A few days had passed, Dash was being released from the hospital today. He had decided a while ago to not tell Dash about meeting with her parents, opting for the better option of not freaking her out.
But right now, on his mind was that today he got to bring her home. He got to bring his girlfriend to her house, alive and well enough to breathe, and to him, That was all that mattered. His Dashie was alive, and he got the honor of being her trusted caretaker for the time being.
He sat on the couch in Dashs' living room, once he had sat down Cherished jumped up to him and rubbed his head on his leg. Soarin smiled and scratched behind his ears, making him pur. He had been staying at Dashs' house for the past two days, making sure everything was ready for her to return. He had set up a few wheelchair ramps in places that had elevations, as her kitchen did.
Soarin smiled and chuckled to himself. Dash nearly blew a fuse when he suggested he help her shower for the time being. In her words exactly, 'The day I fucking let you wash me like a pathetic helpless child, is the day I cut off my own wings." She had told him she had use of her other arm, so she could at least wash herself alone. She would need help dressing and undressing which she didn't mind as long as it was him doing it. It wasn't like he hadn't seen her naked before. She would also need help getting in the shower since she couldn't currently walk on her own. He would also have to help get her cast covers on before she showers as to not get the casts wet.
He smiled as he continued to pet Cherished. He had become fond of the cat in the two days he was there, he had missed having a pet since his dog passed away, so having another soft and fluffy animal around was nice to him. No offense to Tank, he was a great pet for Dash and he liked Tank, he just isn't exactly the kind of pet that would like scratches behind the ears or playing with a laser pointer for hours on end. Dash had told him at his last visit that Cherished really like to be scratched behind his ears on his chest, so that's exactly what he did. She had told him his story too. He was abandoned on the streets of Cloudsdale and one night wandered into the compound parking lot. He didn't stop following Dash that night and kept meowing very loudly. She was a bit annoyed at first, but when she heard footsteps running away from her she had turned around to see that a tall man had been following her to her car, and once the cat started meowing he got nervous and ran away from them. She didn't know what the man's intentions were, but all she knew is that the parking lot was very well lit and bright, so she saw he had rope watched to his belt loop with a karabiner. She felt like the cat had saved her and protected her from a fate that meant nothing but pain for her. She had taken him home and saw he had several healed wounds and had a large, still visible, fresh scar on his right front leg. She had patched him up best she could and the next day took him to the vet as it was a free day for her squad. And ever since that night, he had been a part of her family.
Soarin smiled as Cherished jumped down and ran over to his bed and laid down in it. He looked to the clock and stood up, it was time for him to go get Dash. He eagerly grabbed his phone, wallet, and keys and locked the door behind him. Practically jogging to his car he got in and drove off.
***
After an hour of driving, Soarin finally arrived at Cloudsdale Memorial hospital. Walking in, he was greeted by the bottom floor receptionist who had come to know and see him coming in every day for the past month. He smiled as he thought about it all, the staff had become familiar with him, but now hopefully the next time they see him, it wouldn't be a life or death situation or serious injury.
Reaching the floor Dash was on, he walked to her room and knocked on the door. They had asked him to knock since they would be helping Dash get dressed. But once the knock came a loud shuffling sound could be coming from the room. He blinked and took a step back, the door flung open and a very frustrated-looking nurse looked at him. Soarin stared at her, a blank expression on her face. He blinked as her eyes widened.
"Are you Rainbow Dashs' caretaker?" She asked quickly. Soarin gulped and nodded giving her a perplexed look. "Good! please help me, she refuses to let us help her get dressed and we can't exactly restrain her or give her a sedative for not wanting us to help her." She said, pulling him in. He blinked and looked up at Dash.
She was sat up on the bed, propped up with the backrest up. She had a very red blush covering her cheeks and across her nose while covering herself with her good wing, her hospital gown halfway down herself and around her hips. Her face was contorted into a heavy angry pout and gritted teeth.
"Uh," was all Soarin could say as he looked to her. The nurse turned to him and threw some clothes into his arms and gave him a flat look.
"If she trusts you to take care of her for the next few months, then I'm sure she trusts you to dress her. Now please get her in some suitable clothing for release." She quickly said, leaving the room and him alone with Dash.
Soarin looked at her and chuckled, She had curled herself up as best as she could with her leg still in a cast and a still healing hip, still covering herself with her wing. He walked over to her and sat on the edge of her bed and rubbed her knee and thigh gently. "Hey Dashie, didn't like them touching you did you?" He asked looking her in the eyes with a warm, reassuring smile. She quickly relaxed, but kept her wing covering her.
