hannah.
"We're going to have to admit her onto the wards, then I need a CT and lumbar puncture, I also want to start her on IV antibiotics, straight away" he said to the other doctor who nodded.
"What's wrong with her? What's happening?" Rachel asked, she felt close to tears, she could tell there was something seriously wrong and she hated feeling so out of control.
"We can't confirm anything until we've had the tests back"
"But you must have some idea" Rachel persisted
The doctor sighed before saying "I can't be certain, but in my opinion, we might be looking at meningitis here, the tests will confirm it"
Rachel couldn't believe what she was hearing, "No you're wrong, it can't be, that's so serious and she was fine up until last night, she hadn't been ill at all" she said faintly
"The symptoms can develop really rapidly" he explained
"It's my fault, I should have brought her in earlier, I should have …"
"It's not your fault, the symptoms of meningitis are so similar to flu initially, you weren't to know the difference" The other doctor comforted
Tears were in Rachel's eyes, she went over to Hannah, she looked so vulnerable and unwell.
'Is she going to be okay?" she asked
'If it is meningitis, I'd say we've caught it early, the antibiotics will help fight the infection, but it's a very serious condition, and she'll get worse before she gets better"
Hearing this made Rachel feel worse, Hannah seemed so unwell now, she couldn't imagine it getting any worse.
Everything seemed to go by in a bit of a blue from that moment. Hannah was taken up to her own private room, they needed so keep her away from other people, they carried out the tests and got her hooked up on the antibiotics, all Rachel could do was watch. Hannah was pretty unresponsive by now and Rachel felt completely helpless.
Hannah was being monitored pretty much all the time, Rachel sat by her and squeezed her hand constantly.
An hour or so later, the consultant came back in.
"Rachel, can I have a word outside please?" he asked
"I need to stay with Hannah"
"The nurse will stay in here with her, she won't be left alone"
Reluctantly, Rachel let go of Hannah's hand "I'll be two minutes love" she said, although she was almost certain Hannah couldn't hear her.
She got up and followed the doctor outside, they went across the corridor and into a little room, Rachel sat down.
"We've had the tests back; they've confirmed that Hannah does have meningitis"
Rachel took a sharp breath; she could feel a lump forming in her throat
"So, what happens now?" she asked
"We'll monitor her very closely; she'll be on the antibiotics and will probably have to stay in hospital a couple of weeks at least" he said
Rachel felt like everything had come crashing down "But she's going to be okay'
'like I said, we've caught it early, but she's very unwell at the moment"
"Can I stay with her?"
"You can, but I really do recommend you get some proper rest"
"I need to be with her"
The doctor and Rachel talked for a bit longer, before Rachel went back to Hannah. She caught sight of her reflection in one of the mirrors on the way back, she looked awful she thought to herself, her mascara was smudged, and her face looked really pale, she was still wearing her suit from work.
She went back into the room and sat down next to Hannah, taking her hand again.
Rachel had been sat there for what seemed like forever, when suddenly she caught Hannah opening her eyes slightly.
"Hey darling, how are you feeling?' she asked gently
"Not very good" Hannah said weakly
"I know, you're not very well Hannah, but you're getting really well looked after I promise" Rachel said, stroking Hannah's hair gently.
"Am I going to get better?" Hannah whispered
"Yes, you're going to start feeling better soon I promise, it's all going to be okay" Rachel soothed.
And with that Hannah fell back to sleep.
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