Author's Note: Chapter 12 is here and it's a long one. It's full of fluff, hurt/comfort and a lot of drama so be warned! It took me a while to get it right but I'm okay with it so I hope you enjoy it :3
'School sucks without you!' Carmilla came storming into the room, dropping her bag abruptly on the floor before moving to sit beside Laura. It had become a routine the past few days for Carmilla to come to see Laura. She'd bring her games to play and lots of cookies, which she had to eat in secret after her father, had told her that she couldn't just live on cookies.
Laura spent most of the day lying in her hospital bed, her bright pink cast propped up on a pile of cushions as she played games and read books to pass the time. She'd been slowly healing but she was still a bit sore having to resist the urge to curl up. Laura had started to use crutches, hobbling around the children's play area as practice. Everyday she'd been to see her Mother who spent a lot of time sleeping but always wore a smile on her face when Laura came hobbling into her room.
'When are you getting out of here Cupcake?'
'Soon I hope!'
'I hope so too'
'It's soooooo boring here Carm! All the other kids are so childish'
'You're a kid!'
'Yeah but I'm eight now, I'm too old to play with them.'
'You're small enough!'
'Hey, don't be mean to me, I'm injured!' Carmilla couldn't help but grin at the small pout that formed on Laura's lips as she folded her arms fixing the brunette with sad eyes. This was a tactic that Laura had picked up early on, she knew that if she pouted that Carmilla would back down, it worked every time.
'Okayyyy, I'm sorry you're small but cute!' Laura smiled shyly, a small blush forming as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.
'So what game do you wanna play today Cupcake?'
'SNAP!'
...
'How's Laura today?'
'She's in great spirits, Carmilla came by again they're playing snap.'
'God help Carmilla!'
Mark chuckled thinking about how competitive his daughter got when it came to card games, all he could think was thank god she didn't know how to play poker. He walked over to his wife, sitting down in the chair closed to her bed as he placed fresh flowers in the vase on the bedside table receiving a gentle smile from Sarah.
'I spoke to her doctors and they said that she's physically healing well so they have no problem with allowing her to come home'
'That's great Mark'
'Anyway how are you?'
'Still in a bit of pain, I'm still adjusting to...well you know but I'll be okay, I'm just so relieved that Laura is okay after the accident that I caused'
'No, Sarah you can't keep doing this to yourself. You didn't cause it, it was a freak accident but you're both going to be okay'
'I can't help but feel responsible Mark; Laura could be at home and happy now. She could be safe'
'She's happy here and we'll keep her safe darling. None of this was your fault' Sarah just nodded, letting Mark lean in to kiss her forehead, their foreheads resting against one another before she spoke again.
'How's Carmilla? I was worried about her the other day'
'You're truly amazing Sarah, after everything that's happened, you still find time to worry about that little girl'
'Well she needs someone to!'
'I know. She seems okay, still a bit shaken up but she's a lot brighter today. Her Mother's picking her up later though'
'Mark, don't' Sarah looked at her husband knowing what he was thinking, she was thinking the same.
'She can't say that to a child Sarah. She's eight years old for Pete's sake!'
'I know, she really is a terrible woman but there's nothing we can do'
'Well I can tell her how bad of a parent she is!'
'What good will that do Mark?'
'It will give me piece of mind.'
'I know you want to help her, I do too more than anything but it's not our place to say something. All we can do is support her, if I had my way Mark she'd be living with us but we don't always get what we want. I think I'm living proof of that.'
Mark slumped his shoulders in defeat, rubbing circles on Sarah's arm as she let her head fall to his shoulder. Tears falling down her face as she finally let everything that she was holding back out, all of the pain and the guilt, the loss and she cried.
'I'm bored of this game!'
'You're only saying that because I'm winning.'
'You're cheating!'
'You say that every time you lose Cupcake!'
'Do not!'
'Do too!'
'Oh shut up.'
Laura pouted at the brunette as she pulled her tongue out, whispering loser underneath her breath which earned her a playful shove. Grinning Carmilla looked at Laura, her eyebrow quirking as an idea came to play.
'I have an idea of something that we can do'
'Is it fun?'
'Definitely!'
'Then I'm in.'
Carmilla helped Laura up fetching her crutches for her as she pushed the wheelchair towards the blonde. Carefully Laura sat down watching as Carmilla sat down in a wheelchair of her own. Grinning Laura wheeled herself towards the door, poking her head around the corner to see if anybody was coming. Seeing an empty corridor the blonde turned back to Carmilla with an excited grin.
...
'Ready, set, GO!'
They both began frantically wheeling themselves down the corridor, laughter filling the air as they wheeled faster. Their hands going at lightning speed both trying to outdo the other; Laura was flying ahead her hair flying about as she cheered excitedly seeing Carmilla close behind.
