"R-Riley, is everything alright?" Lily's timid words took her big sister out of her daze, Riley shuddering a bit from the memories she recalled before pulling the kit into a closer embrace with her one working arm.

"Y-yeah, j-just... bleh, wish I didn't remember, heh." Riley's light tone elevated the mood, Lily chuckling a bit in response before deepening her hug.

"W-we were so scared..." The younger sister whispered as she nuzzled the older one, god it felt so good to hold her again.

"S-so was I, but i-it's gonna be alright s-sis, I promise." Her voice sounded hoarse, all the speaking made her throat ache from disuse, making her speak up in the direction of the doctor she assumed was still there-

"C-can I get some water?"

"Of course." The older man responded, Riley hearing running water followed by steps in her direction, Lily scuttling a bit further away as the doctor pressed the cup into Riley's hand.

She almost emptied it in one long gulp, shuddering at how wonderfully good it felt to finally hydrate her throat once more.

Afterwards she tried to move her arm in the direction of the night table she assumed was there, unfortunately missing it by a couple feet before Lily took the cup from her hand, the annoyance pushing itself to the forefront of her mind-

"W-why a-am I blindfolded?"

"We had to rinse your eyes out as part of initial decontamination, and the chemical we use for it is sadly UV sensitive, so until your eyes finish flushing it away, they have to be shielded from light. By tomorrow morning we should be ready to take the dressings off." The doctor explained clinically, Riley shaking as she realized what she was being decontaminated from, a sensation of somewhere between awkwardness and nausea filling her as she tried to imagine the scene.

"W-what about t-the rest of th-these..." She moved her good hand around her body, touching the casts and bandages she could feel.

"The brace under your chest will help your broken ribs heal, the neck brace is for pain after the impact to the side of the face, and the hand cast is for the broken wrist, and is the one that will probably have to stay on for the longest." Riley listened calmly to the doctor's words, subconsciously nodding along. She tried to get a feel of her hand as he mentioned the cast, and regretted it immediately, the sharp pain making her wince audibly.

"I advise not moving your right hand for a while. Out of all your injuries it's the one I'm concerned about the most, since some nerve damage has occurred, and you will most likely require physical therapy to regain its full utility."

That... did not sound good in the slightest.

"But I w-will be able t-to use it, right?" Riley asked nervously, Lily noticing the tension and sliding closer in the meantime, wrapping her arms around her big sis.

"Definitely, it may take a while, but you'll certainly regain full functionality. And that's the worst of it, while the rest of your injuries did require intense care and a couple surgeries, you're past them now, and assuming no further complications all there's left to do is rest and heal."

The words got a shared sigh of relief out of both sisters, Riley pulling Lily that much closer in with her good hand and nuzzling her cheek, the atmosphere lightening significantly.

Especially after the younger sister not managing to hold in a lil' yawn, Riley giggling in response as she reached to scritch her head-

"See, told you it's gonna be alright."

Loud steps from outside the room interrupted Lily before she even had a chance to respond, door to Riley's room opening soon after, followed by a very annoyed sounding Rick-

"Lily, why didn't you take your phone with your-" Before being cut off suddenly, Riley hearing the tiniest of gasps that followed his words, responding in confusion-

"Dad?"

For a long while nobody said anything, and with Lily having been jolted back onto her feet by Rick's arrival, Riley didn't exactly had much of an idea of what was happening in her vicinity.

She really disliked that feeling.

"What's going on?" Her follow-up question at least seemed to have some effect, her ears catching a few very quiet steps, both towards and away from her, which didn't clarify anything on their own, but combined with the cold that emanated from her right and light shuffling sounds it let her paint an uncertain mental scene.

And she wasn't sure if she liked it.

"Rick?" She asked softly to the side where the cold emanated from, a couple of light sniffles only adding more confusion to the pot.

She heard him take a breath and then another, the grown man unable to force out any words for a good while before finally breaking down-

"R-R-Riley, I-I a-am s-so s-s-sorry I-I-I-" He sounded so messed up, the cracking in his voice creeping Riley out before all the intense, overwhelming sadness and regret came through, the girl's expression shifting to concern as she cut him off-

"Y-you've literally nothing to be sorry for dad, what's wrong?" She pushed back at his despair, raising her tone.

"I-I-I-I c-c-couldn't p-p-pr-"

"You- you saved my life!" Riley snapped back, feeling him lean back in response, nervousness only further intensifying in his voice-

"I-I-I'm s-sor-"

That was enough for her.

