Return

It takes a bit of time for Emma's internal bruising to heal properly enough for the doctors to feel safe enough to let her leave. The wounds on her face healed nicely with no scarring to be worried about, according to the doctors. The only thing that would leave any type of mark was a wound on the back of her leg that was so deep. It goes from her knee to her heel, but Emma didnt seem to mind all that much so it put everyone at ease. 

The days in hopital leaving up to when we could leave passed incredibly slowly. There were no other attempts on Emma's life so it was just a bunch of trained people waiting for the other shoe to drop. Sometimes it was tense, but mostly it seemed everyone was bored. There wasnt much to do except for gossip with the nurses and order food on someone elses dime. I could have anything I wanted delivered to me. Some days the whole floor would order from the same place and it would be like e family dinner, but other days we all would want something different so there would be multiple people having to pick up orders for a variety of restaurants. 

I would eat in Emma's room most days, while Mariam usually ate with Richard and a group of other men I had seen often. We were getting comfortable with one another- Emma and I. Especially after the whole ordeal with her reading to me. We ate in silence at first. But after a while we would discuss what she had read to me the night before. She would be enthusiastic and ask me a lot of questions. What I thought about it, how I liked the characters, if I liked the plot and where it was going, if the story was likeable enough for me. I would answer her questions to the best of my ability and try to meet her enthusiasm with my own. Sometimes I was actually excited, other times I wasnt. She noticed rather quickly that I preferred fantasy and science fiction type books. She would mix it up with a bit of supernatural and I enjoyed that too when it was well done. 

At night, that was our ritual. Her reading and me listening while staring at the stars. We hadnt actually discussed that that was what we were going to do, its just something that happened. After that first night... it just kept going without either of us agreeing to it. Yes, we discussed what she had read to me in the morning, but we never actually discussed the reading itself, what we were doing, or why. In all honestly I didnt want to talk about it. We were enjoying this thing we had together and I felt if we talked about it then it would take the magic away from it. I never told Mariam what was happening either. Though I'm sure she could hear it. 

Now, as it's time to leave the hospital, everyone is waiting for Emma. Mariam and I have showered and dressed, and everyone else has done their routines as well, in anticipation of finally leaving this far too sanitary place. No one has commented on how long Emma is taking and I dont think anyone will. 

Richard approaches with that charming smile of his. "Ready?" he asks us enthusiastically. He's face is baby fresh and he smells of aftershave and shampoo. 

"Yes," Mariam and I say in unison. But she's the one who continues on, asking, "Does Emma usually take this long?"

He chuckles. "Sometimes, yes. She's been doing her own hair lately so I'm not suprised it's taking this long. "I'm sure she's struggling a bit being back on her feet too."

I hum in agreement. She's been in bed so long I suppose its expected that she's getting used to her own  weight again.

"Well, I'm ready and so is everyone else. You'll be riding with us, yes?"

Mariam nods. "Wherever Emma goes, we go."

"Perfect. When she's ready, we'll be on our way. Everyone else has their orders. They're just waiting for us in the last car."

"Should I see if she's okay?" I ask.

Richard shakes his head. "I already checked. She's fine. You can wait in her room though, if you'd like. She might need help with some of her things. I usually help her with that but if you want to take that role, you can. I'll do it otherwise."

"Uh." It doesnt sound like a dream to be Emma's assistant. I'm here to protect her, nothing else.

Richard chuckles a bit at my reaction. "You dont need to carry anything for her. I just mean if she needs helping walking."

"Oh. Okay, then. Yeah, I can do that." Technically that sounds like part of my job description. So I nod at Richard and go into Emma's room to wait.

She's still getting ready, but in the bathroom connected. I wait by the window to look out it. There are multiple cars outside waiting in a line, but the middle care is actually a limousine, and the back door is wide open, a man holding it open in anticipation. I assume that's the car Emma is supposed to ride in. Well, I guess I'm supposed to ride in it as well, along with Mariam and Richard. 

I dont want to rush Emma but the lot of us have been awake since the early hours of the morning and have been waiting to leave for quite some time. I'm sure there are many who are tired and want to go back to their usual routines. Being at the hospital has put a lot of their schedules out of wack. 

It takes a bit, but Emma does eventually come out. She shuffles around for a moment then finally the door opens. I move away from the window and face door, sighing to myself so as not to show how fed up I was with waiting. I watch her step out from the bathroom with a light smile on her face. She seems steady on feet and as she walks closer to me I can smell the perfume she's put on herself. It's a nice change from the antiseptic I've been forced to smell for so long.

