Rude Awakening
Vi jerks awake to a weight suddenly lifted off her chest - an abrupt absence of warmth against the entire left side of her body as a shriek lances into her eardrums, making her heart kick, slamming against her ribcage. The stitches in her abdomen tug uncomfortably at her skin as she twists to see where the noise had come from, and, as her eyes focus, it feels like her brain and her eyes aren’t talking to each other, because she’s watching…
…watching Caitlyn twist a nurse’s arm behind her back and shove her up against the wall.
It takes a second, but Vi recognizes the nurse. It’s the young, blonde one who’s way too fucking bouncy and bubbly, but seems good enough at her job - and, as Vi fights against her grogginess, trying to put two and two together, the nurse shrieks again, yelling for help.
Vi’s still too asleep to actually process what’s happening or to be quick about getting up, and she’s too awake not to be very aware that something is wrong.
Vi lunges toward the side of the bed, stitches yanking as she instinctively moves to go fucking help, because, even half-asleep, Vi can tell the nurse is terrified.
Suddenly, the door to the room slams open, and Vi freezes, half leaned over as Dr. Kiramman rushes in, white doctor’s coat flaring out, and Vi feels shock jolt through her as he hauls off and kicks the side of Caitlyn’s leg hard.
Vi watches with wide eyes as Caitlyn stumbles a step, letting go of the nurse’s wrist to take a fuckin’ swing at her dad’s face, her hand flexed and in position to drive the heel of her palm into his cheekbone before he redirects her forearm with one hand, wrapping his other arm around her elbow, locking her arm in place by his side and hauling her off-balance.
Caitlyn lets go of the nurse’s shoulder as she careens sideways, but she gets her footing back immediately, throwing another two, vicious palm strikes at her dad’s ribs with her free hand.
Vi hears the dull impacts and Dr. Kiramman’s “oof!” even over the chaotic noise in her hospital room.
He doesn’t do anything about the hits but grimace, though, leaving Caitlyn’s striking arm free as he keeps her other arm pinned against his hip and shoves her shoulder, driving her backward until her back impacts the wall hard enough that Vi hears her let out a pained grunt.
Her eyes flying open wide, Caitlyn gasps like a drowning woman breaking the surface of a lake and Dr. Kiramman releases her pinned arm to catch her by the shoulders as she doubles over forward. “I’m fine. I’m here,” she gasps, strained.
Vi frowns at the words, confused and really goddamn concerned, and she watches Caitlyn’s fingers grip white-knuckled onto her dad’s sleeve, crumpling the fabric of his doctor’s coat.
Vi can’t understand what he’s saying to her, since he’s speaking Ionian, but she hears Caitlyn rasp, “Floor,” and her heart thumps hard in her chest as she watches Dr. Kiramman securely hold both Caitlyn’s elbows and help her slide down the wall until her ass hits the floor, her long legs sprawled haphazardly in front of her as she gulps down air.
“I think I might–” Caitlyn chokes out, and then Vi’s blinking too slow as Dr. Kiramman catches a blue plastic disc and shoves it under Caitlyn’s mouth…just before she curls over and retches into the vomit bag.
Vi’s brain finally catches up a little bit, waking up enough for her to at least process what’s happening right now, even if she’s still not able to process the very fast series of insanely weird things that had just happened. She drags herself to the side of the bed to swing her legs over the side, and her toes have just touched the floor when Caitlyn looks up and holds out her arm, one finger up.
She retches again before she can say anything, but Vi gets the message.
“Stay right there.”
“Like hell,” Vi thinks, sliding off the bed to stand on her own two feet with a wince before she crouches down, all of her muscles protesting more movement than she’s done in a fucking week.
God, she needs to get out of this fucking hospital.
Dr. Kiramman hooks a steadying hand under her armpit to keep her from faceplanting into Caitlyn’s lap, and Vi shoots him a grateful look before she turns her full attention to Caitlyn, who’s curled up farther so that her socked feet are propped on the floor, her knees awkwardly up on either side of her shoulders as she stays folded over between them, her forehead pale and sweaty, strands of dark blue hair sticking all over her face.
She looks miserable.
Vi’s chest squeezes as she reaches out and sets a hand on Caitlyn’s knee.
Caitlyn looks up, and her smile is quick and pained before her face crumples and she bends over to retch again into the vomit bag.
Vi frowns as she realizes that the bag doesn’t have much in it.