Carmilla desperately tried to push herself faster but Laura clearly had the upper hand here and she could only groan as Laura reached the end of the corridor cheering loudly as she did a little happy dance with her hands. Carmilla wheeled faster as she tried to reach Laura before skidding to a halt, a pair of long legs blocking her way.
As she looked up, her face fell when she saw an angry looking nurse glaring down at her. She gulped guiltily as the nurse berated them for playing in the hallway. Laura had to clamp a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing. She caught Carmilla's eye and started to pull a face behind the nurse's back causing the brunette to laugh, snorting loudly as she tried to control her laughter. The nurse was far from impressed, she ordered them back to the room confiscating the wheelchairs as she went off to find Laura's father.
'Laura Hollis, a nurse just informed me that you and Carmilla were speeding down the corridor in wheelchairs, is this true?!'
Laura turned sheepishly to look at her father, a guilty expression on her face as she slowly nodded refusing to look into his eyes. Carmilla looked even guiltier as she started to get up trying to walk out of the door without being detected.
'You can stop right there Carmilla.' She froze turning back to see Mark stood; arms folded shaking his head at her. Carmilla made her way back to the bed, hovering awkwardly by the side, her feet suddenly becoming very interesting.
'I'm sorry Dad, I was just really bored and I wanted to play and Carmilla and I...we ummm we just wanted to have fun and I didn't even realise that we would cause trouble and I'm sorry...' Laura rambled on before Mark held up his hand to stop his daughter from digging herself a hole.
'You could have hurt yourself more Laura, what you were doing was very dangerous.'
'I know, I'm sorry'
'It was my idea Mr Hollis, I should have been more careful I'm sorry'
'No dad she's covering for me, it was my idea, I'm sorry'
'Okay girls, it's okay. As long as you promise to be more careful, I don't want another accident okay?'
'Yes Dad' 'Yes Mr Hollis' they both answered in unison, smiling at one another.
'So do you want to go see your Mom?'
'Of course I do, let's go!' Laura was already hobbling out of the door, gesturing for Mark to follow her. He started to follow when he noticed Carmilla still stood in the same position.
'Carmilla, aren't you coming?'
Carmilla's head rose, her face a mixture of several different emotions as she looked into Mark's warm eyes.
'I'm still allowed?'
'Of course you are Carmilla, why wouldn't you be?'
'Because of what I did'
'That doesn't mean you can't come with us'
Carmilla stood still for a minute, thinking it over in her head before she started speaking again.
'Aren't you going to punish me?'
'Why would I punish you?'
'I did something wrong, Mother says when I do something wrong I must be punished.'
Mark studied the girl, feeling a pain in his heart for her. He stepped closer to her, crouching down so that he could level with her face. Her bushy brown hair fell over her eyes, but he could see the fear in them, the darkness within her.
'Carmilla, I'm not going to punish you. You made a mistake but I don't hate you, you apologised and I said that it's okay. I will never punish you for wanting to have some fun'
Carmilla looked back at Mark and within a second she had flung her arms around him, nuzzling her neck into his neck as she bit back the tears threatening to fall. Mark let his arms stroke her back softly but it still wasn't enough to stop her from flinching back slightly from his touch. Pulling back he smiled at the girl.
'Come on they're waiting for us.'
Laura cried when Carmilla had to leave, she wanted her best friend to stay with her but after Mark telling her that Carmilla's Mother was here she got very upset.
'I don't want you to goooooo!'
'I'll see you tomorrow Cupcake, you'll be at home then so we can watch Harry Potter.'
At this Laura brightened up, grinning as Carmilla reached over to give her a hug. With one last wave Carmilla left the room, following Mark to where Will and her Mother stood. Seeing Will, Carmilla ran over to him hugging him tightly.
'Hey Kitty, heard you were racing today, so how was it?'
'It was soooooo fun! I lost though'
'Awww better luck next time Kitty' he smiled at her, letting his hand ruffle her hair as she grinned back at him.
'Don't encourage her William' Their Mother snapped fixing them both with a hard stare before turning her attention back to Mark.
'Thank you for letting her come again, she's really cheered Laura up.'
'That's quite alright Mr Hollis' her tone was sickly sweet which put Mark on edge, his anger starting to flare up again.
'Carmilla got quite upset today, was worried I was going to punish her'
'Naughty children deserve to be punished.'
'I think you and I have a different definition of what a naughty child is'
'Clearly,' she turned to look at Will before speaking in her usual strict manner. 'Take Carmilla to sit down William, I would like a word with Mr Hollis.'
...
'I am aware that you are under a lot of stress due to this unfortunate accident so I will disregard your current tone.'
'No. You don't get to disregard my tone; you don't get to talk to me about this accident like you care. You don't care about anyone, especially not your own daughter.'
'How I am with my daughter is none of your concern Mr Hollis, she is my daughter and I will treat her how I see fit.'
'She is just a child!'
'Age is not an excuse for bad behaviour.'
'Carmilla is a good child and I don't approve of your way of handling her.'
