Ethereal Beings

Chapter Five: Crescent Moon

"Oh my god, sweetie, are you okay?" Nancy woke to the sound of her mother's panicked voice. The clinical setting of the hospital made Nancy feel uncomfortable, and the bright lights render her dizzy. She winces as she uses her hands and the rails on the side of the hospital bed to push herself upward, so that she is sitting upright.
"Fuck..." She says the word quietly, under her breath in the hopes that her mother doesn't hear – Emile was never the sort for profanity, especially not from her own daughter. In all fairness, Nancy had a right to cuss when considering the circumstances.

"Nancy? Sweetie?" Her mother is staring at Nancy with a puzzled look on her face. It takes a while for Nancy to realise that she hadn't yet responded to her mum.
"Oh... yeah. I'm fine." She moves her hand to rub her forehead and grits her teeth, sucking in air sharply, as her hand begins to throb with pain. "What happened?" She brushes a finger over the stitches in the centre of her left hand.

Her mother takes a deep breath. "Hun, you had a seizure." Emile tries to make the words seem as normal as possible. Nancy remembers her time in the Inbetween and makes the connection, realising that it must have put a lot of strain on her brain. Images of the beautiful woman, and the Gateway, flash before her eyes. She tries to shake it off, pushing them aside and to the back of her mind. "The doctors are still monitoring you to see what happened. They found it unusual that you haven't had a history of seizures or brain activity issues and aren't sure what happened. They told me that this was a severe seizure for a first. If it wasn't for Mr. Girton..." Emile places her head in her hands and begins to cry softly. "You could have died..."

"Mum, I'm fine! I'm still here." She flashes her mum a comforting smile and frowns. The silhouette of a man comes into sight, through the blinds of the private room. The shadow was unmistakably her father. Phillip comes through the door, grinning as he sees his daughter awake and well. He hands Nancy's mother a cup of coffee, clearly from a hospital vending machine, and she thanks him quietly.
"Dad! What happened to staying at Blake's?" Nancy tilted her head to the side.
"You think I wouldn't come to the hospital if my favourite, if not only, daughter landed herself in the emergency department? You're so naive, Nance!" Her father shakes his head, and Nancy can see that there are traces of tears down his cheeks, with more tears filling his eyes. He leans over the rails of the bed to give Nancy a soft hug, trying his best not to hurt her. Nancy wraps her arms around her dad and sighs. "I love you, dad."

Phillip pulls away from his daughter as one of the doctors enters the small room, picking up the clipboard at the end of Nancy's bed and flicking through the pages of notes. "How are we feeling Nancy? I understand that you haven't been conscious for long, and you must be a bit concerned." He briefly pauses to look up from the notes, offering her a small smile, the corners of his mouth turning upward slightly.
"Um, yeah..." She looks down, examining the neat rows of stitches which now defined her hand.
"Well, we've monitored you for the last few days now, and it seems that the seizure was a one-off. Your brain activity is back to normal, and there is no impairment or consequence from the seizure." He sighs, "the hospital is going to discharge you this afternoon." Placing the clipboard back in its place at the foot of the bed, the man turns swiftly before leaving the room.

"A... few days?" Nancy shakes her head. "I've been out for a few days?!" Nancy's voice cracks as the words sink in.
"Nancy, calm down. You heard the doctor, you're fine now! Everything sorted itself out, they treated you and the seizure was just a one-off spike in brain activity." Her father shrugs, taking a sip of his coffee.
"Your father's right, Nance." Emile slips a hand around Phillips waist, and he leans down to plant a kiss on Emile's forehead. "You're fine, and the doctor has just recommended bed rest for the next week or so. And, well... We've decided that your father going to move back in with us. Just to, you know... see how things go."
Her father jumps in, "besides, your mother could use a helping hand, considering how accident prone you are!"