March 11th 2024

Chapter 71
The Reach For Healing

The days leading up to Gracie's surgery had been getting to feel more and more like a weight settling over them. They tried not to look overly worried, especially around her because they didn't want her to feel more concerned than she already was, but it got harder as they got closer to it. Now they had made it to the eve of the surgery, and the hours had ticked on by, bringing them to the evening, a short one ahead of their early rise in the morning for those who'd be going with her. If it had been possible for all of them to do so, Gracie's brother and sisters would all have piled into bed with her to shelter her in comfort. Instead, they all sat around her on the couch until it was time for them to turn in, and going by the smile on her face, that was really all that she needed.

They knew how nervous she was, and they didn't bring it up, but at the same time she would be able to tell that they were nervous, too, and as strange as it could feel, that shared feeling would help them all make it into the night, all of them retreating to their rooms… Did they still have trouble falling asleep? Definitely. But then Haley was there, and she'd come up with the solution of fishing out the walkie-talkies, distributing them among her siblings so that they could use them in the night if they wanted. They called to each other, discreet as could be, and it would amuse them. They all had to get to sleep, they knew, and they couldn't rely on this forever. In the end, the little Hunters called on their big sister to help them out, and Maya did the best way she knew how, singing into her walkie talkie and letting her voice drift on to lull her siblings to sleep.

Morning felt as though it came much too soon, but then Maya and Lucas were both used to it, having to get the kids off to school most days. This one was no different, but they had to split the work, as he saw to the kids, with Wyatt's help, while Maya looked in on her siblings and saw to it that all of them would be ready so they could head out on time for Gracie's surgery. All the kids were as sweet as she expected them to be, checking in on their aunt, telling her how everything would be alright, and they would go and see her at the hospital in the afternoon… They had all teamed up to prepare a care bag for her, full of little things to remind her of them and let her know they were thinking about her, along with some treats for before and after the surgery, to help make her feel better. Gracie thanked them all, gave them all great big hugs… Mackenzie was her couch buddy over the last few weeks, and she sent her off with the biggest hugs and kisses.

They would remember the ride to the hospital, which was just as they had wanted it to be. Five siblings, two boyfriends… Of course, they had to sing it out, sing it loud, into the Austin morning, all the better to rid themselves of as much of their nerves as they could. MJ looked as though he had taken upon himself personally to keep his older sister smiling and laughing the entire time, and possibly to keep anyone who had the privilege or misfortune to be within earshot of the minivan from falling back to sleep. He called it his civic duty, and all four of his sisters had a laugh over it.

They arrived at the hospital, looking, according to Haley, like a 'choose your medical emergency' adventure. Shawn, Katy, and Grangie had made it there first and, upon seeing them, Shawn snapped a picture, so maybe she had a point. He was giving off his usual energy, relaxed, joking, but he was plenty nervous and they could tell. Katy was absolutely showing her nerves, fussing as she was from one pregnant daughter, to another pregnant daughter, to the daughter on her way to surgery, and her mother had to step in and pull her back on track so they could Gracie off to her room.

Once she was taken off to her surgery, the rest of them were left to settle in for the wait ahead of them. They didn't have to stick around, all of them, but they really didn't see themselves being anywhere else, not while Gracie was in there. They needed to be around, to be there when it would be over and know that she was alright, to know that she would be alright. So, they settled in. Lucas would join them once he'd gotten the girls off to school and Ezra had been left with his Pappy Tom and Great Pappy Joe. When he sat next to her, Maya's head tipped to rest at his shoulder without a moment's thought, and he clasped her hand in his.

"The girls said they'd try and make her some cards today," Lucas told Maya and the others, and they smiled. They didn't see this day the way the rest of them did, not for the most part, and that had been intentional, they guessed. They had all done their best not to let Gracie's surgery worry them the way it did them, and they'd done a good job of it. Now as they sat there, they almost envied them. They would try and tell themselves that it wasn't as though Gracie's life was on the line in any way, but then in some ways it kind of was, wasn't it? Whatever came of this surgery would dictate whether her life improved or worsened, and at this moment, they had no idea which way it would go.

