Break

Chapter 6

Her Mum arrives just as he leaves, and a nurse quickly comes in to help get them set up to let Courtney freshen up in every way she can. Her mother helps her pull off the hospital gown after the nurse has stepped out and put a 'do not disturb' sign up on the door, and helps by handing her the warm, soapy washcloth to wash herself, and helping her rinse the shampoo and then conditioner out of her hair as she washes it. Courtney does what is usually her night-time face washing routine, mumbling her appreciation for Shayne having known exactly what to pack for her, looking into a tabletop mirror that the nurse had brought in to set on the table she can swing over the bed as her mother carefully dries her hair.

It's the first time she's seen her own face since the accident, and although there's splotches of green around her jaw and still-purple bruises around her hairline, she's content. The extent of her ordeal isn't particularly obvious on her face.

They don't try and brush her hair out – it would almost certainly tug at her scalp enough to hurt – but her mother moves over to the bag Shayne had packed and pulls out a handful of neatly-folded clothes for her to choose from. She settles on a very baggy pair of pyjama shorts, knowing they are the only thing she'll be able to get over the cast on her leg, requiring substantial help from her Mum to do so while lying down. She manages to pull on a shirt and a jumper herself, though, going for the oversized my favourite pizza place shirt she had absolutely stolen from Shayne at some point and her coziest merch hoodie over the top.

"Feel better?" her Mum asks her.

"So much better," Courtney replies, immediately, "I feel a little more human again."

"How did you get Shayne to stay with you last night?" she asks, switching topic, Courtney smiling softly as she does.

"I think Emma, one of the nurses, has a soft spot for Shayne and I. She came in after 8 and he was still here and I just blurted out that I wanted him to stay. She told us she wouldn't make him leave, got him that comfier reclining chair from another room, and brought in extra pillows and a blanket," she answers.

"Oh, Emma's been lovely to all of us the whole time," she agrees, nodding, "how do you think you'll go without him tonight?"

"I think I'll be okay," she muses, pausing for a moment to consider, "he's going to FaceTime me after you're gone so I can say hi to Bones and Birdie, and I'm going to ask him to bring some other stuff over in the morning for me too."

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"Aww, my babies!" Courtney coos, happily, beaming at her phone screen as Shayne angles the camera to capture both cats cuddling up near his chest as he lies in her bed – or his bed, at the moment. Their bed? – and grins emphatically at her, "gorgeous, all three of you."

"Oh, I know, we're adorable," he replies, laughing lightly, "I was going to show you your plants as proof I've kept them all alive too, but I'd feel rude if I moved the sleepy fur children."

"I believe you, don't disturb the fluffballs," she agrees, smiling, "think you can memorise a list of stuff I want you to bring tomorrow morning?"

"Of course," he confirms.

"Well –I need stuff to do, now I'm awake. They haven't really said it, but I think I'll be here for a while for physio and stuff before they even think of letting me go home, so... one of my big sketchpads, and some pens? Ooh, if you bring my set of coloured markers I might be able to draw all over this fucking cast-" she muses.

She rambles through a few other things, continuing to talk to her (very sleepy) cats as well. It's as the call is drawing to a close, Courtney feeling tiredness creep over her, that she raises another fleeting thought she'd had after her mother had left earlier.