I Choose You : A New Chapter

Parental Decisions

"Cassie...Cassie, baby, look at me. Come over here and sit down a minute, love." He carefully led her over to the couch and sat her down. He knelt down in front of her and stared at her completely stunned face. "Darling, talk to me," Ben gently prodded. 

She looked completely and utterly shocked. This couldn't be happening. It had to be a dream, it couldn't be real...

"I...I have to go," she finally said. "I have to...have to go...go see them." Ben put his hands on her legs and said, "I'll get us a flight out of here as soon as possible. Right now, I think you need to lay down." He led her to lay on her back, then smoothed her hair down. 

Her eyes started welling up with tears as she said, "Jordan. Oh my God, Jordan!" Ben quickly brought her in for a hug and gently shushed her as she sobbed into his neck. "He's going to be all right," he told her. "They're all going to be fine, sweetheart." 

He kissed her head, then set her back on the couch. "I'll be right back," he assured. "I'm going to call mum and let her know what's going on and I'm going to get us a flight. I have to figure out how to handle Aiden...shit, I'm not even sure if he can go with us."

Shaking his thoughts away, he quickly went to his phone and called his mother. She was already out the door and on her way over. After checking in on Cassie (and seeing her sob her heart out on the couch, which broke his heart into pieces), he went to book their flights. 

"Of course," Ben grumbled, as he sat at Cassie laptop, looking at the prices of the flights. The earliest ones were the two he could barely afford, but he booked them anyways. By the time he printed out the tickets, there was a knock on the door. 

He checked on Aiden for a second, then rushed down to answer the door. "Mum, dad, thank God," he breathed out. Wanda and Tim walked in with worry written all over. "How is she?" Tim eagerly asked. Ben shook his head and told him, "Completely broken. I just booked our flights that are only a few hours from now, so I'm going to go start packing. I also haven't the slightest idea of what to do with Aiden."

Wanda and Tim assured him they'd look after him for the couple days they'd be gone, but Ben didn't find comfort in that. "Ben, if you bring him on a plane now, it can affect his hearing, his breathing, his immune system. It's a lot more of a risk to take him there than to leave him here."

Ben understood that...but it was just something about leaving his son already! He's not even a day old yet! "Ben, go upstairs and pack, we'll take care of everything else," Tim assured. Ben at least agreed to do that. 

On his way upstairs, he went into the living room and picked up Cassie from the couch. He brought her up to the bedroom and set her on the bed. "Our flight leaves in a few hours," he told her. "We'll only be there one full day, but we'll be there."

He kissed her forehead, then started packing for the both of them. The amount of tissues that were surrounding her by the time he finished was astounding. He was able to get her up and dressed, then they were ready to go. 

"We'll be back late tomorrow," Ben told his parents. "Please call me if you have any problems with Aiden." Wanda and Tim assured him they would. "Ben, I don't want to leave him," Cassie said with tears in her eyes. Ben took her face in his hands and said, "Darling, we have to. It's only a day."

They both went into to Aiden's room to say goodbye, which was very emotional for the both of them. "Come on, love," Ben whispered, pulling her out of the room with him. They said goodbye to his parents, then drove off to Heathrow. 

The plane ride was the longest of their lives. Ben tried to get Cassie to sleep, but that never happened. She had too much running in her head. She stayed completely silent, staring out the window for the full seven hours. Ben kept his hand on her leg and tried to get some sleep...but just like his wife, he couldn't. 

The moment they got to the airport, they got a cab and took it straight to the hospital. With their luggage in hand, they maneuvered their way through the hospital halls, until they saw a large group of people filling up the waiting room. All of them were family and friends. 

"Cass!" Donnette gasped, as she jumped from her seat and hugged her granddaughter in tears. "How are they?" Cassie quickly asked, as she pulled away from the hug. Donnette wiped her tears as she said, "Jordan just got out of surgery. Your mom and dad are still in there. There haven't been any updates for a while."

Cassie put her hand over her mouth and let a few tears fall. Ben put his arms around her and kissed her head. "I'll go see if you can visit Jordan," he said in her ear. "Sit down, I'll be right back." He got her to sit, then walked out to speak with a doctor. 

In the meantime, Cassie was being consoled by her uncles, aunts, grandparents, and parent's friends. They were telling her how brave she was coming down her just a day after giving birth, how things were going to be okay. Truthfully, she just wanted to be left alone. 

Thankfully, Ben came back and told her that it took some persuading, but she could go see Jordan. He's never seen her get up so quickly, but he followed her to the room Jordan was being kept. As she slowly walked in, he took a seat outside the room. 

Cassie shut the door behind her and started to softly cry at the state of her little brother. He had oxygen tubes in his nose, a broken leg and a few cuts on his face. She sat down next to him and brushed his hair from his face. His eyes twitched a bit until they started to slowly open. 

"Hey, you," she softly cooed. A small smile crept up on his lips as he hoarsely said, "Hi." Cassie pressed the call button for the nurse, then asked, "How do you feel?" He shrugged as best as he could, then said, "Okay. My leg hurts."

Just then, the nurse came in with Ben right behind. "Hi, Ben," Jordan weakly said. Ben sat behind Cassie on the bed and said, "Hey, little man. You gave us quite the scare." The nurse checked his vitals and leg, then told them, "He'll be just fine. He just needs some rest."

Cassie rubbed Jordan's leg, then said, "Go to sleep and we'll be right here when you wake up." He nodded, then already started to doze off from the pain medication. Once he was asleep, Cassie leaned back against Ben and let out a sigh. 

"He's going to be alright," he told her after wrapping a protective arm around her waist. "Come on, let's go see how your parents are doing." Fortunately, they were informed her parents had just gotten out of surgery...and they were going to be just fine.

Cassie was sobbing in relief into Ben's shirt.

"They both suffered some pretty critical injuries," the doctor explained, "but they should heal up nicely within the next few months." Ben hugged Cassie tightly and rocked her as she cried. "They're going to be alright, baby," he told her. 

Her family came over and comforted her, telling everything was going to be okay. "You need to get back to that baby of yours," Donnette told her. Cassie sniffled, then said, "But - but Jordan..." Donnette shook her head and told her, "He's surrounded by family and loved ones, so are your parents. You have a newborn waiting for you, Cass."

When Cassie looked to Ben, he told her, "I know these are your parents, but...she's right, Cass. Aiden isn't even four days old, he needs us, needs you. Darling, they're going to be alright, but Aiden isn't going to be. We have to go home."

She knew he was right. She wanted nothing more than to be with her baby again right now, but she was so worried about her parents and Jordan! "Look," Ben continued, "we still have about eight hours until our flight leaves. Until then, we'll stay with Jordan. If you want to wait until your parents wake up, I'll get us a later flight."

That plan seemed to put her mind at ease. "I want to see Jordan," she told him. He nodded and said, "Of course, love. Come on."