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“You’re really going to stay?”

“Would you if it were me?”

“Without hesitation,” Elle said.

“Exactly,” Gia said, kissing the top of Elle’s head. “I’ve gotyou. You’re not alone.”

The rest of the evening was quiet. Elle was allowed ten minutesevery hour to visit Holly, which she shared with Dash, who mainly stared at thewall and flipped through magazines. Gia stayed close, offering Elle her hand tohold, and made a point to keep their supply of coffee and snacks intact.Somehow having a job made her feel useful. She walked down to check on Autumnevery hour or so as well. Isabel and Hadley were adorably snuggled into eachother like kittens at her three a.m. check-in.

“I can’t believe you guys stayed,” Kate said, standing in theentryway of the waiting room. She’d spent most of the night at Autumn’s sidebut looked in on them occasionally. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Yes, we did,” Gia said, quietly so as not to wake the others.

Kate smiled. “I guess you did. You guys are such great friends.Truly.”

“Any updates?”

She nodded. “The medication seems to be having a positive effect.Autumn’s blood pressure is up a bit. Everyone says this a great sign. We’lllikely go home mid-morning, once the doctor weighs in.”

Gia grinned and placed a hand over her heart. “Best news ever.”

“And Elle’s friend? How is she?”

“Hard to say. She’s still sedated and the doctor won’t be by untilmorning. Elle’s a wreck.”

“I can relate. Tell her we’re thinking about her.”

“Will do. Thanks, Kate.”

When nine a.m. hit and there was no word from Holly’s doctor, Elleturned to Gia. “If I had only been a little faster.”

“Could you have been?” Gia asked the question not because she wascurious, but to make a point.

Elle thought on it and finally shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“Me neither. And if it had been anyone else out there with herwhen this awful accident happened, she likely wouldn’t be here anymore. She wasso lucky you were the one there.”

“Yeah,” she said, with only slight commitment.

“I’m serious. With your swimming skills, your knowledge of theequipment, and your speed? She won the rescuer lottery.”

“I hadn’t actually thought of it that way.” Elle seemed toruminate on the comment before going quiet again. She still wore the scrubs thehospital had supplied her, but she now also wore Gia’s maroon hoodie becausethe waiting room was cold. Elle had snuggled into it almost immediately afterGia offered it, as if the simple garment were a valuable security blanket, herhands disappearing beneath the sleeves.

“You should keep that,” Gia told her hours later.

“Thank you,” Elle said, snuggling into it further. “If it’s okaywith you, I would like that.”

The automatic doors that separated intensive care from the waitingroom opened just before ten, and a male doctor with an iPad emerged. “For HollySinclair?”

Elle and Dash, who had just briefly fallen asleep, sat upright.“Over here,” Elle said.

The doctor took a seat in the chair across from them and offered awarm smile. That had to be a decent sign, right? “I’m Dr. Kulka. I believe wemet briefly yesterday. Let me tell you where we’re at.” They nodded and satforward. Elle squeezed Gia’s hand extra tight as the doctor turned the iPadaround to show them the images from the MRI. “This is all looking verypromising. I’m not seeing any of the standard warning signs on the gray matterstructures of the brain. Everything is actually looking quite clear on thescan. Because of that, I’m not anticipating any long-lasting effects from theaccident.” Elle exhaled in relief. Dash smiled widely and began nodding.“Though it’s possible Ms. Sinclair could experience some minor difficulties.”

“What kind?” Dash asked. He and Elle exchanged a glance.

“For a while, there may be some short-term memory obstacles, butthose will most likely resolve themselves over the next month or two. She’llalso need to continue respiratory therapy to get her lungs back in shape. Infact, we’ll have a therapist with her as early as today to get started.”

Elle and Dash exchanged a hug. “We can deal with those things,”Dash said.