The Prime Minister and Her

Waiting

This was horrifying. Carlton has never pictured himself as someone who would be hoping and praying that his girlfriend would come out of a major surgery alive and well. Not only that, but praying his daughter will, too. 

There are two lives at stake and he can't handle the emotional rollercoaster it comes with. 

Johnny had met him and Cassie at the hospital early in the morning and sat with Ben until they could go back to see her before the surgery started. She was absolutely terrified, but was being strong due to the support from her two favorite men. 

"Remember, Ben, if they can't do anything about--." Carlton shushed her and ran his hand over her hair. "Don't," he told her. "You will both be fine. I'm going to be waiting for you both to come out of this, okay?" He ran his hand down her stomach and kissed her forehead. 

He blinked back a few tears, then let out a shaky sigh. "You come back to me," he told her. "Don't you dare leave me here." She took his hand and gave it a strong squeeze. "I wouldn't ever leave you," she told him. "I love you, Carlton."

Carlton kissed her sweetly on the lips. "I love you, too, Hansen." After exchanging a few goodbyes with him and her brother, they were kicked out of the room so they could get her in for surgery. They sat in the waiting room and did anything they could to distract themselves. 

It was nice and quiet because, being the Prime Minister, no one else could be in the room unless they had clearance by his security. Obviously, Johnny was an exception, but anyone else who wanted to wait in this room was not allowed. 

It's been nearly five hours.

"I feel bad for the other families," Carlton said. "Where are they going to wait?" Johnny flipped a page in his book and told him, "They have another room across the hall. It's no big deal, there aren't a lot of people here, anyways."

Carlton sighed and looked for anything to distract him. He chewed on his bottom lip, scratched the arms of the chair with his nails, anything to get his mind off of the surgery. "She's going to be okay," Johnny said. 

Carlton looked over at him and gave a small smile. "I know," he said, "but something keeps prying at me. I mean....this is a serious fucking surgery. Do you know what she did this morning?" Johnny shook his head. "She said goodbye to me. Not a 'I'll see you later' goodbye, but an actual goodbye, as if we were never going to see each other again."

"What did you do?" Johnny asked. With tears in his eyes, Carlton chuckled, "Got her some water to keep hydrated, then cried my heart out in the bathroom. I covered it well, so she didn't noticed after I came out."

Johnny set down his book on the table next to him, then leaned back comfortably in his chair. "When we were kids, she was...God, she was the best big sister I could possibly ask for. I'm sure she told you all the shit our dad pulled, but she never broke. Not once. I watched her get humiliated and practically tortured by him for years. But she kept her head up. She said she had to keep strong for me. Cass is the strongest person I know, Ben. Whenever she talks about you, I've never seen her so happy because there hasn't been a man that's come into her life that hasn't hurt her in some way. But you're different and I can already see that by the way you're so worked up right now."

"And you're not?" Carlton asked. "Worked up, I mean." Johnny huffed out a laugh and lightly shook his head. "I'm absolutely petrified," he told him. "That's my big sister. She's my hero. She's done everything her entire life to protect me and now I want nothing more than to protect her, but I can't and it's driving me to insanity."

They were both quiet after a moment, until Carlton said, "I need to grab a coffee. Want anything?" As Johnny wiped his eyes, he nodded. Carlton patted his back, then stood up. He walked past his security, who started walking with him as he left the room.