It had been weeks now. Months.

Autumn had decided to run down ot the cafeteria late at night. She'd been craving something for a while now, but she could never place what. The man who was working that night suggested the vanilla cake, which she decided was better than nothing.

Autumn had eating the cake in the cafeteria, deciding only after she had slide her card into the chip reader that maybe her family would disapprove of her late night snack.

She was surprised when the man working had come to sit with her.

"May I sit with you?" His smile was warm and his eyes were kind, so Autumn said yes and gestured to the empty chair across the table from her. The two of them made small talk, he asking what she was doing at the hospital so late for and her asking about his life. He showed her a picture of his son and his girlfriend going to the homecoming dance.

At first, Autumn had told him she was there with her family, but tried to not give too many details. After she saw the picture and they had talked for a bit, she felt comfortable telling him she was scared out of her mind.

"My grandmother is sick. Really sick. And the doctors have this plan to put her in surgery, but its kinda turning into this hail Mary of a surgery. So they told us she might not make it."

The man, who's name was Topher she'd found out, nodded thoughtfully.

"That's the best vanilla cake you've ever had, yeah?"

Autumn smiled, but furrowed her brow. What an odd question.

"I only ever tried it because of a young man I once knew. He lived in the hospital for quite some time and every Friday he would sit with me and eat a slice of that cake. He was the happiest kid I ever met, and he had no reason to be. He lived in a hospital for God's sake. And then one week he stopped coming to get that cake, so all I know is... We have a lot more than that boy had, and he was so positive. So I figure, at least you have your grandmother. And at least you have a hail Mary to turn to. And at least you have the best vanilla cake you've ever had."

Autumn thought about that and enjoyed her cake and then bid Topher goodnight. She was in a remarkably better mood after talking with him. The cake didn't hurt her mood, either.

When she walked back into the waiting room, she found that it was quiet and calm. Her family didn't seem too worried, which was very different from when she had left.

"Did I miss something important?" Autumn had a giggle in her eyes as she asked. Her family smiled back.

"No? Why do you ask?" It was her brother that shot back, a tall boy with long hair on the top of his head and a pierced right ear.

"I don't know, I just thought that you all looked happier, so maybe something happened while I was gone."

"No," her mother chimed in. "We were actually just being entertained by the funniest woman! You totally missed it, honey, she was hysterical!"

Everyone agreed; this mystery woman had apparently just sat herself down and told funny stories.

"She started talking about this surgeon- oh, my God- okay so this woman apparently only listens to Russian pop music in the O.R. because its, like, her favorite," Autumn's other brother was working to talk through his fits of giggles. "Anyways, she was listening to this one song, and the surgeon is learning Russian. So she could understand some of it, but not a lot! So they are listening to this music, and one of the scrub nurses is kinda laughing. Come to find out, they were operating on a car accident victim and the song was about how love is like a car accident!"

Everyone burst into giggles after that, Autumn included. It was a funny story.

"What did she look like? Was she old?"

"No," her brother shrugged. "She was young, and she had this short hair she kept kinda spiked up. She said she'd heard about our grandmother's case from a colleague of hers and thought we could use some cheering up."

Autumn and her family sat up for a few more hours to talk and enjoy swapping stories. It was a while later when they all settles down to sleep. Autumn's parents pushed the automan up against one of the couches to create a larger bed. Autumn and her mom shared it, while her dad slept on the couch across from them. Autumn's to brothers slept in the armchairs that were lined up with the couches, putting their feet up on the coffee table between them.

The morning was early, as were all mornings at the hospital. Autumn and her brothers took a little longer to wake up than her parents did, so the two adults would go get a large to go order of eggs and toast down at the cafeteria, along with a couple cups of coffee, a few pastries, and some juice.

Autumn and her brothers woke up a half hour after their parents got back with food. Autumn went to work on a blueberry muffin and a glass of juice while her brothers went outside to have a cigarette.

After everyone was fed and sufficiently awake, they all settled into their own worlds. Autumn spent some times doodling and listening to music, her brothers started a movie, her mother knitted, and her father worked on his computer.

It was around noon that the family saw the surgeon walk into the waiting room and stroll to them. They were walked through the procedure and the rates of survival. Autumn's mother signed all the paperwork. And then they all waited for the time to be right and for the nurses to Autumn's grandmother away.

Autumn's family was getting ready to send her grandmother into a hail Mary surgery.

The chances of her surviving were low.

The chances of her seeing Autumn's graduation were low.

Autumn's mother was out of options.

Oddly enough, the family was never out of hope.

Maybe it was because Autumn was trying to keep Topher's words in her mind. Maybe it was the beautiful woman they saw in the hall every now and then, the one who had a sense of calm follow her around.

And so they sent Autumn's grandmother into surgery. Hoping and worrying and still smiling. Because that's what you did in times like these. You smiled.