Studio 22 | Mary-Kate Olsen

Chapter Seventy-One

June 25th 2024 - New York City - The Sinclairs Brownstone

I was laid on Blues bed with her, she had not long gotten home from physical therapy and it wiped her out. I've been running my hand through her hair for almost two hours now whilst she slept. I didn't want to wake her up by stopping. Her head was lent on my shoulder slightly, it felt nice having her this close again.

"How is she?" Isobel asked as she looked into the room. "Still sleeping." I say quietly. Isobel has checked in every 20 minutes since Blue has gotten home. I now understand why Blue gets slightly frustrated with it. But her mami is just scared. She almost lost her. We all did. There was a point where I didn't think I'd get to see her again or see her or hold her. I get it but her parents need to understand that she's capable of a lot more than she was a few weeks ago. "She seems okay though?" "Yeah." I say, still running my hand through her soft curls. "Okay," She smiled before leaving us be. Her parents hover a lot when I'm here. More so than they normally would according to Blue and she gets frustrated over it so quickly.

I continued to play with her hair whilst she slept for another 20 minutes, her mum came in and checked in once more. Asking if I wanted anything. I politely declined not wanting to move to wake Blue, she needed her rest. She didn't sleep much longer though, immediately smiling at me when she saw me. It was her lazy morning smile that I haven't seen in a while, not having the pleasure to wake up next to her in a while. "You st-ayed." She says quietly her vice husked from sleep. "Of course I did." I brushed her hair off of her face, tucking it behind her ear. "How you feeling?" I asked her. "Sore... But o-kay." "Good."

I've been nervous for her to wake up. We were going to spend the day together, she had physical therapy which I took her to and then we got a late lunch on the way home and she completely crashed when we got home. But I wanted to take her out. Not on a date or anything. Just to Ashley's. I want her to meet Jude. She asks to see pictures and videos every time I'm with her, she's invested in his life but she's just too scared to meet him. And Ashley has been asking to see her. Blue is worried Ashley is mad at her and she was at first but she's mature enough to understand the pressure blue was under, she was trying to protect me in her own way. It wasn't right. But she was doing the only thing she knew would work to get me to leave. Now she was awake she'd ask what I wanted to do. Before her accident we'd go do something active and fun. But since we typically stay home, we would find something to do here.

Right now we were stuck in the loop of just admiring each other. Both of us dying to fall back into our old lives. She cupped my face, her thumb stroking my cheek. It was hard to resist, to let old habits take over once again but we both pulled away when the urge was too much for us. She slowly sat up and I moved to lean against the headboard. "What do y-ou want to do?" She asked me. She has been going to speech therapy a few times a week and it's really helping her. She stutters more when she's flustered or uncomfortable but we me, she can sometimes get through whole sentences without stuttering. I was so proud of her she's doing everything she can to fight to live her life the way she wants. It's exhausting her but she continues to get up each day. "I was thinking we could go out somewhere today?" I asked her, not meeting her gaze. "Where?" She questioned. "Just a walk." I say casually, trying to hide my lie. I knew exactly where I wanted to take her. "Not a long one. I know you're tired." I assured her. I finally looked up and she was trying to work out what I was up to. "Where?" She repeated. "Hear me out?" I asked her and she sighed. She knew where I was going with this. It wouldn't be the first time I have suggested we visited Jude and Ash. "He's two months, two months you've not seen him once." "I've seen hi-m plenty of times." "Photos don't count." I highlighted to her. "You were so excited to meet Ash's baby before." "I can't." "Why?" "No." She said simply and I sighed loudly. "What is scaring you?" I asked as she picked at a thread on the blanket. She wouldn't look at me and made no attempt to speak up either.