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Body language was Cassandra's forte, so when she saw Steph stumble on the edge of the rooftop out of the corner of her eye, she knew her friend wasn't going to make the jump. As she turned to see Steph plummet off the roof into the dumpster below, she internally cursed the fact that she was so good at rooftop tag. If she hadn't been so far ahead, maybe she could have caught her. Now, all she could do was hope that the fall hadn't been as bad as it looked.
"Ugh. Not my most graceful moment." Steph deadpanned as she climbed out of the dumpster - and promptly collapsed backwards, clutching her ankle.
"Hurt?" Cass said as she hurried over to Steph's side, concern visible even through the full-face mask she wore.
"Yeah. My foot." Steph said through gritted teeth. "I'll be fine. I think."
Internally, Cass breathed a small sigh of relief that Steph had only injured her foot, as bad as the fall had looked. But she could tell that Steph was in serious pain, and she wasn't about to let her try to get home on her own. The complete lack of protestation from Steph when Cass gave her a piggyback ride to the clinic was all the confirmation that Cass needed that her instincts had been correct.
Soon, Steph sat on the examining table at Dr. Thompkins' clinic, an ice pack on her black-and-blue foot as she and Cass waited for the results of her x-rays. Cass kept a tight grip on her friend's hand as Steph complained about her situation.
"I mean, I can't believe it. I knew I couldn't make that jump! Why didn't I just stop? It's probably broken, and then I'll be out of action for weeks, and - ugh! I'll have to explain this to my mom. I mean, she was getting suspicious enough about the bruises..."
"Sorry. Shouldn't have...gotten so ahead." Cass said awkwardly.
"Cass? It's totally not your fault. Not at all. I'm the one who took that stupid jump. You've been looking out for me the whole time. You're probably the reason I'm still not in that alley."
Cass nodded and slightly tightened her grip on Steph's hand. Steph had always been her first and best friend, the first person to ever treat her like she was normal. She had always been protective of Steph, but lately, it had become more intense. She wanted to keep Steph safe, to always be there for her. She cared about her in a way that she had never cared for anyone. The only problem was, she had no idea how to express this. Speaking was challenging for her in the most casual of situations. This was out of the question.
Cass was snapped out of her thoughts as the door opened, and both girls turned to face Dr. Thompkins, who was holding Steph's x-rays.
"Well, Stephanie, you're definitely lucky that Cassandra brought you here. You've broken your ankle, but it's a clean break. You won't need surgery, so as soon as it's placed in a cast, you'll be able to go home."
"Whee." Steph deadpanned sarcastically as she turned to Cass. "See? I'll be fine. It'll be a while before I'm running the rooftops with you again, but it's not too serious."
"Glad." Cass nodded as Steph hopped down from the table into the waiting wheelchair to be taken to the cast room. She didn't move from the spot until Steph returned.
---
By the time Steph had her cast applied, was fitted for crutches, and was given a painkiller prescription, it was getting dark. The painkillers were already making her loopy as Cass helped her into bed, propping her casted leg up on a pile of pillows.
"Ok?"
Steph nodded, slowly. "Yeah. M'fine, Cass. Thanks for everything..."
As Steph drifted into a deep, long rest, Cass sat down by the side of the bed, watching the beautiful blonde sleep. Her mind reeled with the things she wanted to say to her, the intense, burning feelings of love she couldn't put into words. It would have been so easy to say them now, when she didn't have to worry about the response, if she could only find the words. They didn't come, but the feelings remained the same. Maybe, if she couldn't tell her...she could show her.
---
It was over 24 hours before Steph woke up, the sharp pain in her broken ankle now fading to a dull ache. She sat up, momentarily regretting it as her head spun. Turning to her right, she gasped as she saw a basket full of items. Movies, snacks, candy, books - all things that she loved, and all things that she had mentioned to Cass during their many long, usually one-sided chats. She grinned as she thought about how Cass had probably slipped ninja-like into her window, completely undetected by her mother. These supplies were going to make her recovery period a lot easier. She figured she could make it over to the DVD player on crutches. Attempting to get out of bed, she pulled the blanket off her legs - and gasped.
It was a small mark on the otherwise clean, white surface of the cast. Two, actually. In clear black ink, was a small bat-symbol, and above it a bright red heart. There were no words there, but they weren't needed. Cass had made her point perfectly clear with only those two little symbols. Steph had a feeling she'd be seeing the beautiful quiet Bat again sooner rather than later. Suddenly, the next few weeks of recovery seemed a lot less like a sentence and a lot more like an adventure. She and Cass had a lot to talk about, that was clear. And even if the conversation was going to be fairly one-sided, that was just fine with her.They had always been very good at understanding each other, in a way that no words were really needed. And those two little sharpie marks on her leg spoke more than words could ever say.