She wonders, suddenly, when the last time Caitlyn ate anything was, because it clearly wasn’t that recently.
“How’s the patient?” someone booms way too loudly and cheerfully, and Vi turns her head in time to see Jayce stride through the hospital room door wearing that wide, blinding grin and carrying more flowers.
His face goes slack as he actually looks around at what’s in the room - Caitlyn sitting on the floor against the wall and puking, Vi crouched next to her, hospital gown gaping way open at the back, Dr. Kiramman standing over them, and Mylo and Claggor crowded in the corner, staying out of the way but keeping an eye on things - and he sets the flowers on the end of the bed before he looks at Dr. Kiramman and asks, face and voice suddenly serious, “How bad?”
Dr. Kiramman shrugs. “Bad enough.”
Jayce presses his lips together and takes a deep breath in through his nose, his big shoulders rising and falling slowly. “Right.”
Vi looks between them. They’re clearly talking about Caitlyn…and this kind of thing happening before.
Jayce stumbles to the side as Pam shoves his arm to get past him, and he looks like he wants to protest, but Vi gives him credit where it’s due - he doesn’t say shit once he figures out who pushed him.
Pam walks calmly toward the weird trio Vi, Caitlyn, and Caityn’s dad make, and crouches down in front of Caitlyn, expertly maneuvering around Vi to drape a flexible ice pack over the back of Caitlyn’s neck and set an opened bottle of water and a couple packs of crackers between her feet. “Just breathe, honey. You’re alright,” she says comfortingly, smiling sympathetically and patting Caitlyn’s other knee.
Vi knows she’s staring at Pam like she’s got three heads, and she should stop that, because it’s rude, but she honestly didn’t know her face did that.
Over the past week, Pow and Mylo had made it a personal mission to try to get the older charge nurse to crack a smile and they hadn’t had any luck, even when everyone else was fucking dying.
Caitlyn’s head bobbles up, and she smiles back at Pam, her lips closed tight so the expression is more a pained grimace than anything else.
Pam pats her knee again before she stands.
“How’s the nurse?” Dr. Kiramman asks, and Vi sees Caitlyn’s head tilt up in her peripheral vision.
Vi feels sympathy tug hard at her chest. Caitlyn’s gotta feel fucking awful, even if she very clearly hadn’t been herself a few minutes ago.
Pam shrugs. “She’s fine. I got her an ice pack for her wrist, but there’s no damage. To be honest, this was probably a good thing.”
“What?” Vi asks before she can keep the question from bursting out.
Pam looks down at her with a raised eyebrow. “She’s already had training on proper procedure regarding caring for flagged patients and veterans. Now she might actually remember it.”
Mylo whistles low. “Harsh.”
Pam turns to look at him sharply, and responds, “If she had to learn the hard way, I’m glad it was Caitlyn she startled, and not someone with less training and more aggression.”
Vi sees her brother’s bushy eyebrows raise, and he doesn’t say anything back. Not much to say to that.
Pam has a point.
Vi turns back to Caitlyn. “Are you–?” she starts to ask, before she’s interrupted by the sound of Powder’s ringtone.
Sighing, Vi gives up on checking in and looks toward the bed. “Can somebody throw me my phone?”
Jayce lurches into motion, digging through the blankets until he finds it and tosses it over.
Vi catches it with the hand she doesn’t have on Caitlyn’s knee and flips it around so she can accept the call, putting the phone to her ear. “Yeah, Pow?”
There’s silence on the other end of the line that makes Vi frown as she pulls her phone away from her ear.
She puts her phone back up to it when she sees that, yeah, the call’s active. “Pow?”
“So uh…” Pow says, “...are we sure your girlfriend’s not a serial killer? Because…I’m not so sure.”
Vi laughs, “Fucking what?”
Caitlyn lifts her head again, looking a little more steady - and also curious - and Vi grins at her. “Are you a serial killer?”
To Vi’s surprise, Caitlyn’s eyes widen.
Vi stares back at her with equally wide eyes. “Uh–”
“I mean, seriously, what in the fuck?” Powder’s voice asks, and Vi pulls her phone away from her ear, hitting the little speakerphone button.
“You’re on speaker, Pow. What are you talking about?”
There’s silence again, and Vi hears Ekko whistle.
“You know, I don’t actually think I can describe this,” Pow says.
“It’s impressive though,” Ekko adds, sounding a little farther away from the phone. “Like, damn.”
