Small But Loved (Age-Regression)

Chapter Thirty-Five: Pink Casts

Hazel POV:

I'm there the moment Mila comes out of surgery. Her arm is in a pink cast and she's still basically out of it. My poor baby looks like she's been through the wringer.

Theo pulls up a chair for the both of us at her beside. Sitting down, I gently grab her good hand, using my other to stroke her blonde hair off of her forehead. She whines, turning her face into my hand.

I look to her nurse that's bustling around the room, asking her, "How much longer until she wakes up?"

She gives me a kind smile and says, "She's on a lot of pain medicine and just coming out from anesthesia. There's no real way to know when she's going to wake. She'll open her eyes when her body is ready."

Thanking her, I turn back to my pea. Theo grasps her foot, rubbing his thumb along her heel. She just looks so tiny in her hospital bed. It's a heartbreaking sight.

"Mommy and Daddy are right here when you're ready to open your eyes, pea." I tell her softly, sitting up to press a kiss to her head.

She mumbles, her face scrunching up as she cries in her sleep. I hate it when she cries while sleeping. It let's me know that she's not having peaceful dreams. All Mila's dreams should be sugar sweet.

"I know, ladybug. It's okay." Theo whispers, his voice cracking with emotion.

After all, Mila is his little girl. He hates to see her in pain. Using my free hand, I reach over towards Theo and grasp his other hand in mine. He gives me a grateful smile, lifting our combined hands to press a kiss to the back of mine.

An unknown amount of time passes in relative silence, the only sound being the beeping of hospital equipment and her deep breaths.

She finally starts coming around when I lean down to kiss her head again. She mumbles something too low for me to hear while she tries to open her eyes.

They're stuck together with gunk, so I stand to grab a warm washcloth. When I return from the bathroom, Theo is whispering to her to keep her calm. It's working.

Mila's head is turned towards the sound of his voice, a little babble coming out every now and then.

"Mama's back, ladybug. She's going to clean that yucky gunk out of your eyes." Theo advises as I step up to her bedside.

As gentle as possible, I clean her whole face. She leans into my touch, whimpering, "Mama..."

"I'm right here, pea. Can you try opening your eyes for me?"

Her chubby nose scrunches adorably as she slowly blink her hazel eyes open. As soon as she spots me, a tiny cry shapes her pink bow lips.

"I know. I know. The doctors fixed your owie. They gave you a pretty pink cast. See, look." Pointing towards her wrapped arm, I wait until she's calm enough to realize her plastered arm.

"See. All better." Theo comments, his hand stroking her messy hair back.

"Awl betta?" Mila whimpers with tears in her eyes.

"All better." I nod in agreement, sitting back down in my chair.

My poor baby drifts in and out of sleep for a while. The pain medicine they have her on must be good. Sometimes, she'll startle awake just to check that we're still here.

Her doctor comes in a while later while she's still dozing, telling us that he had to put a rod in her arm. The cast will stay on for eight weeks. I have no idea how Mila's going to handle that.

We'll just have to keep her constantly distracted. Knowing my child, she'll try to take that thing off the first chance she gets.

"Are we going to be able to go home today?" Theo asks the doctor.