Still Stressed
"Cassie?" Theo burst into the hospital room where AJ was standing the next morning, smiling a little.
"She's in the bathroom." AJ nodded over to the bathroom in the room.
"She been here all night?" Theo asked.
"Yeah, they wanted to keep her in because of the concussion. She's getting discharged right now actually. The doctor has been and gone." AJ said as Theo nodded.
"She ok?" Theo nodded as AJ smiled. She could separate the good ones from the bad. And it helped her heart to see someone legitimately care about Cassie.
"She'll live." AJ nodded, "I'll go wait outside, let you two talk." She said as Theo nodded, holding the door open for her politely, "Thank you." AJ smiled, amused as she left the room putting her coat on.
Theo waited in the room, watching as Cassie came out of the bathroom, looking over at him.
"Hey." Theo sighed, walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her as she hugged him back.
"I'm alright." Cassie said, pulling back from the hug almost immediately. Only because it felt so good, "I'm fine. It's just a cut on my head." She rolled her eyes.
"You had a concussion." Theo said, "And you're still not one hundred percent from being stabbed." He said, "How many stitches?" He asked, tilting her head around and examining her.
"Five." Cassie said, "Lame, huh?"
"Five's pretty good." Theo shrugged as she smiled a little. It was a cop thing. It was a dangerous thing. To see how many stitches you could get.
"You really didn't have to come here. There's no point. We'll be leaving tonight." She shook her head.
"Well, Jake wanted me to come and I… I wanted to make sure you were ok." He nodded, "You're so stupid for going in the first place." He shook his head as Cassie rolled her eyes, walking over to the bed to put her jacket on, "Seriously, what were you thinking?"
"I was thinking my mom and dad needed me." Cassie said, "Where is my mom?" She asked curiously.
"She's gone to wait outside." Theo said, "Jake is with the PD from down here at the house right now. They got your mom's uncle too, through the night. He was down at a warehouse, covering it up with a missing car parts business. Rife with drugs and ammunition."
"Really?" Cassie questioned as Theo nodded.
"Busted the whole lot." Theo said, "I mean, I don't know how you feel but I'm fucking stoked that she's gone." He said as Cassie nodded.
"Yeah, we feel the same." Cassie assured her, "My mom and dad actually look like they can think straight again." She said.
"Yeah, I bet it's a relief." He looked across at her.
"Why were you at Dominic's?" Cassie asked curiously.
"Well once you called I… I panicked, I had no idea what to do. I went to see him to see if your sister had called him. Lucky I did, those guys came about five minutes after I got there." He shook his head, "Scumbags tried to take the kids."
"You like saving those kids a whole lot, don't you?" Cassie nodded, "It's really not good for your image." She joked as he smiled.
"Hey, you know I have exceptions for little old ladies and kids." He smiled as she looked across at him, nervously looking down, "And kittens stuck up trees." He joked as Cassie nodded with a smile.
"Well… thank you for the concern but… I'm really ok." She assured him, "Apart from worrying about potentially losing my job, I'm fine."
"You're not losing your job, trust me." Theo said, "I wouldn't be surprised if Jake promoted you. You don't listen to orders but… you just helped bust a pretty large drug cartel." He nodded, "Saved your family in the process."
"Please stop painting me as a hero, you know I hate that." She warned as he smiled and nodded.
"I do." He said, "So you uh… you've been here all night?"
"Yeah. My dad and sisters went to a hotel for the night whilst the cops were at the house. Probably speak to them and then catch a flight, as soon as possible." She said.
"Desperate to be home?" He asked, opening the door for her as she walked out of the room.
"Yeah, in my bed, sleeping." Cassie sighed tiredly, "It's been a long weekend." She said as Theo nodded.
"You did good. If only I knew the cop who trained you for some tips." He teased as Cassie smiled a little. It was so incredibly hard not to smile around him.
"Oh, you do. He's an idiot." Cassie nodded to him as he chuckled, looking down at her as she looked up, their walk slowing down a little into a pause in the middle of the hospital corridor.
"Look, Cassie… I don't know what the hell is going on here. If I've not been clear enough then… I apologise but… I want to be with you." He said as she looked down at the ground.
"Theo." Cassie sighed nervously.
"No, I just… I hate tiptoeing around each other and not talking with you. That's not us." He said, "If you don't wanna be with me, for real, and you don't care then tell me straight and I'll… I'll hear it loud and clear. But if you do, don't… don't hold back or anything." He begged as she looked up at him.
"I think I just need a bit of space right now." She said as he looked at her, "I'm tired and I'm not right mind to have this conversation right now."
"There's never a right time for you." He pointed out, "You don't… you don't have to push me away."
