Ana and I ended up walking into the main part of the house around 10 AM, only to see Uno was being covered by Declan and Antero.

Ana and I giggled, watching as Mom came and pulled the boys off. As soon as they were off, Uno came up and jumped on Ana.

"Good morning girls," Mom said. 

"Hi Mom," I signed, leading Ana to the kitchen. She sat at the table as I went over to the counter to start making her food.

Mom came in and grabbed her coffee before joining Ana at the table, "Ana, do you know what happened to your dad?" Mom's voice was quiet, she knew it was a touchy subject.

I could hear Ana's shaking breath, "Yeah. He had a stroke. Mom was there luckily, but I was at work." I finished our breakfast and sat next to Ana, holding her hand. She wiped some tears away, "It's hard to be there. Mom is always with Dad, and the house is just so lonely without them."

"Do they know what caused it?" Mom asked, rubbing Ana's arm.

Ana shook her head, "No. They think it may have been the heart attack he had last year though."

Mom nodded, allowing us to eat while she went and woke Dad up.

"When do you need to be at work?" I signed, looking at her.

"I think I need to be there at 5. I'm closing tonight," She said. I nodded, continuing to eat. We were silent, something that seemed both awkward and comfortable at the same time. 

"Do you want to visit your dad?" I was hesitant, but I felt like if I was there I might be able to help.

She nodded, much to my surprise. "We can go after breakfast," Her voice was low and weak.

"We don't have to if you don't want to," I signed that quickly, worried about her.

"It's okay, I need to go see him anyway," She looked up with me, eyes shining. I reached forward and wiped a tear that had slipped down her cheek. Her lips turned upwards for a brief moment before resuming their previous position. 

Mom walked in soon after that, and I told her where we were going. She nodded, grabbing some baby food, "Would you two mind going shopping for me when you're on your way back? I can give you money and the list."

I looked at Ana, trying to make sure she was okay with it. Once I knew, I nodded. Mom smiled, kissing my forehead, "Just come see me before you go and I'll give you the stuff." She left soon after, leaving me and Ana to finish the breakfast I had made.

After we finished, I told Ana to go upstairs to grab her stuff while I went to grab the stuff from Mom. She handed me a long list and a couple hundred dollars. I raised an eyebrow but hugged her before going to find Ana and head to the hospital. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ana pulled in and parked by the main entrance. She hadn't said anything since we got in the car, so I knew she was scared. I would be too. 

The sign I saw when we pulled in read Northwestern Memorial Hospital. It seemed familiar, was this the hospital that I was in a few weeks ago?

I leaned over and kissed her cheek, nodding for her to come on. She sighed, getting out of the car. I followed suit, taking her hand as she walked into the building.

The lady at the front desk smiled at us as we came in, "Good morning. Who are you here to see?"

"Daniel Muller?" Ana asked.

"Alright, can I see your IDs?" The woman asked.

Ana nodded and reached into her bag. I reached into mine as well, pulling my ID out and putting it onto the counter. The lady looked at it and input the information on the computer as Ana placed hers on the counter. Within a few minutes we had stickers and we were walking to Mr. Daniel's room.

Ana hesitated by the door. Inside I could hear the steady beeps of her father's machine. 

"Baby, it'll be okay." I signed. She nodded, raising her hand up and knocking.

"Come in!" I heard her mom say.

Ana cracked the door open and led me in. I could see the smile on her mom's face as the woman stood to hug her daughter. I saw Mr. Daniel, who was hooked up to a few machines that were monitoring his heartbeat.

"Hi, Mr. Daniel!" I signed, smiling.

"Hi Eve!" He sat up and held his arms open for a hug. I hugged him quickly, allowing Ana to do the same. I ended up sitting down gently on the couch that was in the room, and Ana curled up beside me. I wrapped my arm around her, listening as her mother gave her an update on her father's health.

"He should be out tomorrow morning," Mrs. Nicole said, smiling.

"That's awesome. It's been really lonely around the house," Ana said.

"I could tell," Mrs. Nicole laughed. I smiled, listening to Ana's laughter.

The woman turned to me, "Now, Eve, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to you?"

I was confused for a second, but then remembered I still had the bandaids on my ear. "My grandparents were over for Christmas and didn't like the fact that Dad adopted me so they clogged my aid with candle wax and it exploded," I explained. Mr. Daniel gave a huff from the bed and I smiled, "I'm stuck in these bandaids until the 27th. Of course, Mom changes them for me every morning but it still feels weird to have stuff around my head."

"Understandable. Is there a police investigation going on?" Mrs. Nicole asked.

"Dad and I didn't want to press charges, but they are no longer allowed anywhere near me. That was forced by the cop and the doctor I had," I shrugged. 

We ended up talking for a few hours, and when Ana's stomach growled I remembered we still had to go shopping. Within a few minutes, Ana and I had gotten hugs from her parents and we were on our way back down to the car.