adopted by sandra bullock (and her gf cate blanchett)

chapter 4

TW: blood, bruises, hospital

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"i'll get the keys."

cate immediately went to the garage to pull the car around.

dani never knew a house could be so big that it would take time to get to the garage and pull the car around to the front of the house.

sandy had given her the large black sweatshirt and grey sweatpants cate had retrieved from her closet to change into.

dani vaguely remembered the details of being led to a bathroom to wash up and change, helping sandy carry dylan into a nice car (was it a porshe?), and sitting the the backseat next to her brother.

they were on their way to the hospital now, cate driving as sandy was making some calls on her phone.

dylan's head was leaning against dani's shoulder, she was lightly stroking the back of his hand like she always did when she was nervous. this time, dylan wasn't putting his other hand over hers, telling her it was all going to be okay.

it felt morbid, like she was in the car with a corpse, but she couldn't allow herself to think like that. she knew he had been tired and starving even before he was hurt, and it took all of his energy to make it to sandy's house with her. she had carried from the gate up the long winding driveway to the big double doors.

dani was distracted from her overthinking by sandy's voice on the phone.

"listen- mike- hi, yes hi it's me sandy...yes i know it's late...listen um cate and i...no don't get upset...i'll fill you in later...cate and i are on our way to the hospital and- no, we're both fine...could you please make sure there is no paparazzi when we get there...please it's very sensitive, yes i'll fill you in later...just please no paparazzi, if you could actually clear the whole area of any people that would be ideal but i understand it's short notice...mhm...we're coming in the side entrance, about ten or fifteen minutes- yes, yes...thank you mike you're the best!"

she hung up.

the car was filled with a silence, and if there was one thing dani hated it was long silences.

"who were you calling?"

dani's curiosity had gotten the better of her.

"it was my agent, mike, i just wanted to make sure there was no one taking pictures of us at the hospital."

"oh."

sandy hoped danielle didn't take it the wrong way, as if sandy didn't want to be seen in public with her. it was just that the media can be cruel and they would ask questions that sandy herself didn't know the complete answers to, like "what's your relationship with these kids" or "why were you at the hospital".

cate seemed to sense sandy's overthinking, and took sandy's left hand in her right hand as she drove.

danielle didn't know everything that has happened the past two days with cate, and that the media would have more eyes on them than usual. sandy wanted to tell them everything in due time, but she wanted to talk with cate first and she couldn't do that now. instead, she turned to danielle.

sandy moved in her seat to face the kids in the back.

"when we get to the hospital, they're going to ask questions about your legal guardians."

dani had known this was coming.

"i'll answer their questions."

dani left it at that. she didn't feel like going through the extent of the mess of her situation twice. it was bad enough she had to have that talk with sandy once dylan was okay, if dylan was okay.

sandy could tell danielle didn't want to elaborate, and she knew not to push, so she tried to change the subject.

"you and dylan are close?"

dani knew sandy was just trying to make small talk. maybe the dislike of silence was a family trait. dylan was never quiet, he always had a joke to ease the tension in every situation.

"we have to be close, we're all we've got."

it was a low blow and dani knew it. she didn't want to start whatever she had with sandy off on the wrong foot, especially after reassuring her earlier that they didn't resent her.

she tried to mask the shakiness of her voice when she spoke again.

"i'm sorry, that was uncalled for, i'm just- just nervous. and tired. and a little high-strung i guess."

sandy knew that, she knew she was rolling the dice when she tried to strike up a conversation as danielle's brother laid unconscious on top of her.

"i'm sorry, it's my fault for being insensitive, i just get nervous in these situations too and..."

dani cut her off, "it's okay, really. i think we're all a little nervous." she chuckled, and made brief eye contact with cate through the rear view mirror. "dylan and i are extremely close, he's my best friend. we do everything together and we always have, when i wanted to take dance classes we both did. when he wanted to learn to race cars, we both did. i don't know what i would do without him."

sandy was getting teary-eyed. their relationship was everything she had hoped for and more, and she felt awful that part of the reason for their closeness was the lack of other people in their lives. at least what danielle had shared about dancing and race-car driving alluded to some sense of normalcy in their childhood. now she needed to find out where it all went wrong.

just as sandy was about to ask danielle to elaborate, the car pulled to a stop at the hospital doors.

just as mike had promised, there wasn't a paparazzi camera in sight. better yet, there wasn't a single person other than some hospital staff that ran out to meet them.

"i gotta give mike a hell of a christmas bonus." she muttered to cate, thinking not only of this but of everything he had done for her and cate's relationship, and everything he'd have to do in the future if the kids decided to stay with her. but she couldn't think that far ahead, couldn't get her hopes up, not yet.

they had gotten out of the car, dani and a nurse helping dylan on to a stretcher.

"i'll park the car and meet you inside." cate said as she got back in the vehicle.

what would sandy do without cate.

she turned around to see danielle speaking frantically to a doctor, who seemed to be insisting that she get in a wheelchair.

"i'm fine, really! it's just him, i'm okay-"

the doctor had finally noticed sandy.

"ma'am, is this your daughter?"

both sandy and danielle stopped dead in their tracks, making brief eye contact with each other before dani quickly moved to look at the floor.

"she's- um, i'm her adult supervision right now lets leave it at that. what's the matter?"

"ma'am she's ghostly pale, appears to be malnourished, and appears to be limping. i would really prefer it if she would let us use a wheelchair."

sandy looked at danielle under the harsh lighting of hospital entryway. she hadn't noticed the limp before in their move from the living room to the car, and the bags under her eyes and the sharpness of her collarbone seemed more prominent now.

"sit down danielle."

"sand-"

"nope, sit down."

with danielle in a wheelchair being pushed by a nurse, following dylan's stretcher, sandy's  newly reconnected, mildly dysfunctional family made their way into the hospital.

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chapter 4 - 1280 words !