Chapter 17
As the girls made their way to the front door of the house they finished their ice cream and talked, each enjoying their walk. Sasha decided not to finish her ice cream, instead sharing with Becky while Bayley smiled and ate, "I love ice cream….can we do this lots more times?"
"Yeah..as long as I don't have to see Seth's stupid face again" Sasha said, "I mean who doesn't like chocolate ice cream….and picks cookie dough instead"
Bayley and Becky smiled at each other before Bayley began humming and making noises at her older sister, "You like his stupid face don't you?"
"What..no I don't" Sasha shouted but this only caused her sisters to laugh at her
"You and Seth sittin in a tree" Bayley sang before Sasha elbowed the girl and walked ahead of her sisters, rolling her eyes as she heard them snicker behind her.
"I don't like him...he is gross and dumb"
"Sure"
"im serious"
"Sure ya are"
This continue for the rest of their walk to their house but once they reached the door it was wrenched open revealing Stephanie. She had her phone to her ear and a upset look on her face. She wore a blue jean jacket over a white blouse and rubbed her free hand nervously on her jeans. Sasha looked confused for a second before asking her mother what was wrong, only to be ignored.
"Girls get in the car" Stephanie said as she rushed pass the girls, heading to the car
The three girls looked at each other confused before rushing to the car. Becky helped Bayley into her seat then got in quickly herself with Sasha following. None of them knew what was going on, but they had never seen Stephanie so upset so they knew it was best for them to listen. The ride was silent, each of the girls looking back and forth to one another as their mother sped down the highway.
Bayley leaned forward looking around on the ground for something causing Becky and Sasha to look over at her, "What are you looking for?"
Bayley looked to her older sister with a frown, "I left mr. Beary at home"
"Don't worry Bay, we'll get 'em when we go back" Becky said with a smile but Sasha looked unsure before turning to Stephanie
"Mom...where are we going?" Stephanie looked at the older of the girls through the rear view mirror but said nothing, "Where's dad...where's Charlotte"
With their mother's silence the girls began to grow worried. Sasha had never seen their mother so upset, well except for maybe that time in the principal's office, but that was a different kind of upset. Then her mother was angry, now she's just sad...and maybe scared but Sahda doubted it. She had never seen Stephanie scared of anything, she was practically a superhero.
Once the car pulled up to the local hospital Sasha shrunk in her seat. She hated doctors. She hated hospitals, something she and Charlotte bonded over when she first came. Becky unbuckled herself and then Bayley as Stephanie stopped the car and got out, while Sasha sat frozen. She had never been in a actual hospital before, just small doctor's offices for shots and check ups and it was safe to say that she was terrified.
"Come on Sash it's not that scary" Becky said giving her older sister a smile before pushing herself out of the car.
Stephanie opened the girl's car door and motioned for her to come on, "Come on Sasha we have to go"
"Why? Why are we here?"
Stephanie rolled her eyes before unbuckling her daughter who immediately began to fidget and protest assuming that they were here because of her, "Sasha come on now. We do not have time for this"
Sasha recoiled slightly at her mother's furious tone and slid from the car, falling in line beside her sisters. Stephanie closed and locked the car before picking up Bayley and walked to the hospital doors. Well it was more like speed walking as Becky and Sasha struggled to keep up with her. Once inside the girls were instructed to sit in the empty waiting chairs that lined the far wall and faced and Tv that hung on the wall playing the news.
Stephanie walked up to the front desk where a young looking boy sat on his phone, "Excuse me...I'm here for my husband and daughter….they were brought in recently"
The boy didn't look up for a second, typing away on his phone as he laughed at something on instagram, his blond hair falling in his eyes as his head tilted back slightly laughing before placing his phone down and looking Stephanie up and down, "What?"
Stephanie's jaw clenched a little annoyed at the boy's nonchalant attitude, "My husband and daughter...they were in a car accident and brought here"
"Did ya hear that?" Becky whispered to Sasha while Bayley sat obliviously swinging her legs and looking at the magazines that were splayed out on the table beside her.
