Constangreen + Cassie: “She’s at the hospital. I—I don’t know what happened.”
(Enjoy! Set in a future where the Bureau gets brought back. AO3)
The call from Cassie’s school came in just as Gary was about to head off to lunch. At first he was expecting a disciplinary issue, but then the secretary started talking about the hospital and that they had to send Cassie there immediately. Gary felt his brain slow down from the information before it went into overdrive again. He managed to get out the words ‘Cassie’ and ‘hospital’ to Ava when she asked why he was hyperventilating, to which she told him to just go. On his way out, he mad a call to John, hoping that his phone was on right now.
“Hello, sunshine,” came smoothly over the line, making Gary sigh in relief. “How’s work?”
“Cassie hospital,” he all but yelled into the phone, still in a panic.
John didn’t respond immediately. When he finally asked what, Gary could hear the panic in his voice.
“She’s at the hospital. I-I don’t know what happened.”
More silence on the other end.
“John? Are you there?”
“I’m here, love,” John replied. “I’m on my way to the hospital right now. Did they say why they sent her?”
“I stopped listening after they said she collapsed outside the bathroom,” Gary told him, punching the coordinates into his time courier. “I’ll call them back and see if they can tell me anything else.”
“You do that. I’ll meet you there. And Gary?”
“Yeah?”
“Whatever it is, she’s going to be okay. We’ll do anything we can.”
Gary nodded. “I know. See you soon.”
Five minutes later, Gary was waiting outside the hospital as John climbed out of a moving car. Watching that happen made Gary forget how to breath for a moment. The last thing he needed was the love of his life in the hospital too. And Chas knew John enough to slow down if he was going to do something like that.
“I’ll call you later,” John promised his friend before running over to Gary. “Have you seen her yet?”
Gary shook his head as they entered the hospital. “I’ve been waiting for you. The school told me she had been asking to go to the bathroom a lot. When they were going to lunch, Cassie just dropped to the ground. The nurse said she’d been in pain for quite a while.”
John sighed. “And here I thought a demon had found her.”
“I don’t think it was, she always wears that charm you made her,” Gary reminded him as they started walked towards the emergency room (a route they knew too well from John, Cassie, and Gary on one occasion). “The number of mornings that we’ve been late to school because she was searching for it.”
John smiled as a nurse approached them. “You wouldn’t happen to be Cassandra’s parents, would you?”
“Yes, we’re Cassie’s fathers,” Gary nodded. “Gary Green, John Constantine. We got a call from the school that she was here?”
“She just told me that you were coming in,” the nurse chuckled as she checked their IDs. “Then you two walked in. Heck of a coincidence. She’s just down on that last bed over there.”
“Can you tell us what’s wrong with her?” John asked nervously. “The school wouldn’t tell us anything.”
“We’re still working that out. It could be appendicitis, but we need the doctor to confirm it.”
John relaxed a little. Gary reached over and rubbed his shoulder. “No demons.”
“No demons. But her appendix.”
“If it is, they’ll get it out. It’s a good thing that they caught it. Remember, she’ll be okay.”
“Right.”
“Hey, Cassie,” the nurse smiled as she pulled back a curtain. “Look who’s here.”
Their daughter was curled up on the bed wearing a hospital gown. Her backpack was on the floor along with a bag of her clothes. The fifth Harry Potter was in her hands. As soon as she saw them, Cassie put down the book and sat upright. The movement looked painful even though she still managed a smile at them.
“Dad, Dad,” she greeted. “Good news. You don’t have to pick me up from school today and fight the pick-up line.”
John beat Gary over to the hospital bed. “I’d rather fight that line and Brenda’s oversixed minivan.”
“How are you feeling?” Gary asked as Cassie leaned against John.
Her face scrunched up. “It hurts.”
“I’ll bet,” Gary gave her hand a squeeze. “But the doctor’s on the way. The nurse says it might be appendicitis.”
“Yay,” was their daughter’s sarcastic reply as she sank down onto the bed, gripping her book.
“They’ll take care of you,” John promised. “And if they don’t, then your dad and I will. Right, Gary?”
“Right.”
John tapped his finger against the cover. “What part did you get to?”
“Mr. Weasley’s taking Harry to the Ministry for his trial. I was trying to read to distract from the pain. It didn’t work.”
“How about your dad gives it a shot until the doc comes?” John suggested.
Cassie looked over to Gary. “Please, Dad?”
“I think I can do that,” Gary pulled up one of the chairs in the room and sat down. “And your father hasn’t read it, so now we can make sure he hears it.”
“I’ve seen the movies, sunshine.”
“Doesn’t count,” Cassie and Gary said at the same time before Gary started to read aloud.
As he did, she started to relax a little more. The doctor arrived a few minuyes later, confirmed she had appendicitis and needed surgery right away, and started getting her prepared. John and Gary sat by her until she had to go in. They each gave her a hug and kiss before the nurse rolled her away.
“She’s going to be okay,” John said aloud as they watched her go.
Gary nodded. “She will. She always will.”
