Cayden
Cayden paced the hospital waiting room nervously. He was pretty sure he'd worn tracks into the old linoleum tiles from walking back and forth so much. He glanced at the clock. He'd been at the hospital for over an hour, and still, his anger hadn't faded.
He could still see it clearly whenever he closed his eyes. He’d been walking the safety perimeter of the protest, interviewing one of the city workers that had been there when he’d heard the shift as the crowd of protesters had grown louder, angrier sounding. Cayden had been on the front lines of these types of things often enough to know that that change never meant anything good.
He had just started to fall back even further when a squadron of police had shown up, throwing fuel onto the already unstable fire. And that's when he'd seen it. Out of the corner of his eye, he'd caught sight of a brunette with a messy bun on the top of her head. Sophie! And she was smack dab in the middle of the worst of it. Cayden couldn’t believe his eyes at first, was furious that she’d put herself in danger like that just to get a story.
From where he was standing by the perimeter he had a perfect view of one angry protester. He'd bent down and picked up a large rock, threw back his arm while shouting something about the cops and then hurled it through the air. The protester had thrown it in the direction of a police officer, but at the last minute, Sophie had stepped directly in its path.
He'd watched the rock hit her on the side of the head, and he'd watched her fall to the pavement. Before he had even realized what he was doing, Cayden had rushed head long into the fray. The riot was growing even more dangerous, but he didn't stop, he didn't slow down until he reached Sophie's side. He was terrified she was going to get trampled by the outraged crowd.
The only reason she hadn’t been trampled was that Cayden had been able to get to her in time and pull her away from the chaos. He had carried her, still and unconscious, outside the perimeter of the protest and called 911.
While waiting for the ambulance, he'd caught sight of the guy who'd thrown the rock that hit Sophie and Cayden had just reacted. He'd grabbed him, landing a few solid punches to the asshole's smug face before delivering him to a nearby officer and explaining what happened. Somehow, seeing him arrested and shoved into the back of a police cruiser did nothing to ease the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Sophie was still unconscious by the time the ambulance made it through the crowd of people and Cayden refused to leave her side, riding with her as they made their way to the nearest hospital.
Cayden glanced over at the nurse’s station, wondering when he’d be able to go in and see her. The doctor had told him she would be just fine. She’d had to get a few stitches and had a mild concussion that would keep her in the hospital overnight. But he couldn’t get the image of her, lying there unmoving and unconscious, out of his head.
With a sigh, he glanced down at the cell phone he had clutched in one hand. It wasn't his; it was Sophie's. While he was waiting, he'd made phone calls to Sophie's parents to let them know what had happened, that their daughter was okay but would be held in the hospital for a day or so.
Sophie’s father, Frank, had been adamant that they would fly out to D.C. as soon as they could, but Cayden knew the Midwest was getting hit with a pretty severe storm that had delayed flights already. Frank had asked him if he would stay with Sophie and without thinking, Cayden had agreed. And now he was stuck there.
He had one more phone call to make, a call he was dreading but dealing with Harry was like ripping off a band aid sometimes. Better just to get it over with as quick and painless as possible.
Reluctantly he pulled his own phone out and hit the number to reach Harry at his office. It was the best way to contact him. Harry never answered his cell. It rang a few times, and then Harry's gruff voice answered.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Harry, It’s Cayden.”
"Cayden! Glad to hear from you. Been keeping an eye on the riots. Things are turning pretty nasty. Nice to know you're safe and sound."
Cayden swallowed hard at Harry’s words. That sick feeling was still sitting heavy and tight in the pit of his stomach.
"Boss, that's what I'm calling about. Sophie got hurt in the midst of the protest," where she shouldn’t have been in the first place, he added silently, "I'm at the hospital with her now. She's got a concussion, and they want to keep her overnight but the Doctor says she'll be just fine in a few days. Listen, I reached out to her parents, and they're on their way. I really would love to fly back to New York–."
“No, Cayden,” Harry said, interrupting in his characteristic curt manner, “Stay there with Sophie until her family gets there. Got it?”
It was odd, but Cayden almost felt relieved at Harry’s words. After the attack, Sophie had looked so vulnerable. So fragile. Words that he’d never attached to the inimitable Sophie Stone before. He felt close to her, now, but he also felt the sick feeling of guilt. He should have been with her. He should have watched out for her.
“Yeah, I got it, Harry.” Cayden finally said before hanging up the phone and letting it slowly fall, still lost in his thoughts. They drifted back to the night before like they had all damn day.
By the time Cayden got back to Sophie's hospital room, she was just waking up. Groggy, but at least conscious now and with some color back in her cheeks as she looked around her in confusion. He stepped into the room and cleared his throat to let her know he was there and she gasped, drawing the white blanket up to cover her hospital gown clad body. He couldn’t help the rough chuckle that was surprised out of him.
“You don’t have to hide from me,” he said as he walked to the side of her bed. “I’ve already seen everything, remember?”
"Not really," Sophie said with a pout hanging on her lips that he felt the sudden, desperate urge to kiss away. He cleared his throat again, more disturbed by the impulse than he wanted to admit.
"Well, let me fill you in. You rushed into the middle of a violent protest, like an idiot and got hit in the head with a rock aimed at a cop standing next to you. You were knocked unconscious, and I saved you from being trampled to death. You were rushed here in an ambulance. You had to get four stitches and have a mild concussion, but the doctor wants to keep you here overnight just to make sure. Oh, and your parents are on their way. I think that should pretty much bring you up to speed."
“That’s…that was…”
“Dumb? Idiotic? The stupidest thing you’ve ever done in your life?” Cayden blurted in a rush earning him a wincing glare from Sophie.
"I was going to say that was terrible. I've worked in war zones and have never gotten hurt. Step into one little protest, and I get knocked unconscious by a rock."
“What were you thinking, rushing into the middle of something like that? What were you trying to prove anyway?” Cayden asked, his tone softening as her expression grew more upset.
“I wanted to write a killer story, that’s all. I didn’t realize where I was until it was too late and then I couldn’t get back out to the safety line. Oh shit, Harry!”
"It's okay, I already called him too." Cayden couldn't stop himself from reaching out and sweeping a stray lock of hair away from her cheek and behind her ear. She looked at him then, with those too big, too serious gray eyes of hers and he felt a moment of vertigo. Whoa, slow down there player.
Cayden drew away his hand as if burned, tucking his still tingling fingers behind his back as he took a step away from the bed, and her. He needed to put some distance between them.
"Wait, will you…will you stay?" Sophie asked, freezing him on the spot. He made the mistake of looking into her vulnerable gaze again, and it was all lost.
"Yeah, sure. I'll stay until your family gets here. I promise." Cayden didn't know what made him add those last two words, but he spoke quickly to try and cover it up, "Why don't you try and get some rest, okay? You're going to have one hell of a headache."
"Thank you," Sophie said, so softly that he had to lean even closer to hear her. "Thank you for saving me from getting trampled. That is definitely not my preferred way to die. I mean it Cayden, thank you.”
Cayden found himself clearing his throat one more time, this time to try and dislodge the sudden lump of emotion that was wedged there. He waved away her words as casually as he could. “You don’t have to thank me, Sophie.”
“Yes, I do.” She blinked up at him with heavy lids. Whatever medication they had her on was obviously still taking its toll. “My hero.”
“I’m nobody’s hero, Sophie Stone. You remember that.” He whispered roughly, but the words were lost on her. She was already fast asleep.