Diamonds and Stones

Of course, I had spoken much, much too soon.

It was Halloween night, and the sidewalks were flooded with children. Jake had also showed up, unexpected, the night before. Dan and Phil were over, and Phil and I had insisted on dressing up. But since we were the only two who were in the mood, we decided to do the thing we did best: be dorky.

"You should wear those long coats more often," I giggled as we walked down the street hand in hand. No one had wanted to join us for a walk either: hey, at least we weren't going Trick-Or-Treating!

Lizzy had said she wasn't in the mood, and hey, who could blame her? Dan wanted to keep Lizzy company. Jake was busy doing god knows what, and Nancy had her hands tied with the whole candy giving business.

Phil was dressed in a long brown coat with a shirt and a tie, and of course, who could miss the 3D glasses he had, tucked in his shirt pocket for the moment?

"They should've cast me as the 10th Doctor," he laughed. "And you as Rose!"

"Yeah well, I'm not blonde!"

"You're pulling it off well! A brunette Rose Tyler. I wonder if anyone's recognized us?"

"Maybe," I shrugged.

I looked around at all the kids, dressed up in so many different costumes. There were the traditional bedsheet ghosts, but there was also some kids dressed as Tinkerbell, and I could've sworn I saw Harry Potter somewhere.

Phil had just stopped to tie his shoelaces when I got a phone call from Nancy.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Juliette. Get home asap."

"What? What's going on?" I asked, but she had already hung up. I frowned, and looked up at Phil, who was looking at me with a worried expression. "We have to get back home."

"What happened?" he inquired as we hurried down the street.

"I don't know, she didn't tell me."

"What did she say?"

"To get home as soon as possible... But why? It's only... 8:43. It's not like it's outrageously late."

As we reached, we saw Jake standing on the doorstep.

"Finally! Alright, get in the car."

"Hunh?" I frowned. "What the hell's going on?"

"Your sister's at the hospital."

And that's when it struck me. It was due any day now... Shit, that kid had really crappy timing, didn't it?

Without a further word, we both got in the backseat of the car and Jake began driving down, making sure not to run into anybody as the streets were overcrowded with people.

I almost began laughing at the situation. It was so ridiculous! Here we were, two seventeen year olds dressed up as Doctor Who characters, sitting in a car on Halloween night, driving to the hospital. I didn't know why I found it funny; I just did.

At the reception desk, Jake spoke so quickly and frantically that the nurse had to ask him to repeat himself three times until she was able to answer him.

"Go to waiting lounge 4; she's in room 247."

We thanked her and set off to find this so-called 'waiting lounge 4'. We were sure we found it when we spotted a tall brown haired guy pacing up and down, completely restless. I rolled my eyes at the sight of Dan.

"Dude," I said, grabbing him by the shoulder and turning him around so he was facing me. "Get a seat."

"I can't!" he protested. "I'm nervous!"

"About what?"

"What if something goes wrong? What if-"

"Shush with your 'what if's! Nothing's gonna go wrong."

----

And boy, wasn't I way off?

Little Holly May was born a bit after 11pm. I was almost falling asleep on Phil's shoulder when it happened.

Soon, she was cradled in her daddy's arms, but Nancy was nowhere to be seen.

"Phil?"

"Mhh?"

"Where's Nancy?"

"I don't know."

I walked over to where Dan was sitting, and smiled at the sight of him holding that tiny little human in his hands. She most definitely had Lizzy's eyes.

Speaking of Lizzy... How was she doing?

After fifteen minutes, Nancy stepped into the lounge. It was pretty much empty apart from the occasional nurses walking past, and us four, of course.

I immediately knew something was wrong. I stood up, frowning slightly. Nancy was looking at the ground, and when she looked up, I realized she was crying. And those were not happy tears, that much I can tell you.

"Nancy! What... What happened?"

"It's Lizzy. She... The doctors, they couldn't do anything..."

"What happened?" Jake asked, repeating my question.

Phil stood up and slid his arm around my waist. Hunh, I wasn't the only one who knew something was wrong.

Nancy took a deep breath, closed her eyes for a moment, then said, "She slipped into a coma shortly after Holly was born."