cardigan, a. butler

one hundred & eighteen

one hundred & eighteen, healing

it had been a few days since elsie was rushed to the hospital and it seemed like she was improving.

she was getting discharged later that week and was flying back to california to be with hayden and briar.

she had already set up therapy sessions with a good therapist that'll help with her depression and another with her eating disorder.

when austin had heard the news that elsie had collapsed, he wanted more than anything to rush to texas and be there for her but he knew better.

they were still trying to mend their friendship and knew it was best to visit her once she had time with her family.

austin, priscilla and lisa had decided to fly out to texas the following day and visit her.

during their time together on the set of elvis, elsie had gotten extremely close with priscilla and lisa, the two women becoming a mother figure and older sister towards elsie.

austin knew elsie would want to see them so he had decided to tag along with them.

the trio had landed a few hours prior and were now walking through the hospitals hallway, trying to find elsie's hospital room.

"are we sure we're going the right way?" priscilla asked as they continued to walk down the hallway.

"the nurse said her room would be down here." austin sighed as he looked for the room number he was told.

after turning down a hall, the three were met with jackie and quite a few others that had come to visit elsie.

stood in the hallway were zayn, niall, louis, calum, ashton, michael, luke, jacob, zendaya, tom, chris and aaron.

austin felt his jaw clenched at the sight of luke while the singer rolled his eyes with a scoff.

"what are you doing here?" austin asked with a glare.

"i could ask you the same thing." luke spat as he glared at austin.

"alright, i don't think this is the time or place for either of you to do this." aaron stated as he stood between the two.

"how is she?" lisa asked as jackie walked out from elsie's room.

"she's great. she's been responding well to the fluids they've been giving her for the malnutrition and she's eating regularly. it's not full portions but it's getting there." jackie answered with a small smile.

"baby steps, jackie." lisa smiled as she intertwined her hands with jackie's.

"baby steps." jackie sighed before pulling lisa into a hug.

"she's going to be so happy you two are here." jackie stated excitedly as she pulled away from lisa and hugged priscilla.

"hayden's in there with harry and florence. they've been making her laugh the past hour and it's the first since she's been here." jackie informed the two before glancing at austin.

"thanks for coming." jackie said with a tight lipped smile.

"anytime." austin nodded before the door opened.

"god, elsie has been laughing like a mad man at hayden's and harry's jokes." florence remarked before she made eye contact with austin.

"i thought we agreed that it would be best if he didn't come?" florence asked as she turned to look at jackie.

"flo." jackie started but was cut off by florence.

"no. i sat there and listened to elsie cry over him after what he had did to her. after what your bloody girlfriend did to her. the awful, disgusting things she'd tell her are unforgivable. you just sat back and allowed your girlfriend to rip elsie apart." florence spat angrily.

"i'm not with kaia anymore. we broke it off after elsie told me about what she had been doing."

"this happened before, austin. you were still with her." florence frowned before looking towards lisa and priscilla.

"you can go on ahead, if you'd like." florence smiled causing the two to nod before entering the room.

"how did you know which hospital she was at?" jackie asked quietly.

"this one was closest to the venue she was playing." austin answered before he looked up to see hayden and harry walking out of the room.

"austin." harry acknowledged the actor as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"harold." austin replied as he glanced at hayden.

"austin." hayden nodded before turning to the boys.

"elsie wants to see you guys." hayden smiled causing them to nod before walking into the room.

"how is she?" austin asked nervously as he eyed the hospital room door.

"she's getting better. the fluids are helping her and she's getting new antidepressants." jackie smiled.

"that's good. i'm glad to hear. elsie must have been ecstatic to have you on tour with her."

jackie glanced at hayden before looking back at austin.

"yeah it was. too bad we won't be together until the wedding." jackie sighed as she leaned into andrew.

"until the wedding? don't you two live together?"

"yeah, um, elsie decided it was best if she postpone the rest of her tour until next year so she can focus on her health and her upcoming movie and she decided to live in california for a little while. she'll be living with hayden while she gets better." jackie informed austin causing him to nod.

he glanced towards hayden, who avoided his gaze.

"you should go in there. it'll be nice for her to know you came by." jackie told him kindly.

austin stared at the door for a moment before shaking his head.

"i think it's best if i don't. i already put her through enough. she doesn't deserve to see me after my ex was the reason she's here in the first place." austin frowned.

"tell priscilla and lisa i'll be in the waiting room."

with that, he walked away, leaving jackie, hayden, harry, florence and andrew alone.

"he finally gets it." florence remarked causing harry to roll his eyes at her comment.

"remind me to never cross you." harry retorted as he walked off.

"what is that supposed to mean?" florence scoffed as she chased after harry.

"do i tell her he stopped by?" hayden asked as he glanced at jackie.

"not unless she asks." jackie forced a smile causing him to nod.

"let me go get your parents from the cafeteria." hayden told the two before making his way to the cafeteria.

"do you think it's the right choice for her to be with hayden in california?" jackie asked andrew.

"i think it's the only choice, jackie. she'll heal better there." andrew forced a smile causing jackie to nod.

"come on, let's get you something to eat." andrew whispered before leading her away.

BELLA'S CORNER

as you may have noticed, i changed my username (:

i've also already written the epilogue for the book and i'm crying omg

i might now do an act three and just finish this one...

would you guys want an act three?