“Wait, what’s happening?” Jayce asks, and Claggor’s the one who answers him,
“Vi’s getting discharged, so Powder and Ekko went to go grab Vi some clothes from her place.”
Caitlyn groans, and Vi twists back around to look at her, raising an eyebrow. “Something you wanna tell me?”
Caitlyn looks at her, shrugging helplessly, still holding the vomit bag and curled in on herself, though a little less tightly than she had been.
“What’s happening?” Jayce asks again, and Caitlyn sighs heavily before she finally says,
“I’ve been staying at Vi’s flat while working on the case.”
It’s not really an explanation, so Vi’s a little surprised when Jayce gasps with realization, sounding absolutely fucking delighted as he says, “Ohhhhh…and Vi hasn’t seen–”
“Correct.”
Jayce’s reaction both does and absolutely does not clear things up, and Vi really wishes someone would actually explain what’s going on. She feels slow from her recovery, and she feels like maybe that’s why she’s missing something…or maybe this whole serial killer situation is just really vague.
“Oh my God,” Pow says from the phone and Vi twists back toward her phone and a miserable-looking Caitlyn. Powder snorts, muttering, “Yeesh, somebody get this bitch a sandwich.”
“What’s up, Pow?”
There’s some rustling and banging around, and then Pow’s voice comes, far away, “Okay, so, you’re completely out of coffee, and there are, like, twenty seven power bar wrappers in the trash, but you’ve got a full fridge. Your sink’s got only coffee mugs in it. No plates. At all.”
Vi sighs. “Why are you going through the trash?”
“What?” Pow protests, defensive. “I’m investigating. I don’t know what your problem is, but I feel like your cop girlfriend would appreciate all my efforts here.”
Rubbing her forehead, Vi sighs again.
“Okay,” Pow says, “If your room doesn’t also look all murder-y, I’ll grab you some clothes so you’re not booty nekkid when you blow that popsicle stand. Love you, byeeeeeeeee.”
Powder hangs up before Vi can ask any more questions.
When Vi looks at Caitlyn again, she’s staring at the phone with an expression on her face that might be shock or nausea.
As Vi watches, she twists the top of the almost-empty vomit bag, sealing it off, and Dr. Kiramman reaches down to take it from her.
Before Caitlyn can do it herself, Vi picks up the bottle of water between Caitlyn’s feet and hands it to her. It’s in reach, but Vi wants to help. She also wants to ask a lot of fucking questions, but she figures that, now, with everybody and their fucking mother in the room, isn’t the time.
“Thanks,” Caitlyn murmurs, taking a small sip of water and swishing it around in her mouth. After she swallows, she jerks her chin toward the bed. “Get off the floor before you hurt yourself.”
Vi raises her eyebrows. “Bossy.”
Caitlyn does not look amused, and Vi resists the urge to laugh. It is kind of funny - like being scolded by some uppity headmistress at a fancy school - but she can tell that Caitlyn’s stressed enough.
“Alright, alright,” Vi relents. She looks up at Dr. Kiramman, hating that she needs help, but figuring she can’t fucking fake that she doesn’t right now. If she tried to get up by herself she probably would hurt herself.
He bends down to help her without being asked, and - carefully and securely - helps her to her feet. He’s stronger than Vi had figured he would be, and that might be surprising, if she wasn’t already used to Caitlyn surprising her every three seconds.
Vi nods at him when she’s sitting on the edge of the bed, her gown tugged smoothly back into place without her even realizing it. “Thanks.”
“Of course,” he says, turning back to his daughter immediately and crouching down in front of her.
Caitlyn leans her head back on the wall to look at her dad, the rest of her body a tired tangle of long limbs. “Are you alright? Um…” Caitlyn looks him over, her fingers weaving through the air like she’s trying to pull what she wants to say out of it. “Ribs?”
Behind her, Jayce breathes out what sounds like a relieved breath, and Vi doesn’t know what to make of that or Dr. Kiramman’s smile and nod. “I’m perfectly fine. And I do believe my ribs will survive.”
Caitlyn nods, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Dr. Kiramman pats her on the knee. “I’m afraid I have to get back to my rounds, but I have my pager on me if you need anything.”
“And I’m right here, honey,” Pam says, sounding more kind and encouraging than Vi has ever heard her sound.
“Would you like some assistance standing up before I leave?” Dr. Kiramman asks, and, when Caitlyn nods, her face set, he helps her get to her feet.
