“Has she been here the whole time?” Aiden asked, close on Spencer’s heels.

“What are you doing?” Spencer whipped around and put up her hand to stop him.  “You can’t follow me. I’m going to the bathroom.”

“Well, you can’t leave me with her.”  He looked back at the waiting room where Ashley sat flipping through a magazine.

“Don’t be such a baby,” Spencer said, irritated.  “You’re her bodyguard.  It’s not like you two haven’t been alone together before.”

“Yeah, but this is different.  I’m not on duty right now.  She may want to make small talk or something.”

“And that’s a problem because?” Spencer asked, resuming her walk to the hospital restroom.

“It’s just weird,” Aiden said. “What is she doing here anyway?”

Spencer stopped at the bathroom door and faced him. “She’s the one who drove me here yesterday.”

“And she’s still here because…?”

“I don’t know Aiden,” Spencer threw her hands up in frustration.  “Maybe, she’s just trying to be helpful.”

“Or maybe,” Aiden said, looking thoughtfully, “she’s checking up on you.  Making sure you’re actually here and not just ditching work.”

Spencer rolled her eyes.  “Don’t follow,” she said sternly, walking into the bathroom and allowing the door to swing shut in Aiden’s face.

Once inside, she leaned back against the bathroom wall, closed her eyes and took several deep breaths.  “Pull it together, Spencer,” she told herself.  “Just calm down and pull it together.” She had to fight the desire to punch the bathroom wall, afraid she might add to her problems by actually doing damage to her hand. 

She and Ashley had arrived at the hospital yesterday afternoon to find Sammy in the intensive care unit.  Spencer wasn’t a medical professional but she could remember everything the doctors told her about her daughter’s condition.  She was used to the swollen joints and the rashes but now Sammy was having problems with her heart and lungs.  The lupus had caused them to swell, making it difficult for the little girl to breathe.  The doctors had called it one of the most aggressive cases of lupus they’d ever seen in a child.  They’d said it as if they were excited at the idea of poking and prodding her little girl for some groundbreaking research.