With a painful grunt she shifted herself closer to his side of the bed, chest aching as she twisted herself to reach her arm behind where she thought he was and pull him in closer, as close as she could.

"Shut the fuck up Rick. I'm fine, I'm glad to see you, and you didn't do anything wrong, understood?" Riley's voice was pointed and deliberate, her good arm exerting itself as it held her dad as closely as she could manage in her exhaustion, quick 'No's cutting him off whenever he tried to speak up in protest.

And fortunately, he finally got the message a few tries later, his body slowly relaxing as he extended his arms in return, gently wrapping them around Riley and calming down, the girl softly smiling in response and whispering out-

"I love you so much dad."

They rested in their embrace for a few moments longer, Rick responding equally quietly before slowly lifting himself up-

"I love you too Riley, so much. B-before we let you sleep, guess we should give the good news to everyone else eh?" He spoke with a soft chuckle, voice still wavering a bit, but no longer outright panicking, followed up by a few audible beeps before he spoke again-

"Hey sweetie? Y-yes, I'm at the hospital- y-yes, Lily's alright, guess she was taking a walk at the time or something- yes, we're heading home soon-" At which point Riley felt a slight tap on her shoulder, followed by the phone being pressed into her hand, letting out the quietest chuckle as she realized Rick's plan, hearing Ella's words as she obliviously continued her response-

"-ably be fine, we have some potatoes left and can fix something up with them. Any updates on Riley?" Her tone was tired and dejected, especially the last part which in particular sounded like she was just waiting for something in the vein of 'she's fine, no changes'.

After suppressing a giggle, Riley responded softly, hardly able to hide the laughter in her voice-

"Oh, she's doing alright."

Riley had never listened more intently to anything in her life than to Ella's response in this second and a half before she almost shouted back-

"RILEY!?"

Ouch, shouldn't have held the phone so close to her head.

"In flesh and bandages." She answered with a quip, the surprised happiness in her mom's response making her voice soften as she followed up moments later-

"Hey mom. I'm- I'm so happy to hear you again."

"Goodness sweetie, I-I'm-" She couldn't even finish her sentence, trailing off into an elated squeak that made her daughter burst into giggles despite the complaints from her chest-

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"I love you too mom, haha."

"Oh sweetie, I-I- god, I wish I was there; you wouldn't get me off of you, h-heh..." Riley could fear her voice tremble in sheer excitement, and definitely wished for the same thing right now, never enough soft hugs...

"Maybe y-you can all visit tomorrow?" Riley brought up, a soft yawn trailing her words underlining just how late it already was.

"Oh there is no force in hell that would've made us NOT visit, hah. Wanna talk a bit with the boys before I let you go?"

"Definitely. Something tells me they could both use the good news." She took a deep breath as her mom stopped talking, muted steps making her giddy in anticipation.

She heard a soft creak of a door opening, followed up by Ella's very quiet 'sweetie?' and some even more muted speech-like noises from further away, before her mom spoke again in the background-

"So, dad has something to tell you about Riley, she's getting better!"

The resultant squeak was most definitely Timmy's, and so were the quick taps of his steps as he ran up to his mom, a wide smile creeping up on Riley's face as she heard him ask excitedly-

"Dad, is Riley better now!?"

"Oh, she defini-"

"RILEY RILEY RILEY!" The tyke cut her off before she had even finished her sentence, the adorableness of it all making her join in on the fun-

"TIMMY TIMMY TIMMY!"

And after they had both calmed down from their respective laughs, her lil' bro could finally respond-

"Riley you're alright I'm so happy! Can we come see you tomorrow please please please?" He was almost squeaking by now, many tippy taps clearly audible in the background.

"Of course! Goodness I can't wait to see you all again, haha..." She chuckled weakly, the string of 'YAY!'s that followed in response only widening her smile even further.

She reached out to take a sip from the cup on the bedside table, throat aching a fair bit from the continued chatter, before his follow up made her really regret it-

"Do you still stink?"

Oh you, Timmy.

Not like Ella was any better here, the innocent question making her laugh hysterically in the background.

After calming her throat down from the choking cough it had just been subjected to, she could finally respond-

"No Timmy, I very much don't anymore!" Her tone amused, with the tiniest hint of embarrassment to go along with it.

"Oh that's good. You stunk really bad!"

Don't need to be reminded of that.

