Chapter Text
Cam did his best to keep himself calm as DI Hughes and Siobhan left the ward. He’d just lied to the police. And now he was quickly finding out that even whilst recovering from a head injury and anaesthetic with enough pain medication in him to knock Indie out cold, his brain was still more than capable of spiralling. Did we sound convincing? She looked like she believed us, but she’s a police officer, she’s probably good at hiding her real feelings. What did we even say? My head feels full of cotton wool, I can’t think properly. What if we’ve made everything worse? What if we’ve gotten Siobhan in trouble?
A gentle hand on his shoulder pulled him out of his thoughts. “Hey,” Indie said, searching look on her face. “You ok?” She knows we’re spiralling. He tried not to tear up at how quickly she’d noticed, once again being caught off guard by how well she already knew him. She’d been amazing today. She was probably the only reason he hadn’t fallen apart in front of DI Hughes. Probably the only reason I’m not falling apart right now.
“I just… lied to the police.” Talking was still a herculean task, tongue too heavy in his mouth and wheezing breaths interrupting his sentences.
Her expression got impossibly softer. “Well yeah, but you shouldn’t get in trouble for this.”
“I know.” And I think I might actually believe it. “I just… don’t know if I… convinced her.”
“You seemed pretty convincing to me.”
“You an… expert, or… something?”
Indie shrunk into herself, eyes shifting to stare at the ground. “I mean… I had to lie to them a lot when I was younger.”
“Why?”
She sighed, reaching up to fidget with her neck. “My dad. He was always getting into trouble. Probably still is.” Cam hated how her voice wobbled at the end, fingers starting to twist her skin too harshly. It’ll bruise if she keeps going like that. He tried to reach out to move her hand, but controlling his arm turned out to be a lot harder than he thought it would be, only managing to get it to rest on the bed between them. It was like dragging it through cement.
Luckily, Indie figured out what he was trying to do and took his hand between hers, fingers instantly starting to trace patterns on his skin, soothing both of them. “Do you want to… talk about it?”
She shook her head, “Not tonight. I just want to focus on you right now.”
“Okay,” he agreed. They had time, there was no need to rush any conversations. We have time. He tried to let that sink in more. Yesterday he thought he’d lost her, and now they had time. “I’m sorry… about… yesterday.”
She squeezed his hand. “I know. I forgive you,” she said, giving him a small, reassuring smile. It made something inside him melt as the last of the tension seeped out of his body. Everything’s going to be ok.
“So are we… together again?”
He struggled to remember how to breathe as her smile turned into a full grin and creases formed around her eyes. She’s so beautiful. “Yeah! If you want us to be.”
“I really do.” It felt like the understatement of the century, but he didn’t think he’d ever have enough words to say how much she meant to him.
Indie moved to sit on the bed next to him before wrapping him in a hug again, tucking her head back into the crook of his neck and brushing her thumb gently up and down his cheek. “Good.” She sounded so happy, he wanted to do everything he could to make sure she always sounded like that. She deserved everything she wanted, and for some reason she wanted him. The thought had him feeling dizzy. How is this my life?
He brought his hand up to her wrist, focusing on her pulse and the warmth of her breath on his neck to keep himself steady and remind him, This is real. This is real. This is real. “Can you… stay… tonight?”
He felt her smile against his skin. “That’s my plan.”
“Thank you.”
She pushed herself up so they were looking at each other. “You don’t have to thank me, Cam. I want to stay with you.” He wanted to disagree, but all he could do was yawn in response as exhaustion started to pull him back towards unconsciousness. “You ready to sleep again?” He nodded, eyes already starting to close, but then Indie started to move away, and the sudden absence of her touch had him feeling a lot more awake.
He tried to reach out to stop her. “No don’t… don’t go,” he begged, panic filling his voice. Please. I need you. I need you.
“Hey, woah, it’s ok.” She took his hand back in hers, the other reaching up to brush through his hair. “It’s ok, Cam. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere. I’m just moving back to the chair.”
He sniffed, squeezing her hand tighter. “No I- I want you to… stay up here with me.” He was dimly aware of a voice in his head telling him he sounded ridiculous, but he couldn’t bring himself to care about that right now. Indie was the only thing holding him together, he needed her as close as possible.
She sighed, her expression turning sad. “I can’t, Cam. I might hurt you.”
“Just avoid… my spleen. It hurts more with you… being so far away.” He wasn’t even exaggerating, there was an ache in his chest that hadn’t been there before, right in his heart.
“I’m still right next to you. It’ll be like earlier, I’ll still be sleeping on you.”
“Please?”
She made a quiet noise of defeat. “Wait a second.” She walked round the bed, hopping up to sit on his right side. “If they tell me to move I’ll have to go back to the chair.”
“Okay,” he quickly agreed, already feeling so much calmer. Indie shifted to carefully lie across his chest, spending a while trying to get her head in the right place. Probably trying to find my heartbeat. She did that a lot, especially when she was overwhelmed, that and finding his pulse on his wrist. She’d explained it to him at one point, apparently it was something her Nana had taught her to help keep her grounded. He’d found himself starting to do it too recently, whenever he noticed himself getting too lost in his own head or when he just wanted a bit of extra comfort.
By the time she was settled, the ache in his chest was gone again. “Goodnight Cam,” she muttered.
“Goodnight Indie.”
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Jodie quietly walked towards the ITU. She and Rida had gone home not long after Cam had come out of surgery. There’d been a limit to how many people could be on the ward, they’d only been able to convince the staff to let them all be in there for about fifteen minutes, and it didn’t feel right for Indie or Siobhan to have to leave.
Once they’d gotten home, they’d spent about an hour just holding each other and crying. It was all just so wrong. Cam was one of the kindest people in the world, he didn’t deserve this. Very few people deserve something like this.
After Siobhan had rung to say he was awake (and they’d finished crying about that), they’d packed a bag for him. He was going to be in the hospital for a while, he’d need some of his things. Especially his glasses. He was practically blind without them and there was no way he’d be able to wear contacts whilst recovering. Jodie’d also grabbed a pair of her pyjamas, figuring Indie would prefer them to sleeping in her uniform. She then volunteered to drop it off, since Rida had been practically falling asleep standing up.
She nodded at one of the nurses as she walked through the doors before stopping in her tracks when she looked across the room. Oh my god. No way. She silently hurried over, dumping the bag on a chair and walking around the bed so she could see properly. Cam and Indie were fast asleep, Indie on top of his chest with her legs dangling off the bed. Her back is not going to thank her for that. But despite the probably uncomfortable position, they both looked so peaceful, and it was probably one of the cutest things she’d ever seen. She quickly took out her phone, snapping a few pictures to show Rida as a smile crept onto her face. Seeing her friend trust someone like this, especially after everything he’d been through, it made her happier than she could probably put into words.
I’m showing this at their wedding.
The thought caught her off guard, the two of them hadn’t been together that long, but then she let herself think about it a little more. Cam’s probably the happiest I’ve ever seen him since getting with her. And he’s been more confident in himself. Indie’s not left his side for any longer than she’s had to since they found him in that garden. They always seek each other out when they walk into a room, it’s like they’re magnetised to each other. Her thoughts kept going like that, remembering every little detail about them, until eventually something sure settled in her gut.
Yeah, these two seem like forever.