AEGIS ↠ EMBRY CALL [R.U]

43| DESPITE THE CIRCUMSTANCES

Callas was more than ready to leave the hospital when Reed came back with a duffle bag stuffed with some of her clothes, including her laptop and chargers, just in case she wanted to finish off any more work—although she had completed most of it, aside from Maths. She had carefully taken a shower, minding the bandage on her forehead, to get rid of the lingering hospital smell of hand sanitiser and cleaning supplies, and she was equally thrilled to finally brush her teeth. Reed had even managed to pick up their father's old flight jacket, that Callas had hooked on the back of her bedroom door, for her to wear out, along with the hood of her hoodie pulled over her head, as Forks never seemed to fail on the rainy weather and frigid wind—especially so close to winter. She also said a small hello to Silas and Anya before leaving. It was obvious that Anya wasn't pleased with the fact that Callas had got hurt, but she seemed to understand more of the situation than Callas did, and let it slide, while Silas threatened to get out of his bed and find Will himself. Which, although was very sweet, made Callas's blood pressure rise when she watched him sit up shakily and in some pain. She thanked Carlisle before leaving as well. Both of them opted to rush out of the reception area to avoid Amy at all costs too.

     Once in the Jeep, that Jared drove to the hospital after checking their house the night before, Reed turned on the heating. Callas placed her bag in the back seat of the Jeep and put her seatbelt on, waiting for Reed to start the engine and pull out of the godforsaken place she had been trapped in. The rain hadn't stopped since Jacob had dropped both of them off at the hospital, in fact, it seemed to have worsened. She could tell that Reed wanted to say something to her, as his mouth opened and closed a few times before he opted to stay silent, instead tightening his hands on the wheel, glaring out to the road in front of them as he pulled out of the hospital parking lot and turned right towards the direction of the running shop they had been to previously—which was on their way home. The silence that fell between them made her uncomfortable, especially when Reed turned left down the small road to La Push. Another twenty minutes, or more, in the Jeep, forced into the quiet lingering atmosphere, was bound to drive Callas insane. One of her books was still left in the glove compartment, but she didn't feel like getting her book out to read.

     "You can ask, you know," she told him as she looked out the window, watching the rain fall, the same way it did when she went to go see Henry at the hospital.

     "Ask what?"

     "Whatever it is that you've been trying to ask me."

     "There's nothing I want to—"

     "You resembled a fish out of water a second ago. There is something you want to ask me."

     "Are you going to be okay? Staying at Sam's, I mean."

     "You mean my mortal enemy who stole you from me? Maybe." She shrugged. "You'll be there though, right?" Callas looked over to him hopefully.

     He cleared his throat. "Yeah. I'll be there."

     "Besides, I don't actually have to talk to him, do I?"

     Reed chuckled to himself. "I don't know about that."

     "Emily will be there, right?"

     "Yeah, I mean, she does live there, and the boys will be there sometimes as well."

     "Okay."

     Callas knew that Reed wanted to ask something else. That asking about whether she was 'okay' with staying at Sam Uley's wasn't exactly what he had wanted to ask, and she knew that. But she didn't press on the matter too much. Reed looked like he had lightened up a bit more, his grip on the wheel had loosened ever-so-slightly, which was a good thing. Her hand moved to the radio and she turned it on, lowering the volume to keep it as a background noise, just faintly heard over the rain pelting on the Jeep roof. Callas was tempted to turn the wheel left when they reached the road that turned down to their house, but she thought better than that and sat back in her chair. With her hands shoved in the pockets of her jumper, she put her feet up on the dashboard. Reed seemed to slow down near their road, possibly thinking the same thing as she was, but he powered ahead and continued to drive. Faintly, she remembered Seth explaining to her that Emily lived near the beach, that her house was almost completely surrounded by the forest. At least she'd be able to go to the beach while she was on 'Uley house lock down'.