Vi notices immediately that she’s babying the leg with the shrapnel scars, and Vi bites back a concerned question about that as Caitlyn grits her teeth and stands straight. Her dad pats her on the shoulder and then turns to leave the room, acknowledging everybody who’s also still in the room before he’s gone, his doctor coat flapping around him as he strides out into the hallway.
Almost as soon as he walks out the door, Caitlyn’s posture slumps and she leans back against the wall, an exhale forcing its way out of her body.
“You want to take a shower?” Vi asks, throwing out pretty much the only thing she can think of other than not being in the fucking hospital that might help Caitlyn feel better right now.
Caitlyn watches her for a moment, her face completely unreadable, tension in her face pulling her eyebrows together.
Vi just waits.
“You’re alright for the moment?”
Vi smiles, jerking her head toward the bathroom. “Go get cleaned up, I’m good.”
It’s another long moment, and then Caitlyn nods slowly, pushing off the wall and starting to limp toward the bathroom, her gait really uneven.
Vi’s pretty sure that Caitlyn would have been dealing with some pain and stiffness even without getting the shit kicked out of her leg, and Vi just really wishes she was in better shape right now, because she wants to help, and, instead of being able to do that, she’s stuck sitting on a hospital bed wearing grippy socks and a breezy gown like the invalid she is.
The door to the bathroom clicks closed, and Vi exhales, her body finally recognizing the danger - or just the weird situation - as done and over with.
As the shower turns on, Vi realizes that there are still a bunch of people in the room.
“So…” Vi trails off awkwardly, looking at Jayce, who’s just on his phone, checking fucking social media or something, like all of this is normal, then at Mylo, who’s eating a bagel, then at Claggor, who smiles at her sympathetically, and then at Pam, who’s looking toward the bathroom door with pursed lips.
“Press the button if either of you need anything,” the older nurse says, back to being brusque. “I’ll bring her some clothes to change into in case she doesn’t want to get back into that suit.”
“Thanks,” Vi says to her back, since Pam’s already gone.
Of everything right now, Vi’s honestly the most curious about why Pam is so sweet to Caitlyn when she’s so businesslike with literally everybody else.
Vi can guess about the other things - she knows Caitlyn has PTSD, but she hadn’t known it was worse than nightmares, and she’s managed to piece together that the “serial killer” shit must have something to do with solving the case, and that she’ll find out more about that once she gets back to her “murder-y” apartment, but…Vi has literally no idea what to make of Pam smiling.
“You good?” Mylo asks around a mouthful of bagel, already on his way out, and Vi chuckles sarcastically.
“Fantastic.”
“Don’t be a dick,” Mylo responds, flipping her off as he walks out of the room, whistling.
Claggor sighs and shakes his head when the sound of Mylo’s obnoxiously off-key whistling is cut off by the door closing. “You need help getting actually comfortable?”
Vi debates for a few seconds, and then decides that…yeah, unfortunately, she does. Vi grits her teeth against letting any of her annoyance at being so fucking feeble burst out at her brother, and just replies, “Yeah, thanks.”
“Sure thing.”
“Hang on,” Vi says, finally able to focus on something other than Caitlyn. “Did you say I was getting discharged today?”
Clagg grins. “Hell yeah. You’re gettin’ out of here.”
Vi laughs incredulously, not even minding the pain in her ribs, because fucking finally she gets to go home.
Clagg keeps talking as he helps her, because they’re pros at getting her all set after a week of this bullshit. “Your stitches are doing better - or, you know, they were earlier, before you started parkouring out of bed and shit.”
Vi rolls her eyes.
“Doctor Kiramman really only wanted to make sure that you were gonna be able to sleep, and, since, apparently, Caitlyn is like Xanax for you, you’re all set to go.”
Vi grunts, acknowledging what her brother had said without saying anything about how Caitlyn’s literal physical presence makes it so she can sleep. She doesn’t know why that is, and it’s weird, but it’s also nice, and, now, her entire family and Caitlyn’s dad are apparently aware, after a week of sitting here in the hospital with her while she’s been going through her worst bout of nightmares in years, that all she really needed to make all that go away was just to have Caitlyn around.
It’s…well, it’s honestly kind of a struggle not to feel fucking pathetic about that. Vi’s in her mid-thirties, and she can’t fucking sleep without her girlfriend (because Caitlyn is actually her girlfriend now, holy shit) cuddling her.
If Caitlyn didn’t make her feel so goddamn happy, she might be more ashamed about that.
