Uswnt car crash

Part 8

11:00 am

Kelley had gotten back from picking Ali and Ashlynn up at the hospital about an hour ago. The five women sat in Mal's room on the couch and the chairs surrounding her bed lightly chatting. Christen sat in her usual spot close to the bed, holding tightly to Mal's hand and Ali sat opposite stroking the girls hair behind her ear. It was then that Christen felt one of Mal's fingers move.

"Guys she just moved a finger!" Christen exclaimed. Tobin, Ashlynn, and Kelley all stood up now and made their way to the end of the bed. Christen started gently rubbing her uninjured arm before saying soothing words to wake the girl up. They were met with a groan before her eyes started to flutter open. They opened a tiny bit before closing again. She was coming out of a deep sleep and was still very tired.

"Christen" were the only words out of the girls mouth before they heard another painful groan.

"Hey- hey we're all right here. Take a sip a water" Christen said before holding the straw to Mal's mouth. The girl took a small sip before showing a painful grimace.

"Good job" Ali praised the girl.

"What happened?" The girl asked very confused and still out of it.

"We were in a car accident remember? You broke your collar bone and hip and had a compressed spine. They took you into surgery to fix it all but took you back in a couple hours ago because you had some internal bleeding. They had to remove your appendix" Tobin explained gently, not wanting to overwhelm the girl.

"Is it true? Did- Dansby?" The girl asked unable to finish the question. Deep down Mal knew but she just needed to know she wasn't going crazy.

"Mal, Dansby didn't make it" Christen said knowing the pain this would cause Mal. Mal nodded her head once before a quiet sob was let out. Kelley, Tobin, and Ashlynn decided they would give the girl a little bit of peace. They went to inform the nurse that she awake. Meanwhile, Ali and Christen did their best to soothe the girl. The crying only made her feel worse. Eventually, Christen climbed into the bed next to the younger girl and held her close, careful not to further injure the girl. Ali sat gently rubbing the girls upper back.