"Yeah...Charlotte and dad were in an accident.."
"Do ya think they're okay?"
"if they are here...then no way..hospitals are the worse and they're only for really bad bad bad stuff" Sasha said with wide eyes looking at all the people around them. There was an old woman in a wheelchair across from them moaning in pain about her back. There was a boy and his friend sitting in the corner, the boy had thick hair and held his arm up as it was bent in an awkward angle. There were also a couple people here and there that had mask over their mouths.
"well I was at a hospital like this and I turned out fine" Becky said looking around as well, "They'll be fine"
"You don't know that...you were beat up, mom said this was a car accident...that's way worse"
"Whats a car accident...like did the car pee it's pants?" Bayley asked leaning over Sasha who was sitting in the middle of the two
"No Bay...it's when cars hit each other"
"oh….well that's not nice"
Stephanie came over to the girls and sat down beside Becky, slumping forward so her head rested in her hands. Becky tapped lightly on their mother's arm to get her attention as each of the girls looked on worriedly.
"Are ya alright?"
Stephanie gave a small smile but it held no joy, as she felt tears well up in her eyes. She took a deep breathe and quickly swiped her eyes with the back of her jacket before sitting up in her chair, "I'm fine...just worried" Stephanie took another deep breath, "Your father and sister were in a car accident...coming home from Charlotte's appointment. A truck hit them..I don't know anything else."
"Are they ok?" Bayley asked in a soft voice
"...I don't know...honestly I think they're ok. I hope they are, they may be hurt...but I just don't know"
"Are daddy and Charlotte going to die?" Bayley asked sadly as her lip began to wobbly and a sob desperately tried to come out
"No" Becky said certainly with a sad smile while Sasha and Stephanie gave an unsure look which the young girl noticed
Bayley's eyes welled up and her body began to shake as small sobs came out of her mouth causing Stephanie to immediately motion for the girl to come to her. Bayley got herself out of the chair and crashed her body into her mother's arms while Sasha and Becky sat still in their chairs. Sasha wiped her eyes quickly, immediately thinking of what Charlotte would do if it were the other way around. She knew that being the next oldest that she couldn't feel sad or cry in front of her younger siblings. She carefully looked at Becky who sat beside her silent, she wasn't crying but she did look sad. Sasha felt a little angry that she wasn't more upset about Charlotte being hurt, she wanted her to be balling like Bayley was. Even Stephanie had let tears fall from her eyes, why couldn't Becky cry about this, the man who had taken her in and given her a better life was in the hospital and she didn't shed a single tear. Sasha was angry, maybe more at herself as she had to fight back tears and be the strong big sister while Becky sat there fine.
A doctor walked over to the family breaking Sasha's harsh stare at Becky and causing Stephanie to stand with Bayley now attached to her hip, "Are you the Helmsley family?"
"Yes...is there any news on my husband and daughter?"
The doctor flipped through a clipboard that he had in his hands and read, not saying anything for a minute before he finally looked Stephanie in the eyes and said, "Your daughter is fine...she leg however is severely injured..she's awake in one of the rooms and you can see her now if you'd like?"
Stephanie agreed to this before following the doctor with the girls behind her. Sasha once again looked to Becky to see she had a small smile on her face which only served to further her anger towards the younger girl, "Why are you smiling?"
"Because he said she's alright..and that good news" she said simply, "I told ya she'd be fine"
Sasha raised her eyebrow at Becky as they walked, her anger settling but not completely disappearing. Once the group made it to the hospital room where Charlotte was they saw the girl laying in bed with her leg hanging from the air in a cast as she scrolled through channels on the TV that was hanging on the wall. Her blond hair was matted down to her face from sweat and she had stitches along the side of her face and a few cuts on her arms.