But, still, Vi doesn’t say anything to her brother about it, and he doesn’t ask.
Vi’s tucked back into bed a few minutes later, and Clagg puts her call button within reach and hands her her giant mug of water with the big ass straw before he heads out, too.
And then…Vi’s alone in her hospital room with the Man of Progress.
She can’t resist poking at him a little, just because it feels normal, and so she says, “Hey, Pretty Boy,” and smirks at him when he rolls his eyes.
He’s a good-natured guy. Vi’d been surprised, but…yeah, maybe not that surprised, given the fact that he’s best friends with Caitlyn, and Caitlyn is…
It’s an effort to keep her attention on Jayce, and not let her mind drift to the woman currently in her shower.
“How are you feeling?” Jayce asks, and the seriousness of the question takes Vi by surprise a little.
Vi shrugs, finally actually tuning in to how her body feels and realizing that she’s probably going to have to get somebody to check her fucking stitches before she gets out of here, just to make sure she hasn’t popped them again. Aside from the uncomfortable pull on the skin and muscles in her abdomen knitting back together, Vi feels like shit.
She feels slightly more rested than she had, but all she and Caitlyn had really gotten was a short nap that did not end pleasantly, so she’s…yeah, she’s tired, and her ribs ache, and her body is stiff and creaky and heavy -feeling.
And she doesn’t have it in her to lie right now, because she’s been pretending so fucking hard all week, and Jayce might care about her some, but he doesn’t worry like her family does, so…Vi answers him honestly. “I feel like shit.”
He snorts. “Yeah, I figured.”
Vi nods, taking a sip of her big water.
“Well, I’m glad you’re getting out of here, at least.”
“Me fucking too, Pretty Boy.”
Jayce huffs a laugh and they lapse into silence.
Vi’s starting to feel drowsy again as there’s a quick knock at the door and then Pam walks back in, holding a bundle of things that she sets on the foot of the bed.
“Alright - I brought clothes and heating pads, but I can’t give her any pain medication until she has something else to eat.”
Vi’s nodding, about to thank her, when Pam turns to Jayce. “Are you going to get on that?”
“Uh–”
“She needs carbs, protein, and salt. And also something sugary to go along with that to get her blood sugar back up. Go get her something she’ll like.”
“Oka–”
“Now.”
Jayce clears his throat, nodding jerkily and shoving his phone back in his pocket. “Yes, ma’am.” Then he asks, “You hungry, too, Vi?”
Too baffled to do anything but nod, that’s all Vi does, and then Jayce walks out of the hospital room.
Pam watches him go, lips pursed, and then Vi’s treated to her full attention. “You’re getting discharged today, and we have some things to run through before you can get out of here, but I’d like to go ahead and check your stitches. Is that okay with you?”
Vi sighs. “Yeah.”
It’s a good idea after all the movement earlier, even if she doesn’t fucking want to get half naked and be poked by a relative stranger.
Pam doesn’t say anything else as she goes through getting all set up to check her out, and then Vi’s tamping down on the urge to elbow the older nurse in the face as Pam helps her out of her gown enough to check her stitches.
Vi grimaces at the feeling of the tape unsticking from her skin, and Pam notices, making a sympathetic noise.
The shower cuts off, and Vi looks toward the door reflexively, like Caitlyn’s just going to be there immediately, which is stupid, because she’ll have to dry off and whatever else, and…yeah.
“One second,” Pam says, tugging her gown gently back into place and then moving to the bathroom door to knock with her elbow, since she’s got gloves on. “I brought you some extra clothes, honey,” she calls to Caitlyn. “Heating pads, too.”
Caitlyn’s “Thank you,” sounds tired, and sympathy lines Pam’s face as she walks back over to the hospital bed.
“So, uh…” Vi says, resisting the urge to gulp when Pam looks at her with raised eyebrows and absolutely zero smile. “How do you know Caitlyn?”
Pam hums, resuming checking her stitches as she answers. “Dr. Kiramman has been bringing Caitlyn around the hospital since she was little. She used to sit at the desk with me and help with the charts while her father did his rounds.”
Vi smiles, picturing little Caitlyn sitting at the nurse’s station and asking Pam a million questions.
“And then she spent quite a bit of time here receiving care when she got back from Ionia. I made sure to get myself assigned to her care team whenever I could so she could see a familiar face.”
