**A/N: Sorry, you know I have to start things off with a little note ;) I'm usually a fanfic writer, but I want to get my own stories out there, so here's another original story! These short stories were written a few years ago, while I was staying in the hospital myself. Some of these are inspired by people I met at the hospital, some are inspired by the well-wishes and kind words I got during that time, and some are pure imagination. They range in length, this first chapter is short. This was the first "book" I ever wrote, even before my first fanfic, so I experiment with a lot of different writing styles. I hope you all enjoy! As always, please vote and leave comments!**

The sunlight spilt through the trees, drawing orange beams through the cobalt sky. At first, Autumn thought they looked like a peach, rather, the juices of one, running down the sky. Maybe it was more like a watercolor when everything was running together. It was... beautiful.

Autumn was settled into the seat of the passenger seat, her feet crossed over one another and propped up on the far left of the dashboard. Her mother sat in the driver's seat, hands clenched over the steering wheel. Although they were driving though lush forests and dense trees, Autumn kept her eyes on the sky above her, watching the orange fade slightly as the sky grew darker. Because of the trees, it was a belt of sky flanked by deep greens and black branches.

The teen's mom asked her something, but Autumn wasn't listening. She pushed a few strands of reddish-brown hair out of her face. She'd just cut it, so the front was still too short to get wrapped up in the bun that sat high on the crown of her head. Her mother repeated the question.

"When is the next turn?"

Autumn looked over, finally drawing her eyes away from the sky and to the phone in her hand. "Uh... A right. Half a mile."

The two women settled back into silence. It was a long ride to the hospital, or at least it felt like it that night. It was much further than the local hospital, yes, but it was the trauma center for the area. It was better. It was safer. It was supposed to take 25 minutes to get there.

It was where they wanted Autumn's grandmother to be now. Maybe want was too much of an overstatement, though. After all, no one wanted their grandmother to be in the hospital.

Wind blew through the cracked window. It sent goosebumps rippling down the teen's legs. Her hair began to stand up, giving her stubble even though she had shaved this morning. The cactus shivers, she called it. It was actually one of Autumn's biggest pet peeves. She ran her hands up her calves, hoping to warm herself back up, even if just to keep the goosebumps down.

It was cold for this time of year. Usually, spring-time sun would have taken over by now, but it seemed as though it would be another few weeks before they saw warm weather. Spring was being delayed, by what, Autumn didn't know.

Autumn's mother was quiet. While she kept her eyes on the road for the majority of time, every now and then she would lift her eyes and look at the moon and stars and deeply colored sky. Autumn knew her mother had been been stressed lately, especially in the past few months.

The car rolled to a stop at a red light. Autumn's mother sighed deeply, almost as if she was releasing a breath she had been holding for too long. Autumn was quiet. She never knew what to say in these moments. What do you say to take a burden off another? What do you say to make them smile when smiles are a luxury they haven't afforded themselves in quite some time now.

What few cars shared the road that night passed through the light. A few turned onto the highway, some continued down the main road. Two turned into the apartment complex on the right side of the road.

The light turned green again and Autumn's mother pressed the gas pedal down. The car jolted forward. She layed off the gas slightly, letting both herself and her daughter fall back against the car seats.

Autumn had a song stuck in her head. It wasn't a song like on the radio, it was a song like a tune from a song. The general backbeat, if you will. It sort of went like dum dum dadadadum dum, dum dum dadum da dadum. The red-headed teen hummed it slightly, without even noticing that she had begun to.

Her mother looked over at her. There was a small smile playing at the older woman's mouth as she began to fill in the words to the song her daughter was humming.

Autumn looked over at her mother, who had returned her eyes to the road. The teen smiled, the expression came easier and naturally, despite the heavy cloud of worry and stress in the car. She started to sing with her mom, the words making harmonies and becoming rough and sounding like a broken harmonica and then getting softer again. Everything was suddenly less dark. Less heavy. Less silent. Less upsetting.

The cloud dissipated slowly, freeing up space in the car for the words and smiles from both of the women.

The two smiled and sang and the whole world sounded beautiful. The sky wasn't indigo like spilled ink, it was indigo like Autumn's favorite panda bear stuffed animal. The moon wasn't light like in those movies where the main character gets eaten by a monster, it was light like when you dance in the night with a boys arms around your shoulders.

The two of them reached the end of the song, still smiling, and dissolved into a fit of giggles. For a moment, all was happy. Then the giggles faded and the car was plunged back into silence.

"When's the next turn, sweetheart?"

Autumn pushed her glasses up. "After this one, you just follow the road and then its on the right. Take a left here."