A Surprise ⇢ Callum Ilott

TWENTYFIVE

"I'm heading to the hospital," Catherine mentioned and grabbed her bag, she was ready to leave the hotel in Abu Dhabi.

"Should I go with you?" George asked.

This week was an emotional rollercoaster. First Catherine was happy to see her family back, then she officially had lost Callum, she faced a couple of breakdowns, a day later George got the news he had to drive for Mercedes, George had a fantastic weekend, Callum unfortunately didn't win the F2 championship, Catherine talked to her hero Sebastian Vettel, George's race started fantastic until Mercedes fucked it up. A week in Bahrain in a nutshell, ladies and gentlemen.

Catherine was shaking her head. "I'm going to the hospital for children and women only. An old colleague of my doctor works at that hospital. I need to go to that colleague because of the contact with England or something," she explained. "I wish mum was here, I don't want to go alone," she quickly let people know.

"I will go with you," Carmen said and gave Catherine a warm smile.

"Oh, no, thank you. I can perfectly go on my own, I'm a grown woman," Catherine convinced everyone, but she was terrified of going alone to a hospital in an unfamiliar country and rules. "If you don't mind?" Her voice was soft.

Carmen was shaking her head. "No, of course not."

"Thank you," Catherine immediately replied and looked thankful at Carmen.

❉

"This is honestly so odd to be in a hospital without any men," Carmen admitted when she and Catherine walked through the long, white hallways of the hospital. "I don't know, it's a standard here, but it's just weird."

"Yeah. I had a female doctor in England, but the assistants were male," Catherine said and had a seat in the waiting room. Carmen sat next to her. "Gosh, I cannot wait for this thing to come off - if my bones are healed. I don't want to live for another month with this cast."

Carmen softly smirked and nodded. "Was it that bad?"

"It is my dominant arm, and my left is just useless. I had to ask someone to cut my food every time, to make a ponytail in my hair, all sort of small things. When you can't use your arm, it makes you realise how badly you need it and how many things you do without even thinking about it with your arm. And the arm sling, it annoys me. To the extent that, my complaining session." Catherine put her leg over her knee and tapped with the tip of her fingers on the cast.

"It's awful. I broke my left wrist a few years ago, it isn't my dominant hand, but it is annoying," Carmen shared her experience. "Honestly, I'm happy you are here as well. Not at the hospital, but this week. I don't know anyone here, only George and you. George doesn't have much time for me because he needs all his focus on the race."

Catherine nodded and a smile curved on her lips. "I know quite some people here, but it's not the same. Most of them are men, they hate it when I start talking about fashion or other stuff."

A laugh rolled over Carmen's lips. "Nope, not the right combination."

"You had exams last week, right?" Catherine curiously asked. Carmen nodded. "How did it go?"

"Quite alright, I suppose. You either fail or pass it, there's nothing in between," Carmen sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "The results will come up in a few weeks."

"You passed them, I have a feeling you have."

"Thanks," Carmen chuckled.

After a few minutes, Catherine got called by a doctor. Catherine and Carmen made their way up to the plaster room, it gave Catherine some optimistic hope. Did this mean the cast got removed? Or did she get a fresh, new cast?

"Good morning, Miss Russell. I'm doctor Rose Jones," the doctor began. "I'm gonna give you a left handshake," she said and softly smirked.

"Good morning," Catherine smiled and shook the doctor's hand with her left hand.

"My apologies for the long wait, I had to discuss your photos with doctor Smith back in England. May I ask why you are here and not in England?" The doctor started to prepare some things.

Catherine nodded. "I'm in Abu Dhabi to support my brother. All the tickets and hotels were booked a very long time ago, and I already paid for it, so it's more expensive to call it off then visit the hospital here. I told doctor Smith that it was fine for me to wait for another week for the appointment, but she insisted on doing that." She looked at her arm. "But this will be an expensive joke."

"I see," Doctor Jones said. "Well, welcome to Abu Dhabi, Miss Russell," she warmly smiled. "You are here for your broken wrist and a small crack radius. I have examined the X-ray photos with doctor Smith over the phone, and it all looks healed. This means I will be removing the cast today."

A relieved look flushed over Catherine's face. "Amazing news," she happily replied.

"So that will be the plan of today." The doctor looked at Catherine's cast. "The art is brilliant. How do you want me to cut into the cast?"

"Thank you," Catherine replied. "It doesn't matter, as long it is off."

The cast got removed with a special saw, and the doctor did some checkups, making notes for the doctor back in England.

"Alright, Miss Russell, that is it," Doctor Jones said. "How does it feels?"

The corners of Catherine's mouth curled up, and she touched her right arm. It felt weird, but it was a huge relieve. "My arm feels so light," she smirked. "Freedom."

"Yeah," the doctor shortly laughed. "Listen up, your arm has been in the same position for quite some weeks. Even though you did the exercises, your arm is stiff and will not be the same as before. Do not force your arm to stretch, it's most likely your arm will stay in this position for a few hours or days..."

❉

"No, no, no, you should post it!" Carmen looked at the picture on Catherine's new phone. "You would be stupid if you didn't post it."

Catherine looked doubtful at her phone; it was a spontaneous picture Carmen took of Catherine while they went out for a coffee. "Yeah? I haven't posted on Instagram in a while and... I don't know."

"More reason to post. You look beautiful, a post to celebrate your cast is removed." Carmen smiled. "Just don't post a photo of me, I don't want to get into the spotlights," she normally said and looked around in the lobby of the hotel.

"Yeah, absolutely," Catherine nodded. "I barely post on my account, only pictures of the dishes I have created, so this will be one of the few pictures with me in it."

"Post it, Cate. Don't doubt about it."

"Alright, alright, alright," Catherine smirked and posted the picture. "There you go."

Carmen nodded satisfied and looked at the plastic bag what contained the cast of Catherine. "An arm in a bag, how brilliant."

"An arm in a bag," Catherine repeated. "Beautiful. Thank you for going to the hospital with me, Carm."

"No problem, Cate. It was a fun day," Carmen shared and smiled. 

Catherine looked at her own arm; the end of the beginning phase was over. Her eyes shot up when she heard people laughing. She chewed on the inside of her cheek and her eyes locked with Callum's eyes, who was passing her; what was he doing in Abu Dhabi?