Stephanie let out a sigh of relief and set Bayley down to hug her oldest daughter, "Mom"
"I'm here baby girl" Stephanie whispered in charlotte's hair as she held the girl close to her and laid her head on top of Charlotte's, "I'm here"
Bayley leaned on Charlotte's other side and wrapped her arms around her as she cried, "Hi Bayley...you don't have to cry I'm fine...see?"
Bayley pulled away slightly so she could look her older sister in the eyes before she just laid her head back on Charlotte's shoulder. Sasha and Becky stood at the foot of the bed, the younger of the two smiling brightly at her while Sasha wiped a few tears from her eyes, "I'm glad yer ok Charlotte"
"Yea Becks I'm good" Charlotte smiled before looking at Sasha, "Don't tell me you were crying too?"
"No..I was just...worried about who's extra dessert I would get if you weren't fine" Sasha lied as she moved her arm from her face, revealing puffy red eyes causing Charlotte to laugh
""Love you too sis"
"how are you feeling?" Stephanie asked, taking a weary look at her oldest daughter's leg.
"Ok I guess...I can't really feel it"
"How long will she be in this?"
The doctor who guided the family to the room cleared his throat before saying, "Charlotte here is very resilient….she had a tree cut through her leg, breaking her bone in 3 places so she'll be in this cast for some time. Probably 8 weeks maybe 10 due to the severity of the breaks. Nothing else was too bad...a couple cuts and scrapes only the one on her face needed stitches"
"And what about my husband….how is he?" Stephanie asked in a low voice so only the doctor could hear as she pulled away from Charlotte
"They're still running tests on him...so far all we can tell is a broken nose and wrist….and his ribs may be bruised"
"Well if you can tell that much then what other tests are they doing?" Stephanie asked angrily
"Uh..X-rays and scans looking for any internal bleeding and all that..." the doctor sensed that this didn't satisfy the woman's growing frustration and backed up slightly, "why don't we step outside and I'll get you all the information you need to know"
Stephanie looked at her girls who were involved in their own conversation and nodded before placing a kiss on Charlotte's head and saying that she would be right outside. The four nodded and went back to their conversation.
"And he said that chocolate was nasty!" Sasha said, throwing her arms up dramatically, "Can you believe that?"
Charlotte smirked at her sister while she continued to rant about some boy named Seth. Charlotte had heard his name before, once in passing and once from a boy in her class named Roman. She assumed that the two were friends and yet age had never seen them together, but then again she had never seen him with anyone. They had been partnered once before on a project but he didn't say a word to her.
"He's so stupid..and of all flavors...he picks cookie dough!"
Becky rolled her eyes before walking around the hospital room looking at everything. Her eyes wandered from the TV to the medical supplies to the window that looked out on the parking lot. She had never gotten a really good look at her hospital room when she was in Ireland because she only had one eye at the time, but either way this room felt much bigger and cleaner. Bayley was now laying beside Charlotte with her head turned into the blonde girl's shoulder so she couldn't see anyone else.
"She likes him" Becky muttered as she looked away from the window to stop Sasha's ranting
"I do not..I already told you he's stupid…" Sasha snapped, harsher than she should have, "And besides, if anyone likes anybody..it's you and Dean"
"Who's Dean?" Charlotte asked as she pushed herself up slightly to get comfortable under Bayley's weight.
"He's this boy who's got a crush on Becky" Sasha said before sticking her tongue out at the Irish native
"So...Dean's nice" Becky said not really caring about if the girl's picked on her, she could tell the boy had a crush on her and she did enjoy his company. He was awkward and he made her laugh, however he had a mean streak which was something obvious that he couldn't hide from her. She had seen him chase those boys down the street and laugh at Sami, and he had admitted to stealing his skateboard from another boy. Even though Becky liked the boy she couldn't stand bullies and that's what Dean was, maybe she could change his attitude if they hung out more, but until then her feelings for him just weren't the same.
"He is definitely not nice…"
"He offered ta teach us wrestlin' didn' he?"