'I don't discipline my daughter to seek your approval Mr Hollis; she needs to learn about her actions and their consequences.'
Mark's face turned angrier as his voice got louder, his fists shaking.
'SO TELLING AN EIGHT YEAR OLD CHILD THAT SHE CAUSED A CRASH IS ACCEPTABLE?! VICTIMISING A CHILD IS A DECENT WAY OF PARENTING?! DON'T YOU EVER TELL THAT GIRL THAT SHE CAUSED THE CRASH, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO DO THAT TO A CHILD. YOU DON'T GET TO BLAME ANYONE. THEY ARE MY FAMILY, THEY GOT HURT NOT YOU SO YOU DON'T GET TO MAKE OUT LIKE IT WAS YOU. SHE IS A GOOD CHILD AND THE ONLY PERSON YOU SHOULD BLAME FOR ANYTHING IS YOURSELF.'
'HOW DARE YOU DISRESPECT ME LIKE THAT?!'
'HOW DARE I? HOW DARE YOU?! YOU HEARTLESS COW.'
Having witnessed their argument, Will realised that people were staring. He looked down to see Carmilla clutching his leg tightly, her little body trembling with fear. He carefully prized Carmilla from his leg, placing a kiss on the top of her head before quickly moving to stand in between the two adults, both red with rage.
'Come on mother, we should go.' Will spoke firmly, placing a hand on her arm to gently pull her aside.
Straightening herself up she fixed Mark with one last heated glare before strutting past him to walk towards Carmilla. Carmilla stood petrified glancing back and forth between her Mother and Mark, not quite sure what to do or what to think.
'Mother I' she was cut off by her Mother's hand signalling for her to be quiet. Gulping she looked at her Mother.
'I'll deal with you later.' Her voice was a harsh whisper and her demeanour was cold. Without a second glance she walked out of the doors, Carmilla hot on her heels only stopping to whisper a goodbye to Mark before she followed her Mother.
'I'm sorry about that Mr Hollis and I was sorry to hear about your Wife, please send her my regards'
'Never apologize for her Will, I'm sorry that you both had to witness that I shouldn't have let it get so out of hand.'
'Don't worry about it Sir, I should go they'll be waiting for me'
Will gave Mark one last apologetic smile before he too departed into the night.
An hour later...
'Hey kiddo, you all set?'
'Yep! I can't wait, is Mom coming with us?'
'No honey, your mom needs to recover more first.' Laura couldn't help but let out a sad sigh, she wanted her Mother to come with them. She wanted to be with her Mother.
'She'll be back at home soon darling and you'll be able to come up and visit every day'
'Okay, we can go now.'
Mark helped Laura into a wheelchair, deciding that it was too far for her to walk on crutches. Gathering all of their belongings he hooked them onto the back of her wheelchair, pushing her down the corridor. They stopped to say goodbye to the nurses and say a final thank you to Laura's doctor before they slowly made their way outside. There outside was Mark's range rover.
Seeing the car Laura stiffened, her body starting to tremble as her face flooded with panic. She could see the crushed mental imprinted in her mind and she felt more scared than ever. Her body shaking as she let out a loud scream, trying to wheel herself back.
'Laura, Laura it's okay. What's wrong? Darling it's okay'
Laura continued to scream, crying and shaking her little head furiously as Mark tried to move her forward. She couldn't stop crying and shaking, the fear taking over once again and then realization hit Mark. Mark looked at his daughter realizing that she didn't want to get in the car, that she was scared. Slowly he stopped, turning to look at Laura with a gentle smile.
'Laura, it's okay. I'm here, nothing is going to happen to you, and we just need to get in the car sweetheart'
'NOOOOOOOOOO!'
'Laura we need to get you home, please let's try and get in the car'
'I'm scared Daddy, I can't. I don't want to, please don't make me get in the car please, nooooooooo'
'Laura, I know that it's scary okay but I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere I promise, nothing bad will happen. Can you get in the car for me?'
It took a lot of screaming and crying for Mark to even get his daughter to move and it wasn't until a nurse gave her something that the little girl's body relaxed enough to let Mark carry her to the car. Her arms tensing around him as she got in view of the vehicle. Bending down Mark carefully strapped Laura into the passenger seat, pulling something familiar for Laura to hold.
Earlier that day he'd brought things from their home just incase either of them were released, he now felt relief that he'd thought to bring Laura's yellow pillow knowing it would help to calm the hysterical girl down. Laura clutched at the tiny yellow pillow her eyes full of fear as Mark made his way round to the driver's seat.
He didn't start driving for another half an hour, waiting until Laura started to drift off into a light sleep before starting the car. Her eyelids drooping as her body began to relax, drifting to sleep. Mark looked at the little girl, her arms still clutching the yellow pillow close to her tear stricken face and his heart almost broke, the only thought he had still running through his head. This was going to be a long way back.
