Everything Changes

Aftermath

When Amanda and Olivia made it to the hospital, they were split up almost immediately because one of the pediatric nurses recognized Amanda, and informed her that she was about to call her because Maggie Blue was having a full-on meltdown and wouldn't let anyone go near her except for Frannie Mae, who hadn't strayed far from her side since leaving Central Park.

Amanda longed to go check on her mother, but when Olivia told her that she would go to Bedelia for her and that she should go be a mommy to Maggie Blue, she followed the nurse.

Pediatrics Wing
5:25 pm

Amanda could hear her baby sister's terrified cries all the way down the hallway, and when they reached her room, she saw Fin and Melinda, along with one of the pediatric doctors she remembered as a Doctor Campbell. They were all gathered around Maggie Blue's door, not because they were too scared to go in, but because they were trying to figure out what to do next.

Peeking in, Amanda could see Maggie Blue on the floor in a corner, sobbing her eyes out. Frannie Mae was laying next to her, her head in her lap; she wasn't a therapy dog, but she was very good at calming people down and had used that exact move on Amanda whenever she was depressed and in the middle of a crying jag.

Amanda was proud of her dog, but she still felt very concerned for Maggie Blue.

She turned to the other four, arms crossed over her baby bump. "What the hell happened to my sister?"

Campbell answered, "She freaked out when I told her that she needs a bath so we can clean and bandage her wounds. She also started talking in French, and unfortunately, I don't know it."

Amanda looked back in the room and surveyed it again, taking in just how frightened she was. The detective also noticed something that made her arch her eyebrows at the physician.

"Why are Maggie Blue's shoes on the floor?"

"She threw them at me to make me go away. She's got a wicked aim."

That was from the nurse who had escorted Amanda up to the pediatrics wing, so she turned to her and spotting the name Riley on her name tag, she spoke to her authoritatively.

"Riley, do you have anything like bubbles on this floor at all?"

Riley was taken aback by the question, but she nodded. "Over in the prize bin, by reception."

"Please do me a favor and grab the first container you see. Be quick about it."

Riley nodded in understanding and set off at a jog to accomplish her delegated task.
"Amanda, I speak French, but Maggie Blue was too freaked out to consider even talking to me. She even rebuffed Fin." Melinda said suddenly. "Are you hoping to use the bubbles as a distraction?"

"If not for her, then at least for Frannie so I can separate them. Frannie is powerless to resist bubbles of any kind."

Campbell spoke to Amanda. "Whose dog is that? She growled at Riley and myself when we approached; she's guarding your sister."

"Frannie Mae is mine." Amanda shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "My mom and Maggie Blue were borrowing her today. Frannie is very protective of small children and babies; it's just who she is."

"Well, that's good to know. As long as she stays with your sister, I'll make sure nothing happens to her."

Amanda breathed a sigh of relief, thanked her and changed the subject. "I'm sure you've noticed my sister's hearing aids by now?"

"Indeed. How deaf is she without them?"

"According to our mother, ninety-five percent. Maggie Blue already has a speech delay and she signs when she can't think of what to say; has she started that yet?"