"He did?" Charlotte asked confused, "When?"
"When they were gettin' ice cream we talked about wrestlin' and he said that they go ta Shane's gym and that they could teach us what they learn" Becky walked over to the chair beside Charlotte's bed and sat down, "He said that he would teach us at the park"
"But mom said that we can't learn wrestling...she doesn't want us to" Charlotte said but Sasha and Becky just gave each other a look before staring back at their older sister with a 'so what' look.
"Come on Char...it can't be that bad...besides wrestling is fun" Sasha smiled
But Charlotte shifted uncomfortably, looking at her leg, "Yeah...well I can't wrestle anyway...not with this leg….I can't play volleyball anymore either."
"It's not forever...just until your leg gets better"
"But I'm the captain….and the doctor said six to ten weeks...that's most of the season" Charlotte complained
"Well...ya still got lots more years left of life in ya….you should feel lucky that yer alive and able to play volleyball in the future" Becky offered trying to make the older girl feel better but Charlotte just glared at the red head before saying
"Yeah, I feel so lucky" Sasha could sense the girl's sarcasm
The two girls understood that their big sister was starting to feel bad and both rushed to her side, Sasha on the left and Becky on the right standing beside where Bayley was now asleep against Charlotte. Sasha grabbed the blonde's hand and said, "you'll be okay..right Becks?"
"Right" Becky said with a sad smile before looking at the girl's leg, "We could decorate yer cast if ya like"
"Yeah, and everyone at school will want to sign it and you'll be so cool"
Charlotte gave an unsure look, "I don't know..I haven't even thought about school….how will I get around...how will I take the bus?"
"Mom and Dad can drive"
"I don't know if I wanna ride in a car again" Charlotte said honestly giving her cast an unsure look, "And what about getting around the halls at school?"
"they'll probably give ya crutches or a wheelchair"
"I don't want a wheelchair…..I want to walk on my own two feet" Charlotte groaned, throwing her head back against the pillow
"And you will…" Sasha said
Charlotte lifted her head to look her sisters in the eyes, "I just..I feel useless like this"
"Yer not useless Char...ya can still boss us around with one leg"
"I don't boss you guys around" Charlotte said slightly offended but Sasha and Becky looked to each other with knowing looks, "Sorry"
"Its fine...you're just like mom that's all, but it doesn't matter we'll be by your side the whole time" Sasha said with a sad smile, hugging her older sister on her free side taking Charlotte by surprise
"really?"
"of course" they both agreed
Charlotte nodded at this before leaning her head back against the pillow so she was looking up at the ceiling, her eyes began to fall close as she felt a wave a tiredness wash over her body. Sasha and Becky watched her carefully as she sunk down in the bed and began to drift off, once they both heard light snoring the two went and sat in the chairs farther away from the bed.
"What are we gonna do?" Sasha asked
"Uh..wait fer Stephanie to come back in here so we can go home" Becky said simply as she swung her legs slightly in her chair but this just earned her a harsh stare from her older sister, "What?"
"I mean with Charlotte..how are we gonna help her?" Sasha said sadly
Becky shrugged, taking a look at Charlotte, "We just help her with stuff she can't do anymore...it's not that hard"
"But I mean she can't even walk on her own….and we can't help her during class...she's older than us. What if kids laugh at her? What if Naomi and Tamina beat her up or pick at her again?"
"Stephanie handled Naomi and Tamina"
"What if something happens and she cant walk again?" Sasha said with wide eyes her mind going to all worse case scenarios that she could think of but this only caused for Becky to look at her confused, "I mean like she falls and hurts her leg even worse...or what if she gets in another accident?"
"Sash calm down"
"Don't tell me to calm down…" Sasha nearly yelled her anger with the redhead coming back with a vengeance, "Don't...don't tell me how to feel"
Sasha sat beside her sister clenching and unclenching her fists as thoughts of her birth parents controlling everything she felt and punishing her for expressing herself. Becky on the other hand inches away from the girl, not sure as to why she was getting so angry.
