Chapter 30
This is quite a bit shorter than my usual updates, but it's just to round the last chapter off before the next one.
It was a Saturday, a week had past and Hannah was very gradually recovering, she was hoping to be able to leave the hospital soon and was really looking forward to going back home. Rachel was absolutely exhausted; she hadn't left Hannah's side. She had barely slept since Hannah was admitted, and felt generally really run down. Rachel didn't mind though, all that mattered to her was that Hannah was going to be okay. The other girls had been staying with Joan, they were all so excited to have Rachel and Hannah back home again.
It was early in the morning, but Rachel was wide awake, she hadn't managed to sleep more than a couple of hours last night. She sat in the arm chair and flicked through a magazine absent-mindedly.
A little while later Hannah woke up, it took Rachel a while to notice she was awake.
"Hey darling, how are you feeling?" Rachel asked
"I'm okay" Hannah said, it was true, even though she was still incredibly weak she really was starting to feel better.
"You seemed to sleep really well, you barely stirred at all" Rachel commented
"Do you think I'll be allowed to go home soon?" Hannah asked, she was really looking forward to being allowed home but she was dreading going back to school.
"I don't know, fingers crossed"
"Will I have to go back to school when I come home?"
"Not straight away, we'll see what the doctors say about it though" Rachel said "I bet you're looking forward to seeing your friends again, I know they'll be excited to see you"
Hearing Rachel say this made Hannah feel upset, she had been finding school really tough especially with the trouble she'd been having with friends.
Rachel noticed at once that Hannah seemed upset, she suddenly remembered Joan had told her about Hannah saying she'd been having trouble at school but with everything that had happened she'd completely forgotten about it. She knew she'd have to talk to Hannah about it at some point but decided now wasn't the right time.
"Han I'm going to walk down to the loo and stretch my legs, I won't be long okay?"
"Yeah that's fine" Hannah said "can I come with you?"
Rachel was surprised at this, Hannah had barely left the bed since she'd been admitted, she'd been feeling too ill and weak.
"Of course, I'll give you a hand getting out of bed, the nurses will be pleased to see you moving about I'm sure"
Hannah sat up and Rachel helped her stand up, at first Hannah felt really shaky but she soon got her balance, it felt strange to be walking properly again. She took Rachel's arm and they slowly walked to the bathroom.
"Well done love" Rachel said encouragingly, it seemed like they were finally making some progress.
They went into the toilets, Rachel came out first, she washed her hands and as she was doing so caught sight of her reflection. She couldn't believe how tired she looked, she had dark circles around her eyes, her face looked pale and her hair seemed really limp. She reached in her handbag for some concealer and dabbed it around her eyes, before running a brush through her hair and tying it back. She couldn't wait to be able to sort herself out properly.
A couple of minutes passed and Hannah still hadn't come out, Rachel began to get a bit worried.
"Is everything alright love?" she called, but Hannah didn't respond
This immediately made Rachel concerned, she knocked on the door "Hannah, what's wrong has something happened?"
"I'm okay" Hannah said, but she didn't sound right.
"If you're not on the toilet open the door Han" Rachel said gently
Hannah unlocked the door, and Rachel opened it. Hannah was sat with tears running down her face.
"Hey sweetie, what's the matter? What's happened?" Rachel asked, putting her arms around her
"When I was on the toilet, I suddenly just felt really dizzy and then I was a bit sick" Hannah explained
"Oh love, that's okay, it's just your body getting used to doing normal things again, like going on a walk and stuff"
"It's so annoying though, I just want to be back to normal again, I don't like feeling poorly all the time"
"I know, but I promise it's not going to be like this forever, before long you'll be able to do everything you could before, it just takes a bit of time that's all. Your bodies been through a massive ordeal, and you're doing so well with getting better, but we'll just take things slowly yeah?"
Hannah nodded her head. "sorry for being silly"
"You're not being silly, not at all, you've been so brave with everything and it's great your starting to feel up to doing things again" Rachel soothed, "How about you wash your hands and then we'll head back to the room, we'll walk slowly and if you need to stop then that's fine, we're not in any rush"
"Okay" Hannah agreed
They walked back to the room and Hannah got back into bed.
She ended up falling back to sleep again, until the doctor came an hour or so later to do the ward round.
After doing a quick examination, he pulled up a chair and sat down.
"How are you feeling Hannah?" he asked
"I'm a bit better" Hannah said
"Your vital signs have improved quite a bit"
"She managed a walk earlier" Rachel added, "she felt dizzy afterwards and was a bit sick, but she does seem a lot more alert than she has been"
"That's great news, the dizziness isn't unusual when you start exercising again" he explained "I think it might be time for you to go back home, you switched to oral antibiotics a couple of days ago and they seem to be working effectively, there just isn't much benefit it stopping in hospital when all signs are looking good, obviously you'll have to take things slowly with lots of bedrest"
"Oh, that's fantastic news" Rachel said
"It'll be quite a long recovery, but I'm sure you'll be able to manage it effectively at home, you'll be in bed most of the time, but try and get up when you feel up to it and keep up the food intake, that's really important"
"How long will she need to stay home, before we think about getting back to school?"
"I'd say play it by ear see how she's feeling, but I'd imagine it'll be another couple of weeks before she's up to school" The doctor explained
Hannah was really relieved to hear this, at least she didn't have to think of school for a while.
"How are you feeling about going home Hannah? Sometimes patients are nervous about the transition, but I do feel confident you'll be more comfortable there"
"Yeah I'm looking forward to it" Hannah said
"Okay, well I'm going to get your discharge notes together and then you'll be good to go, it shouldn't take longer than an hour"
"Thank you so much" Rachel said smiling "You've all been fantastic, we're really grateful"
As soon as the doctor left Rachel turned her attention to Hannah
"Isn't that great news Hannah, we can finally go home"
"I can't wait to get back and go to sleep in my own bed"
"I know the feeling" Rachel said, not sleeping on an armchair was something she was greatly looking forward to.
As soon as they got their discharge letter, Rachel gathered their things together and helped Hannah out of bed.
"I can't remember where I parked the car, we were in such a rush when we got here" Rachel said
It took the two of them quite a while before they eventually found the car, Rachel chucked their things in the boot before they got in.
It felt amazing to finally leave the hospital and head back home again.
Please review/suggest ideas xx