"I'm not." Cassie said calmly, "It's just been a long twenty-four hours. I wanna be with my family and I wanna get home." She said as he nodded, "Then we can… we can talk." She said.
"I'll hold you to that." He said as she nodded.
"I promise." She assured him.
"Ok." He nodded, "Ok, well I'll let you go and I'll check in with Jake and see how things are going."
"Ok." Cassie nodded to him, watching as he headed off down the hospital corridor, sighing to herself and running her hands through her hair. The stress ended for her family, but she still felt it.
"Hey, did you guys get some sleep?" AJ asked, walking into the hotel lounge where her two eldest daughter's and husband were.
"A few hours, yeah." Jude nodded, "Where's Cassie?" She wondered.
"She's outside on a phone call with Jake." AJ said, leaning over and kissing Punk hello.
"Is she ok?" Punk asked, looking over at Cassie through the glass window, pacing up and down on the phone.
"Yeah, well… Theo's here so she's been all standoffish and strange." AJ nodded to them as Jude and Thea smiled.
"How are you?" Thea asked, "Have you had some sleep?"
"I dozed a little on the hospital chair." AJ nodded, "I'm hoping to just sleep the entire flight home." She said as Punk nodded, "Has Jake been round here?"
"Yeah, he was here earlier on." Punk nodded, "They busted the whole thing. Your uncle, the warehouse. One clean sweep."
"Cassie said." AJ nodded positively, "Even better."
"Yeah." Punk agreed, "He said we should be fine to go. There might be some stuff we need to go in and talk to him about back in Chicago but… nothing complicated." He said as AJ nodded with relief.
"You guys spoke to Sean and Dominic?" AJ asked her daughters.
"Yeah." Jude nodded, "Sean's on his way to Chicago with Mirren."
"Yeah and I spoke to Dominic, and the kids actually they yelled some stuff into the phone too." Thea smiled, "They're all good." She nodded as AJ smiled.
"That's good." AJ sighed with relief, "I'll have a look at flights." She nodded, wandering away as Punk stood up and followed her.
"You doing ok?" He asked her, wrapping an arm around her waist as she leaned into him for a half hug and a kiss on the head.
"Yeah, I'm ok." She nodded, "What about you?" She asked.
"I'm fine." He assured her, "The girls are worried about you." He said as AJ looked over at Thea and Jude sitting talking.
"Well I can't say I'm not surprised. I have just stuck a knife in someone." She said as Punk nodded, "Someone who deserved it." She made clear.
"Yeah, damn straight." Punk said, "Just know I'm here if you need to talk about it."
"I know." She smiled, "I'm just glad there's this weight lifted off our shoulders." She said as Punk nodded.
"Cassie still looks stressed." Punk noticed, looking out the window.
"She think she's gonna be in trouble with her job." AJ shook her head.
"There's no way." Punk said.
"Oh, I know. You know how she can stress easily." AJ said as Punk nodded, "Theo's here too so… she's acting weird."
"Look if this boy is bothering her, harassing her then-"
"He's not harassing her." AJ shook her head, "He cares about her and she's… she just seems confused." She sighed, "Wish I could help her with it." She admitted.
"Confused or scared?" Punk asked.
"Both maybe." AJ nodded.
"I don't blame her. Could you imagine someone you love supposedly dying and then coming back to life a year later?" Punk asked, "My head would be all over the place too."
"Yeah, I know." AJ said, "I think we'll all feel better once we get home." She said as Punk nodded, "Help me look at flights." She said, taking her phone out as Punk smiled, looking on at the phone.
Meanwhile Cassie had made her way back into the hotel, walking over to her sisters who were sat in the lounge.
"Hey, she lives." Thea smiled as Cassie nodded.
"She does." Cassie said, collapsing down on the comfy couch across from them tiredly, "I'd give anything to be in my bed right now." She sighed.
"Who were you on the phone to out there?" Jude asked.
"Jake." Cassie said, "They're still at the house but we're free to go." She nodded.
"Did you speak to Theo?" Jude asked her.
"Yeah he came to the hospital. Spoke to him for a little bit." Cassie, "But I just… I don't want to talk about him right now. I just wanna get home and… try and forget about it for a few days."
"Well that's not gonna help." Thea said, "Do you like him? Yes or no." She said bluntly as Cassie looked over.
"Well… yeah, I do but-"
"You don't have to be scared, you know. He seems to really like you." Jude nodded.
"Ok, you guys telling me I don't have to be scared, doesn't make me any less scared." Cassie made clear, "I don't tell you guys how to feel, do I?"
"Jeez, ok." Jude put her hands up, "Just calm down."
"I just wanna go home." Cassie sighed, rolling her head back on the couch and closing her eyes over.
"Mom and dad are looking at flights right now." Thea told her as Cassie nodded. She was somehow even more stressed and confused than she already was before.