"Nice to meet you," she says, holding out a hand for me to shake.

I look down at it then back up. Confused, but willing, I shake her hand. "Huh?" I say aloud. 

Her smile widens. "This is what I actually look like when I'm not all banged up. It's been bothering me for a while that I couldn't do what I usually do for self care. So I took my time today getting ready since I could." She flips her freshly done hair off her shoulder. "What do you think?"

"What do I... think?" I cock my head slightly, taking her in, but also thinking to myself. No one has really asked my opinion on anything before. At least not on anything like this. In the facility they would ask but those were assessments to see whether or not I was doing well enough for their program. They didn't actually care for the conversation. They certainly didnt care about physical things and how they looked the way Emma obviously does. She cares how she looks, how she feels, how other people see her, how other people feel. She's genuinely curious about the world around her and it matters to her how they function. She cares about my opinion, I think, unless she's just asking in that way where she just wants to me to tell her she looks good for her own personal validation. 

I test that theory and say, "You look great."

She deflates. "Seriously? I asked what you think. I didnt want a generic answer. Tell me what you actually think."

I perk up, because someone is actually asking my opinion on something. Emma wants to know my answer and not just for some little test. My eyes dance over her outfit, her hair, her shoes. She's wearing a dress that seems to be tailored exactly for her with no wrinkles in sight. Her hair is half up, half down, and the hair that flows down over her shoulders is lightly curled. Her shoes are in issue, though. Not that they're ugly or anything. In fact, they are incredibly nice. Its just that they're heels and I'm not sure she should be wearing those as the first shoes out when she's been in bed for so long. Plus with the wound on the back of her leg it might be an even worse idea.

After i've had my internal battle, I say, "The dress really suits your skin tone and your hair looks lovely. You did it yourself?"

Emma grins, flipping her hair around. "I did! I usually do unless I'm really in a rush or, you know, I'm stuck in a hospital bed for so long." She laughs. A real genuine laugh. "You really think I look good?"

I nod. But then stop her when she's about to leave, "Are you sure about those heels though? It could be dangerous. I know your leg has healed but maybe a sneaker would be better."

"Oh. Ew. No. After all this time of not being on my feet I'm not going to go out in sneakers. If I'm dressing up, I'm dressing up. Sneakers will ruin the look."

"We're just taking you home. Your leg doesnt hurt?"

She makes a rotation of the room and throws out her arms. "Not at all. See?"

I begrudgingly leave the matter the way it is. "If you say so. So you are you ready to leave then?"

She smiles again and turns for the door. "Let's get going."

I follow her out of the room and we meet Mariam and Richard down the hall. Mariam raises a brow, saying, "Oh, well dont you look nice."

Richard agrees. "Stunning."

Emma grins, lifting her chin. "Thank you."

"The heels, though..." Richard hums.

Emma rolls her eyes. "I already talked with Cas about it. It's fine."

Richard doesnt speak on it after that. He leads the pack and escorts us out of the hospital. I was right earlier and the limousine with the back door open was indeed for us. The man holding the door nods at us seriously and helps us all in the limo one by one. When we're all sat, the procession of cars starts rolling along. 

Mariam and I make ourselves comfortable on the back most seat while Richard sits on the entire right row and Emma sits on the entire left. Emma kicks off her heels and I see Richard sigh in relief. I'm not sure if he truly cares for Emma or if this is just a job for him, but it seems at least so far that he has some type of attachment to her. 

I stare out the tinted window and into traffic. I'm not sure how long it will take to get Emma home so I feel its better just to relax now and take cues from everyone else in the car.

When we're on the road for about half an hour, Emma stretches her legs and says sadly, "We never finished our book. We wont know what happens. Or at least you wont."

I look to Emma and see Mariam eyeing me in my peripheral. Richard is looking down at his phone, unconcerned. Emma has a sad expression on her face but I dont know what to say to her. I'm not embarrassed or ashamed of what we've been doing, but we've never spoken about it before. She's just broken our unspoken agreement.

"Er..." I manage out. "Sorry."

"For what?" Emma says, rolling her head over the back of her seat to blink at me. "I'm going to finish it. I mean, I guess I could let you borrow the book, but you're going to be busy arent you? I dont think Richard would let you slack off."

Richard finally looks up from his phone. "She can read while she's in the bathroom."

Emma makes a face. "My books are not going anywhere near the bathroom."