I held her hand for what seemed like hours but was probably fifteen minutes. I was so nervous, scared, worried, and sick all at once. I knew being there was important, but I felt to my core that there was more that I could be doing. I just did not know what. I looked over at mom, and she was sleeping soundly. I really wanted to wake her and talk with her. I wanted to ask her all sorts of questions. I just wanted her. I willed her to open her eyes and look at me. Nothing happened. She kept sleeping, and I kept holding Gran's hands. I stayed like that for about two hours. I stayed as long as I could until I could wait no longer. I stood up and walked to the nurses' stations, and I asked what happened to Gran. Annie came up from behind me and put her hand on my shoulder and said to me, "Come on, Claire, let's go for a cup of coffee, and we can talk." I thanked the nurses at the station, and I followed Annie. She stopped briefly at Gran's room, and she put a blanket on mum and tucked her in, and she briefly checked grans vitals and made sure everything was ship-shape. We walked back past the nurses' station, and she said, "Keep an eye on 212 for me while I am gone on break," they said almost in unison. "Ok, Annie."

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