What to take to someone in the hospital

For starters, figure out what sort of thing might work so you don't get something that does not get used. Ask her. Other possibilities are those eye masks that some people wear on airplanes in order to sleep. You might want to offer to do her laundry (or at least take it to her house), bring in home-cooked food, offer to do chores at her house, or just spell her for a while at the hospital so she can go out and get a cup of coffee and have a change of scenery. It's nice that you are thinking about her this way. Very thoughtful.