"I... I..." Joanne sort of stuttered as she and Karen walked through the rather empty halls of the San Diego Hospital. There were a few members of the staff, either nurses or doctors going about some of their business, but there wasn't that much in the way of visitors at the moment, and of course some of that made sense given the length of the day that the pair had stayed there waiting and hoping for positive news. And ultimately, while the news wasn't outright bad... it was also clear that Joanne's fiancé and Karen's mother had a long recovery ahead of her.
"I'm sure things will be fine," Karen offered hopefully, though she also knew that she was heavily worried as well.
But a lot of Karen's present worries was also balanced by the fact that while she didn't want her mother to be in the position she was in, there was also the knowledge that she and Peter had a happy future ahead of them and that what had happened was more an interruption of that than anything else. What had happened was more of a direct cause of pain for Joanne and Monica as they sought to be happy together. Seeing Joanne as visibly worried and shaken as she was, was enough for Karen to know that she'd have to find some measure of optimism and comfort her mother's present fiancé, even if Karen wasn't fully confident or comforted, herself.
"I'm sure... but..." Joanne managed weakly, "but... if it comes to lifting her... I... I could never do that and it'd just feel like... like... like I'd fail her if that's what it ultimately came to."
"What happened wasn't your fault, and I'm sue that if your relationship is honest my mom will not judge you," Karen managed, though she could understand some of where Joanne was coming from.
"Yes... I know," Joanne nodded, "but even with our salaries together... we'd be on a budget, and your college will surely want to be paid eventually... I just don't know what will happen..."
"Well... the company that you and mom work for is handicapped accessible... IF it comes to that," Karen tried to provide some optimistic reasoning, though Karen also had to recognize that unless her mother was promoted the leader of the realty company that she worked for and could spend her day in the office and didn't have to go out and show various properties to potential buyers, that fact would ultimately be irrelevant if she couldn't use her legs, "and for the moment it's not certain that she won't walk again."
"Yes... but you heard the doctor... that won't be known until the Spring of next year at the earliest," Joanna commented, "even if she does walk again... the company will be more likely to let her go by then, because they can't afford to pay someone to not work. They'd giver her what benefits they can... but not enough to live on. And I'm lower down the chain of command than she is... and..."
Joanne began to sniffle and actually moved to lean against Karen as they walked along. It was something that caught Karen a bit by surprise, but she recovered enough to hold Joanne up a little. She knew that she'd have to be strong, at least for Joanne's sake and with the knowledge that Peter would catch up with them when he was finished talking with Doctor Moira Alexander. Karen was fairly certain that there had to be some were business there, as if it was purely related to medicine, Doctor Alexander would focus on her or Joanna. That also reminded Karen of both the fact that the accident had interrupted what was supposed to be her welcome into were society to be with Peter and soon after planning to introduce Peter to Monica at Thanksgiving and things like that.
But her mother was hurt, and that made becoming Peter's werelioness seem less important, and the fact that her mother had a fiancée that didn't know about weres and seemed to be completely distraught by the accident didn't help. A part of Karen's idea had been to see to her mother's change, but Peter had also provided the warning that that would also mean Joanna being transformed and might not necessarily save Monica Yuletide's life. That was something that privately made Karen worry and made her feel less than confident in the sense of dealing with the overall situation. She wondered if her mother would walk again, if maybe letting them become weres might save her mother and give Monica and Joanne the happy ever after they deserved. And if that was possible, how would they do it, as she'd been at a loss at how she would explain her own changes after becoming a werelion, and that was still something that would have to be explained.
"You may simply have to have hope," Karen held Joanne's hand in her own and rubbed the back of that hand as they walked along and came out into the parking lot near the wing where the ICU was, "hope that mom will walk again... hope that things will get better."
Joanne didn't say anything in response but did nod.
"I know it isn't much... but in things like this... we have to stay positive," Karen continued, "or at least as much as we can."
"Thank you," Joanne managed weakly, rubbing the tears from her eyes, "I know this has to have gotten in the way of things for you and your fiancée..."
Karen didn't want to answer that, as while yes, it had interrupted plans, her mother was more important. And something told Karen that she was looking forward to something else wouldn't help Joanne, either.
"It's no problem," Karen said eventually, "not to mention that mom is more important. And besides, mom hadn't told me about you and her... so... maybe in a way, this was good in that I got to meet you and hopefully you and mom will have a long happy life together."
"Hopefully..." Joanne sighed, "Though I'm not sure on what more we can do with this... even if she recovers... there is a lot that will need to be done and they will differ our own plans."
"Yeah... plans will always change, but if you and my mom are really in love... the exact plans don't matter," Karen spoke as they made their way toward Joanne's car, "and I know my mom... She isn't the sort to get too hung up on specific plans... so long as what makes her happy is there. And I'm sure you can be that for her..."
"I hope so," Joanne answered, "and thanks... for being so accepting."
"It's okay," Karen replied, "we've all had some surprises. I mean... I have Peter we were hoping that I could introduce mom to him at Thanksgiving before revealing our engagement with those plans being for Valentine's Day. Some of that may have to wait... as I don't want to spring all this on my mom while she's recovering... but we'll figure something out, and surely in time... things will be better."
Of course, Karen also held her own private thoughts and worries on dealing with her future as a were drawing trouble between her and mother, as well as her own ideas of having her mother become a were to heal her injuries. But those would also be things that would likely be more long term questions, and at the moment the answers too them weren't necessarily good or quick. This would only raise questions as to how long Karen and Peter could stay in San Diego. They would both have classes coming, and they'd surely miss their Monday classes, given things, but how many classes they'd miss might still be up for debate and right now with as nervous as Joanne looked, there was additional concern leaving right now wouldn't help the woman. And after the pain that her father had put the Yuletide family through... Karen didn't feel it wise to rush anything... and that'd mean a private talk with Peter when it could be arranged.