Song of the chapter: Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol
Austin's POV
"Lucy, get back here now," I said sternly. I was trying to fill out paperwork for Emily at the front desk, but Lucy was getting restless. Taylor and Alex had both gone home to get a change of clothes, so it was just me and my kid.
"Excuse me for a second," I told the receptionist before dropping my pen and running after Lucy, who was making her way down the hallway quite quickly. I grabbed her and swung her under my arm, causing her to shriek and fuss in annoyance. "Stay here," I said over her shrieking.
I finished filling out the paperwork and slid it back over the desk to the receptionist.
"There's a baby room around the corner if you want," she offered. "It might keep her occupied for a while."
"Sounds perfect," I said, ducking to avoid a swing from Lucy. "Thanks."
She nodded and I went to find the baby room. It was loaded with toys and there was no one else in there, so I set Lucy down on the ground. "There, you can play with all of the toys in here," I said, looking down at her. She crawled over to a dollhouse, so I sat on the ground with her.
There was a knock on the door a short while later and it opened to reveal a familiar blonde.
"Hey, Brownie."
"Cassidy?" I asked, shocked. I got up from the ground to give her a hug. "Hey! I haven't seen you since you left for L.A."
"Been a long time," she grinned.
"What are you doing here?"
"I just came back from seeing Emily. The lady at the desk said I would find you in here," she replied.
"Emily?"
"Yeah, we ran into each other a while ago and started hanging out a bit," she told me. "She didn't tell you?"
"No, it must have slipped her mind."
Cassidy looked over at Lucy and grinned. "I swear that hair of hers gets curlier every time I see her."
I smiled. "Yeah, she's a little curly sue."
"So how is it being a big old daddy now?" she teased.
"I would hardly say big. Or mature. I'm only twenty one."
"You have matured, Austin. You're raising a baby now. I've been talking to you for a minute and I can already see that," she said.
I shrugged. "Guess parenthood changes you."
She nodded. "Obviously." Lucy crawled over to her and smiled up at Cassidy, who reached down to pick her up. "How are you, missy?"
Lucy threw her hands up. "I'll take that as a good," Cassidy laughed before she got serious again. "Look, Austin, I'm really sorry about Emily."
I shrugged. "It's okay. She's going to be fine eventually."
"How long has she been out?"
"A few days. But she'll come around soon... I hope."
"Don't worry about it, it's a good thing she called the cops when she did. It could have been a lot worse if they hadn't gotten there in time," Cassidy said. I knew she was trying to help, and she was a little bit, but I wasn't going to be completely okay until I saw Emily's eyes open again.
I nodded. "Yeah."
"I hate to do this, but I have to go. I've got a band meeting in an hour, so I better get down there." She set Lucy down on the ground. "I'll see you around, Austin. Later, Luce."
"Bye," I waved and she went out the door.
"Daddy?" I looked down at Lucy. "Where's mommy?"
I sighed and scooped her up. "Um, mommy's sick, honey. The people here are going to make her feel better."
"No mommy?" she asked.
"No...no mommy," I told her quietly. I kissed her forehead and carried her out of the room.
When I got to the waiting room, I found Quinn, Sheridan, Leah, Jace, and Jesse there. They all jumped up when they saw me.
"There you are!" Quinn exclaimed, rushing over to me, her blonde hair flying behind her. "The receptionist wouldn't let us go see Emily. She told us immediate family only," she said angrily. She was about to say something rude to the receptionist, but Jesse put his hand over her mouth.
"Don't even think about it," he said.
She grumbled, but shut up.
"How is she?" Leah asked me. I handed Lucy to her. "We're sorry we weren't here sooner; we were all away in Orlando visiting relatives and just heard the news yesterday."
"It's okay," I said.
"Hi, Uncle Austin!" Sheridan exclaimed from Jace's arms.
"Hey, Sher," I smiled before turning to everyone else. "She's doing okay. The nurse said she'll be fine, but I don't know when she's going to wake up."
"Someone broke into your house?" Jace asked. "Who the hell would do that?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. I was away when it happened. Taylor, Alex, and I rushed back here as soon as Emily called me. When I got there, she was out cold on the ground."
"So what exactly made her pass out?" Jesse asked.
"Blood loss. She gashed her arm wide open on a broken lamp."
He shuddered. "At least she's in good hands now." He turned to the receptionist. "Can we go see her now?"
"Immediate family only," she replied. "And I doubt any of you are immediate family, besides Mr. Mahone here."
"She's my sister," Jesse glared.
"Oh. Well, fine, you may go. The others must stay here until visiting hours are open to everyone. No exceptions," she added to Quinn, who was on the verge of doing something destructive.
"Go ahead," I told him.
"You sure you don't want to come?"
"I'll let you have some time alone with her. Don't worry about it; I've gone in a lot. She's in the IC unit, room 74."
He patted my back. "Thanks, Austin." He squeezed Quinn's hand before heading down towards intensive care.
"Where are Alex and Taylor?" Leah asked. She had set Lucy down in the little play pen with Sheridan, and the two were busy playing with the dolls.
"They went home to get a change of clothes," I replied.
"Emily's parents been in yet?" Jace asked.
"Yeah, they were here earlier this morning, same with my mom."
"It's probably a good idea they aren't here now," Quinn said. "Jesse told me Emily's mom is still keeping her distance, and it would be awkward if she was here at the same time as Jesse. Damn it, Emily and Jesse's mom. Do you know how long that's going to take me to get used to?"
I gave a small smile. "It still hasn't sunk in for me, either."
"That's awesome though. I'm so happy. Now I've got another sister! Well, not really, but still. I do what I want," Quinn said.
"We all know how true that is," Jace muttered. She smacked him in the arm, and he smacked her back.
"Don't hit girls!"
"I can hit you all I want, you're my sister!"
"I don't see you hitting Leah!"
"Leah isn't abusive towards me, unlike you."
"Don't test me, bro."
"Don't hit me, sis."
"Wanna fight? I'll take you right now, and I'll beat you just like all the other times when we were kids."
Jace turned to me. "Do you hear her right now?"
I couldn't help it; I started laughing. "Hey, I wish I had siblings. This is entertaining."
"Try living with it," Leah spoke up from beside Sheridan.
"I'll pass."