Issues [Frollie]

Chapter 5

Unfortunately, by the time the others arrived Mollie’s drowsiness in conjunction with the medication had pushed her into a delirious state of fluctuating awareness. Though she was technically awake, she was still half in a dream and she could barely focus on any of the faces that passed before her eyes. The frustration she had revealed to Frankie had faded along with her lucidity, leaving her a beaming, blinking pile of human-shaped morphine. She lay in the pillows and smiled at anyone and anything that she looked at, even if that happened to include that IV stand by her bed.

Sarah was still overjoyed to see her daughter, no matter what state she was in.

“Oh, Mollie,” she sighed as she rushed forward, engulfing her slack body in a tight embrace and kissing her cheek several times. She smoothed the hair back, stroked her cheeks and squeezed her hand, staring into her unfocussed eyes all the while. She didn’t even seem to notice Frankie’s presence. “Are you alright, darling? Can you hear me?”

Mollie’s eyes widened first, and then closed before she managed to drag them to her face. “Hi, mum,” she said with a silly giggle. Silent laughter shook her frame as her head rolled away. Sarah smiled, but doubt clouded the relief in her eyes.

“It’s mostly the drugs they gave her,” Frankie told her quietly, and Sarah started a little. Her expression became warm as she saw her sitting there, though. “They said she’ll be a little loopy for a while, with the concussion, and the meds and everything…  And she’s only just woken up, so…” Frankie stopped herself when she realised it sounded like she was trying to defend Mollie, when she was talking to her mother.

“I’m just happy she’s awake,” she said with a rush of feeling. She dropped into the chair on the other side of the bed like she hadn’t rested in days, but kept a hold of Mollie’s hand like Frankie had done night after night. Her daughter beamed at her as she squeezed her fingers.

“It’s okay, mum,” Mollie assured her warmly. “I’m just fine. Really…I’m great. I can’t feel…” She lost her way halfway through the sentence, and then smiled again. “It’s fine. But you should really come and see,” she said suddenly, waving a floppy hand to beckon her over. Her eyes turned to Frankie, a conspiratorial expression unfolding in her features. She twitched her eyebrows like they were about to share a secret.

Sarah looked between them both, mild amusement warring with the happiness in her eyes.

“Frankie,” Mollie sighed in an exasperated tone, sending the short-haired girl a withering look. Frankie looked right back, honestly bewildered. “You’re doing it wrong.”

“Um, I’m… sorry?”

Mollie batted a hand at Frankie’s face again, caressing her lip briefly with her thumb before pulling away. “It’s okay,” she granted in a magnanimous tone, and then rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “I forgive you.”

Biting the inside of her cheeks, Frankie managed a quick ‘Thank you, Molls’ before catching Sarah’s gaze. She seemed to be having the same trouble as Frankie; her hand pressed against her lips in an effort to keep from laughing.

“It’s not funny,” she whispered, shaking her head.