Page 148 of Begin Again, Part 2

Chapter

Forty-Four

WHEELS OF JUSTICE

The day after his surgery, Liam briefly regained consciousness. After a few hours of intense observation, his doctors felt comfortable enough to move him to a private room in the recovery unit, where he continued to be closely monitored. But days after, it was still touch-and-go as he lingered at death's door, slipping in and out of consciousness regularly.

Eden stayed with him and prayed feverishly for his recovery as she kept vigil by his bedside, returning home only to shower, snatch a few hours of sleep and spend time with Aiden. When she was too tired to go home, Brenda would bring her son in for a few minutes during visiting hours to see his father, and they would sit on the bed and read The Boy Who Chased The Moon to him.

Every time Aiden had to return home without her, he'd kick up a fuss and scream for his 'Daddy', breaking Eden's heart a little more.

Eden was torn. On the one hand, she hoped that bringing Aiden to the hospital would push Liam to fight harder to return to them. But, on the other hand, seeing the confusion in her son's eyes at the sight of his father tied to all these tubes and machines made her question her choices.

She often wished Liam would send her a sign and tell her she was doing the right thing, and having Aiden close to him helped. But he remained unresponsive. Nothing she said or did, worked. And the longer his condition stayed the same, the harder it became to remain hopeful.

Eden had so many questions and didn't understand why Liam hadn't fully regained consciousness if the surgery was successful. But as Dr Knight, the Physician Anaesthesiologist in charge of Liam's recovery post-surgery, explained, it wasn't the gunshot wound she should be worrying about. After all, the bullet had only grazed Liam's left kidney and miraculously missed all the major arteries and vital organs. The internal trauma from his fight with Aleksei was of grave concern to his medical team. Due to the massive swelling and bruising of his liver and spleen, they had to sedate him to allow his organs to repair themselves. But if that didn't work, they'd have to resort to extreme measures like invasive surgery.

Clarke and Lois didn't like the doctors' wait and see stance. They wanted them to do something fast and do it now. Eden, too, would have preferred a little more action and urgency. But as her mom pointed out when she stopped by to offer her support and prayers, Dr Knight had a medical degree and tons of experience to back up his decisions.

With no experience and no medical degree, Eden had no choice but to trust that Liam's medical team had his best interest at heart and knew what they were doing. So while waiting for a miracle, she decided to get her life in order. She finished the painting she'd started when Liam found out about Aiden. She also completed her first draft of The Boy Who Chased The Moon and sent it to an indie publishing house for editing and proofreading.

On the third day of her limbo, Dr Emily Waylon called while Eden nodded off to sleep in her chair in front of Liam's bed. She dashed out of the room, startled to find the hallway teeming with their colleagues. They weren't allowed to see Liam yet, but nothing stopped them from coming over to offer their support, drop off their fruit baskets and flowers, and pray for him.

Eden smiled at everyone, exchanged a few polite words, and scrambled off to find a quiet corner. But her phone stopped ringing before she could answer. She paused for half a minute, hoping the doctor would ring back. Two minutes later, when she still hadn't, Eden returned the call. After waiting for what seemed like a long time, and only because of their shitty hold music, the haughty receptionist transferred her to the doctor's line.

They were both polite, like strangers usually were, as they went through the standard niceties expected with all check-ins.

The doctor went through her checklist, asking all the right questions about her health, stress levels and mental wellbeing.

Eden ticked all the right boxes and passed the assessment with flying colours. She assured her she wasn't stressed and sleeping like a baby. Her morning sickness, which seemed to happen at all hours, wasn't bad at all, and her anxiety was a thing of the past now.

Pleased Eden was following all her orders, and well on her way to a healthy pregnancy, Dr Emily got down to the real reason for the call. The results had come back. Like they'd already suspected, there were no traces of the birth control hormone in her blood. She was never on any form of birth control. As if she was somehow responsible for the negligence of one nurse some odd five hundred kilometres away, Dr Emily apologised. "I'm sorry. In such instances, you have the right to log a complaint with the Health Ombudsman. A malpractice suit is also—"

"Thank you." Eden cut her off. She was so exhausted from everything. There were far more important things she could use her time on. Fighting with a nurse, who likely didn't even remember her, for failing to do her job wasn't one of them. She had to conserve all her energy for Liam's recovery. She thanked the doctor for her time and hung up after assuring her that everything in her life was going swimmingly.

The estate agent called as Eden was about to slip back into the ward. She half-listened as she watched another wave of Anderson Logistics crew touch down in the hallway with more flowers and fruit.

They waved at her while she agreed to meet Beverly at her place in thirty minutes so she could take photos of the house.

With the appointment now in her calendar and nothing else to talk about with Beverly, Eden reluctantly hung up and approached her colleagues. Pretending she and Liam were not a thing stopped being an option the first day they checked on him.

They hugged her, said all the right things, and asked all the wrong questions. She nodded, smiled and assured them Liam was hanging in there, and he'd be out of the hospital in no time, ready to terrorise them all.

Eden managed to make her narrow escape when Lois and Clarke arrived, and the congregation turned their attention to them. She stepped inside the room and leaned on the door, grateful for the moment of silence amidst the beeping monitors.

She approached the bed and kissed Liam on his stubbled cheek, and brushed his hair away from his forehead. The swelling in his eyes had gone down a little. The bruises were still there, but weren't as disconcerting as they were a few days ago. Or maybe she was getting used to them.

Liam's parents strode in and stood at the door like she had just a moment ago, their relief almost palpable.

"I wish they'd remember this is a hospital," Lois said quietly. "They can't be here at all hours. We should have kept the news of the shooting a secret."

"They mean well," Clarke said.

"I know, but look at this place. If we have to take one more bouquet, one more fruit basket, there won't be room for us to sit," Lois said as she moved away from the door, her face lighting up when her eyes fell on Eden. "How is he?"

"He hasn't stirred. The nurses came in earlier to check his vitals and change his catheter bag and wound dressing."

"Are you off somewhere?" Clarke asked, his eyes narrowing at the handbag in her hand.

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