"Sash-.."
"how can I be calm right now….how are you calm? Charlotte was in a car accident and we dont even know if dad's alive. This is the man that took you in and actually cares about you and you cant even shed a tear for him or our sister! Some family you are"
"I don't...I…" Becky didn't know how to respond, she hadn't felt anything when they found out about Charlotte and Hunter she had just assumed that everything was going to be ok. It was her defense mechanism, something her friend had taught her back in Ireland, when everything was looking bad around you, you could always get through by thinking on the bright side. She knew that there really shouldn't have been a bright side in this situation but in her case she didn't have the heart to think negatively, she didn't know if she could handle losing the family she had just gotten so she just ignored that possibility, "I just look on the bright side"
"How?"
Becky shrugged, "If ya look on the bright side of everthin' then ya can't get stuck on the bad"
Sasha sighed and stood up pacing back and forth, "I can't do this"
" Ya don' have to, yer not Stephanie...ya don't have ta worry about Charlotte...we just gotta help her get around" Becky said, "We're just kids...we can like...carry her bag and help her get places. But ya don't have to worry bout her every move. I never said this before but i trust mum..and I trust ya and everyone else in this family. I know that mum loves us and she'll do everythin' to protect all of us, and that includes Charlotte...she'll be fine. And so will Hunter "
Sasha nodded at this slowly, taking in her younger sister's words before she smiled and said in a low voice, "That's the first time you called Stephanie mom"
Becky smiled, "Yea...whatever"
Sasha laughed before she pulled Becky up and walked to the door, dragging her sister so she followed her, "come on lets go find mom"
Once the girls walked out the room they began looking for Stephanie, she said she would be right outside but when the girls looked out she wasn't there. Sasha suggested that their mother had went to go find Hunter, but Becky said that she had heard that they were doing tests on him and that they couldn't see him yet. Sasha walked out and stood in the middle of the hallway looking in either direction for their mother before just deciding to walk towards the way they had come, beckoning her younger sister to come with her.
"Where are we goin'?"
"To find mom"
"Ya don' even know where yer going"
"But you're following me aren't you?"
Becky didn't respond to this, she followed behind Sasha quietly as they made it back to the waiting room where they saw Stephanie pacing back and forth in front of two vending machines. The two walked up to their mother, startling her as Sasha tugged on the woman's legs before saying, "Mom..what are you doing?"
"Nothing...why are you two out here, you're supposed to be with your sisters"
"They fell asleep and we came to find you"
"It was her idea" Becky muttered earning and elbow in the side from Sasha, "What are ya doing out here?"
"nothing…" Stephanie said quickly
"Where's dad?"
Stephanie looked away from her girls causing them to grow worried. Sasha stepped up to their mother and grabbed her hand before saying, "Is he hurt?"
Stephanie nodded with tears in her eyes, "Like Charlotte or worse?"
"Worse" the mother whispered before gasping out a sob that sounded shaky as she tried to hold it back
Becky walked closer to their mother and slowly wrapped her arms around one of Stephanie's legs while Sasha just stood there holding her hand. The red head looked at the people staring at the family before she said, "He'll be ok….I've seen one of those doctor shows that Charlotte always watchin and whenever somebody dies they always tell ya that first and they wouldn' run test on 'em if he was dead"
"Shut up" Sasha whispered to her sister as she felt like the girl was making things worse with her rambling, she always rambled when she was nervous and it annoyed Sasha to no end
"What..Charlotte said-"
"I don't care what Charlotte says"
"Enough both of you.." Stephanie said, her words meaning to come out sharp but her throat was dry from crying and she could barely get the words out. The three stood together for a moment, Sasha holding Stephanie's hand and glaring at her sister, Becky laying her head on their mother's leg while she looked at the people as Stephanie gathered her thoughts before she wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. The older woman tapped each of her daughters lightly on the back causing them to look up at her, "I'm alright now...lets go back to where you two left your sister"
Becky nodded and took charge walking back to the room while Sasha stayed beside their mother holding her hand walking together, "When can we see daddy?"