"N-no... I- I really only let you and Fleet touch me." She said, still blushing like mad. Soarin chuckled as he tapped her wing.
"Well it's only me here in the room right now, so you don't have to worry about a thing." Soarin quickly found Dashs' bra in the pile of clothes he was handed. After Dash hesitantly pulled her wing away he quickly helped her put it on her, clasping the hooks on the first row of rings instead of the last, like she normally wore them, to protect her ribs from any bruising still there and to make her more comfortable. Once she had that on she seemed to be a bit more comfortable, letting her posture unstiffen and relax more. He smiled as he grabbed a T-shirt from the clothes. He looked at it and blinked. "Wait, Dash... Is- is this one of my T-shirts?" He asked giving her a smug look.
Rainbow blushed and chuckled awkwardly as she looked at the shirt. She tucked her hair behind her ear, "Er... yeah, I kinda stole it from your house after one of our date nights." She said still blushing a bit. Soarin smiled and he chuckled. This T-shirt had to be like a dress on her. He always had to shop for special shirts because his torso was much longer than most men's. "I was... wearing it while driving to the compound..." She trailed off a bit as she looked away from the shirt. He looked at her, his eyes widening a bit.
"Uh, If you want I can give you the shirt I'm wearing now and I'll wear this one." He said holding the shirt in his head. Dash smiled warmly at him but shook her head.
"No, it's fine. They washed it for me and... got the blood out of it. There are a few holes in it but they won't bother me." She said hesitantly. Soarin looked to the shirt and then to her. She had a very off-putting excretion on her face, she wasn't smiling, she wasn't frowning, she was just blankly staring at the shirt. He sighed and he shook his head and set the T-shirt aside. Reaching under the trim of his shirt he pulled his current T-shirt off and carefully put it on her, careful to avoid the cast and help her wings through, having to rip the shirt a bit to fit her wing cast through the wing hole. Dash stared at him intently as he adjusted the shirt on her, tying it in a knot around her waist to keep it from snagging on things.
Soarin looked up to her eyes, seeing she was staring at him. He smiled at her warmly and grabbed the shirt she was going to wear. "Dash don't think I'd let you wear something your not comfortable wearing. I could see it in your eyes. Don't worry about the jeans, I know these are probably ripped to shreds." He grasped the jeans gently, inspecting them. He quickly threw them behind him as he saw the bloodstains still on them. Sure, they had washed her clothes, but it was hard to get blood out of clothing without Hydrogen peroxide, and even then it had to be used immediately after the bloodstain appeared. This was a trick he had learned from his sister after she... got blood on his cloth car seat when they were teens. He had also noticed on the jeans there were several holes from glass and where Dashs' leg had broken. He sighed as he looked at her. Could she actually wear the shirt as a dress? Like, it's not like other girls haven't done that before. But Dash was never the one to wear dresses since she said it made her feel too exposed.
"Dash, I'll be right back. I'm going to go ask the nurse if there are any different pants we can get for you to wear." He said, grabbing her hand and giving it a quick squeeze. She squeezed his hand back and smiled at him and nodded gently. He got up from his spot, taking the torn jeans with him. He slipped on the shirt that Dash was going to wear, a few holes but surprisingly no blood on it.
As he exited a nurse was walking by. Quickly he got her attention by rushing in front of her.
"Excuse me miss, I'm sorry to bother you, I'm sure your busy but do you happen to keep any extra clothing for patients. I didn't think to bring any extra clothes for my girlfriend, and well..." He trailed off as he held up the clothes, the jeans in full view, bloodstains and holes. He rubbed the back of his head nervously. Smooth genius, you're her caretaker and you didn't even think to bring any extra clothing with you.
The nurse gave him an apologetic look and frowned. "Sorry, but any clothes we find we toss in the incinerator in the basement. Since most of those clothes have blood on them or if they belonged to a sick patient we don't take any risks with them." She paused seeing a look of fear and dread wash over him. She took a moment to think and perked up. "Oh but there is a department store next to the building, but it's a designer department store so their clothes are expensive."
