Remember When ↠ l.p.

Previously

~Flashback, about 7 hours earlier

We were playing a hand game Cailyn had learned from somewhere, but only paying partial attention. My mind was somewhere else...with someone else. "No, mommy you have to hold your hands this way and then slap mine and then clap three times and then we repeat it okay?" She pulls my hands into the right positions again and places my palms over hers. "I'm going really slow so you should be able to do this!" She explains patiently as beings to move her hands, I try to match the pace and way she's moving her's, but my heart isn't in it. 

"I'm sorry, I'll try harder to understand what you're trying to teach me. You know I'm just worried about what time Tessie and Grammy are going to get back." I slap her hands and then clap mine, managing to get it right a few times before my hands get tangled up in hers somehow. 

"You need to stop worrying," she helps me fix my hands in the right spot again and we try again. "you've worried all day and I don't think that's good for you."

"I know that worrying isn't good, but I can't seem to stop." I fumble and turn my palms the wrong way and mess up the game again. Cailyn sighs but helps me to get back into the correct position once more. I'm ready to give up on this game already, but she seems determined to teach me. So I don't say anything because this is the first thing that she's stayed occupied and interested with in the past three hours time.

"It's not hard, you just go to sleep or stop worrying." She shrugs her slim shoulders and catches my hands in her own and stares up at me intently. "Just make sure you stop some way because you're never going to learn this game otherwise."

"I'll have to try my hardest to stop worrying about things then, especially because you've spent so long trying to teach me." I smile at her and squeeze her hands. "Shall we give it another try now? I think I've finally got the rhythm of it."

"It's just clapping and flat high fives mommy. It's not too hard."

"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" I frown and force myself to concentrate on the game this time. We end up going on for several minutes this time. I'm finding it easier to match Cailyn's pace the longer we play. A knock on the door makes us pause and look up from our hands.

"Sorry, we ran into traffic coming back the apartment." Mother sounds a little out of breath as she deposits Tessie in the chair across the room from us and comes over to hug both Cailyn and I. "And I didn't want to text you because I was trying to keep Tessie awake and the traffic was still moving. I just didn't want to take any chances."

"It's fine," I assure her as I return her hug. "I'm glad you weren't taking any risks with her in the car...or yourself." I pause as she starts unloading the bags she had on her shoulder. "What's all this?"

"Just some things that I thought you might like along with the things you asked me to bring." She begins to lay things down on my bed and on the side table next to me. "Your laptop, a couple books from your bookshelf, some snacks, some bottled water, and your throw blanket." 

"Wow, thanks." I pull the throw blanket up and around my shoulders, comforted by the familiar smell and feel of it. "You must be tired, sit down and fill me in on everything and then you should all go home and get some much needed rest." I scoot my legs over, prompting Cailyn to slide off the bed and walk over to where Tessie is sitting, her head resting on the back of the chair. She looks completely exhausted and barely awake, her eyes drooping heavily. 

Mom sits down and lets out a relieved sigh. "You would think that after sitting in traffic for so long that I would be tired of sitting down, but I'm not. How did you do this all of those days? I know it's only driving and sitting at hospitals, but it's exhausting!"

"It can be," I smile, a little forced. "but what happened with Liam? I assume he didn't wake up because you would have told me. Did he show any signs of improvements at all?" I sound desperate and I try to keep my voice down a little, so the girls don't hear. 

"Sweetheart," the sympathetic look on my mother's face speaks for itself. "we were there for as long as I thought was wise but there weren't any changes in his condition. I had Tessie talk to him and she sat there in the bed with him for a while too. I'm sorry. We've done all we can, I think."