[Intertwined Souls 05.0] No Good Deed

by Mary D. Brooks

  “Oh, dear God,” Zoe exclaimed and ran her fingers through her hair. “It’s going to stop, isn’t it? The bleeding?”

  “It can stop by itself, or if it gets serious we may need to operate.”

  Zoe felt her body go cold-she couldn’t feel her feet and her hands felt cold. She wanted to go into a corner and throw up, but she remained where she was. She wasn’t sure what to ask or how to ask it, and she didn’t want to ask the most obvious question. “The gifts, they can stop it! Aunt Tessa can stop it, can’t you?” Zoe turned to her expectantly. Zoe blinked furiously as she waited for the response she was hoping for.

  “It doesn’t work that way…”

  “You can stop things, Tessa, you can. You can stop them with your mind like you stopped me from shooting Evy in Larissa. You can move things and—”

  Tessa covered Zoe’s hand with her much larger one and looked at her. “Zoe, darling, do you not think that I wouldn’t love to do that right now if I could?”

  “You can’t? Why can’t you? What use are these gifts then?”

  “No, I can’t. I don’t know how to do that, and if I did do it, I could hurt Eva even more because I don’t know what I’m doing.”

  “But Aunty Stella knows what she’s doing and she can show you. She can teach you how to do this. You have to do this,” Zoe pleaded. “You have to help Evy.”

  “Zoe, darling, it doesn’t work that way. If I tried to do it, I may end up killing Eva.”

  Zoe took a deep breath. “But you’re not going to even try.” She said and turned her gaze to the floor. “We have to do something.” She held Theo’s hand tightly. Stella’s news reinforced the dread that had come over her since she saw Theo at the practice. She had dreaded this day would come where she would be powerless to help Eva. It sickened her. She needed to get out of this small room and in to see Eva as quickly as possible. She didn’t want to think about Eva dying; not now.

  “We are doing something, Zoe. We are taking care of her. Her brain received a shock. Eva might not remember who she is or what happened to her after she regains…”

  “She’s not awake?”

  “No, darling, not yet. She will be.”

  “Her brain got shocked? Like what they did to her in Aiden?” Zoe asked and pointed to the chalkboard. “She will be alright, won’t she?”

  “Yes. It was very similar but without the hairline fracture. I can’t guarantee you that nothing will happen; no doctor can. This is a serious head injury, but she has good medical care. Head injuries are not something we can pass off lightly. I’m not trying to scare you.”

  “Is her back all right? She fell, so remember what happened in Larissa when she fell…”

  “Her back is fine as far as I can tell. The paint bucket went for her head. It would have sailed right on over and hit the wall, but she is tall, and she got in the way,” Stella said.

  “When will she wake up?”

  “Soon,” Stella replied.

  “I want to see her, please? I need to see her.”

  “Of course.”

  CHAPTER 14

  Zoe stopped in front of the ward doors and took a deep breath. She was feeling nauseous and her knees were shaking of their own accord. She wasn’t even sure her legs would keep her up. The images in her mind were upsetting her and she expected the sight of Eva lying helpless would be her worst nightmares come true. The last time Eva was in a hospital was when she got shot by Reinhardt, her stepfather’s second in command, in Larissa in the dying days of the war. That was awful, but she was safe. Now it was different. She had no control over anything. She couldn’t shoot the person who did this to Eva. It was a stupid, unfortunate accident.

  “It won’t help Eva if she sees you upset,” Theo whispered.

  “I know,” Zoe replied as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and pushed the door to the ward.

  The ward was a lot quieter than she imagined it to be. Almost too quiet. Each room held four beds separated by a privacy screen.

  Eva was in bed twenty, which was on the other side of the room. Zoe made her way down the long room, past the nurses’ station, and stood waiting for Theo.

  A nurse was bent over the bed. Zoe couldn’t see Eva at all well, as the nurse was blocking her view. When she finally straightened, Zoe felt sick to her stomach and almost dry heaved at the sight before her.

