The class burst into a chorus of happiness. I stretched my arms as cheers erupted.

After a month of fighting, struggling (aka revising) and a couple of late-nights, we did it. The final exams were over.

That's why everybody was in such a celebratory mood. There were nothing but smiles and laughter in sight as we all envisioned the relaxing, stress-free summer holidays ahead of us.

Lily grinned to me as she walked over, slinging her backpack on her shoulder.

"Emma, my gosh, exams are finally over. This is amazing."

"Yeah, good job," I high-fived her, "we did it. Phew."

We talked, walking out of the classroom, down the stairs to the ground floor.

When we approached the school's main lobby, I saw Andrea standing by the school office.

"Wait, that's Andrea," I told Lily, "that's odd. She never comes to school."

We walked to her swiftly.

Andrea looked relieved when she saw us.

"Oh, Emma, hi, I've been waiting for you," she hugged me tightly. "How was the exam?"

I looked at Lily then back to Andrea suspiciously. 

"It went well. Um... is something wrong?"

She shifted from foot to door and hesitated, looking up sadly.

I started to panic. Even Lily was concerned.

"Tell me, what's wrong? Hey, and where's Mum?"

"That's the thing. It's your Mum. She's at the hospital."

-

I saw anxiously in the car.

Andrea said all she knew was Mum had an accident on set and was now in the hospital.

After making sure Lily would safely get home, Andrea and I headed to the hospital Mum was situated in. 

I couldn't help biting my nails the whole journey. Not knowing really, really sucked.

At first I was too overcome with shock and panic, it didn't seem real. It was not until I stepped into the hospital did it all hit me.

We manoeuvred through the corridors, floors. The trays, people, nurses all seemed like a blur to me. I prayed silently over and over again that Mum was okay.

We got to Mum' room. The nurse said family only so Andrea had to stay outside.

Andrea patted my back and gave a strained smile before I walked in.

There was a figure, in a hospital gown, lying on the bed.

I was afraid she was sleeping, so I walked quietly over.

"Mum?" My voice came out barely a whisper.

"I think she's asleep, let's wait for a bit," the nurse said.

Seeing Mum like that, I was on the verge of tears.

Worriedly, I asked, "What happened?"

"Oh, honey, she fell from a set piece. Luckily, it wasn't very high up so no broken bones. But as she fell, her poor head bumped hard onto something and she passed out."

I stroked Mum' brown hair lightly. "How long would it take for her to recover? Is Mum going to be okay?"

Her face grew serious. Now, she's got a concussion and a badly sprained ankle. The ankle, especially, might take a few weeks to a month."

She saw my saddened face and came to say comfortingly, "Aw, don't you worry, pet, your Mama will be okay. Just come visit your mom as often as you can, kay? I can see the way she lit up when she heard you were coming."

I nodded firmly. "I will."

"She's one of the nicest people I've ever met. Never seen such a grateful look from a patient before."

I smiled, letting my eyes tell her: thank you so much.

Then, I felt Mum stir.

She slowly turned over and opened her eyes. I held her hand. "Hi, Mum. I'm here. I missed you."

I watched as she came to realisation. Her wearied face broke into a grin.

She put her bed up and reached out to hug me.

"Oh Em, hi, I knew you'd come. How was school? Aw that's good," she fussed over me slightly, stroking the creases on my shirt.

Tears split out of my eyes. "Mum... you scared the heck out of me. How are you doing, Mum? Are you okay?"

She pulled me over and kissed my cheek. "Yes, um okay. Accidents do happen, huh? My ankle's quite swollen and my head's spinning but, I'll be fine. I'd have to take a few weeks off work though... because when I'll be discharged, I'd still have to stay home and rest the ankle," she gave a sad smile. 

"I'll take care of you then. I'll be the mum and you'll be the baby. We're switching roles," I laughed shakily.

"Oh yeah, it's almost the holidays for school. That'd be nice.

I'm glad she's okay. 

-

The following weekend marked the start of our summer holidays. These few days I stayed at Lily's temporarily. I was so grateful for their willingness to care and help.

Michelle, Lily and I were going to the hospital to visit Mum.

We gave Mum flowers and chatted.

Mum repeatedly thanked Michelle, which made her blush profusely and say "it's no big deal" several times back. 

I chuckled lightly hearing them. 

I turned to Lily. "Seriously though, thanks so much for letting me stay over. I think next week Andrea  will be staying at our house for until Mum can be discharged, and I'll be able to take care of myself, so I won't be bothering you guys then."

"It's been really fun having you over, believe it or not," Lily pretended to be sarcastic, when made us laugh. "I guess that's good, but soon you should actually come over again to hang out."

I nodded.

She glanced at Mum and looked at me empathetically. "God bless you and your mom, you guys are such kind people. I really hope your mom gets better soon."

At the moment, a nurse and doctor came in.

The doctor grinned and proclaimed, "Good news, everybody! Ms. Watson will be discharged within the week because of the stable and healthy healing progress."

Mum excitedly did a little cheer, which made me smile.

-

I had been taught everything on taking care of Mum, and was well-prepared.

The day of the discharge, Andrea came to drive us home, and then we helped Mum in and out of the car.

Mum was much better now, though she had to wear an air-stirrup-type brace for her ankle and couldn't really put weight on it.

Nevertheless, as we finally brought Mum to the sofa, she seemed to feel so joyous and accomplished on being home again that I couldn't help being proud of her.

We sat and talked for a bit, both more relaxed and relieved. After a while, Mum dozed off.

All of a sudden, her phone buzzed. It was a FaceTime call.

Meldrick Archer?

*gasp

Double update, who is this?