Missing [ST]

Fifty One

Steven sat patiently on the side of his hospital bed.

He was dressed in his own comfy clothes, detached from any sort of machine, fresher after an independent shower, but he didn't really know how to feel as he twiddled his thumbs to distract the restless wait.

He was in pain, but he was certain it wasn't solely from his injuries. It was more the feeling of emptiness dragging him down, and he couldn't quite explain it.

However, his conflicted mind was eased when the door that had been waiting to swing open did, and the best kind of company bundled towards him, free from her temporary guardian.

"Hiya gorgeous girl," he beamed, scooping up his daughter. "And how are you today?"

"Good!" Liv responded happily.

"Only good?" Steven frowned, sliding the rogue strand of hair out of her face that had escaped from her pretty bunches. "Well, I think I'm going to have to change that..."

The giggles erupted the moment he started tickling her. It was a sound that made him smile ridiculously, a boost of serotonin in his tired system, but he stopped before the flailing limbs that fidgeted in his lap became too dangerous in his fragile state.

"Do you know who we're going to see today?" Steven asked, settling Liv onto his healthy leg so her own legs dangled in the gap between his knees.

She shook her head.

"Well, first we're going to see your uncles, because daddy hasn't seen them in so long, and then we're going to take a long trip all the way home."

Liv blinked up at him, trying out a confused expression.

"We're going home, baby," Steven clarified, with a smile. Then, he rested his chin on her head and pressed a gentle kiss there. "We're going home."

He closed his eyes for a second, at peace with his daughter safe in his arms.

"B'inky come?"

The tickle of the bear's fur on his neck interrupted his moment of bliss. Steven looked down to the hint of rejection strewn across his baby girl's face, and it almost made him laugh.

"Hell-to-the-yes Blinky can come."

A familiar nurse, who couldn't have been more than five feet tall, pushed a wheelchair with a pair of crutches in the seat into the private room.

His chariot awaited him.

"Good morning Mr Tyler and Miss Liv! Are you both ready?"

Steven carefully bounced his leg, dragging out the anticipation by nudging his nose close to his daughter's ear.

"What do you think, Liv? Do you think we're ready?"

The shy response was to bury her face into his collarbone, and Steven just smiled, adjusting his hands.

"Alright, you gotta hop off for a second," he instructed, gently setting Liv's feet to the floor. "Good girl. Stay there."

The nurse pushed the wheelchair closer and propped the crutches temporarily against the bed.

Steven shuffled as close as he could to the edge first, watching his daughter out the corner of his eye, and then gave her a wink for listening to him.

Liv clutched her bear to her face.

Next, Steven stood on his good leg, let the nurse hold his arm as he twisted himself around, and he was guided into the seat without too much disruption to his healing wounds.

He could walk, but this was what the doctor had prescribed, along with many other things, and recommended when he got home. Just a week without weight bearing to allow his leg to heal properly, and then work on building up his strength again from there.