  Eva was lying at a forty-degree angle with a white sheet and a thin blanket up to her waist. She wore a standard issue white and blue gown. A white bandage was shaped into a sling and held her left arm. Another large bandage was wrapped around her head.

  The nurse turned to find Stella, Zoe, and Theo in front of her. She pulled the privacy curtain around and left them.

  Zoe sighed as she looked at her beloved wife. She found a chair and dragged it along making a squeaking noise against the linoleum floor. She brought the chair as close as she could to Eva’s bed and sat on the edge. She took Eva’s hand, which was cold to her touch. Half of Eva’s face was covered in a huge bruise that had turned purple, and her left eye was completely swollen shut. She stroked the bruised cheek gently, and she wanted to cry but didn’t. She didn’t want Eva to see her crying.

  Zoe looked around the ward and turned to Stella. “I want her moved.”

  “As soon as they do some more tests, they will move her to a ward—”

  Zoe turned to Stella and shook her head. “No, I don’t want her in this hospital. I hate this place. They wouldn’t let Evy be with me when I had my accident. I don’t want them taking care of Evy. Not here. I don’t want her here. I want her in Pacifica Private Hospital, in a private ward away from prying eyes.”

  “Zoe…”

  “No. I want her moved to your hospital. I don’t want her here,” Zoe stated again. The last thing she wanted was to have Eva in the one place that they both hated. Eva also wouldn’t want to be in a ward with other people looking at her. “I want a private ward.”

  “As soon as they finish their tests here, we will move her to a private room. I’ll go and arrange that now.”

  “Okay.” Zoe looked up at Stella. “Thank you. And I want Henry moved too. The same ward. I don’t want him here alone.”

  “They will both have the best care.” Stella leaned down and kissed Zoe on the cheek.

  CHAPTER 15

  Henry lay back against the pillows in his hospital room oblivious to everything around him. He had tried to get some sleep, but every time he closed his eyes he saw Eva’s face. The sight of Eva on the floor bleeding made his stomach lurch. He was a soldier and was used to seeing blood, but the sight of Eva bleeding in his arms reminded him too much of Paris. He winced when he moved and his injured shoulder made itself known. He had been given painkillers but they were starting to wear off.

  Henry felt a hand rest on his shoulder and looked up to find Stella gazing at him. She sat next to him and took his hand into her own.

  “Theo took Zoe for a walk. She was going crazy waiting while we do more tests on Eva. We’re going to move her and you over to the private hospital.”

  “Can you do that?”

  “Yes, I’ve cleared it. Zoe doesn’t want Eva or you in this hospital. She’s quite adamant about it. I’m not about to argue with her.”

  “How’s Evy?”

  “They are still doing tests. She’s got a long recovery ahead of her.”

  Henry nodded.

  “Do you want to tell me what happened? The parts of the story that you left out?”

  Henry took a deep breath and exhaled. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. He didn’t want Stella to see him cry, but that’s what he felt like doing ever since he had seen Eva on the floor.

  “What parts?”

  “The parts you didn’t tell Zoe, the parts of the story you left out because you wanted to spare her,” Stella gently asked.

  “How do you know there are parts missing?”

  “I’m not gifted, but I could see you were censoring yourself. You spared
Zoe all the details.”

  Henry grunted. He reached for the cigarette packet that lay beside him and struck a match and lit one. He watched the lit cigarette for a long time. “That ladder was going to kill her; she was right in the path of it.”

  “Is that the part you left out?”

  Henry glanced at Stella for a moment and shook his head. “No.”

  “Then what is it?”

  Henry took a drag of his cigarette. “I had a younger sister. Her name was Amelia. She was this beautiful little girl with blond curly hair and the biggest blue eyes. She had epilepsy, and when I was fifteen she passed away. I knew what I was looking at when I saw Eva convulse on the floor. She was having a seizure, Stella. She was slammed into the wall by the paint bucket and there was so much paint and her blood…”

  “The ladder was also going to hit her on the head?” Stella asked.

