"Shit, Cai, I'm sorry. He's-he's going to be okay, yeah?" William said hopefully but Cailen wasn't sure if he was trying to convince Cailen of this or himself. "Look, Noah's on his way there, Matt's going to head over after work and I'll be with Zeke, just let me know if you want me to bring him down there or whatever, anything you need, Cai."
"Okay." Cailen nodded, letting out a sigh. "Have you told him?" Cailen asked hoping he hadn't.
He knew he couldn't keep this from him forever but he wanted to be the one to tell him, well... He knew he should be the one to tell him.
To be honest, he wasn't really looking forward to explaining to their son about Asher's condition.
How did you even explain this to a child?
"No, I- I didn't know how or if I even should." William admitted, sounding somewhat ashamed.
"No, don't worry about it." Cailen told him, knowing he was feeling bad about apparently being a coward by not being able to tell Ezekiel about this. "I'll tell him later when I know what's going on. No point in worrying him when there might not be a reason to worry." Cailen said, hoping his words were true- that he was just worrying for nothing like he usually did.
"You really think they might not be something to worry about?" William asked quietly.
He was probably trying to avoid Ezekiel overhearing.
"I don't know, Wil. I- I don't know." Cailen said, his voice cracking.
He was going to lose it pretty soon.
"Hey, hey... Don't do that. It's all going to be okay." William assured when he noticed the waver in his brother's tone. "Zeke wants to talk to you." William said suddenly, a bit uncertainly.
"Okay." Cailen took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Okay, put him on."
There was a shuffling noise and then a few murmured words before Cailen heard Ezekiel's voice coming through the phone and it was surprisingly comforting to hear- calming and somehow re-assuring.
"Cailen? Where are you?" Ezekiel asked curiously.
Cailen took a moment before answering, trying to draw up the will power to lie to his son, with the best intentions, but he took too long.
"Where is Asher? He usually picks me up."
"I'm still at work, love." Cailen answered. "We both got caught up at work and won't be home for a little bit... Is it okay if you spend some time with William?" Cailen asked, hoping his voice sounded normal and not like he was about breakdown.
"Yeah, okay. But you'll be home soon?" Ezekiel asked, worry obvious in his voice.
"Yes, love. Of course. Be good for William, okay?"
"Okay."
"Okay, put William back on the phone. I love you." Cailen said softly, knowing the boy wouldn't respond but needing to say it.
Cailen waited as Ezekiel handed the phone back to William, feeling awful about lying to Ezekiel.
"Okay, call me as soon as you know anything." William said and Cailen could hear the strain in his voice and felt twice as bad because he couldn't find the words to comfort his brother.
"I will." He replied instead.
"Bye, love you." William said, sniffling on the other end.
"Love you too, bye." Cailen hung up the phone, tossing it onto the table.
Cailen hung his head, propping it up with his hands so he was starring down at his sandwich that he was supposed to eat, but the thought of trying to eat while Asher was being handled on in the ICU wasn't appealing at all.
He knew if he didn't eat it though, Madeline would be all over him. He couldn't find it in him to care.
Cailen was about to force himself to take a bite when he felt a hand slide into his shoulder and squeeze slightly.
Cailen turned, blinking up at a worried looking Noah, his eyes red-rimmed from rubbing at them.
He had obviously been crying on his way here and Cailen was immediately stricken with the urge to make him feel better, to assure him everything would be fine, but just like with William, he couldn't find the words to do so because he didn't know.
He couldn't tell Noah that everything was going to be okay when he didn't believe it himself.
"Have you heard anything?" Noah asked, his voice small and shaky.
In their group, Noah mght be the most boisterous, but he also is the most emotional one.
Cailen shook his head because he couldn't speak.
With Noah here, he suddenly wasn't able to keep himself under control, not that he was doing a great job of it before, and those tears were coming to his eyes again.
Noah's hand tightened on his shoulder before he let go to have a seat beside Cailen.
Noah didn't even hesitate before pulling Cailen into his side and guiding Cailen to rest his head on his shoulder. Noah’s arm surrounded Cailen’s shoulder and kept on rubbing at his arms while pecking his head repeatedly, giving him warmth and comfort.
Neither man said anything for what felt like hours, but when Cailen finally pulled away to look at his phone, his sandwich long forgotten, he saw it had really only been about twenty minutes.
"Gosh, I hate this." Cailen muttered, tossing his phone on the table again and resting his head in his hands. "What's taking them so long?" Cailen asked, hating not knowing.
Not knowing what was going on was frustrating him and making time tick by incredibly slow.
"I don't know, Cai." Noah answered honestly but it really wasn't what Cailen wanted to hear.
He was tired of hearing 'I don't know' from everyone, including himself. Noah sighed, picking at the skin around his nails, seeming to be trying to think of something to say.
"I talked to Camille." Noah finally said.
It wasn't what Cailen was expecting but he actually felt relieved to have something to focus on other than the fate of his unconscious husband.
"Yeah?" He asked after a moment of pulling himself together.
He knew he should be hopeful about this, maybe they worked out their problems and were getting back together and Noah wouldn't be contemplating moving back home, but he wasn't able to muster up any kind of hope for anything at the moment.
Noah nodded, still picking at his nails and refusing to look up.
"What'd she say?" Cailen encouraged, now picking at the bread of his sandwich.
He really should eat it before Madeline came looking for him.
"She wants to stay friends." Noah said miserably and Cailen's heart went out to him.
He could see the blonde was hanging on by a thread as he pulled himself away from the situation and looked at it from a different perspective.
Noah was going through a pretty bad break-up, having to deal with losing the girl he loves but also dealing with the fact that she wants to remain friends while also trying to figure out a living situation and on top of that, one of his best friends was just admitted to the hospital on account of third degree burns, respiratory arrest and who knows what else.
If he were Noah, he doesn't know if he would have been able to get out of bed, let alone make it to the hospital.
"I'm sorry, Noah." Cailen said, he really didn't know what else to say to that.
He really was sorry Noah was going through all this and wished there was something he could do to make it stop.
Noah shrugged, flicking his gaze up briefly to meet Cailen's but he couldn't hold it long and returned it to his hands.
"It's okay," Noah admitted. "It sucks, but it's better than her hating me, yeah?" Noah asked as if he were looking for confirmation that it was okay to feel like this.
"I don't think she ever hated you." Cailen told him, hoping that would make him feel better somehow. "You just had a fight, you were both angry, that's all."
Noah nodded, trying out a small smile in gratitude but it didn't come across very well.
Cailen smiled back anyway, certain his wasn't very believable either and reached for Noah's hand.
"We'll get through this, somehow." Cailen told him, not only referring to Camille.
Noah squeezed his hand and gave him a small nod in confirmation, silently telling Cailen he was sure they would get through this, that all of them would get through this.
"Cailen?" Came Madeline's familiar voice, pulling Cailen's attention to a spot over Noah's shoulder.
Noah turned as well, letting go of Cailen's hand.
"The doctor's ready for you." She said, her eyes wide and scared.
Cailen really couldn't have gotten out of his chair faster.