Die In California

24

Rook's POV:

Devyn spent the following two days in and out of sleep, having figured it was the best way to maintain the pain she was feeling. Sure, it wasn't how I'd planned to spend our days before the Europe leg of the tour, but her health and wellbeing came before the rest of us - something we'd all come to agree with in the time that she'd spent with us.

So, we all sat around in her hospital room - I'd say like old times, but there were some pretty major differences. For starters, Devyn was awake this time, and seemed more like herself than the last time, more human if you will. Spirits were definitely higher. We all had the same games out, of course, with lots of food. Devyn had had enough hospital food in her life time, and she deserved so much better, so every meal time someone would bring her something new. It turned out to be fast food for lunch, then Baze or Slim would cook her something for dinner. She was living the high life, except from the constant pain she was in.

But she seemed to be in higher spirits than last time, a tired smile on her face as she sat back and watched us all mess about and most likely annoy the neighbouring patients with how loud we could get. But things weren't perfect. She seemed to be more like her old ways than the new her; she was a bit more distant and closed off, seeming to be disconnected. But I just put it down to the pain - surely experiencing an immense amount of pain would lead to you not being yourself. It seemed logical to me, anyway. And the boys didn't seem too concerned by it either.

"How are you feeling, Devyn?" Ashleigh asked as she walked in with a bag of supplies for her. It held snacks, more games, puzzle books, chargers, as well as an abundance of clothes for her for when she can shower and finally leave. Devyn gave her a doped-up smile, clearly out of it and flying high on her meds, then closed her eyes again and lightly sighed. 

"I'm okay. It still aches, but it's better than yesterday." She shrugged, wincing at the movement. That was another thing we'd all noticed - Devyn didn't seem to be aware of the movements she was making. Yes, most of our everyday movements are subconscious, but when you're in pain you basically train yourself not to do it to avoid that harm, but she didn't seem to have connected the dots yet. Hopefully she'd learn sooner rather than later.

She said that she was okay, but we all knew she wasn't. It was clear in the way she struggled to keep her eyes open, the way that every little movement seemed to hurt her, the way that her eyebrows were pulled together ever so slightly to create a crease across the top of the bridge of her nose and just above her eyebrows. Her jaw was also clenched, and it looked like her teeth often grinded against each other - a habit she used to do when she was in pain or was unwell. All the signs were there, just not her words telling us how she truly felt.

"You leave tomorrow." Devyn slowly turned her head to face me with a pout, her eyes only just managing to open. 
"I know." I sighed, reaching over to slide my hand under hers so that it wouldn't cause her too much movement or pain. "Tonight, actually. Ashleigh's orders. We need to go get our shit from home, then we're taking a late flight to get there around late morning, midday-ish." I explained with a small frown, looking down at our hands to avoid eye-contact.

I didn't exactly want to see Devyn's reaction; I just knew it wouldn't go down well with her, but there was no way around it this time. I'd already put my career on the line for her when it was life and death. At least this time I knew she was okay, and that I could keep in contact with her. Call me selfish, but I couldn't risk my career again, no matter how much I wanted to stay back. I couldn't let my brothers down like that again.

"That's okay." Devyn spoke so softly, a serene look on her face as she basked in her restfulness, no doubt trying to let it take her mind off the pain. But no matter how reassuring she sounded, it didn't put me at ease. I still knew she'd be feeling something completely different to whatever she was saying, just not letting it show - typical Devyn Carter.