“Shane stop.”

They had made their way along the corridors in silence, both nervous and scared for what they were about to see.  They had just been about to enter the intensive care unit when Dana spoke.

“What’s up?”

“I’m walking from here and you’re not stopping me.”

“Ok ok.” Shane held her hands up in surrender and helped Dana out of the chair before making their way to the nurses station.

It was a very calm and quiet atmosphere

“Hi, we’re here to see Alice Piezecki. I know Bette’s with her but I’m one of her best friends and Dana here is Alice’s girlfriend.” Shane whispered to the nurse in charge.

She listened intently to Shane’s description of themselves and smiled at Dana.

“It’s fine Ms Porter filled us in, it should be family only and 2 visitors per patient but I think in this case we’ll allow the rules to bend.  I’ll take you to her myself, she’s in room 4.”

The nurse took them along the polished corridor to Alice’s room and turned to face them.

“Alice is very ill and I know you understand this.  She has had major surgery but is doing as well as could be expected.  There are various machines and tubes around her but these are purely as a precautionary  measure and to ensure we monitor her progress closely.  She is breathing independently and her vital signs are very encouraging so try not to be alarmed by what you see.”  The nurse smiled again and placed a comforting hand on Dana’s arm “She’s doing ok.”

Dana and Shane took deep breaths as they made their way into the room, Dana leading the way.

Despite the warning Dana was shocked and scared by the scene that met her. Her beautiful Alice was flat out on a big hospital bed and was connected to two machines which had patterns and numbers on them that Dana didn’t understand.  She had a needle in her right hand that was connected to a large bag of fluid.  As she took a few steps towards the bed she saw a large bandage around Alice’s head but could see that to prepare for surgery they’d had to shave her head.  She had various cuts and bruises on her face and arms.  She was lying on some sort of board that Dana figured was to keep her spine in place.