"Yeah yeah yeah, so funny. Could you pass the phone to Andy so he knows too?" She couldn't even pretend to be grumpy here but was more so afraid that one more comment like that would make her embarrassed blush burn off the bandages on the side of her head.

"Yes yes yes!" She heard him run out of his room much to the ongoing amusement of Ella, her heavier steps following Timmy's before they seemingly both knocked on Andrew's door simultaneously, anxiously awaiting a response.

After a long moment of nothing happening, Riley's excitement shifted into concern, the girl listening intently as Ella knocked on the door once more, asking slowly, a hint of dread in her voice-

"Andrew?"

All three listened closely, a freezing cold fear creeping up on Riley before a sound of a lock being open broke through it, followed up by a very quiet, heartbroken voice-

"Y-y-yes mom?"

She heard the phone being passed over and Andrew's shallow breath that followed, speaking up loud and clear-

"Andrew, I'm here, I'm alright, how are you doing?" Her tone ended up firmer than she intended it to sound, certainly not expecting her brother to... break down into sobs, some additional sounds of shuffling and thumping only muddling the scene more as she listened to him cry.

Soon he was joined by Ella trying to calm him down with very quiet 'shhhh's, and Timmy's confused question, his voice deflated-

"Andy, w-why are you crying?"

The big bro's shaky sniffs quieted out over the next few moments as his breathing deepened out, Andrew taking a while before finally speaking up-

"R-Riley... g-g-goodness I-I-I w-was so s-scared..." He whimpered out, followed by a couple of more shaky sobs, his sister really wishing she was there to hold him.

"I understand A-Andy, but it's all fine now, I-I promise. Everything's g-gonna be alright, okay?" She said softly, trying to calm down her brother as much as herself.

"M-m-mhmm. I-I'm s-sorry f-for-" She wasn't listening to any of this again, her hand gripping the phone tightly as she cut him off-

"No. Don't be sorry for anything Andrew, it's all fine now." Riley responded firmly, her tone leaving no room for disagreement.

Doesn't mean Andrew didn't try, however-

"B-b-but-"

"No buts, please. I know how scary it all was, a-and still is, b-but please d-don't blame yourself f-for anything, alright? I-it's all gonna be fine, I promise." She pleaded with him, his painful squeak in response giving her a nasty feeling that something more was at play here than she could hear, but she decided not to push it.

Riley listened to Andrew slowly calm down from his painful sadness, eventually hearing him 'mhm' in response, following with a couple more sniffs and a few quiet words-

"I... th-thank you sis." Gratitude dripped from his voice, his words followed up with more shuffling sounds, the breaths that made up the background ambiance growing louder.

"You're welcome Andrew. Now get some sleep, h-heh..." Riley responded softly, the tension leaving her system leaving her suddenly very tired.

"I-I will sis, w-we all will, and so sh-should you."

"Oh I'm falling asleep already, j-just hoping I can last until the end of this call haha." She focused as hard as she could on Andrew's words to not doze off yet, hearing only a faint giggle and his parting sentence before loud beeps informed her it was over-

"Not g-gonna force you awake for any l-longer then, Sleep well Riley!" He didn't even let her say her goodbyes before hanging up on her, a moment of confusion turning into soft laughter as Riley lifted the phone up in the air to return it to Rick, adding something herself once he took it back-

"If they're still awake when you get home, tell them I said, 'Sleep well'."

She heard him chuckle faintly, followed by a few steps around the room and a brief sound of exertion before he responded-

"I will Riley. Sleep well yourself sweetie."

As he was about to leave, Riley heard Lily mumble something out from where he was standing, her dad gently lowering her younger sister down onto her feet before she heard quieter steps staggering over to her bedside, followed by a gentle hug.

"T-take care Riley, al-*yawn*?" Lily's voice was sleepy and dazed, her big sister holding her in closer and nuzzling her on the cheek a bit before responding-

"I will Lily. Sleep well sweetie, you could definitely use it, teehee."

And a handful of louder and quieter steps later they were gone, the doctor that had stayed behind asking quietly-

"Do you need anything before I leave you for the night Riley?"

She thought for a moment as she struggled not to fall asleep quite yet, before reaching over for the cup of water-

"S-some more water please."

And with the cup refilled, the doctor turned off the lights and left the room, the sudden darkness forcing her asleep before she even had a chance to take a sip.

***

Despite her injuries, Riley slept better than she had in days, light muted by the window blinds and her bandages letting her sleep for as long as she wanted to undisturbed, the girl gradually waking up on her own.

