"Did the nurses say it would be alright for you to.. sit up?" The absurdity of that question dawned on her mid-sentence, but she finished it anyway. Why was today happening? She wanted today to be over already. She didn't want to deal with any of this.
She paused and shook her head as if to get rid of the thought. "I'm very proud of you," she said, like a teacher would say to a schoolchild. It wasn't meant to be demeaning. It was meant to be playful, even if she didn't feel very playful.