21. Chapter 21 #2
At some point early this morning both my housemates came to the hospital and gave us a change of clothing.
They brought toiletries too. I swear Micah is a gem.
He brought some things for Cass in case he woke up and wanted snacks or entertainment.
Teddy raided my clothes because I’m the tallest and probably more towards the guy's size, so we were dressed in hoodies with cartoons on, sweats and flannels. I have my hoodie with a tiny ghostface mask embroidered on the chest, which makes me want to cry more. If he woke up I would tell him immediately…well, once he was better. He would be better, a nurse had come out to tell us he was all clear from surgery and he hadn’t cracked his skull.
He had however a minor fracture on his shoulder and he was lucky to not have broken his spine.
He was so, so lucky to be alive, which terrified me into crying more.
I thought I would be all out of tears, but they just keep clinging to my eyelashes.
Footsteps smack against the laminate in a determined rhythm, which is the only reason I even looked up as a dark haired woman scans everyone in the waiting room.
We meet eyes, but when she sees Emery fiddling on his phone, her shoulders slacken and she heads towards us.
There's no doubt this is Cassie’s mum, they both have the same dark shade of brown hair that is almost black and her eyes are the same shade.
“Emery, Darling. I’m here.” She says as she gets to us, and once he’s looked up from his phone, he hurls himself forward into her waiting arms. His entire body shakes as she holds him, stroking his dark blonde hair as she comforts him.
After a few minutes, she meets my gaze again, and they crinkle up with a smile.
“You must be Miles.”
My eyebrows shoot up into my hair-line, because did this mean that he’d told his parents about me?
About us? Understanding my confusion, his mum lets go of Emery but keeps her hand on his shoulder.
“I speak often with my son and I won’t lie, he speaks about you all the time.
” As forewarned, I'm not shocked by her British accent.
There's no hint that she’s lived in Scotland for longer than her son has been alive.
My cheeks burn and I nervously laugh. “All good things I hope.” My voice is hoarse from holding in the sobs I wish I could loudly proclaim.
Her smile is pained but she nods, looking around the waiting room again.
“Harris is getting us breakfast.” Emery explains.
Turning to me, she asks if I’d like to come see Cass now he’s awake.
I can’t stand up fast enough, legs feeling like I haven’t used them in days, despite how hard I pushed them to run to Grace's house. He’s going to wait for Harris and then join us, so I follow Cass’s mum through the double doors and onwards into the hospital.
“I’ll warn you, he’s pretty loopy on what they’ve given him. I want him to sleep soon, but he’s been asking for you.”
That warms my heart and I want to explode with these feelings of relief. It may upset her if I blubber about how terrified I was, so I keep that to myself and only exhale out a long breath when we get to his room.
“He’s not yet on the general ward, so they want visitors to be kept to a minimum. When Harris and Em come, is it ok if you head back to the waiting room?”
I’m pretty sure she may have to peel me from her son’s side, but I nod. “Of course, anything you want.”
I eagerly swing through the door and there he is, striking even when laid on a hospital bed.
He has two black eyes, scrapes against his jaw, shoulder which is showing underneath his hospital gown, and dressing around his head.
His hands are bandaged up too. He’s looking at the other man in the room who I assume is his dad, so I can see he has a huge wrap on the back of his head.
The rest of him is under the bedding and he’s leaning against so many pillows.
Briefly looking over his dad, it’s clear where he gets his muscles and size from.
If he resembles his mum’s dark hair and soft features, he gets his wild from this man.
He has unruly curls like Cass, tanned skin from being outside and freckles that cover his entire face.
I can’t age him because he looks really good, in a healthy middle-age way.
He’s dressed in a woolen jumper and slacks, professional but casual.
His parents look perfect together, the thought hitting me when they embrace.
Cassie’s head whips straight to me when the door closes and despite how battered he looks, his beaming smile is so big, it eclipses his entire face. “Mileyyyyyyy!” He shouts, giggling when his mum flinches and flutters her hands over his bed.
“Cass honey, indoor voice.”
He giggles again and places his finger wobbly to his lips. “Mileyyyyyy!” He whispers, winking at me.
“Hi, big guy.” I move to the side of the bed and sit down in the empty armchair. “How are you feeling? You really scared me.”
Still smiling, his shoulders jump a little like he attempted to shrug them, but can’t fully. “I fell. I’m sorry.”
“It’s ok, don’t apologise. I heard you saved Faye and Mason's life.”
He leans forward like he’s going to tell me a secret, smile dropping a little and I can now see how dilated his bruised eyes are. “There was a fire and I punched a window.”
His father sighs, putting his hands in his pockets and leans against the ledge of the large window. Cass’s head rolls back onto the pillows, then he winces and tries to touch the bandage at the back.
“Honey, don’t play with your bandages, you might pull your stitches.” His mum sits at the foot of his bed, patting his foot.
Rolling his head back my way, he smiles again like he’s only just noticed I’m there. “Miley, they shaved my hair off. I’m bald.”
Chuckling tightly, I lean forward and he reaches out his hand as I do too, entwining our fingers. “You’re not bald, you still have your hair.”
“Not at the back. How will you ever love me now?”
I choke on air, which he finds hilarious and starts to giggle again.
“Don’t tease your friend Casper, he looks like he might keel over.”
I cough roughly, but it’s cut off when Cass almost growls at his own dad. “He’s not my friend Dad, he’s my boyfriend! Jesus, Mum, get rid.”
He yanks me by the arm and I fall forward, but he grapples me onto the bed.
“Cassie, you might hurt yourself.” I worry, running my finger gently over the graze on his face but the light contact makes him melt.
“We’re boyfriends.”
My laugh is genuine, “Well we probably could have spoken about it another time, but yeah. We are.”
“Well hello Caspers first boyfriend, it’s very nice to meet you.” His dad smirks at us both, which sends him back into a growling frenzy.
“Stop eyeing up my boyfriend, get your own!”
His dad barks a laugh and says something I can’t make out, because his Scottish accent is much thicker than his sons. It’s deep and rumbly. He holds up his hands. “I’ll be honest, when he told us about Miley, he completely left out the part where you were a man.”
I bristle, unsure what that means, but he waves his hands. “Honestly we’re so thrilled to meet you.”
“The witch outside wouldn’t let me see you.”
Cass’s mum taps his foot again, scowling but it doesn’t hold any malice. “Casper, you need to stop calling the nurse a witch.”