"Psst, Brian," I heard Leighanne whisper as she poked her head in the door of my hospital room and motioned to my brother, "Is she up for visitors?"

Brian glanced over to where I was laying half asleep and gave me his questioning eyebrows. I smiled, "Of course." I might be exhausted, but the company kept my mind off things.

Brian nodded towards Leighanne and she opened the door carefully as my nephew Baylee walked cautiously into the room. He stood by the door for a minute, obviously apprehensive to come closer until I smiled.

"It's okay Bay, you can come see me if you want."

He looked up at his mom who nodded her approval and then he smiled quickly as he bounded across the room before clamboring carefully into the bed beside. Brian moved quickly to grab him, afraid he might hurt me I guess, but I shook my head as he curled into my arms for a cuddle. I needed it after all... and it felt good to have somebody to hold instead of somebody holding me for a change.

I snuggled Baylee against my chest and dipped my nose into his curly blond hair. He smelled good and felt soft... like a baby... sigh. He looked up and gave me a sweet smile.

"I missed you Auntie Grace."

"I missed you too Bay-Bug."

"Are you feeling all better yet?"

I nodded and wrinkled my nose up at him, "I do now that you're here."

He laughed and wrapped his arms tightly around my neck. I wished for a minute that I could keep him forever. He could remind me how many good things I had to live for. We sat and talked for a long time about tv shows and pre-school. He sang me one of his new Sunday school songs and we sang some of "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" together. We cuddled together for a little while... a wonderful distraction if only for a moment.

About 30 minutes into our visit there was a knock on the door and my doctor walked in. I knew the party was over. She walked to my side of the bed and sat down in the chair as all eyes in the room focused on the two of us. She turned to the group around me and asked if we could have a few minutes alone. Brian glanced at me and I nodded back, giving Baylee a kiss on the cheek as his father scooped him up off the bed and lifted him to his shoulders.

"Time to go Bee," he crooned, as he leaned down and kissed the top of my head, "We'll be down in the cafeteria if you need us for anything okay?"

I nodded and told them goodbye as they left the room, Brian giving me one last supportive wink as he walked out. I turned my attention to my doctor then, her concerned expression made me incredibly uneasy.

Nick gave a huge sigh of relief as he steered the car off I-75 onto Paris Pike, the last turn into the Lexington. He felt as if they'd been driving forever, his nerves completely shot. AJ sat next to him, map in hand as he hollered out instructions Nick didn't even need and flicked cigarette ashes out the open window.

"So the hospital's like how far from here?" He asked as he turned the map one direction and then flipped it the other.

"Uh.. it's like 15 or 20 minutes from here depending on traffic," Nick mumbled as he stopped at the red light and waited for traffic to pass. He'd made the trip enough times over the past month that he could probably do it blindfolded.

He turned at the first break in traffic and eased into the turning lane so he could pull into the first gas station they came to. He had no desire to stop for gas now... in fact, it was the last thing he wanted to do considering the past two hours he'd struggled with an agonizing need to get to the hospital as fast as humanly possible... but he knew running out of gas would get him nowhere. He hopped from his car into the practically empty parking lot and went to work on filling the gas tank as quickly as he could.

AJ hopped out of the passenger side and headed into the gas station. The man at the counter gave him a double take before turning to ring up the customer he'd already been waiting on. AJ wondered silently if the look was from recognition... or from suspicion of his tattoos. He made his way through the small store, grabbing a couple of waters from the back cooler before returning to the desk to pay. As he stood at the counter his cellphone rang.

"Mclean," he stated, answering the phone with one hand and handing the cashier a twenty with the other.

"AJ?" a voice on the other end came through weakly.

"Howie? Is that you?"

"Hey Aje... yeah it's me. Where are you guys?" Howie's voice sounded distant... tired. That concerned AJ more than he liked to admit.

"We just got off the interstate man... should be there really shortly. How's Grace?" AJ asked the question, sensing that Howie wasn't just calling for the small talk.

"Just get here as soon as you can... alright man?"

"Alright D."

AJ hung up the phone and accepted his change from the cashier, ignoring his questions of "Hey now, aren't you that one guy from that boy band that one time?" as he hurried back out to the car to find Nick already buckled in and ready to go.