Cailen woke up in an emergency room.
Or what he was guessing was the emergency room.
He was lying in a bed that was a in room surrounded with white walls. Wherever he looked, or his eyes land on- because he can’t really move his head around to look properly at his surroundings- were color white.
The walls, the ceiling, the curtain by the window- everything.
He hurt everywhere and couldn't help but groan when he tried to move.
"Cailen?" A small worried voice came from his right.
Cailen tried to turn his head towards William’s voice, but he groaned again when pain hit him. He took a deep breath and that even hurts too.
He tried to calm down and tried again- more gently and carefully this time. He slowly turned his head to see William standing beside his bed, his curly hair in a disarray, green eyes red and puffy as if he had been crying.
"Hi, William." Cailen smiled weakly at him before something caught his attention at the corner of his eyes.
He slowly turned his head to see Matthew standing at the end of his bed with Stella beside him. He moved his head again and found Asher on the other side of his bed.
Cailen frowned at Asher as he remembered what happened before everything turned black.
"You told them." Cailen tried to glare but wasn't too sure how it turned out.
His face hurt like it was smashed. And maybe it was, and also looked like it too.
"I told you that if I ever caught them again, I would." Asher said automatically.
Cailen really couldn't argue with that. He had said that.
"You should have told us from the beginning." Stella glared at the younger boy, Asher looking ashamed of himself.
"I asked him not to. Don't blame him." Cailen said immediately in Asher’s defense.
"Cailen," a new voice came from the door and then Cailen was being engulfed in a careful hug.
Eden sniffled in his ear before pulling away to look at him, holding his face between her hands gently as she examined his face and trying not to cause him any pain.
"Oh, what did those boys do to you?" Eden asked.
Cailen assumed she wasn't really looking for an answer since she could clearly see what they had done to him. Cailen was slightly confused at her reaction though. He was expecting her to be mad that she has to deal with this kind of thing.
"You're not mad?" Cailen asked quietly. Eden frowned in confusion.
"Mad? I'm very mad, but not at you, love." She added softly.
"Not at me?" Cailen asked.
The last time a foster parent actually had to deal with Cailen's bullying, they got so mad at him because it was such an inconvenience.
Cailen had to remember to not lump Eden and Dean with those families.
"Never." Eden assured him, placing a soft kiss on his forehead.
The door opened again and Dean came into the room and he looked absolutely pissed. Cailen couldn't help but try to hide under the covers. He reminded himself that they weren't like the other families.
Dean made a beeline to him and examined his face. His face was half worried, half mad. By now he realized that the mad part was not directed at him. “You okay, bud?”
Cailen tried a smile but winced at the pain on his lips. Dean still looked worried but he sighed in relief now that he finally saw Cailen awake. He reached out and ruffled Cailen’s hair gently.
"Mom, what's going to happen to Billy?" Stella asked quietly.
Cailen didn't want to talk about them, not really, but he was curious if he and his friends would be punished or not.
"Billy's been expelled from the school. The other two have been suspended." Eden explained. "We don't need to concern ourselves with anything else but Cailen getting better."
"Come on boys, I know you’re worried but it’s already late. I'll take you home. You can see Cailen later." Dean said, motioning for Asher and Matthew to follow him out the door.
Cailen couldn't help but be surprised that they even wanted to see him. They were William's friends. Weren't they?
Cailen waved goodbye to Asher and Matthew either way, sinking into the mattress once they were gone.
He was really tired and he hurt all over. He just wanted to go to sleep and hopefully when he woke up, he won’t be in pain and he'd be healed. He prayed he wouldn't have a massive headache.
Somehow though, he didn't think that would happen. William moved and shifted, catching Cailen's attention, just in time to see him crawling into the bed with him, getting under the covers and curling up beside him.
Stella sat on the hospital bed by his other side and held his hand firmly. Eden smiled at him fondly.
Cailen couldn't help but smile back.
Despite the disastrous events of the day, he can’t find it in him to cry about it, or to get angry at Billy and his friends for what they did and all the things they had said and taunt him with, or to get sad.
Because despite it all, he still had his family.
They were still here. With him.
Caring for him, loving him. Smiling at him.
Somehow, amidst all the hurt he was feeling all over his small body, there was a peace and calm that enveloped him and made his eyes droopy.
William’s warm body beside him as well as Stella’s firm, gentle hand holding his, plus the soft loving kiss placed on his forehead along with Eden’s familiar cologne and remembering Dean’s worried but relieved face, made him smile as he felt his body lax and succumb to the sleep pulling him further.
It was going to take some getting used to and he'd have to remember to not compare them to those other families he had been with before.
But he was happy. It felt good to have them care for him. It felt good to have them all here for him.
It felt good to know that they always would be.