"I don't know yet...he's still having test run"
As the three walked into the hospital room they saw a nurse checking on Charlotte and asking her a few questions as Bayley laid beside her still asleep and snuggled into her oldest sister's side, "Yes I'm fine"
"Would you like anything to eat?" The nurse asked patiently, not yet noticing the rest of the family
"Uh...yes please"
"What would you like?"
"Anything" Charlotte said with a bashful smile that caused the nurse to laugh before turning slightly towards the door, waving politely at the rest of her family
"Anything coming right up"
As the woman left Sasha and Becky walked over to Charlotte and leaned against the empty spaces on the far side of her bed so they wouldn't hurt her while Stephanie stood beside her daughter and brushed her hair, "Have you heard about dad yet?"
Stephanie shook her head sadly with a tight lipped frown as she continued to calm the girl, running her hand through her hair, "He'll be fine though...he's a fighter just like you girls"
Sasha decided to take this moment to change the subject slightly, it was something Charlotte always did when her and Bayley were on the brink of a fight. She would mention something to distract the two and their harsh words, Sasha's more than Bayley's, would be forgotten, "You know we would actually be fighters of you let us take those classes with Uncle Shane"
Stephanie rolled her eyes at her daughter, she knew that if she allowed her girls to join any of Shame's classes they would be at this hospital a lot more frequently and she didn't want that. Stephanie knew that Sasha was talking more about taking wrestling classes than anything else and those classes were a lot safer but the older woman had a particular distaste for wrestling and she didn't want her children doing it.
"The answer is still no"
"Why?" Becky asked seriously, their mother had not explained her reasoning for not allowing them to learn to wrestle
"Because I said so" Stephanie said annoyed, "Besides I don't need anyone else hurt"
Charlotte shifted uncomfortably, feeling as if this was her fault as she looked away from her family and to the window, "Sorry"
"No..don't be sorry Charlotte, this wasn't your fault" Stephanie said quickly causing Bayley to stir slightly against her older sister.
"Helmsley family?" a voice called out from the entrance of the hospital room causing them all to turn to see the doctor from earlier standing beside two surgeons who were covered in blood and had mask over their mouths, "We have news on your husband"
Stephanie stepped forward to the doctors and told the girls to wait in the room much to their protests as a nurse returned with Charlotte's food. She placed a tray on the bedside table and began to talk lightly to the girls as their mother talked with the doctors.
"He's ok…"
"Oh thank God" Stephanie said letting out the breath she had been holding in
"Just barely though..we did find some signs of internal bleeding and he was sent to emergency surgery a little while ago. He is getting blood transfusions now and he should be good to go in a couple of hours" A surgeon said, taking off his mask
Stephanie nodded along to this happy that her husband was going to be ok but part of her was still dying as she was anxious to see him. She said thank you to the doctor and made her way to head back into the room before her name was called.
"Mrs. Helmsley?" the doctor asked, trying to get her attention, "Would you like one of us to alert you when he awakes?"
Stephanie looked back at her daughters, sticking her hands in her pockets and sighed, she would wait for a bit, staying with the girls until Charlotte fell asleep, "Yes thank you...when can my daughter be released...she doesn't need any testing or anything...so can I take her home today?"