Not too long afterwards she heard someone enter her room, lifting her arm a bit to make it clear she was awake now.

The movement definitely got a surprised noise out of the nurse, who quickly collected herself before continuing-

"Oh goodness, you're awake. Did you only wake up this morning? My chart didn't mention any changes with you."

"N-no, yesterday, but I g-guess it was already quite late by then." Riley answered calmly, the nurse letting out a loud 'Oh!' before responding-

"Oh, so it was you I heard about this morning, didn't put two and two together earlier it seems. I don't have breakfast with me but I'll grab it for you soon, now I'll just take care of your dressings, alright?" She spoke matter-of-factly as she walked up to Riley's bed, stopping and waiting before doing anything more.

"Y-yeah, sure." Not like Riley had much of a choice here, leaning back on her bed and pulling both arms from under the covers.

The nurse wordlessly went through the bandages that needed to be taken care of, the occasional stinging of the wounds being cleaned or exposed to air making Riley wince slightly before they were patched back up.

Afterwards, she heard a drawer being slid open next to her and something pulled out, followed by the nurse walking over to her right arm and injecting something into... something she couldn't either see or feel, the action confusing her for an instant before she felt a wave of warmth spread over her body, getting rid of aching that she'd since tuned out as she slept, making her feel so refreshed.

The nurse chuckled at her quiet moan in response to the healing warmth before taking a moment to speak up-

"Alright, I'm gonna remove your eye bandage now. It'll probably take a while to adjust to the light afterwards and for all the stinging to fully subside, no harm in keeping your eyes closed until then."

Riley nodded approvingly, trying to keep herself still at feeling the nurse's paws on her head as she took off the wrappings, the pressure on her eyelids being lifted soon after, the darkness lighting up a bit.

"Alright, took them off. I'm gonna grab your breakfast now while you try to get used to the light, aight?" The nurse didn't wait for an answer, leaving her room soon after, and Riley alone in it.

Opening eyes, attempt on-

Ow ow ow ow that stung something nasty, Riley regretting ever thinking of seeing again, covering her eyes with her left arm in response.

Attempt two?

Still unpleasant, but she did manage to lift her eyelids halfway though, even if all she could see was the palm of her hand.

Progress.

After blinking some of the burning away, she slowly slid her arm out of in front of her, unpleasant prickling making her tear up a bit as she finally took in the room she spent the last couple of days in.

There wasn't really that much to see, whiteness dominating her blurry sight as she looked around. White, sterile walls, white door to her right, white bandages on her arm, surprisingly green covers and window blinds, almost the whole rainbow in here.

The sight of all the tubes coming out of the fancy thingie in her cast made her briefly confused before seeing the IV and blood bags attached to it, the sight of so much of the dark red liquid making her just a teensy bit queasy, motivating her to give her eyes a bit of a rest.

Sadly, it was not to be, her door opening soon after, the nurse walking in with a small gray tray, Riley's eyes forcing themselves shut before she could see her slide the overbed table over.

"Don't push yourself too hard, your eyes will feel better sooner or later, no need to strain them." The nurse advised as she set the tray down, setting the utensils straight before dusting off her paws.

A lil' glimpse later Riley had determined the contents of the tray to consist of some mildly appealing toast and even less mildly appealing scrambled eggs, the smells suggesting them to be completely unseasoned.

And another plastic cup of water.

Seeing no point in waiting for the nurse to leave, Riley winced painfully before remembering to use her left hand for a while, her grip on the fork so shaky she had doubts as to whether any of the white-yellow mass would actually make it into her mouth.

A few minutes of slow shoveling later, Riley realized the nurse hadn't actually left her room, making her look up at her with tearing eyes, unspoken question answered as the nurse spoke up with a detached tone-

"Just waiting for you to finish so that I can take your tray away and let the guys outside in."

Riley couldn't help but smile in response, happy to hear that they were here already, looking forwards to finally seeing, well, everyone again.

"Dunno if I'd be as excited in your place..." The nurse muttered out quietly, her tone unusually doubtful.

"Why so?" Riley snapped right back, confusion grinding her brain to a halt. She briefly considered the possibility that the nurse was being a shitty human, but a quick glance at her rust-colored fur scrapped that hypothesis, before her follow-up answered all the questions the wrong way-

"Cops would be the last thing I'd want to see come in if I was lying in a hospital bed."