“That was good of you,” Vi tells her sincerely, feeling a little emotional, honestly, about Caitlyn having someone to support her through healing from all her injuries. Caitlyn had told her how much she hates hospitals, and Vi knows personally how much it sucks to have strangers around when you’re vulnerable like that. Healing from the level of injuries Caitlyn had sustained in the military must have taken a long fucking time, and Vi’s glad that Pam had made sure Caitlyn wasn’t alone.
Pam presses on tender skin with her thumb, going about her business, and Vi tries not to wince. “I’m glad to have been able to be here for her. She’s tough, and she puts on a brave face, just like you, but nobody should have to go through all that pain alone.”
Vi starts a little bit at Pam’s off-hand comment about having noticed that she’s been pretending to feel okay, and she doesn’t know what to say, so she’s really glad when the door pops open a little bit and Caitlyn peeks her head out, looking around the room.
“Hey, Cupcake,” Vi says, smiling when Caitlyn’s eyes land on her, and her face relaxes a little.
“Is it just the two of you?” Caitlyn asks quietly, and Vi just wants to curl up with her at home where they can both get some rest and not have to pretend like they don’t feel like shit.
“Yeah, just us,” Vi says.
Pam turns to her and - again - smiles, and Vi needs to stop finding that so fucking weird. “Vi’s family are all somewhere else, and Jayce just left to go get you some food.”
Caitlyn sighs as she pushes open the door, and limps out into the room in a towel.
Slowly, she makes her way over to the little stack of clothes, and then Vi watches her think for a second before she sighs, and then just turns around to sit on the side of the bed.
Pam, who’s still poking around on Vi’s side, leans over to offer Caitlyn her elbow for support as she sits.
“Thank you.”
“Sure, honey. Can you manage the clothes?”
Caitlyn nods. “I think so.”
“Alright. Let me know if you need help,” Pam replies, flashing Caitlyn a smile as she just keeps on tending to Vi’s stitches.
Vi has one eye on Pam, because she just can’t let go of the need to be alert to anybody in her personal space, and the other on Caitlyn, who’s moving really slowly as she starts to put on the hospital-issue zip-up sweatshirt.
Vi wonders, and also hates that she can’t ask right now, if Caitlyn’s moving so slow because she’s in pain, or because her mind is still…not all the way here.
Vi’s familiar with both kinds of slowness, and she wants to know what’s going on so she can try to be here in some kind of way that’s helpful, even if she’s sort of fucking useless right now.
Grimacing at the thought, Vi sighs.
“You okay?” Pam asks, and Vi starts a little - she’d gotten lost in thought and forgotten that Pam was still changing her bandage.
“Yeah,” Vi answers, hoping she looks reassuring.
Pam doesn’t seem convinced, but she doesn’t say anything as she finishes up with the gauze and new tape.
Vi appreciates that about her, honestly. Even when Pam had been the one helping her after a nightmare, she really hadn’t said much. The focus had been on her physical needs, and whether or not she needed the hospital’s on-call therapist, not on a lot of probing questions.
On the other side of Pam, Caitlyn’s grunting quietly as she loosens the towel she’d wrapped around her torso so that it falls around her hips.
She looks up at the ceiling, rolling her neck out and taking a big breath before she reaches for the sweatpants.
Vi’s heart hurts for her as she starts getting her legs into the sweatpants, obviously clenching her teeth against any other noises.
Jayce better hurry the fuck up with that food so that Caitlyn can have some meds. She clearly needs them.
“Alright,” Pam says, “I think you’ve managed not to pop your stitches, miraculously. Depending on testing and any other check-ups, we may have to change your bandage again, but you’re good to go for now.”
“Thanks,” Vi tells her, doing her best to smile as Pam helps her back into her gown and does up the top tie so she doesn’t end up with her tits out when she tries to reach for something.
Vi doesn’t really give a shit about modesty, or whatever, but she likes to not have her tits out in public, if she can help it. Vi snorts as she thinks about Powder picking out an outfit for her. She has no idea what her sister is going to decide is a good leaving-the-hospital outfit. Ekko went with her, so Vi’s probably going to end up with something appropriate. Maybe.
Pam takes care of the tray of dirty gauze and then strips off her gloves.
“Here, honey. Let me help you,” Pam tells Caitlyn, holding out her hands to help Caitlyn stand so she can pull up the sweatpants.
Smoothly, Pam gets the waistband tugged into place and then pulls the towel away and tosses it toward the soiled laundry bin. “Alright, where are we getting you set up?”