Soarin perked up a bit as he heard those words. He smiled and thanked her. Quickly he rushed to the stairs, using his wings and body momentum to carry himself down the flights of stairs. Reaching the bottom he bolted out the front doors and took flight towards the line of businesses next to the hospital. He saw the place the nurse was talking about and he groaned as he stopped in front of the store. 'Luna's Secret'. He groaned as he hesitantly walked in. This was a usually intimate wear clothing shop for women. He had seen some things from here in Dashs room and well... on her before, but he never once went into one of these with her.
He sighed again as he looked around, all he had to do was find a pair of leggings or something to that extent. He looked to the jeans in his hands he was still holding. He flipped to the back of the jeans and looked at the tag his eye twitched a bit as he saw the size. Dash wore a size 6, he had never thought to actually look at what size she wore. As he thought about it he chuckled a bit. Fleet had always made fun of Dash for being as flat as a board and skinny as a rail. Dash was by no means frail though, She had muscle mass that made her appear larger and made her appear like she had meat on her. She always ate a healthy diet too so she was never too skinny. Though it made him wonder what she must have looked like before she gained all that muscle. He would have to peek at those photo albums at Dashs' house again.
Focusing back on the task at hand, he looked around the room and saw a rack of what looked to be leggings. He rushed over to them quickly finding Dashs' size and grabbing them. He got a few glances from other women as he tried his best to avoid any and all eye contact. He quickly paid for the leggings, saying no words to the cashier but "Thank you" as he rushed out the doors, not even bothering to see how much he paid for them.
Once he reached to floor Dash was on he quickly rushed back over, quickly ripping the price tag off and stuffing it into his pocket.
He panted for breath as he walked in closing the door behind him. He looked up to see Dash giggling and smiling. Good, that's exactly what he wanted to see from her, it would make what was to come next easier.
He smiled as he caught his breath, taking his spot back on the bed next to her. "Sorry, took me a bit to find a pair that would fit you." He smiled nervously, hoping she would buy his lie. She chuckled and shook her head.
"Are you sure you didn't just fly to the 'Luna's secret next door and buy a pair of leggings?" She asked, smirking at him and giggling more. He groaned as he rolled his eyes.
"How did you know?" He asked. Dash smiled and pointed to the tag in the back of the leggings.
"I actually have this exact pair at home. Also, the tag is kinda hard to miss, it's bright blue with white letter stitching." She said.
Soarin rolled his eyes again and smiled at her, "Ok, you caught me. That's exactly what I did, figures I would grab a pair you already have."
Dash chuckled as she nudged him with her knee. "Hey, it's ok, I just wanna go home so let's hurry this up."
Soarin smiled as he shifted to stand. Gently, he placed his hands behind her, gently guiding her to the edge of the bed he pulled her legs to dangle off the edge. He stretched out the first leg of the leggings and slipped it over her cast. Putting the other leg in, he guided them up slowly careful to avoid hurting her. she winced ever so slightly once the pants reached around her hips. He gently grasped her hand and smiled. "Don't worry Dashie, once we are home ill help you get into something more comfortable and warm." She smiled at him gently and grabbed his hand and held it tight.
She stared at him for a moment and then looked down at her leg and arm. He noticed her looking around a bit and gave her hand a squeeze.
"Dash?"
She looked up at him and smiled warmly, pulling him close to her. He quickly leaned forward as she wrapped her arm around him, holding onto him as tight as she could. "I love you, Soarin." She said simply.
He quickly returned the embrace, wrapping his arms around her, holding her close to him. He had been craving this feeling for a long time, just holding her in his arms again. She was his world, his everything, she was his reason to get up in the morning. He got to see her stunning smiling face, hear her amazing laugh, touch her soft and sensitive skin, smell her green apple and cinnamon scented shampoo in her hair every morning at the compound.
He flinched slightly as he heard a sniffle. He had been thinking so much about her that he hadn't even noticed she was shaking. He pulled away gently, his arms around her waist as he looked at her. She was holding back tears and her face was turning slightly red because of it. He quickly put his hand on her cheek and rubbed it gently.
"Dashie, what's wrong?" He asked, stroking her cheek gently and wiping away a stray tear that fell from her eye. Dash pushed her head into his chest and let her hand fall to his chest as she started to cry softly. Soarin could tell she was still holding back, she needed to let it all out or it was going to make her chest start to hurt from the pressure of holding back tears. He kissed the top of her head and stroked her hair gently. "Dashie, hang in there, once we're home you can let it all out." He paused and gently wrapped his arms around her in an embrace again.
"Don't worry Dashie, I'm here, and I'll always be here."