In The Dark

70 - November 10th

Joan's flight had arrived by the late afternoon and she was greeted by Camilla who had organized for a car to pick her up. Knowing Joan would be distraught, Andrea and Pauline had offered to go with Camilla to greet Joan at the airport. The plan had been to go back to the hotel first to drop off Joan's bags, but she wanted to go directly to the hospital, not wanting to wait to see her daughter a moment longer. Camilla offered to take her bags and had the car drop the women off at the hospital where Emma and Simon met them in the admitting area.

"How is she?" Joan whimpered tearfully as Simon led them all to the elevator. A few other people joined them, looking at Emma with awe. Simon cringed and hoped none of them had seen what floor they were going to. The last thing the needed was to have to worry about fans or press sneaking in to catch a glimpse of Melanie or any of the other artists. Joan followed his gaze, realizing he didn't want to say anything in front of the other people. Pauline took her hand and squeezed it, smiling at her supportively to assure Joan she needn't worry.

A few people got off of the elevator, leaving two people who were clearly trying to figure out which floor Emma was getting off on. Simon sighed and pressed the button to take them two floors up from their destination. They got off the elevator, followed by the other two people who were trying to act casual. None of the women questioned Simon as he led them through the hallway of the wrong floor, trying to ditch the people that had followed them. Attempting to be subtle, the two people stopped at the nursing desk and pretended to look at a few brochures, glancing at Emma every few seconds to see where she was going. Simon, Emma, and the mums walked quickly around the corner and ducked into the stairwell.

"Paparazzi?" Andrea asked as they descended the stairs.

"No, I think they were just curious," Simon sighed, leading the way down the stairs. He stopped on their floor and held the door open, letting Emma guide Joan toward Melanie's room.

"She's a bit more lucid today," Simon explained, catching up to Joan and quickly filling her in before she saw her daughter. "The swelling went down a bit overnight. If it stays like it is now she shouldn't need further surgery."

He continued to brief her on Melanie's condition as they walked to the end of the corridor where JP was sitting on chair outside Melanie's room. He stood up and wrapped his arms around Joan to greet her, then opened the door to let her into the room. The lights were off and AJ was sitting on a chair, quietly watching a video on his phone. Brian was up on the bed with Melanie who was asleep with her arm wrapped over his chest. The bed was propped up at an angle so Brian could sit up and see what was going on within the room. He looked exhausted, having not slept more than a few hours since the previous evening. He smiled sadly at Joan and gently stroked Melanie's cheek to try to wake her.

"Let her sleep," Joan whimpered, approaching the bed and taking in the state of her daughter. Brian quietly motioned for her to come around to his side of the bed and he gently lifted Melanie's arm off of himself so he could get up.

"Will I frighten her?" Joan squeaked, hesitantly sitting on the edge of the bed and setting her hand on Melanie's arm. Brian shook his head and stepped back to give Joan space.

"She's been asking for you," he whispered. "You can wake her. The nurses are coming to check on her soon anyway." He looked at his watch, then at Joan as she motioned for him to come close. She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly and thanking him for watching over Melanie. He clenched his teeth, trying not to break down, and said nothing, merely nodding his head to acknowledge her. She let him go and looked back at Melanie, shifting herself closer to her daughter and gently stroking Melanie's arm.

"Wake up, darling," she said softly. "Mummy's here now."

It took a bit of encouragement, but Melanie slowly began to rouse, her eyes opening slightly. She didn't realize her mum was with her right away. She looked around the room with confusion, then slowly looked up at her mum.