A Helping Hand

Chapter 33
Friday night when Sydney went to bed, she was happier than she had ever been in her entire life. Of course, she was still concerned about Michael’s health, but she knew he would get better; it would only take a little time. Then, hopefully once he was better, the two of them could begin their lives together.

When she awoke Saturday morning she was feeling similar elation. As a matter of fact, she seriously suspected that she would continue to be that happy for as long as she could foresee from that point forward.

After showering and dressing, she awoke Grace slightly earlier than usual so that they could get to the hospital to see Michael. Surprisingly, Grace wasn’t moody at all despite loosing out on some precious sleep, knowing that she was going to visit her father. “Can we bring Santa with us?” she asked hopefully over breakfast.

“No I don’t think so sweetie,” Sydney laughed softly. “The hospital wouldn’t like that very much. Your dad will just have to wait until he’s home to see Santa.”

“Alright,” Grace sighed sadly. Sydney couldn’t help but smile at this.


Just as visiting hours in the hospital began, Sydney and Grace arrived. They went directly up to Michael’s room and, much to their extreme happiness, found that he was not only awake, but alert, sitting up and watching television. When they walked in, he looked over and smiled at them. “Hey guys,” he said.

“Daddy!” grace shouted as she ran over and jumped up on the bed beside him.

“Look who’s awake,” Sydney smiled at him. “How are ya feeling?”

“Like I’ve got pneumonia,” he said with a slight cough. “No, seriously, I’m feeling better.”

“Glad to hear it,” she said as she walked over and kissed his forehead softly. “Have you talked to the doctor yet today?” Michael shook his head and told her that the doctor was supposed to be in shortly. While they waited they bounced around some television channels and Grace reminded Michael about her card. As Michael looked at it, Grace told him all about the things she had drawn for him, which was amusing for all of them.

When the doctor came in, she checked up on all of Michael’s vital signs. Because of the almost two days of medication, his temperature had fallen a few degrees and was almost back to normal. Also, his chest was much clearer than before, though he was still coughing regularly. After a thorough checkup, the doctor announced that as long as Michael promised to stay in bed at all times and take his medication, he would be released that evening. Of course Michael agreed to this, which made Sydney and Grace very happy.


Sydney and Grace stayed by Michael’s bedside until it was lunchtime. At that point, they said temporary goodbyes but promised to be back by four when, hopefully, they would be able to take Michael with them. They went home and, after getting lunch, Sydney sat with Grace as she did her homework. Grace finished all her homework but a collage she was supposed to make that represented her life. She wanted to work on it with her father when he came home, but Sydney told her that even though Michael was coming home, he still needed his rest. Grace, of course, was not happy with this, but Sydney left her little choice.

After spending an impatient afternoon at home, Sydney and Grace returned to the hospital, where Michael was being prepared to be released. Sydney brought some of Michael’s clothes along with her (since all he arrived at the hospital in were his work coveralls and he certainly could not leave in a hospital gown) and waited with Grace in the hallway while he changed.

“Daddy, why are you in a wheelchair? Did the nee-mona make you not walk?” Grace asked, mispronouncing the name of her father’s illness as they walked (or in Michael’s case, wheeled) towards the elevator.

“No honey, I can walk, but the hospital makes everyone ride out in a wheelchair,” he told her.

“Oh…why?” Grace asked.

“It’s just one of their rules, sweetie,” Sydney told her simply.

Once they were outside the hospital, Sydney assisted Michael out of the wheelchair and into their car even though he insisted he could do it himself. On the way home, they stopped at pharmacy to fill Michael’s medication prescriptions and then at a pizzeria to pick up some dinner. Once they arrived at Sydney’s she helped him from the car once more and put a firm arm around his back to help him upstairs, since he was still rather weak.

“Syd I’m fine,” Michael insisted.

“No, you’re not. You’ve got pneumonia and the last thing we need is you falling down the stairs,” she insisted. He grumbled slightly, which made him cough and Sydney gave him a glare indicating that he was sick and he did not need to cross her. After that, Michael stayed quiet for the remainder of their stair ascent.


“So can I get you anything? Water? Juice? Crackers? Soup?” Sydney listed once Michael was safely tucked into his bed.

“Maybe some water and soup…but sit down first,” he said, pointing to the space in bed beside him. Sydney climbed up on the bed and tucked her legs underneath her so that she was facing him. Michael reached out and took her hands and they exchanged slightly nervous smiles. “About what you said in the hospital…,” Michael began nervously.

