"Cailen," was what Cailen woke up to the next morning, that and a pair of make-up coated eyes peering at him curiously.
Cailen peeled his eyes open further, a groan escaping his mouth when he pushed himself up right in the chair.
The pain in his back should have been expected, and it kind of was, but that didn't ease the pain any.
He remembered that after crying his eyes out, he pushed himself up from the floor and dragged himself towards the chair to get whatever little sleep he could.
The pair of eyes belonged to a girl, Carmen, a nurse that worked at the hospital.
Carmen and Cailen never talked much, they've hardly spoken two words to each other the whole time he's worked here. Not because one of them was a snob, but because their shifts hardly collided.
He was surprised she knew his name. Her small hand was on his arm, shaking him awake but let go when she saw he was sitting up.
"What time is
Cailenmanaged to get Ezekielfed, dressed, and to school on time, surprisingly enough.He was late forwork however, because he stopped in to talk with Ezekiel's teacher, explaining what had happened and that Ezekielmay not seem fully attentive today.She was very understanding and said she would probably let him go off to the back of room so he could be alone if he needed.Cailenhad thanked her and rushed out of there as fast as he could, apologizing profusely to Madelinewhen he arrived at work.Madelinegave him a stern look, probably for the sole reason of protecting her reputation because she then gave him a small smile and nodded him along.He was grateful to have her as a boss, well she was more a supervisor, but still, she was pretty reasonable at times.Cailentried to make it through the first half of his day, going to his usual patients that he had to give medication to, bri
There was nothing funny about what Matthewsaid, nothing to laugh at,yet a choked off laugh bubbled it's way out of his mouth, earning a smirk from Matthew."Yeah, it’sgreat," Cailenmumbled, taking a shaky breath and letting it out in a rush as he looked to the ceiling above, the lights making him squint."You're momwanted me to tell you to call her when she can come see Ash," Matthewsaid nonchalantly as if Cailenweren't still taking deep breaths in order to keep himself calm."And she's always available if you need her to watch Zeke," Matthewadded.Cailennodded, he knew that already, she had sent him several text messages and he did reply so he didn't know why she felt the need to ask Matthewto tell him."So, Papa, huh?" Matthewstarted, grinning at Cailen.It was obvious what he was doing, trying to search for a topic that would take Cailen'smind from
"Is he awake yet?" Noahasked, rushing into the room and stopping mid-step when he looked to the bed and saw that Asherwas not awake yet.The doctor had finished operating on Asherabout an hour ago and had returned Asherto his bed but had told Cailenhe was still heavily drugged and would be in and out of consciousness for a while.Asherhadn't woken up at all since the doctor returned him but at least now,he really was just sleeping, not knocked out.He was still on a breathing machine but instead of the full face mask he had before,it was only two little tubes that went into his nostrils.There were still other wires connected to him-a heart monitor just in case and a morphine drip because he would still be in a lot of pain but there weren't as many as before."No, hasn't woken up since the doctor brought him back," Williamexplained from where he sat on the other side of the s
Cailenwiped at Asher's chin without being bothered by it at all.With how long he's been a nurse,he's had to clean more than his fair share of vomit.Cailenmay not have been able to help operate on Asher, but he was allowed to take care of him like this and he had offered to do so, so they wouldn't have to send someone else in here.He was certain Asherwould be more comfortable with Cailentaking care of him rather than a random person.Cailenreached behind him for the glass of water that was always given to the patients and turned back around, holding it infront of Asher's face."Ash, can you swish this around in your mouth, love?" Cailenasked, placing the cup at Asher's lips.Asherwasn't really all here, Cailencould tell, but he did comply with Cailen'sinstructions and swished a bit of water around in his mouth."Okay, now spit," Caileninstructed and watc
Ashereventually fell asleep again so Cailenlowered him down onto the bed gently, kissing his forehead and making sure he was tucked in so he wouldn't get cold.Cailenleft the room after that since Asherwas sleeping and made his way to the front desk.Madelinehad gone home already but Cailenstill had to report what he found out when Asherwoke up.Instead of Madelinebehind the desk,there was a young man with a dark head of hair and blue eyes that Cailen'snever seen before.It wasn't surprising because he hasn't worked a night shift in a long time and wouldn't be now that he had Ezekielto take care of.Cailenstill approached the desk, ready to introduce himself and report what he found."Hi, if you'd fill this out,we'll be with-" the man said, obviously not knowing who Cailenwas either."Uh, that's okay, um, I work here actually," Cailen&nbs
The man beside her wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close as he smiled at Asherwho remained still, his eyes still locked on the little girl.Cailenwas a bit shocked to hear this. He kind of forgot about why this had all happened in the first place.He looked to the little girl who had a small scratch on her left arm but was otherwise fine.She stepped forward, away from her parents and up beside Asher, her eyes locked on himwith a look of wonder in them.Cailencould relate, he knew he often looked at Asherlike that but it was different seeing it on her face.It was different seeing it on the face of a little girl who Asherhad saved because it made Cailenrealize just how truly amazing Asherwas.He's never met anyone Asherhas saved before. Sure, he's heard stories and of course believed them one hundred percent but it was something to hear about it, and something
Cailenhad to leave to go get Ezekielfrom school, make him dinner and make sure he did his homework before Noahcame over to watch him while Cailencame back to the hospital so it was sort of convenient that Asherhad fallen asleep.He was avoiding bringing Ezekieldown to the hospital because Ashertruly wasn't very sociable and he didn't want Ashergetting upset at Ezekielover anything because the boy might take it to heart.Even the guy’s visits have been sparse because Ashercouldn't handle socializing with so many people right now-his head still hurt, he was still feeling a bit nauseous sometimes, and it all made him very irritable.That family coming to visit was proof enough that Asherwasn't ready.The only person Asherwould allow for any length of time was Cailen, and he was certain that was only because Cailendidn't really give him an option.As
"Zeke!" Cailencalled out into the flat from the kitchen."When you're donewithyour homework, come and eat!" Cailenset the plate of food he had made down on the kitchen table, wiping his hands off on the towel and looking around the kitchen for that glass of juice he had poured.He was a bit scatter brained at the moment because he was supposed to leave in five minutes or he'd be late and Noahwasn't here yet.He resisted the urge to text him, the guywas doing a favor for him after all, and busied himself with cleaning up the kitchen.He didn't want to be late because he knew he was already asking a lot of the hospital to split his shifts like this. He had to go talk to them and work out a shift that had him starting later in the day so he could drop Ezekieloff at school, then he was off early in order to pick him up and back to work a couple hours later to finish his shift.It was a bit exhaust