Chapter Text
Jemma sat in the waiting room, kicking her feet out and wishing she’d brought more than one book. Her mother and father were talking to her uncle, and everyone was using hushed voices for some reason. The hospital was full of people rushing about and making noise, and she just wanted to be at home in her nice, quiet room.
Her uncle was wearing scrubs and looking tense and had only come out for a moment before disappearing back behind the double doors. Her parents looked worried, and her dad kissed her mum’s cheek and rubbed her back before going to get her some tea.
“What’s wrong, Mum?” she asked as her mother sat down beside her.
She smiled bravely back, and it was the kind of smile that Jemma knew was hiding something.
“Your cousin is having a tough time coming out,” she said. “But the doctors will make sure everything is alright.”
Jemma nodded and kicked her feet out again.
Several hours later, she woke up feeling fuzzy-headed. She’d curled up in a chair with her teddy bear, and her dad had covered her with his jacket.
Everyone around her was talking excitedly, and they were all clustered around her uncle. He was crying, but laughing at the same time. She’d never seen that before.
“What’s the matter?” she asked, sitting up.
Her uncle came over, cradling a blanket in his arms.
“Jemma,” he said proudly. “I’d like you to meet your cousin.”
She peered into his arms as he bent down and looked into a pair of big brown eyes that looked right through her.
“Hello,” she said in that same hushed voice that everyone else had used ever since they’d entered the hospital. And then she realized that she was laughing and crying, too.