Before she can overthink it, even though her heart is beating faster and everybody in the goddamn room knows it is because of the fucking heart monitor, Vi says, “Up here’s good.”
Caitlyn turns her head to look at her like she’s crazy, and Vi grins at her, trying to get through whatever mental wall she’s got up right now enough to get her to come fucking cuddle.
Pam raises an eyebrow but, again, doesn’t say anything.
Finally, Caitlyn sighs. “If there’s room…”
“There’s room,” Vi says firmly.
Caitlyn seems dubious, but when she looks questioningly at Pam, the older nurse just nods encouragingly. “Plenty room, honey.”
______
Sensing it would be useless to argue, Caitlyn doesn’t. She lets Pam fuss over both her and Vi, and, when she’s sitting up in bed with Vi, leaned very carefully against her side, Pam makes a comment about them being “all cozied up” that makes Caitlyn flush with embarrassment.
There really is absolutely no hiding their relationship - not that Caitlyn wants to, just that…well, they’d only become “official” a few hours ago. It’s a bit startling that absolutely everyone seems fully on board with the status and implications of their relationship.
When Pam has helped her put on the absolutely incredible hospital heating pads that actually manage to fully wrap around her aching shoulder and her over-strained thigh, the older nurse leaves - ensuring that they both promise her they’ll call if they need anything.
And then, a bit abruptly, they’re alone in the hospital room.
Caitlyn wonders, for just a moment, if it’s going to be awkward, and then it isn’t. She can feel Vi relax against her, and the residual tension leaves Caitlyn’s own body as if of its own volition, and…
Caitlyn sighs, shifting a little to curl into Vi’s side as best she can, resting against her firefighter.
“Hey, Cupcake,” Vi murmurs, kissing her softly on the shoulder, and Caitlyn is suddenly both incredibly drowsy and a little overcome with emotion.
Unable to say anything for fear of breaking down into tears, Caitlyn just turns her head to capture Vi’s lips with hers. Their noses bump together, and the angle is a little awkward, but it’s warm and soft and lovely.
It takes a while for the kiss to break, and it’s more like a tapering off than a breaking; a slowing of the gentle, pleasantly sticky sensation of Vi’s lips pressing to hers.
After a while, they’re just sharing breath, space, and Caitlyn feels the tight knot in her chest that had formed when she’d suddenly come to earlier start to loosen.
It’s been…a while since anything like what had happened with the nurse had occurred, and Caitlyn’s, admittedly, a little rattled by it.
She’s never caused anyone irreparable harm by waking up suddenly and not being…fully present, but she’s definitely broken some bones; bruised the people who were caring for her, who had the difficult task of grappling with her, sometimes, being both there and…not.
Right after she’d gotten back, it had been bad. Her body had reacted to nearly anyone coming near her as if she was under threat. Over time, that response had gotten better, and Caitlyn had worked - in therapy and otherwise - at ensuring that she had control over her startle reflex and any panic it might incite.
You simply couldn’t be a jumpy police officer. That was a recipe for disaster.
But…Caitlyn supposes that, with the flaring of her injuries and the memories that that always dredges up, the sleep deprivation, and the fact that Vi had been, potentially, under threat, it isn’t entirely unreasonable that she’d reacted the way she had.
It doesn’t feel good to have reacted that way, and Caitlyn knows she owes several people apologies, and…and she owes Vi an explanation, which is a conversation she’s really not looking forward to.
After everything, she doesn’t think that Vi would blame her or any such thing, but being prone to unconscious, physically aggressive responses to perceived threats is no small thing.
Caitlyn feels a bit cowardly to feel unable - or, rather, unwilling - to just get it over with, but, for now, she’s just enjoying the closeness, the comfort of Vi’s presence.
Her firefighter is injured, but whole, and safe, and Caitlyn is with her, and she selfishly decides that she wants to enjoy the moment while she can.
Vi’s fingers lace with hers, and Vi’s head tips against her shoulder, and Caitlyn hums contentedly as she leans her cheek against the top of Vi’s head.
Her breathing feels deep and easy, despite the tension with which she’d awakened not that long ago, and Caitlyn muses a bit on the very warm, very comfortable reason for that.
Ever since the first time she’d slept in Vi’s presence, Caitlyn’s found it odd how safe Vi feels, but, after everything, she’s managing to make her peace with it. To enjoy it.
For as long as it lasts