Page 145 of Begin Again, Part 2

"Jesus!" Eden whispered as she approached the bed, fresh hot tears stinging the corners of her eyes.

She didn't know what was more horrifying, the constant beeping and wheezing of the machines beside Liam, or the tubes and wires protruding from various parts of his mangled body.

When she stopped in front of him, she realised she'd take the machines, tubes, and wires any day over his bloated face painted with bruises of all shapes and sizes. Even if he was conscious, there was no way he could keep his eyes open. That was how badly swollen they were.

The blunt force trauma the surgeon had mentioned earlier suddenly made sense. The man on the bed, the love of her life, looked like he'd been in a boxing ring with Mayweather himself and lost, and then got crushed by a truck.

"Goodness, Liam." She leaned over and kissed his forehead and eyelids. "What happened to you?"

She paused on his cheek when a sob threatened to break free from her throat. She forced it down with the same determination she used to blink away her tears.

Confident she could breathe again without breaking down, she moved on from his cheek and kissed his mouth, careful not to apply too much pressure on his busted lip. Despite her brave attempts to keep it together, she couldn't. A stubborn solitary tear slipped through and fell on Liam's cheek, and it wasn't long before a small puddle formed on his face as she rested her forehead on his.

"You were supposed to give him twenty percent. What happened to you? What did he do to you?" She collapsed in the chair beside the bed and buried her face in the sheets to muffle her howls as she broke down and cried. Her devastation momentarily drowned out the whirring equipment monitoring his vitals. "I'm so sorry. Oh God, Liam, I'm so sorry."

His fight with Aleksei was personal. Eden didn't have to have a college degree to know that. Nobody took such a beating over money. Deep in her gut, she knew it had everything to do with her and their son.

Finally, having cried herself sick and convinced she had no more tears left in her, she sat up and wiped her face with Julian's handkerchief before she took Liam's hand and held it.

Christ, she bowed her head and sobbed in her chest when she saw his black and blue knuckles. Was there any part of him that wasn't hurt and in pain?

"Liam," she said as she kissed the bruises on his hands. "You said you hope our little girl has a heart of a warrior like me. But every warrior needs armour. And you, my love, are my armour. So you have to come back to me—"

The door creaked open. Eden turned and wiped away her tears quickly when she saw the nurse hovering behind her.

"Is my time up?"

"I'm afraid so." The nurse approached the bed to check Liam's vitals.

Eden stood up, kissed his forehead, and left the room.

Lois and Clarke were waiting in the hallway.

"Jace is at the entrance. He'll take you home," they announced.

Eden politely declined. There was no way she'd leave Liam. She'd camp out here until he woke up. "You guys can go home. I'm not leaving him."

Lois wouldn't take no for an answer. "The doctor said he's heavily sedated, and it'll be a while before he wakes up. Go home, have a good rest, and you can see him tomorrow. Aiden needs you."

Eden's face softened at the mere mention of her son. "Alright, you have to call me as soon as he wakes up. It doesn't matter what time it is."

"Of course," Clarke agreed and called James to escort her to the exit.

The ride back to the penthouse was remarkably different from their trip to the hospital earlier. Both Jace and Aaron quietly chatted away in the front, while a DJ on Jacaranda FM kept them all awake with hits from the 80s or maybe 90s.

"You must be so relieved, ma'am," Aaron said and lowered the volume.

"It's Eden, Aaron. I'll have to call you 'sir' if you insist on this 'ma'am' business. And yes, I'm relieved."

"That's good." Jace nodded, his head brushing the headrest lightly, "You'll sleep well tonight."

"That's the plan," Eden agreed. But she didn't sleep well. In fact, she didn't sleep at all. She was restless half the night, and after checking on Aiden for the umpteenth time, she dug through the laundry hamper and pulled out one of Liam's used shirts. She missed him something awful tonight, and she needed his scent around her.

With nothing to do and all this time on her hands, Eden turned on her work laptop, cancelled all her appointments for the next few days, and sent Clara an email informing her she'd be working off-site and, if needed, she'd attend meetings virtually for the rest of the week. Her friend called her promptly, even though it was 03:00 AM, and no sane person should be awake at that hour. They spent almost an hour going over Eden's crazy day.

"Oh my goodness, Edie, I'm so sorry. How's the Dragon holding up? The board didn't say much other than that Matt's in charge for the next month. No one dared ask why, and we figured the Dragon was suspended, you know, because he's been banging you and stuff. But oh my God, if I knew—"

Eden groaned. "Clara! Why would the board suspend him for that?"

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