Their concerns were not helped by the fact that time stretched on further than predicted without any news. Had something gone wrong? Was she alright? When someone finally came to them with news, there were a few of them looking like they'd sucked in a breath and couldn't let it out, not until they were promised that it was all over, and Gracie was in recovery. They would know more once she woke up, once she'd had hours, and days, and weeks, but for what they had seen of her surgery, everything had gone as smoothly as they would want it to go. The words were just the ones they'd wanted to hear, and their breaths were released in a great gust.

They would get to see her soon, but in the meantime, the news was enough to shift the mood in their group, waking them up from where they'd been since they'd seen her off. The four siblings looked to their parents and moved in to hug them both, knowing whether or not they were parents themselves that they would need it, and they could feel the way they were both still having trouble coming down from where they'd been all day.

They would all have let the two of them go in alone to see her first, but both Katy and Shawn knew that this wouldn't be what Gracie wanted, so they all went together, careful not to overwhelm her. They didn't know what state she'd be in, after waking up from surgery. But when they walked into her room, there she was, awake, maybe a bit groggy but overall doing well. No one blamed Nellie for cutting ahead of the rest of them, approaching her twin and bowing to hug her as best she could. They stayed back, giving them a moment. Once Nellie was able to step back, her parents came up, and her siblings, her grandmother… Ethan waited, standing with his brother. When they looked at him, he went to his girlfriend's bedside, trying not to look too awkward as he allowed himself to lean close, kissing the top of her head before asking her how she felt.

"Medically… loopy…" Gracie informed him, and the others chuckled as quietly as they could. "No one ask me anything, I'm not sure I can lie right now," she mumbled.

"It's okay, I've got you," Nellie smiled, wiping at a tear coming from one eye and the other, taking a breath. Bobby came to stand by her and put his arm around her.

They had all been stuck there a while, unable to move from their spots, but now that they were here with Gracie and they could see that she was doing alright, and they were getting hungry, so Lucas took off with Bobby Davis to bring lunch for everyone while the rest of them sat around Gracie's room, keeping as quiet as they could so that she could keep on resting in her 'medically loopy' state.

Katy was in a permanent state of 'what can I do to help,' so she didn't manage to sit still too long, much as her husband and her mother tried to get her to do so. MJ and Haley had gone in search of some flowers and balloons and other things to give the room as much 'healing energy' as they could give it. Maya was sitting, watching the scene in front of her, keeping an eye on her mother, of course, but also smiling to see Nellie and Ethan sitting by Gracie and talking quietly with her. They were the two most connected to her, the two who would see her as their other half. They'd spent the length of that waiting period sitting there, looking like their whole soul was left in limbo until they'd know that Gracie was okay. It was strange to see the two of them sitting side by side, identical twins to one another's significant other and yet giving off absolutely no energy to suggest that they could be the ones in a couple. All that came off of them was a deeply bonded friendship, not unlike the one between Gracie and Bobby.

"Hey, Mouse Mouse…" Maya whispered, later on, when she got to sit by her little sister, while Lucas had gone to pick up the kids to bring them for a visit. Gracie wasn't nearly as loopy now, but she was still very much giving sleepy vibes, and she smiled up to her sister like all she wanted right now was some big hugs. Maya brushed her hair back from her forehead, and Gracie's smile softened. "You just say the word and I'll start my maternity leave right now, so I can stay home with you," she suggested. Gracie 'considered' it, but finally she just gave a small shake of the head. "Alright, fine, I'll stick it out. But I'm almost there anyway, realistically, so it wouldn't be that big of a stretch, you know?"

"I know," Gracie agreed. "But you should be out there as long as you can. They're lucky to have you."

"Speaking from experience, huh?" Maya smiled. This might have fallen in the realm of 'medical honesty,' but no one was going to say anything about it.

"Very much," Gracie told her. "When you do go on leave, we'll do stuff together, I promise."

"Sounds good," Maya nodded. She would have rather this happen for any other reason, but she wasn't about to go and pass on the opportunity. Before she knew it, the twins would have finished college and, especially now that Nellie and Bobby were having a baby in all of three months, it was only a matter of time before they'd be out of the Friar house, bringing this brief era in their lives to an end. She would enjoy every day of it that they had left, and she knew that her sisters would want to do the same. First things first, they had to see to it that this one got to come home as soon as she could.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners