risk// 5SOS

18

Calum

"Rider, I want you to try and stay in your bed tonight, okay? I do not want to wake up with you in my bed,"

"Okay,"

"Sleep well," I said, tucking him in, "You too, angel,"

"Goodnight, I love you,"

"I love you too,"

"It was fun to see Ashton," Gia beamed, "He's taking me to school tomorrow?"

"He is coming here with Luke early because I have to take Rider and Sage to the hospital. Luke will pick you up from school and bring you home. I promise it will be normal soon,"

"It's okay, I am being patient,"

I hugged her, kissing her head, then hugging her some more.

"Think about if there's a special treat you might like, like a new doll or something,"

"Okay. You should sleep, dad,"

"I am about to, don't worry,"

I flicked the night light on and then their main light off, shutting the door slightly as I left. Sage had already fallen asleep, so I covered them in a blanket and shut their door.

When I got into bed, I found myself to be a ball of anxiety about the kids having surgery tomorrow. They both seemed pretty okay, Rider even excited, but I was stressed. I knew it would be rough at first, but this would be a huge change in their life.

They would get to be free from pain.

And that long term solution was enough to comfort me enough to sleep.

**

"We all need to wake up," I said quietly, standing at the door of Gia and Rider's room, "Gia, Ash and Luke are already outside, and I gave them all your things, so you just need to go down, okay?"

"Okay,"

I kissed her head and hugged her, then watched as she went downstairs and met Ash at the door. It was an early morning, and she was still half asleep, but she had seemed to be fond of Ash all of a sudden and willingly went.

Luke must've worked a miracle.

"Buddy, we need to get up,"

"My mouth hurts,"

"Yeah, sweetheart, we are going to go and get it fixed," I said, gently brushing the hair from his face, "We need to pack a little bag to take,"

He sat up and rubbed his eyes, then got one of Gia's backpacks and put his new teddy in it. I planned to take him in his pyjamas, so packed some fresh underwear and one of his new jumpers incase he got cold, as well as some colouring to keep him occupied.

Then, we went to wake Sage up, but found them already dressed with a bag packed.

"What's in the bag?"

"Everything I need,"

"Okay, how long have you been up?"

"I don't- I can't talk right now,"

I nodded and took their bag for them, then went into my own room and packed a bag too, both of them following me downstairs. Waking up as late as possible would hopefully mean they had less time to be anxious. However, Sage had already been up, so the plan was probably pointless.

"Do you guys have any questions?" I asked when we got in the car, "I do work in the hospital,"

"What does it feel like to be in surgery?"