Pairing: Jaime/Cassie
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~700
Prompt: Either Jaime or Cassie end up in the hospital
... ...
He wasn't supposed to have been gone this long. They promised him that negotiations with Japan wouldn't take more than two or three days, tops, and really, they're only here on behalf of the League to provide protection for all parties involved, since none of these countries really trust each other to not like, hire an assassination on one another.
So they're basically here to babysit a bunch of old guys discussing commercial relations around a table. After the whole thing with the Reach a few years ago, he'd gladly take this as their biggest threat over an entire alien invasion any day, thank you very much.
But he didn't want to just leave Cassie while she isn't one hundred percent, either. Even she seemed reluctant for him to go, even though she's done nothing for the last few months but swear that she's perfectly fine. Honestly, as much as she loves helping everyone else, it's a little ironic that she's always so reluctant to let anyone help her.
Then he has to step into the hallway and be told by Dick that there was a call from Barbara, and Cassie's been rushed to the hospital.
And his whole world stops.
He has to sort of lean against the wall for support, which is a little awkward and uncomfortable in the armor, but whatever. He's trying to remember how to breathe, because his throat feels tight and his chest feels even tighter and, god, he knew this was going to happen. He never should've left Cassie. Sure, she's with Barbara and Bart and Diana and everyone else and of course he trusts them to take care of her, or else he never would've agreed to take this mission.
But nothing will ever, ever be a substitute for actually being there for her.
Dick grasps Jaime's arm above his elbow and pulls him so he's standing up straight again and says, "Go to her."
Jaime doesn't even bother questioning if it's really alright that he leaves. He doesn't care. He just asks where the nearest zeta tube is and then takes off in that direction as soon as he's given the coordinates.
The fifteen minutes it takes him to fly from the meeting to the nearest zeta tube and then zeta as close as he could to the hospital and run the rest of the way in his civvies are the longest fifteen minutes of his life. He's never hated the whole secret identity thing as much as he does in the last seven minutes it took him to run to the hospital (because it's not exactly inconspicuous if Blue Beetle flies over there, and like, maybe he could've managed something if he stopped to think about it, but he was in too big of a rush to think of anything other than the fact that he needs to get to Cassie).
He gives Cassie's name to the lady behind the desk as soon as he's at the hospital, but then Tim and Stephanie appear out of nowhere and he's a tiny bit more relieved to see them. A few nurses protest as Tim drags him down a hallway, and Stephanie tells them that he's the husband and needs to be with his wife.
He's pretty sure he's going to be sick.
It only really lasts for the next twenty minutes, though, which go by in this sort of blur, and he's just starting to get the feeling back in his hand when the door opens and Tim and Stephanie and Bart and Cissie all sort of invite themselves in. He's not really sure if they're even allowed in the room yet, but whatever. Stephanie will probably just talk them out of being in trouble if the nurses come back and try to get them to leave. Very few people ever stand a chance against her charm, and Tim? He's not one of them. It's hilarious.
(But Jaime's the same way with Cassie, and Bart with Cissie, so it's not like they're really ones to talk.)
"Congratulations," Bart tells him, clapping a hand against his shoulder. Cissie leans up to give him a peck on the cheek, echoing her fiancé.
"She's beautiful," Tim says. He and Stephanie are standing on the other side of Cassie's bed, and Tim leans a little around Stephanie (who's begun to braid Cassie's hair out of her face) to get a better look at the little girl bundled up in her mother's arms.
"Yeah, she is," Jaime breathes, and Cassie meets his eyes and smiles, moves her hand carefully so that she can hold onto his, and he threads their fingers together and squeezes.