“I meant what I said. I love you…I’ve loved you for a while now,” she admitted as she blushed ever so slightly. “I know what you said after Valentine’s Day and I understand it I really do but…I want to be with you now and I don’t want to wait any longer.”

Michael smiled broadly. “I happen to agree on both accounts. I’ve loved you for a while too and I don’t want to wait either. Being sick made me realize that I shouldn’t hold out on the important things because if I wait too long, they might be gone,” he said. Sydney grinned at him and began leaning her face closer to hers, but he leaned back as far as he could. “Syd I’m sick,” he mumbled with his lips closed as tightly as possible yet still allowing him to speak.

“I’ll risk it,” she said before kissing his lips quickly. Then she moved to his cheek, which she gave a much longer kiss before nuzzling her forehead against his. “I can’t wait until you’re better.”

“Me too,” he croaked out before a coughing spell hit him. Sydney quickly left the room and returned a moment later with his water and medication. Then she disappeared once more for a longer time before returning with some chicken soup for him to try and eat.

“Eat this and try to get some rest, okay?” Sydney instructed. Michael nodded and began to sip at his soup gingerly. “Alright, I’ll be up in a little while to check on you, after Grace and I have eaten.”

“’kay,” Michael called after her as she left.

~*~

“I’m glad Daddy’s back,” Grace said to Sydney that night as she was going to sleep.

“Me too,” Sydney smiled at her. “Goodnight little one,” she said, kissing Grace’s forehead. Then, Sydney left Grace’s room and crossed the hall to check on Michael. She found that, thankfully, he was resting peacefully.

As quietly as possible, she cleaned up his soup bowl and took it downstairs. Then, after checking on Santa, she returned upstairs and to her own bedroom to get ready for bed herself. While approaching her own bed that evening, a thought crossed her mind and, instead of climbing beneath the covers, she slipped out of her room and down the hall to Michael’s. At that moment, she was not concerned about catching any germs from him; all she wanted was to sleep beside the man she loved, so she crawled beneath the covers and curled up in a little ball beside him before falling asleep.
 
So Michael decided that it's better not to wait. Good for him! Sydney doesn't care what he does or the fact he relies on her for a place to live. She just wants to be with the man she loves.

Chris
 
Awe That was so sweet. Glad that Michael is okay. I bet that Gracie will be really excited to learn that she will always be living with Sydney now.

texasalias
 
That is so cute what syd just did.
I'm glad Michael is back from the hospital and every thing sees to be going fine.
woooooo
xxx gracie xxx
 
This Sydney is, I think, the most naturally motherly Sydney you've written. She just takes care of people very well, always in a caring way.
She's a great person!
 
Chapter 34
For the next week, Michael continued to recuperate from his pneumonia. Though he was very weak the first few days, he grew progressively stronger and, by Friday night, he was able to eat dinner with Grace and Sydney and even spend the evening downstairs on the couch with them. By that point, his fever was completely gone and his coughing had lessened significantly.

“Daddy, Sydney’s birthday is on Sunday. Are you gonna come with us when we go celebrate?” Grace asked her father Friday evening as they watched television.

“Where are you going to celebrate?” Michael asked his daughter before glancing to Sydney, who was sitting on the other side of Grace.

“Sydney wants to go to the zoo,” Grace told him.

“I’ve gone every year on my birthday ever since I was really young – like five or six. It’s tradition,” she said with a simple shrug.

“So are you gonna come!?” Grace asked.

“I’d love to come, but we’ll have to see sweetie,” Michael told her.

“You don’t want your dad to get sick again,” Sydney warned Grace. “How about we just wait until next weekend to go; I’m sure he can come with us then.”

“But then it won’t be your birthday!” Grace exclaimed with concern.

Sydney smiled and stroked Grace’s hair gently. “That’s okay; it doesn’t matter if we go exactly on my birthday. I don’t mind.”

“Alright it’s your birthday,” Grace said with a shrug in a tone that indicated she did not understand why Sydney changed her plans. Sydney laughed softly before brushing a kiss onto Grace’s head and settling back to watch the rest of the movie on the screen in front of them.


