A/N: I have a ko-fi page now! If you want to help me stay caffeinated to keep the words flowing, my account name over there is corneroffandom. Thank you! Either way, enjoy the chapter.
It was supposed to be simple. Walk into Payback, toss both members of the Vaudevillians around like they're nothing, and then walk back out successfully as #1 contenders. Instead, Cass finds himself leaning against a wall, trying not to completely break down, or throw up, while Enzo is transported away in an ambulance. He struggles just to keep it together, swallowing hard and walking away once the ambulance is gone. He doesn't remember walking through the halls, or changing into a suit, or getting their things together.
He does remember a quiet, tense ride to the hospital, Kevin Owens tapping his fingers against the steering wheel as he glances over at every red light. "Almost there," he says at one point, and Cass nods, his eyes fixed on the road ahead as he bunches the knees of his slacks in fright of what he might find waiting for him on the other end.
Cass gets out of the car at the entrance to the ER while Kevin goes to park the car, but when he walks up, Cass hasn't moved, staring blankly into the glass doors. "I... I can't go in," he says, each breath a struggle. "I can't... What if he's still unconscious? Did you see how he was breathing?" He searches Kevin's face desperately. "I can't see that again, I... He has to be ok..."
"You need to breathe right now, buddy," Kevin tells him calmly, clapping him on the back. "He's gonna be ok, but not if you're trapped out here, having a panic attack. He needs you in there, listening to his rambling nonsense and reassuring him that it's all gonna be ok one way or another. Now come on, one foot in front of the other, we'll figure out which room he is from one of the nice nurses, and go spare them from getting driven nuts by his demands to get released. Ok?"
Cass chokes out a vague laugh and then nods, his eyes gritty and red from fighting back tears since leaving the arena. "Yeah, alright. Let's do that." He squares his shoulders, gnaws at his bottom lip, and follows Kevin through the halls. He lets him handle talking to the nurses, barely paying attention as they follow her through some doors and towards a room off to the side.
Kevin walks in, no problem what-so-ever, but Cass hesitates outside, trying to convince himself it's going to be ok. He hears soft murmurs from inside, then a familiar voice, droning on distantly, and he swallows hard, pushing the privacy curtain aside. Enzo is standing only a few feet away from the door, his brows furrowed as he motions to Kevin wildly, but his face smooths out when he looks up and sees Cass. "Well, there ya are, damn I was wonderin'-" His words leave him in a whoosh as Cass walks forward and hugs him tightly, ducking his head when Enzo wraps his arms around him as well. "m'ok," he mumbles into Cass' white dress shirt. "I mean, I'm gonna be out for a little bit, but I'm ok."
Cass sighs, things slowly falling into place for him as he rubs the back of Enzo's neck, down to his back, easing some of the tension there. "You scared me," he admits. "If you saw it, Zo- how you were breathin'..." He'd taken enough pre-med courses to know breathing like that meant the body was struggling with something, and he'd really thought things weren't going to end up this well.
"Sorry," Enzo says, glancing up at him. "Both for scarin' ya and for... screwing everythin' up for us." He swallows. "I guess we're gonna have to work our way back up to title contention."
"Don't worry about that right now," Cass says, an exasperated look on his face as he backs up from Enzo to get a good look at him. He's about to say something else when he realized Kevin's taking pictures of them. "Kevin-"
"Sorry, sorry," he laughs, clearly sending the picture- with Enzo in his hospital gown and Cass staring at him, perplexed- to social media already. "I'll give you two a few minutes."
He leaves and Cass digs his knuckles into his forehead. "Dammit, Zo," he mumbles. "The titles are important, 'course, but more important is I thought I was gonna lose you forever not even an hour ago." He scrubs at his face, feeling those damnable tears pricking at his eyes again.
"Hey," Zo says, voice gentling. "Get over here, big guy." Cass sits down on the edge of the bed quietly and Enzo stands in front of him, pressing his face into his chest and carding his fingers through his hair while Cass wraps his arms around him, squeezing him carefully. "I'm gonna be alright. Just need a week or two, get back into fightin' shape and I'll be right there with you, through hell or high water."
Cass nods. Finally feels like he can breathe somewhat normally as he listens to Enzo's heart beating close to his ear, feeling his steady inhales and exhales. "Don't ever do that to me again."
"I won't," Enzo promises, lips twitching lightly. "I swear."
They remain like that until Kevin comes back, then the three of them set out to get Enzo released for real so they can get on the road to the next town, Enzo determined to at least be there for Raw before going home to recover properly.
Cass closes his eyes while Enzo signs some paperwork, each breath easier than the last. He's not sure what will come next for them professionally but, as he holds up his phone and takes a picture of Enzo outside of the hospital later on, he feels better than he has since the match first started all of those hours ago.