She ended up falling asleep next to Holly in her bed, despite there being multiple other empty beds in the house. After her father blew her off, Cara doubted that she would ever be returning home again, so she decided to take the one opportunity she had to sleep in her own bed again. She soon realized that her bed was one of the biggest thing she missed about being home and it took only a few minutes for her to fall asleep.
-- 8 Hours Later --
Cara was woken by a gentle nudge to her arm and a pleasant but unfamiliar voice. "Caraline, darling, it's time to wake up. Your father wants you downstairs in thirty minutes."
She rolled over, knowing that she probably looked like a train wreck but being too tired to care. Once she opened her eyes, she found a middle-aged woman standing over her. Simply judging by the way she dressed and her demeanor, Cara could tell that she was hired help and waved her off with a confirmation that she would be down shortly.
For a moment, she felt like still lived there. Everything looked the same and felt the same and the woman could have been the same employee her father had hired years back who would wake her up every morning to go to school. As she sat up and turned her head though, she noticed Holly, who was still fast asleep on the other side of the bed. She was glad to see that Holly seemed to sleep through the night and figured that she would probably continue to for at least another few hours. Had Cara not been woken up, she probably would have as well.
She took a shower, which was only quick because she knew her father was waiting for her downstairs. Missing her bed seemed insignificant when she began to get dressed and realized just how much she had missed her clothes. Her large closet was still filled with the items she had purchased in the last days before leaving home and although the old Cara would never be caught dead wearing last years' clothes, the girl she had become would wear clothes from 2000 if they were clean and warm. She made a mental note to bring as much of the clothes as she could carry back to the warehouse when they left, but decided on a navy dress and gold sandals for today. After putting on some light makeup and brushing her hair, she headed downstairs.
The sweet smell of pancakes filled the first floor of the home and as Cara entered the kitchen, she spotted a woman standing over the stove and her father seated at the kitchen table. He appeared to have finished his food already and was reading the newspaper. He didn't seem to notice her until she sat down at the opposite end of the table but before he could go on about how important the call was last night, she spoke.
"When can I visit grandmother?"
"Visiting hours started at nine, so any time now should be fine. I wanted to be able to go with you bu-"
She cut him off, again not interested in whatever excuse he had to offer. "It's fine, dad. I'd rather go alone." The woman who had been cooking approached and silently placed a plate of food and a glass of orange juice in front of her. Cara turned to thank her, but she had already retreated back to where she had been cooking.
She began to eat but only a moment in, her father's cell phone started to ring. He glanced down at the screen and seemed to recognize the Caller ID because he quickly stood up and said, "I've got to take this. I'll have a car drive you in fifteen minutes," before promptly leaving the room.
Cara had decided to leave Holly at her home while she went to the hospital. She didn't expect to be long, so it didn't seem worth it to wake Holly up again, and more importantly, she didn't want to have to babysit Holly while visiting her ailing grandmother. As expected, the visit was short. Her grandmother was asleep when she got there but appeared drastically different than Cara remembered her to look. Her arms seemed so fragile and her hair, which was normally perfectly colored, was spotted with grays. There were oxygen tubes in her nose and some type of wire sticking in her arm. The doctor explained that her grandmother had cancer which had rapidly spread to some of her major organs, and they hadn't expected her to even make it this long. However, they did say that she had been awake and conscious for a few hours the day before and that it was possible that after some of her medication kicked in later that day, that she would be awake again.
She returned the the apartment around eleven and collapsed onto her bed next to the still sleeping Holly, hoping to get another few hours of sleep in before they returned to the warehouse.