No one in particular prompted this, it's just something that came to mind...so I wrote it before it left my head.
With Love, Hayley
Injury
Cass was instructing at NYADA. It had been a very long day of nobody doing the right moves and Cassie was getting very anxious to get home, sing a song or two with Rachel, and cuddle up to Shelby. Her mind daydreamed in thoughts about Shelby. She really needed a stress reliever tonight. Maybe press Shelby up against the back wall when Rachel's asleep and have a fun little make out session. One of those passionate, I need you now kind of make out sessions-like the ones they had when they were younger.
She nearly moaned aloud just thinking about it.
But then she drew herself back into reality. Her damned students.
They were practicing catching a girl mid-air and gently, gracefully, placing her back down.
Finally, Cass had had enough.
"You're too stiff, loosen up. It has to be fluid, you are DANCERS, come ON you guys." she rolled her eyes and decided to get into the line of girls being caught. She ran up with grace and was caught well enough, but the graceful "setting her lightly back down part" was yet to be desired.
His grip slid off of her waist while she was still high above his head. She tried in haste to catch herself but he tried to catch her as well and ended up blocking her only safe exit. She smacked against the floor and sucked in a furious breath.
"What the HELL was that?!" she demanded. "Get out of my classroom!"
The boy tried to help her up and she pulled away from him. "GO."
He ran off, frightened.
Good. She seethed in her head. What the hell is he even doing in my class if he can't properly put someone back on solid ground?!
There was a dead silence and everyone watched as she stood, nearly screamed while putting weight on her ankle but tried not to show it, and leaned on her other leg for support while she reached out for her cane. Thank god she had a cane.
"Are you alright, Miss July?" someone asked, nervously.
"Alright? I'd be a whole hell of a lot better if you learned how to dance, damn it! Class dismissed!"
The students scurried out of the room and she let out a growl of pain and frustration. Her ankle was throbbing like a bitch and-was it supposed to twist that way? She wasn't sure it was supposed to twist that way.
Thank god that was her last class, she would've murdered a room full of more.
She knew there was no way in hell she could walk home, and hailing a taxi meant spending money she didn't have. With a sigh, she knew she'd have to call Shelby. Shelby was going to make a huge fuss over it, she knew, and then she'd be taken to the hospital and...ugh.
All she wanted was a make out session and maybe like, some take-out food or something.
Now she had a broken ankle. Fantastic.
She pulled out her cell and tentatively typed in Shelby's number. She answered on the second ring.
"Hi, baby," Shelby's voice was so full of light and she was clearly having a good day and it made Cassie smile, even through her pain. She didn't want to ruin Shelby's mood.
"Hey, babe," Cassie tried her best to sound cheerful.
"What's going on? Are your classes over with?"
Cass bit her lip. "Um, yeah, Shelbs, I have a bit of a problem."
"Oh dear god." Shelby already started to worry. "What happened?"
"One of my 2 left feet students fucking dropped me."
"Oh my god, Cassie, are you okay?" she could already hear Shelby rummaging for her keys. Shelby took her mouth away from the receiver and yelled out, "Rachel! Grab your jacket and your iPod, we have to go pick up Mama."
She knew Rachel wouldn't go anywhere without her iPod. The 8 year old needed her music and they decided buying her an iPod early on was easier than hearing her throw a fit about it every time they went somewhere that didn't have music.
"I'm fine, Shelby,"
"You're lying," Cass heard the car start through the phone.
"I-"
Baby, can you walk?" Shelby wondered, worriedly.
"I can if I use my cane and my other foot. I think I broke my ankle."
"We're on our way. 5 minutes tops. And stay off that ankle, I mean it!"
"I love you."
"I love you too."
Cass hung up and set to get her stuff together. Moving around, even with the cane, was a struggle, but what else could she do? Shelby and Rachel made it in a few minutes as Shelby had promised and they walked through the doors of her studio.
Shelby rushed to Cassie and had her sit down so she could see her ankle. Cass had long ago taken off her stilettos and Shelby nearly gasped at how swollen her ankle was. "Baby, this looks pretty serious."
Cass shrugged. "It isn't that bad."
Carefully, softly, Shelby let her fingers trace lightly over Cassie's ankle. Cass clenched her jaw and let out a low growl.
"Not that bad, huh?" Shelby said condescendingly. "You just growled at me."
"You used to find that incredibly sexy."
"Different growls for different things, sweetheart."
At this point Rachel took out her headphones and sat next to Shelby. "You okay, Mama?" she wondered.
"Define okay, Rachie?" Cassie smiled softly. "I will be, once your mother calms down a bit."
"Cass," Shelby sighed with an eye roll. Did she always have to be the warrior, the hero? Couldn't she just let Shelby take care of her for once?! She voiced her concern. "Will you please, just this once, let me take care of you? I want to take care of you. But first I sincerely think we should take you to the hospital."
"Ugh. I knew you would say that." Cass sighed roughly. "But when you say take care of me..."
"Shh," Shelby laughed lightly. "We'll discuss that later, baby. Come on," with that she scooped Cassie up into her arms and carried her out to their car. Cass stiffened but soon relaxed into Shelby's embrace and wrapped her arms lovingly around her neck. True she had just been dropped (which was what had originally made her stiffen) but she trusted her Shelby with all her heart. She knew her Shelby wouldn't drop her. Not now, not ever. She would let her Shelby take care of her, this time.
. . .
After an excruciatingly long period of time at the hospital, they wrapped her ankle, told her she needed to stay off of it for approximately 6 weeks, and sent her home with painkillers. She held Shelby's hand in hers on the way home, softly rubbing her fingers against the back of Shelby's hand.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"For what, love?" Shelby smiled.
"Taking care of me. Making me to go the hospital even though I was being stubborn about it. Caring so much. Loving me."
Shelby looked over at Cassie with wide, sad eyes. "This is about a lot more than just your ankle, isn't it?" she concluded.
Cass nodded and Shelby pulled Cassie's hand up to her mouth, placing a soft kiss on it. "We will talk about this."
"Do we have to?"
"Don't you want to?"
"Can I just kiss you instead?"
Shelby laughed and sighed. It was so hard sometimes, to read Cassandra July. "I think we might be able to make that arrangement."
. . .
Rachel was in her bed and Shelby and Cassie were in theirs. It was rather late at night Shelby had Cassie very carefully straddled, so she wouldn't touch her ankle. Cassie, at this point, would not have minded if she did.
Their lips touched and Cass let out a soft moan. "I needed this." she let Shelby know. Shelby kissed her again, let her lips explore her, and rested them on her forehead.
"Glad I could be of assistance," she giggled lightly.
"You're my hero, Shelby," Cassie told her, let her know. "I hope you know that, because you are. You're the only person I've ever trusted who's never dropped me. Who's never let me down, or let me fall. You always catch me, and protect me and love me. You worry about whether or not I'm going to be alright." A tear fell from her eye and Shelby kissed it softly away, tasting the salt on her lips.
"Of course I do, Cassie," she whispered. "I love you."
And that was something that Cassie considered a miracle. It was what she was most grateful for in life, besides having Rachel as a daughter.
It made her feel so special, so important, so loved. The fact that she could have the roughest day in the world and feel better by coming home to Shelby's kisses, to Rachel's hugs, to her family.
Cassandra July finally had a family.
To protect her, to heal her.
To not let her fall.
