Stephanie's POV

I'm so glad I took Josie to the doctors this morning. As soon as the doctor checked her out, they told me I should take her to the ER, and I did.

And that's when I found out Josie's liver was failing. And she needed surgery as soon as possible to save her life.

And ever since I got there, it's been a mess. A total mess of chaos, rushing, panic, and tears. I was hunched over Josie's bed as she tried to wrap her mind around what was happening to her. I was holding Josie's hand, worried that something might happen to her. Cause I had a slight feeling that I was gonna have to say my final goodbyes to her. But Josie didn't need to know that, not just yet anyway. I didn't want to make her more scared then she already was.

"Mama?" Josie asked, practically squeezing my hand off as a nurse put an IV in her arm. I gave Josie a warm, gentle smile and Josie sighed. "I'm scared."

"I know you're scared, baby girl. But it'll be over before you know it, and when..." I had to take a deep breath to console myself when I said that, because I knew perfectly well it was "if," not when.

"...When you wake up...I'll be there, Brandon will be there, your uncles will be there, everyone will be there, okay?" Josie nodded and I looked at the clock.

"It's time." I whispered to myself. I knelt down so Josie could look into my eyes, took a deep breath, and started speaking. I had to be careful how I phrased this, cause I didn't want Josie to know this was sorta my final goodbye to her in case she didn't make it.

"Josie...you're so brave, you know that, right? I'm so proud of you, always have been, always will be. I love you so much, and um...no matter what happens I'll always be there for you. I love you." I kissed Josie's forehead, ruffled her hair, and backed up, watching as the nurse gave Josie anesthesia.

I left the room as soon as I saw Josie drift off to sleep.

________

I've been at the hospital for six hours already, and Josie's been in surgery for four of them. The people at the front desk gave us these pagers so we could leave if we wanted, so we decided to go out to eat to keep our minds off of what was going on.

When the pager buzzed, I knew that could either be good news or bad. I sighed and we all started walking back to the hospital.

"Why did this have to happen on my first day back at home?" I asked. "I was hoping to have a fun day out with Josie, not spend it at the hospital with her in life-saving surgery!"

"Well, I got Josie a little present for when she wakes up!" Brandon said cheerfully, dropping a pretty rainbow bracelet in my hands. I looked at it then said, "Josie's gonna love this."

"Stephanie, I know this is hard, but Josie's gonna be okay. She's a fighter, always has been." Andrew said.

I sighed. Moment of truth.

"Okay, fine! The doctors told me there was about a 50/50 chance she'd make it out. There's a pretty high chance she...she won't make it." I said.

Dead silence.

The silence was broken when I heard some rapid beeping coming from a hospital ward as I walked in. I didn't know what that beeping meant. It could mean anything for heaven's sake.

"Did I just hear someone mention something about a code blue?" Christian asked.

"Please tell me it's not her...please tell me it's not her..." I said to myself, pacing around the waiting room.

I decided to listen in on what the nurses were saying to see if I could get more information.

"She's coding. Block, room 209."

It was her. Josie's heart had just stopped.

"Steph? What's wrong?" Andrew asked.

"Josie's dead."

AN: AHAHAHAHAHAH! YAY FOR CLIFFHANGERS, YAY FOR ANGST! Hope you enjoyed (if this is even enjoyable) and catch ya later!