  “Yes. That painter fell on my legs and he rolled off, but the ladder hit me across my shoulders. I was on my knees in front of Eva and I was trying to do what I did when my sister had a seizure.”

  Henry remained silent for a long moment. “After I got off her, I noticed she had stopped shaking.” His voice wavered and he cleared his throat. He didn’t look up to see Stella’s reaction; he kept his eyes on the floor.

  “She’s still alive thanks to you.”

  Henry looked up. “I don’t know how. I was trying so hard and I yelled at her not to give up and to fight. I yelled at her to remember Paris and not to make that same mistake because I wasn’t going away.”

  “Remember Paris?”

  “She didn’t tell you about Paris? The Resistance wanted to kill Muller and Rhimes, and Eva helped them by bringing the bomb into the building.”

  “That didn’t work out the way it was intended.”

  “No, that fucking bastard lived,” Henry spat out. “I hated him so much, and if I could have, I would have ended his miserable life, but Eva didn’t want me to. She said if I killed him, innocent people would die.”

  “What happened with the bomb blast?”

  “I didn’t know Eva had brought in the bomb. I knew she was working with the Resistance. We both were, but I didn’t know she had the bomb. That day, she was being so difficult—she yelled at me, pushed me away. I thought she was hurting and she just had enough. She sometimes didn’t take her pain medication and that usually made her very angry because she was hurting.”

  “So she took it out on you?”

  “Yes, that’s what I thought. I allowed her to scream at me. She ordered me to leave my post outside her room and not to be anywhere near her.”

  “Was that unusual?”

  “Yes. My room was always next to hers, but she didn’t even want me in there, so I decided to go and sleep in the barracks. That was against the orders that her father gave me, but I was angry and I left. I was in the barracks until I realized that something, other than her not taking her medication, was wrong, so I ran back to the house, and just as I was coming back to resume my post the bomb went off.”

  “Oh, dear.”

  “That thing brought half the building down. I was caught in the corridor but escaped any major injuries. I made my way into Eva’s room and it was completely destroyed. The ceiling had caved in and Eva was under the rubble.”

  “She deliberately got you out of the building.”

  “Yes. I yelled at her as I was trying to get the debris off her. She was hurt so badly. They thought she might never walk again, if she lived.”

  “You saved her life.”

  “I held her in my arms while the rest of them came flooding into the building. All they cared about was Muller and Rhimes. Those pricks were a little shaken, but not Eva. She was dying in my arms.”

  “But she didn’t die.”

  “No. I yelled at her to live and not to give up. I yelled at her for making me leave her side. I tried to resuscitate her, and I don’t know how, but she opened her eyes for a moment and then she passed out,” Henry recalled and then fell silent. “I got angry with her after the paint bucket fell.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I didn’t want to give up. I was so scared, Stella, that if I hadn’t been on my knees I would have fallen down. That’s when I saw her eyes.”

  “She opened her eyes?”

  “Yes.” Henry nodded and looked at Stella. “They were white.”

  “White? As is no color at all?”

  “White.” Henry sighed. “I had seen that before.”

  “When before?”

  Henry stayed silent for a long moment. “In Paris. I saw Eva’s eyes when she opened them after I brought her back. They were white then, and that’s why it reminded me of Paris.”

  “Oh, dear God,” Stella exclaimed softly. “Oh, that can’t be.”

  “Her eyes were white. I was so shocked. I didn’t have time to react because Mrs. Hester and her husband came running into the corridor and the paramedics arrived.”

  “You truly saved her life.”

  “Why were her eyes white? Was she dead?”

  “She was having a vision, Henry. That’s what happens to Tessa—”

  “What kind of vision…even back in Paris?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Neither do I,” Henry replied. “I need to see her, but they won’t let me.”

  “They won’t for a while. How’s your shoulder?”

  “Sore, but I don’t care.”

  “I do care, since I’m your doctor.”

