Together

Chapter 12

"Grace are you ready to go, you're going to be late!" Connie stood at the bottom of the stairs tapping her heel against the laminate flooring before turning around and pacing out into the kitchen. "Sweet cheeks you okay?"

She looked up at him as he stepped in front of her and placed his hands on her forearms gently. "Yeah I'm fine-" "Connie, don't lie to me..." She sighed looking down to her feet before feeling his hand under her chin, lifting her gaze to meet his.

"Talk to me..." Jacob kept a hand under her chin as he looked across at her. "I don't want to be any later to the hospital than we have to be-" "Con we've been there everyday for the last five weeks, we'll be there and they know that."

Connie reluctantly nodded before Jacob stepped forwards and gently kissed her lips. "Now stop worrying, okay?" She smiled weakly before turning as Grace entered the room. "Finally, right lets get you to school."

Grace rolled her eyes passing Jacob giving him a hug before getting into the car with Connie. "I'll be back in 20 minutes-" "I'll be ready sweet cheeks. I love you." She smiled a small genuine smile before leaving the house.

The drive to school was quick and quiet. "I'll come and get you tonight baby-" "Really?" Connie smiled placing a hand to Grace's cheek. "I know this has been hard for you recently, and I know that I haven't been around for you like I should have been... How about tonight me and you do something together, leave Jacob with Mia for a while."

Grace smiled leaning forwards and enveloping her into a hug. "That sounds amazing Mum, thank you." Connie placed a kiss to the top of her head before letting go. "Go on, get into school. I'll see you later sweet heart."

Connie watched as Grace skipped off into the school meeting her friends on the way. She stayed there for a while watching her thinking about how she'd be doing this all again in a few years with Mia and Jacob by her side.

By the time they arrived at the hospital it was almost 10 o'clock. Connie went straight upstairs while Jacob stayed in the ED. "Ah Connie, we have some news on Mia." "Is she okay? Has something happened? Why didn't anyone call me-" "Mrs Beauchamp, everything is fine. Do you want to wait for your partner to join us?"

Connie nodded before sitting down beside the small bed. Mia had been put into a small bed for now, still with several wires attached to her but she was doing well. As soon as Connie sat down Mia turned to look across at her.

"Hey baby I'm back... And there's your Daddy." Jacob smiled noticing Connie pointing towards him as he came into the room. "Everything alright?" He took a seat beside Connie wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

The nurse sat down opposite them with a solemn face. "Why do I get the feeling this is about taking her home?" "Look, despite Mia's progress we don't think she's going to be ready to go home when we originally expected."

Connie tensed beside Jacob who didn't need to look at her to know that. "What do you mean?" "Mia will need to stay in for the next 2 weeks like planned, when we will do another assessment however I expect it will show that she needs to stay here for a while longer."

Connie's eyes narrowed looking towards the nurse while Jacob sat back. "No... No you said she could come home and she is doing fine." "Sweet cheeks-" "No! My baby has been in here for over 2 months and you want her to stay here longer?"

Jacob sat forwards placing his hand on Connie's knee. "I need some air." She pushed his hand away standing up and heading for the door. "I'm sorry about that, it's been hard for her." "I understand, I just wanted to warn you that it could be longer."

He remained sitting with Mia talking to her and holding her hand, as he did most afternoons. He pulled out his phone texting Connie wanting to make sure she was okay but knew that she wouldn't answer if he called her.

Connie sat on the bench outside the ED staring at the blank wall. "Great conversations you can have there." "Hmm?" She turned in the direction of the voice to see Charlie nodding to the wall. "The times I've spent out here speaking to that same wall."

She smiled a little before he sat down beside her and passed her a coffee. "Thought you could do with the caffeine-" "Do I look that bad?" They shared a smile with one another before she thanked him. "No, I saw you earlier and could tell something was wrong. Thought you could do with some company."

They stayed quiet for a moment, Connie taking a grateful sip of the coffee. "Want to talk about it?" She sighed resting the cup between her hands letting it warm her up. "They want to keep Mia in for longer... Charlie it's already been 7 weeks-" "But they wouldn't do it unless she needed it."

Connie nodded sitting back. "I know, I know... I'm just not sure how much longer I can take this." The older man looked up across at her with a sympathetic glance. Connie wasn't one to let things affect her, but here she was broken before him.

"Everything will be alright-" "I just want her home Charlie." The tears rolled down her cheeks as he wrapped a warm arm around her. She lifted a hand to her face wiping away the tears before sitting up.

They remained sitting together outside for some time before Connie noticed the text. "I should probably get back, I need to apologise to Jacob." Charlie smiled as they stood up and walked towards the hospital.

"You know where I am, if you ever need a quick break." "Thank you Charlie." They exchanged smiles before Connie headed back up to Mia and Jacob.

"I'm sorry-" "I know, me too baby. But things will be how they should soon, I promise."