Hi everyone hope you enjoy these next couple of chapters. It is a long time since my last update, sorry about that. As this is so linked to my last update though you may want to read either the last part of the last chapter or the entire last chapter again before reading this one. Anyways hope you like it! :)
"Alright come 'ere, I gotcha." Jay said in a gentle tone, lifting Gracie out of the car, her arm wrapping around his shoulders.
The poor kid looked exhausted and had her head rested on the inside of Jay's shoulder as he carried her in. Her face was still damp from tears and every movement that she made seemed to make her more aware of how the adrenaline was wearing off from the day she had had.
She barely said a word since she had broke down crying back at the courts. Jay had made a phone call to med before they headed to Gaffney.
"Hey guys come on over here treatment one is free." Natalie said seeing them coming into the ER.
Jay and Hailey walked over to the treatment room and Jay gently put Gracie down on the bed.
"Alright sweetie let's take a look, Jay said it was your ankle yeah?" Natalie asked and Gracie nodded.
"Yeah I was stupid really I didn't think about what I was doing and I was trying to reach the ball, running so fast that I stopped quickly to hit it and my body kind of almost carried on, leaving my leg further behind. I just rolled on it." Gracie said in response pulling a wincing face of pain slightly as Nat examined her ankle.
"Gracie this isn't your fault it was just an accident honey, it could have happened to anyone. There's definitely bruising, but I don't think it's broken we'll have to get an x-ray to confirm but I think we're looking at a grade 2 ankle sprain." Nat explained and just after she did Will walked in.
"Hey guys, the tournament not go so well Gracie?" Will asked looking at her on the gurney.
"Actually..." Jay started and looked up at Gracie for permission to carry on, Gracie nodded. "She won." Jay said proudly and Will and Natalie looked up with smiles towards Gracie.
"Congratulations!" Nat said.
"That's fantastic Gracie you should be really proud of yourself." Will added.
"Thanks guys." Gracie said with an almost bittersweet, deflated response.
Jay and Hailey shared a sad smile which Will noticed quickly before looking back at Gracie.
"You must be tired after all that training and school and everything." Nat said still not fully aware of what had happened but she was still right in the sense that Gracie did look exhausted.
"A little I guess." Gracie answered.
"Hey you know I think there's a bit of a backlog on x-rays so you might be able to get a bit of shut-eye kid. We can wake you up when it's time for you to head down there if you like?" Will offered.
Gracie looked at Jay and Hailey who smiled encouragingly. They knew how much Gracie tended to fight sleep these days, she had struggled with nightmares ever since everything had happened before she came to live with them.
"It's ok, we'll be right outside sweetie. If you need us we'll be straight in here alright?" Hailey reassured and Gracie nodded in agreement, her heavy eyes and aches in her body being a constant reminder of how tired she was. She knew she had to try and sleep eventually.
"April will be in to take your obs in five minutes but apart from that you'll be all good to get some rest Gracie." Will explained.
"Call us over if you need us ok? We'll come check in on you." Nat added.
"Yeah I'm all good thanks. I'll try and get some rest." Gracie said as they all walked out for a few minutes.
"Is everything ok with her? I thought she'd be more excited about winning this tournament she's been looking forward to it and training for weeks." Will asked a little confused.
"It could just be her ankle hurting her I mean she's probably just a little bit distracted." Nat suggested before Jay cut in.
"Uh she um, she lost her Grandma this morning. The senior citizen home called me and told me that she'd passed away in her sleep. Natural causes, Cardiac arrest." Jay explained.
"Oh my god, that poor girl." Nat responded looking across through the glass at Gracie who had her head held back on the pillow in an effort to try and sleep.
"I know, she just can't catch a break honestly me and Jay just, we hated having to tell her something we knew was gonna break her heart. She's come really far since moving in with us and this was a big blow for her." Hailey said and felt Jay's comforting hand on her back.
"Well you guys are doing a great job. She's got a good home with you guys, she was thriving the last time we saw her and even with all this you can see a difference in her today that the girl we first treated when she came to the hospital after all that stuff happened." Nat complimented smiling at the couple opposite her.
"Yeah Nat's right and look if any of you need help in anyway we'll be more than happy to come by anytime." Will added.
"Thank you guys that means a lot." Jay responded gratefully, patting Will on the shoulder.
Hailey and Jay went back in with Gracie for a while.
"Honey, I'm gonna go grab some coffee d'you want something?" Jay offered once he saw Gracie was sleeping, getting up out of his chair.
"Just the usual, thanks babe." Hailey said and Jay smiled and nodded before going out of the room briefly to go and get some coffee.
Jay walked to the nearest coffee place in the hospital and picked up two coffees as well as some chocolate cookies and a bottle of water for when Gracie was feeling a little better later.
He got in line, that went down reasonably fast and within ten minutes was paid and on his way back to Gracie's treatment room.
"Thanks honey." Hailey said taking the coffee.
As Jay handed over the hot drink, Gracie woke up. The first thing she saw were the white walls as she was lying facing away from Jay and Hailey. She was a little jumpy when she woke up and noticing this immediately Jay and Hailey were at her side.
"Hey, we're right here." Hailey responded and put her hand on top of her foster daughters giving it a reassuring squeeze.
"You're right here with us." Jay reassured. He knew she had a tendency to wake up in the middle of some of her worst dreams and forgets that she now lives safely with him and Hailey.
After a some x-rays and another talk with Will and Nat, Gracie was cleared to go home. It had been confirmed that she had a grade 2 ankle sprain and was sent home with some crutches and a cast-boot to wear for a couple of weeks to aid her recovery.
A week or so after Gracie's tournament and the hospital visit it was time for her Grandma's funeral.
"Gracie it's time to go, you ready to go honey?" Hailey called from the kitchen.
Jay gestured to Hailey to look over at the small gap in Gracie's door between the door and the frame through which you could just see Gracie sitting on the end of her bed just staring down at the floor with a sad, helpless expression.
She was all ready to go dressed in a black skater dress with black pantyhose and a black jacket but it was almost like she couldn't move.
"I'll go talk to her." Jay offered and walked into her room.
Jay walked into Gracie's room and sat down on the end of her bed next to her.
"Hey." Jay said as he sat down. "You mind if I sit with you for a sec?"
Gracie just shrugged her shoulders and nodded slightly. "Sure." She answered and then paused before speaking again like she was thinking about what to say. "What if I can't do it?"
"I think...that you can do anything you put your mind to, but if you feel sad, or nervous or you just can't do it anymore then Hailey and I, we're gonna be there the whole time. We're gonna be sitting right in the front row so that you can see us." Jay reassured.
Gracie leaned into his side resting her head against his shoulder. Jay moved to wrap an arm around her.
"Everything's going to be ok." Jay whispered comfortingly as he hugged her in his side.
Next Chapter is available right now! Hope you're enjoying it so far! :)