  “One of the nurses told me that Eva suffered a heart attack on the way to the hospital… Is that true?”

  Stella paused for a long moment and sighed. “The nurse should not have told you that, and I’m surprised she did.”

  “It’s not her fault; I asked her. She asked me how the accident happened and I told her about it and the seizure. I didn’t tell her about Eva’s eyes,” Henry explained.

  “Yes, Eva’s heart did stop…several times on the way to the hospital…”

  “She died?”

  “Yes.”

  “Oh, dear God,” Henry exclaimed. “You didn’t tell Zoe, did you?”

  “No, I didn’t tell Zoe, and I’m not going to, and neither are you. Promise me you won’t say anything?”

  “I won’t. Can Tessa do her vision thing and see what happens?”

  Stella shook her head. “No, it doesn’t work that way.”

  “Would Tessa have done something to prevent this from happening if she had known?”

  Stella sat back down in her seat. “No. Tessa has no more control over her future than you do. She can see what will happen but our future is not set in stone.”

  “But she can see it, so it must be true if it happens.”

  “What if she had stopped Eva from going to work, what do you think would have happened?”

  Henry watched the nurse walk past and turned his attention to Stella. “She would not be lying in a hospital bed with life threatening injuries. She would be home with Zoe.”

  “You don’t know that. None of us do and not even the gifted ones know.”

  “What use is the gifts then?”

  “That question has been asked by each generation of gifted since Pentecost. I don’t know.”

  Henry took a drag of his cigarette and shook his head. “It’s a curse.”

  “Or it could be a blessing, but we don’t know. Why don’t you rest? As soon as Eva is stabilized we will move you both,” Stella said and pulled Henry into her embrace. He closed his eyes and took a shuddering breath. “You saved her life today and that’s what’s important.”

  CHAPTER 16

  Zoe sat on the hard-wooden chair and held Eva’s hand, gently squeezing it and hoping Eva would wake, but she didn’t stir at all. The hospital had transferred Eva and Henry to Pacifica Private Hospital several hours ago, and on being transferred, Zoe thought Eva would wake and her recovery would begin. It didn’t quite happen that way. Eva needed surgery after all because her brain had not st
opped bleeding.

  In Zoe’s other hand she held Eva’s gold crucifix. The gold chain was wrapped around her hand and the crucifix lay in her palm. A useless icon as far as Zoe was concerned but her Evy believed. Eva had a faith in God that was strong and although Zoe hated God, she knew Eva was alive because Eva never lost faith in Him. It helped sustain her through the horrors of Aiden. Zoe glanced at the crucifix and blinked. Despite her better judgement, Zoe lowered her head and, with a heavy sigh, she was going to have a one sided conversation with the almighty being once again. She began to entreat the God she thought she would never speak to again.

  “Save her because you owe me,” Zoe whispered to the cross in her hand. “You owe me for all the times you didn’t answer my prayers and for letting mama died. You owe me for taking Stavros away from me and you owe me for my papa and my brothers. I believed in you, trusted you and your saints but you were never there. If you exist, prove it,” Zoe’s voice faltered as she tried to stop the overwhelming fear from gripping her heart. She felt her throat constrict and she tried to swallow the bitterness she felt. “Prove it to me and save Evy. I don’t trust you but you owe me. You owe me this. Don’t take her, she’s not ready yet. She’s not. I want to spend the rest of my life with her, to grow old with her, to see her smile, hear her laugh again.” Zoe said through her tears. “You owe me this. Now deliver it.” Zoe swallowed audibly as tears tracked down her face. She sniffed back her tears and leaned in close to Eva’s still body. Forgetting about God, she turned her attention to Eva. “You promised me you would always fight, you did,” Zoe whispered, her voice breaking as she tried to get the words out. “You promised me. We never give up, Evy, you know that. We never give up, and after what those demon spawn did to you and what we went through together, you promised you weren’t going to die first. Don’t give up...I even prayed to God, that’s how scared I am.”