Break

Chapter 8

Shayne stays on the phone with Courtney until five minutes after he's certain she's asleep. She dropped the phone out of sleepy hands some time earlier, leaving him with a view mostly of the edge of the blankets and the ceiling, but it was okay. He could still hear the change in her breathing as she settled into sleep, and he let its quiet and calm try to calm himself as his own voice trailed off.

Hanging up was harder than he liked to admit, but he knows he has to, eventually ending the call. He immediately goes to call Kenn, before pausing as he glances at the time. 9:30pm. He doesn't want to scare him.

"Hey, Kenn. Is it an okay time to call? Court's physically fine, just need to talk about some other stuff," he texts, instead, not surprised when Kenn calls him not ten seconds later.

"You can call whenever, Shayne, you know that," he tells him, and Shayne sighs lightly.

"I know. I just didn't want to worry you with a call out of the blue this late," he explains, before quickly moving to explain what had happened with the no-visitor restriction, and how it tied in to Courtney's growing frustration. Kenn agrees that they need to do something, and that he'll be at the hospital by the start of visiting hours at 9am.

"I'll meet you there?" Kenn asks.

"Yeah, but I think I'm going to get there earlier and see if I can argue my way in before," Shayne admits, quietly.

"Of course. Go be with her for a while before we all have to get a bit angry?"

"Yeah."

Shayne pushes himself to try and go to sleep as soon as he ends the call with Kenn, setting an alarm for early the next morning. He tosses and turns, for a while, head swimming with concern and the wish that he could just be beside her.

It makes him follow his own advice, carefully moving to her closet to pull out one of her hoodies. He curls around her hoodie just as she had with his, closing his eyes and breathing in her scent. It washes over him gently until he finally falls asleep.

He had, however, set his own alarm for 5am, and he races out of bed and into his morning routine as soon as it rings. He hesitates over his outfit choice, for a moment, as he stands in the bedroom - hers, his, whatever - and looks across the growing collection of clothes he has at her apartment. He could look a little more put together, try and be more forceful and powerful with whoever he needs to talk to at the hospital... Or, he could be comfortable, trying to manifest a kind receptionist who will let him in so he can go and curl up with Courtney and protect her from everything like his heart longs to do.

He ends up somewhere in between: cuffed light jeans, and his fanciest watch, but just a random Smosh merch t-shirt.

He glances at the watch, moving quickly out to her kitchen to make his usual breakfast protein shake. He throws it in a travel container, and he says a soft goodbye to Birdie and Bones as he steps out into the fresh morning air. The roads are almost quiet, this early, and he switches off his radio to let the quiet calm his worried nerves as he drives to the hospital.

"I'm sorry, Sir, visiting hours don't start until 9am," the receptionist greets him, when he walks in. Shayne nods.

"I know, and I'm not going to be difficult. I just- my girlfriend has been in for four weeks, she's woken from a coma ten days ago, and her doctor is being incredibly disrespectful and unhelpful to her. He forbid any visitors yesterday for her after a very minor procedure and a nurse yesterday evening worked out that he was probably doing that in retaliation because I supported Courtney to complain about the way he was treating her last week. So... I know I can't go in for three hours, but she's very upset, I need to see her, and I'm just going to sit quietly out here until I can," he explains, careful, matter-of-fact. The receptionist's eyes narrow at him, for a moment, until he hears her lightly sigh.