"Cailen," Was what Cailen woke up to the next morning, that and a pair of make-up coated eyes peering at him curiously.
Cailen peeled his eyes open further, a groan escaping his mouth when he pushed himself up right in the chair.
The pain in his back should have been expected, and it kind of was, but that didn't ease the pain any.
He remembered that after crying his eyes out, he pushed himself up from the floor and dragged himself towards the chair to get whatever little sleep he could.
The pair of eyes belonged to a girl, Carmen, a nurse that worked at the hospital.
Carmen and Cailen never talked much, they've hardly spoken two words to each other the whole time he's worked here. Not because one of them was a snob, but because their shifts hardly collided.
He was surprised she knew his name. Her small hand was on his arm, shaking him awake but let go when she saw he was sitting up.
"What time is it?" Cailen asked, the question leaving his mouth before his brain could wonder itself.
Carmen smiled and looked down at her wrist where a watch sat. She was in her nurse’s scrubs, Frozen themed so she must have purchased them on her own.
"A little after six." She said, lowering her arm.
Cailen pushed the chair his feet were propped on away and let his feet fall to the ground. He leaned forward, his back very much complaining with the motion, and rested his elbows on his knees, rubbing at his face with both hands to wake him up.
"I should report you, you know." She said, but Cailen wasn't afraid of that.
They must have had someone coming in here throughout the night to check on Asher, it was probably her and if she was going to report him, she would have done it already.
"You should." Cailen agreed, blinking up at her, trying to clear the fogginess from his mind.
She smiled knowingly at him, then rolled her eyes because they both knew she wouldn't be doing that.
Cailen smiled back at her, turning to see that Asher was lying there, completely still, breathing machine pumping away and the heart monitor still beeping at a normal pace.
Cailen felt the smile slip from his lips but quickly schooled his expression when he saw Ezekiel still sleeping at Asher's waist, just in case he happened to wake up.
"Thought I should wake you up before someone else found you." Carmen spoke, earning Cailen's attention again.
"Thank you, Carmen." Cailen said, standing from his chair and wincing from the shot of pain through his back.
Carmen seemed to have noticed this.
"You probably would have been better off sleeping on the ground." She teased.
"Probably." Cailen agreed, rubbing at his back as he made his way around the bed.
He realized now that he can't be the stubborn ass he was being last night and not leave the hospital at all until Asher wakes up.
He was an adult with responsibilities, he had a child to take care of and get to school, he had a dog at home to feed and walk, and he had a job he would have to do instead of sitting at Asher's side all day.
He wasn't eighteen anymore. He would have to suck it up.
"You want me to grab you guys something from the cafeteria?" Carmen asked.
Cailen thought on it but figured he really shouldn't.
"No, I'm going to take him home. Thanks, Carmen." Cailen said.
She smiled and nodded as she backed out of the room, leaving Cailen to wake up a sleeping Ezekiel.
Cailen didn't wake him up right away, opting to watch him for a moment as he remembered what had happened last night.
Ezekiel had called him 'Dad' and he had told Cailen that he loved him.
That smile crept back over his face as he watched the little boy sleep.
Cailen would sometimes do this some mornings and most of the time, you could tell what kind of dream he was having by his expression. The nights when Ezekiel would have a nightmare, his brows were usually furrowed or his lips were pressed in a thin line.
On the nights where nothing had transpired and Cailen assumed he had a good dream, Ezekiel would often have a tiny smile on his face, sometimes so small most wouldn't even consider it a smile.
This morning, his face was neutral though, no furrowed brow or tiny curve to his lips.
Maybe he hadn't had a dream, that, or he was just pretending to sleep.
"Zeke," Cailen said softly, leaning down to kiss his forehead and shake him slightly.
Ezekiel stirred, letting out a small whine and curling up a bit more.
"No, love, you've got to get up. We have to go home and get you ready for school." Cailen said, shaking him again.
Ezekiel shook his head, obviously awake now even though his eyes remained shut.
Cailen chuckled, shaking his head and slipping his hand under Ezekiel's shoulders, pulling him into a sitting position.
"I don't want to go to school." Ezekiel whined, finally opening his eyes to look at Cailen. "I want to stay with Ash- Dad."
Cailen cracked a grin at this, both from joy and amusement.
He still couldn't really believe Ezekiel was calling them this now. Yes, Ezekiel almost said 'Asher' but Cailen knew the habit wouldn't break overnight.
It would take some time for it to be natural and it would take some time for both of them to start responding to it naturally.
Cailen considered letting Ezekiel stay, he knew he wanted to, but he also knew they couldn't.
He had to be an adult here and he couldn't just give in to Ezekiel because he was looking up at him with those big brown eyes, not after being on Asher's case this whole time about doing that very thing.
"I know, love. So do I." Cailen said, kneeling down infront of him.
He took the boy's hand in his, squeezing gently and looking at him. "But we can't. We have to be big boys and go to school and work, and then we can come back after we're done, okay?"
Ezekiel remained silent, looking down at their hands. He obviously didn't want to agree but didn't have an argument to present.
"Zeke, there will be doctor's coming to check on Asher all day and you can't be in here when they do, and I can't watch you all day while I'm at work. I need you to do this for me, okay?" Cailen said, hoping Ezekiel would agree.
He wasn't sure he could say ‘no’ again. Thankfully, Ezekiel nodded his head, though he didn't look happy about it.
"I can come back after school?" Ezekiel asked quietly, looking to Cailen.
"Of course." Cailen smiled, standing upright and stopping to kiss Ezekiel on the forehead in a soft thank you for understanding.
"Come on," Cailen said, holding out his hand for Ezekiel to grab as he hopped off the bed, but before he could walk away, Ezekiel turned back and bent down to kiss Asher's hand gently.
Cailen sort of stared in amazement, feeling an overwhelming sense of fondness rush through him, he didn't even notice Ezekiel let go of his hand and was now standing by the door, waiting for him with a grin on his face- like he knew what he just did.
"It's Dad, by the way." Ezekiel said from the door as Cailen collected himself and followed Ezekiel out of the hospital room with a glance back at Asher as he closed the door behind them.
"Sorry?" Cailen asked, giving his son a confused look.
"You said they'd be coming to check on Asher. It's Dad." Ezekiel said in a matter of fact tone.
Cailen laughed at this, reaching out to ruffle his hair.
"I thought I was Dad." Cailen pouted dramatically, knowing they could both be Dad, he just wanted to tease the boy and hopefully take his mind from any worrying thoughts.
"Nope." Ezekiel said, shaking his head.
This kind of confused Cailen.
"You're Daddy." Ezekiel concluded, making Cailen smile down at him.
"Daddy, huh?" Cailen questioned, bending down to pick Ezekiel up because he kind of wanted to hug him but they didn't have time to stop.
He was pleased to see Ezekiel didn't mind this.
"That's good, but I have a feeling you won't want to call me that when you're older, you know... When you're a teenager and are too cool for us anymore." Cailen teased.
Ezekiel gave him a funny look, like he didn't really understand but then again, he probably didn't.
"Never mind, let's just get you to school." Cailen smiled, leaning forward to kiss his cheek before setting him down and leading him out of the hospital.