The three men looked at each other before the doctor shrugged and nodded, "I don't see why not, I'll go get a set of crutches ready for her and we'll have a nurse check on her one last time before you take her"
Stephanie nodded before walking back into the room drawing the attention of the girls who were laughing at something the nurse said, "Hey girls"
"How's dad?" Charlotte asked once again nervously
"He's fine...he's just not awake yet" Stephanie said with a sad smile as the nurse smiled at the family before excusing herself and Stephanie took her place beside her daughters, grabbing the tray of food and placing it light on Charlotte's free leg, "you should eat...we'll be taking you home soon"
"She can come home today?" becky asked with a hopeful smile to which Stephanie nodded causing the younger girl to give a smug look to sasha, "See I told ya she would be fine"
"Whatever" Sasha mumbled before reaching over to grab the cookie that was on Charlotte's tray only to have her hand slapped away by her older sister, "Ow!"
"Stop that" Charlotte said causing their mother to smile before the doctor came back in with a pair of crutches.
An hour later and Charlotte was walking up and down the halls with a cast on her leg and a pair of crutches. A nurse helped her ease her way as Sasha and Becky stood at the end of the hall basically cheering her on. The two were being very supportive of their older sister and for that Stephanie was greatly appreciative but she still had this guilty feeling in the back of her brain for standing here instead of going to see Hunter yet. She knew that he was probably awake and scared especially because he had no idea if Charlotte was okay. He was the one driving after all, and for him to wake up in a hospital all alone without his oldest daughter, that had to be beyond scary.
"Look mom..I think I got the hang of it" Charlotte said with a smile as she passed her mother who stood in the doorway of her hospital room watching with her youngest daughter standing beside her sleepily
"Yeah..go Charlotte!" the young girl cheered before yawning and leaning her head against Stephanie's thigh
"I see baby girl...you're doing very well" once Charlotte made it to the end her sisters hugged her proudly and Stephanie turned to see one of the doctors from earlier approaching the family giving them a smile
"Your husband is awake now Mrs. Helmsley..if you would like to see him?"
Stephanie smiled looking over her children, "Do you think she would be able to walk to my husband's room? I don't know how close it is to here and I think it would be good for them to know that he is okay"
The pale man thought for a second before nodding offering to take the family to see Hunter, "His room is just down the hall and around the corner...it would be good exercise for Charlotte to practice going longer distances with her crutches now so we can see if she experiences any discomfort from her leg or from the crutches"
With that Stephanie smiled and called the girls over telling each of them that they were going to see their father now. This caused all of her girls to brighten up and eagerly follow behind the doctor, the middle two rushing ahead while Stephanie walked beside Charlotte, holding Bayley's hand. Once the three finally made it to the room Becky and Sasha were already in there hugging their father as they rambled away widely. Hunter sat up on the bed smiling with joyful tears in his eyes as he hugged both of them the best he can with his right arm in a sling and a bandaged wrapped around his head and coming over his eye.
"Ya look like I did" Becky said with a laugh as she pointed at his eye causing him to laugh before Bayley let go of her mother's hand and rushed over to join her sisters causing Hunter to greet her and take notice to Charlotte and Stephanie.
"Charlotte..thank god" Hunter said letting out a sigh of relief, motioning for her to come over to him. She placed her crutches against the bed and leaned against her father letting tears spill from her eyes and her whispered a thousand apologies to her, "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry"
"It's okay dad"
"No it's not..this was all my fault...I should of...I should have paid more attention..I should of.."
"Don't beat yourself up about it" Charlotte said with a smile
Stephanie walked over to her family and placed a kiss on Hunter's lips as she let a few tears fall from her eyes as well thanking god that her husband was okay, that all of her family was okay, "I'm so glad you're safe"
"Yea babe..I'm all good" at this Stephanie smiled at him through her tears which she slowly wiped from her eyes as her family huddled together on Hunter's bed. Becky ran her fingers lightly over Hunter's bandaged eye while Sasha and Charlotte smiled brightly at their father and Bayley laid against Hunter's good side much like she had with Charlotte and nuzzled her head deep into the space between him and the bed. While Stephanie stood beside her husband with her fingers interlocked with his.
A/N: sorry for the wait..next chapter will come sooner and it will be a time jump, so make sure to review, favorite follow and all that good stuff so you can know when the next chapter is out.