Later that evening, Grace was beginning to drift off to sleep in front of the TV. Sydney roused her enough for her to half walk, half be carried by Sydney as they made their way upstairs. She stood by as Grace sleepily brushed her teeth and changed into her pajamas. Then, she tucked the little girl in with a kiss on her forehead.

As Sydney was going downstairs, she noticed the light was on in Michael’s bedroom and figured that he was going to bed as well since, due to his illness, he still required much more sleep than usual. She went downstairs, retrieved her coat and Santa’s leash, before taking the little pup (who really wasn’t so little any more) out for her nightly walk. When Sydney returned, she was surprised to find Michael waiting in the kitchen for her.

“I thought you went to bed,” she said, crouching down to release Santa from her collar.

Michael shook his head. “I just spend the past fifteen minutes repeatedly washing my mouth out with mouthwash,” he told her.

Sydney cringed and exclaimed with obvious sarcasm, “Fun!”

“It really wasn’t,” he laughed softly.

“Why’d ya do that?” she questioned.

He smiled simply. “So I could do this,” he said. Then he walked over to her, cupped her face with his hands and pulled her into a searing-yet-minty kiss.

A minute later when they broke, Sydney let out a soft giggle of happiness. “So was the mouthwash worth it?”

“Definitely,” Michael breathed before kissing her once more. Then he pulled back, attempting to get a hold of his physical restraint. “I don’t want to contaminate you too much,” he said with a nervous smile.

“Michael you’ve been on medication for over a week; I really don’t think you’re that contagious anymore,” Sydney told him.

“I might not be contagious if we’re just sitting in the same room, but somehow I think exchanging saliva might increase the odds of contamination,” he said while giving her a look.

“Good point,” she laughed softly. “Guess I’ll just have to settle for a hug then,” she sighed before wrapping her arms around his waist and tucking her chin against his shoulder.

Michael pulled her body tightly to his and kissed her shoulder gently before whispering, “Love you.” Upon hearing this, Sydney clung to him a little tighter as chills flooded down her spine from pure happiness.

“C’mon, come to bed with me,” she said, pulling back from the hug and taking his hand.

“Oh wait, wait, wait,” Michael pulled back on her hand to keep her standing in the same position. “We need to talk about…ground rules here.”

“Ground rules?” Sydney questioned.

“Well, I mean…if we’re going to be in a relationship and still live together, things could be…tricky,” he said, lacking a better word to describe the situation.

“Afraid you won’t be able to keep yourself in check?” Sydney asked with a coy smile.

Michael laughed softly. “Not exactly. I mean, right now I’m a little too sick to…you know, jump you. Plus I’d cough on you and that wouldn’t be good,” he cringed slightly. Sydney shook her head, cringing as well. “I just mean…well…,” he let his voice drift off, unsure of how to formulate his thoughts.

Sydney squeezed his hand gently and smiled up at him as she looked into his eyes. “I know it’s been a long time for you – a long time – so if you want to…you know, jump me that’s okay. More than okay, actually” she assured him.

He laughed softly. “You know, Valentine’s Day wasn’t that long ago incase you’ve forgotten.”

“Oh I could never forget. I was simply referring to the fact that…well, once in six years isn’t a lot. You’ve got some catching up to do,” she pointed out with a grin.

Michael laughed harder that time, which resulted in him coughing for a few moments. Once he regained his composure he said, “Yeah I guess I do, but I’d like to take it slow for a little while, considering how long it’s been since I was actually in a relationship.”

“That’s perfectly fine with me,” she assured him, “but that doesn’t mean you can’t come and sleep beside me, especially since you’re too sick to be frisky. C’mon, please? It can be my birthday present,” she smiled innocently and batted her eyelashes at him.

“Well I guess I can’t say no to that,” Michael sighed. Sydney grinned and gave an excited little jump of happiness, before dragging Michael up stairs. He briefly disappeared into his own room and returned with his supplies: his box of tissues, medicine and cough drops. Then, looking down at the items in his arms he sighed, “I’m going to contaminate you.”

“You’re really not; its fine,” Sydney guaranteed him.

“Alright, but if you get sick it’s your own fault then,” he said. Once his things were arranged on the nightstand, he slipped in bed beside Sydney, though he tried to stay as far away from her as possible. Of course, Sydney quickly remedied this by moving closer to him and resting her head on his shoulder.

“G’night,” she sighed contentedly.

“Night,” Michael repeated before kissing her head gently and then settling back against his pillow to get some rest.
 
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