Mary was closely following Mickey, as she wheeled Sandra down the halls of the hospital. She was still a little worried, after hearing they'd be taking Sandra to the surgery section of the hospital. While she knew that they wouldn't be performing any sort of surgery on her, the fact that they were going there made her feel slightly uneasy. The halls were busy, but she made sure she stayed right there, with them. She was shoving through people, until they got to the elevator to take Sandra down a few floors. As she squeezed in, she heard the dinging of the elevator and saw Sandra looking at her.

The girl had a smile on her face, as she looked up at her worried mother. Sandra could see the feelings in Mary's eyes. She reached her hand up and grabbed onto her hand. Mary looked down, not expecting Sandra to have grabbed onto her, so suddenly. “Don't worry about me so much, Mom. You'll get wrinkles. I'll be just fine. You know that.” The bond Sandra and her mother shared was shown to everyone in the elevator, right then. Although they weren't close, like partners were, they were close like family was. They didn't have anyone else, as far as family was concerned, and Sandra had learned to read Mary's attitudes and expressions.

Thankfully, the elevator ride was quick, not giving any of them too long of a wait to think about this. After one more dinging sound, and the door sliding open, and they were off, yet again. Mary understood what Sandra had said, but that didn't mean she couldn't just stop worrying about her. It was a parent's duty to worry for their children. She tried not to look it so much, though. The three of them walked, together, as they went through a few halls that were much less crowded than the one a few floors up.

After a few minutes, they came to a large waiting room, full of nearly a hundred seats with TVs and magazines laying around, and two double-doors that had a big “SURGERY” sign above them. Mickey stopped in front of those doors and looked back towards Mary. She was very quick to start talking, and she didn't have good news for her. “I'm very sorry, Mrs. Moore, but I cannot permit you to come back with us. Hospital procedure and all. If there's anything you want to say to your daughter before she goes in for this procedure, you need to do it now. You won't be able to see her again until after it's done.”

Mary froze in place. She didn't know what to think or say about what she just heard. She wasn't allowed to come back into the surgery away with daughter, even though she wasn't even having surgery? What kind of procedure was that? How could she just sum up all of her thoughts right then and there, without any time to prepare? She blinked and looked at Mickey. “W-what? Why can't I come back with her, too? She's my daughter! She might need me back there, with her. What if something goes wrong? What if--”

Mickey put her hand on Mary's shoulder, which quickly calmed her down. “Please, Mrs. Moore. I understand your concern for your daughter. I really do, but hospital procedures doesn't allow guests to be back there with the patients. I promise that if anything were to go wrong, I will personally come out here and let you know. For now, though, you're just going to have to follow procedure and stay out here. We're kind of in a hurry, too, so please...whatever you'd like to say to your daughter, you need to do it now.”

Mary didn't know what to say, again. She wanted to go back there, with Sandra. She knew she couldn't, and she knew arguing wasn't going to do any good, but she was stubborn. She wanted to be with her daughter. Sandra grabbed her hand again, turning her wheelchair around. “Mom, I'm going to be just fine, I promise. Stay out here and relieve some of your stress. I mean, come on, you've been a stressful mess since the accident. I know you. Now, just be happy for me with getting this treatment and know that you'll be able to see me when it's all over, okay?”

Mary couldn't contemplate not going back there with her, but she shook her head, eventually coming to terms with the reality of the situation. Hearing it from her daughter made it easier for her. Her eyes were quivering, but she nodded towards her and leaned forward, kissing her daughter's forehead. “Okay, honey. I'll be right out here, if you need me. I...hope everything goes well, and I'll see you soon. Make sure they take good care of you.” Mary was starting to get emotional about all of this, and Mickey quickly turned Sandra back around when she was done.

The doors shut behind both of them as Mary watched them disappear into the surgery halls. She was holding her hands up to her face, starting to get tears in her eyes. She didn't want to have to leave her daughter alone with them. Although it was needed that she not be there during this procedure, it didn't make it any easier for her. She took a few deep breaths and kept watching the small, square-shaped windows on the door. She looked through them, still seeing Mickey wheeling Sandra through the place.

She pushed her hair back as she waved through the window. She didn't know what to do about all this. She did, but she didn't. She was being forced to stay in this waiting area until the procedure was done with. She'd be sitting around, constantly waiting, hoping that it went well. As she kept looking, she sniffled for a moment and whispered to the door, as if Sandra could hear her. “Be safe, Sandra. Mom will be right here when it's all over.” As she stared into the window, a small tear was running down her cheek. This would be a long wait for Mary...