004 - From the ashes

"We only know for certain that he took a bullet yesterday. Fortunately, he had been wearing a bulletproof vest, but he was already full of wounds and broken bones at that time, so he lost consciousness some time later after the shock. The police should know more, as it seemed that it was during some operation of theirs that things took a bad turn."

"Will he wake up?"

"Actually, he is out of danger, and his coma is not too deep. Maybe he is tired. From the wounds I saw yesterday before those men came, it seemed that he didn't get treated immediately after getting them, and he still exerted himself quite a bit. Anyone would want some rest after that. And…"

"And what, doctor?"

"There are signs that his heart stopped for a few seconds at some point, before restarting."

Evelyn almost fainted:

"You mean he died?"

The doctor hesitated:

"Maybe. There is no sign of resuscitation. So…"

Despite the uncertainty of the doctor, Evelyn couldn't overcome her shock. The doctor's voice made her feel the solid ground once again:

"Alright, I'm done. My shift is over, so I will be leaving. If you need any help, there will be nurses and other doctors on guard."

"Thank you, doctor."

"You are welcome. Try to get some rest."

Evelyn could only answer with a strained smile. The doctor understood her. Moreover, some patients' relatives had though situations, so he added before leaving:

"Don't worry about his bills. As far as I know, even if your relative was to stay here for all of his life, nobody would be able to kick him out. I would love to change my insurance provider to his."

Only when she heard that did Evelyn notice that she had even forgotten to consider that part.

She looked at Damien and asked in a small voice:

"Where have you been? What have you been through?"

She checked the room, but found nothing other than a set of clean clothes folded in the cupboard. She wondered if it had been left there by an old patient or a nurse. But it looked clean, and the size should fit Damien.

'Maybe the men from yesterday left it for him. Who are they, and what is their connection with Damien?'

She remembered that one of the men had a bag in hand. Maybe the dirty clothes of Damien had been inside at that time.

It seemed like the only thing with any relevance was the wallet that had remained in the grip of Damien all along.

She left the room to get some snacks from the vending machine, and on the way back, she was stopped by someone:

"Evelyn?"

She raised her head and was a little stunned:

"Hello, Dr Speck."

"Is Jason sick again?"

"No, I'm just here to visit a relative."

"I see, I hope it is nothing too troubling."

"Yeah. I will be going."

"Alright. Take care."

The handsome doctor with sunny hair and equally sunny smile didn't move. He remained in place looking at her until she left his line of sight before resuming his walk.

She returned to the room and sat at the side. Looking at Damien, she was reminded of all her sufferings. Since he was in a coma, why not unload everything she had been keeping in her chest instead of waiting for him to wake up? She spoke in a soft voice:

"When you sent that letter six years ago to break up, I resented you for not having the courage to come in person. But because of that, and because I knew you were not a coward, I didn't hate you, because you must have had your reasons. I tried to look for you in vain, then I found out about my pregnancy, and my parents wanted me to throw it away. I refused to abandon the fruit of our love, so it was me who was thrown away by the ones who conceived me. I struggled to finish my university years, and it had not been easy with Jason."

She smiled in fondness:

"He was so small at the beginning. But now, he is the man of the house who is trying to be sensible to not worry his mother. He is better than you, never causing trouble, nor getting into one. But actually, I can't blame you either. You never cared about people mocking you, even when it was about your status as an orphan, or your parents that abandoned you. Only when it came to me would you leave aside your nerd persona and live up to the impression you used to give people. You really had the physique of a thug, and you used to lack expressions on your face, always taciturn and introverted."

Her smile changed to a reminiscing one.

"Actually, I never expected to see you again. At the beginning, maybe, but after having Jason, he became my sole focus. It had not been easy, but we managed to pull through. I am even sending him to a renowned school to get the best education. But now you have appeared once again in my life, and I really, really don't know if I should feel happy. I only know that the question I've always wanted to ask you is still there. Why? I want to know why you did what you did."

She had a sad smile as she glossed over many things she had been through. Silence descended inside the room, with the uncaring outside world running its uninterrupted course.

_ _ _

_ _ _

From then on, Evelyn added a new item to her schedule. Maybe she was waiting for him to wake up to get answers. Or maybe she just missed him, having failed to let the winds of time take away the ashes of their love.

No matter what, in the morning, she would take care of Jason and send him to school, before going to her work. After work, she would go get him, and leave him at home after getting him cleaned up and filling his stomach to go to her second job.

At around 10 PM, she would visit Damien and talk to him. While she wasn't sure he was hearing anything, unloading herself that way left her feeling lighter.

Most of the time, she talked about Jason, with the tidbits of his life and his cute side. He rarely angered her, though she herself had never been prone to anger. Sometimes, she talked about herself, and how life was for her as a struggling single mother.

The smiles she was showing looked more at ease, and less burdened.

A few days later, Evelyn was happy to have finished the shift for her night job sooner, so she took a cab to the hospital.

It was her first time there before 10 PM, and she noticed a higher number of people coming and going.

As she was wearing sports shoes, there was not much noise when she was walking. Arriving at Damien's room with quiet footsteps, she pushed the door open, but froze in surprise.