Emma sat there, watching Grace stare at the wall unblinkingly. She couldn't stop the shudders racking her body, or the thoughts and images tormenting her mind.
   The mere idea was enough to drive her crazy.
   Shaking herself from the nightmarish reflections, Emma stood and stared out the window and into the dismal dark night. You couldn't even see the stars, just a casual wink of streetlights and store signs.
   Sighing, Emma pushed away and looked back down on her friend. God, how could she do this to her? What kind of friend was she to allow Grace to follow her down that damn bitter road she walked?    She was restless, she knew that. Could barely control the turbulent emotions that just kept building up and pressuring more and more as the seconds ticked by.
   The door was pushed open with a bang that resounded like a gunshot in an alley.
   Emma's head snapped up in attention, her eyes focused on the intruders who dare interrupted her.
   Mr. and Mrs. James walked in; their faces pinched with worry lines and fatigue already. But when their eyes settled on her, Emma watched those emotions get replaced entirely.
   "Get out."
   It was said quietly, and Emma knew the effort it took not to use bodily force, but she still could not move. Paralyzed and rooted to the spot, she opened her mouth to plead her defense, ask for forgiveness, and try and offer her condolence. No matter how unwanted they were.
   "No! You've already done enough!" Mr. James shouted angrily, and Emma's mouth snapped shut. "Just go!"
   She heard the crack as his voice broke, but didn't feel the sting until her cheek started throbbing.
   Stepping back from them, she saw the horror in Mrs. James' face and the stunned look on Mr. James'. Shaking her head, she ran passed them, brushing her shoulder against them as she tried getting by.
   Breaking from the room and out into the bright hallway, Emma slammed into the white wall but didn't slow down.
   It wasn't until she was on another floor entirely, staring at the new babies in their incubators in the Nursery that she took a moment to think.
   Pressing her hand against the glass and staring at one tiny bundle to the next, she wished like hell that she could be one of them again. Where life was just a little more simple, and the next day wasn't even contemplated.
   Feeling the tears filling her eyes, Emma stepped back and away, especially when a couple of nurses stepped inside to take care of the dark haired fussy baby near the center of the pack.
   Hurrying down the hall, she fished in her tiny purse for some change to buy the nasty we-only-call-it-coffee-to-fool-you-into-buying-it from the vending machine.
   After pounding on it a couple times, she was able to pull a steaming cup from it, then moved on to the phone banks and fished out more change. Setting down her cup she fed the machine the quarters and slowly got her cold fingers to dial.
   It rang once before it got picked up and Emma felt her heart drop, "Yeah, it's me." She whispered, "you know that bag I had you save for me? Well, I need it. No, tomorrow morning I'll drop by. Yeah, I told you she'd need them back soon."
   She listened on for a few seconds before murmuring goodbye and hanging up. Long phone conversations weren't her thing, and she was too tired for a polite chat.
   Picking up her so-called coffee again, she sipped at it and didn't flinch too much at the taste but continued to force herself down the hallway. She had a lot to do tonight and tomorrow.
   She had to put Grace's stuff back at her parent's place, and move. Where? She didn't know quite yet, but she'd toss a dart at a map and find out before Grace woke up from wherever it was she was at.