It was a quiet day on the ward, in the past week quite a few of the beds had come free. The patients had either moved on or sadly, passed away. He sat at the nurses station in the middle of the ward as he rested his chin on his hand, reading through each of the patients notes. He remembered how at first when he had became a medical student, he felt like he was invading on something private when he first looked through his patients notes but now he did it freely, learning small details about each of the patients he had come in to contact with.
He picked up the next folder, pausing as he read Eponines name along the top. He looked up, from where he was sat he could see her bed and she fast asleep despite it being midday. He hesitated before opening the file, deciding to do some research on her health. It'd help with his treatment of her anyway.
She had Medulloblastoma, the first tumour had been found in her brain. They had operated on that one and removed it but the operation had affected her eyesight. They had provided her with glasses but she had refused to wear them. That was a year ago. She was readmitted after her symptoms returned, an MRI scan revealed another tumour on her brain and a smaller one on her spine. It seemed the most logical solution was to operate and remove the tumours. The one on her spine was affecting her balance, meaning for now she was restricted to a wheelchair. It wasn't terminal and her chances at recovery seemed quite high.
He smiled slightly to himself as he sat back in his seat, tapping the pen against the desk as he watched her from where he was. Admittedly, he was glad it wasn't terminal. He'd hate to see such a spirited girl lose her life to something like cancer. The world needed more Eponines in it.
It was a few days after her sixteenth birthday when she started to get the headaches. She decided it was nothing, maybe she was getting hayfever despite it being late October. By mid-November she was getting worse and her sister had started to notice.
Azelma sighed as she flopped down on the edge of her sisters bed in their shared room, watching her as she rested her head against the desk in the centre of the room, pushed up against the wall. "You should go to the Doctors."
"You know how Dad feels about Doctors," she sighed as she tried to keep her face buried in her arms, blocking out as much light as she could. It was just a migraine, she had started telling herself, but it just wouldn't go away.
"He thinks they're interfering rich men," Azelma recited their fathers words as she sat there, chewing her lip. "But I really think you should…"
"He'd kill me if he knew," Eponine argued, finally having enough of the conversation. She stood up, pushing herself away from the desk and taking a step back. She swayed unsteadily on her feet as she tried to find her balance before taking a few cautious steps over to her bed. Azelma shifted along to give her room to flop down beside her, staring up at the ceiling with her feet dangling over the side. She was small for her age, smaller than most girls whilst Azelma had managed to grow to a normal height. Everyone always seemed so surprised to find out that the redhead and brown haired girl were sisters and not friends, and even more surprised to find that Eponine was the eldest of the two.
"Maybe you just need glasses," Azelma told her hopefully. "That euro shop sells glasses, we can get some of them!"
Eponine smiled faintly and nodded her head. "Sure, we'll try that. Now get off, I'm tired."
"It's only midday," Azelma frowned as she complied, covering the distance between their beds in a few steps and sitting on her own.
"I was up all night," she shrugged. "Doing some job for Dad."
It was Christmas day and like every other Christmas, she was out on the streets. They didn't celebrate like most families did. They didn't have a meal together or put a tree up, there wasn't any decorations of presents. Christmas day just involved one tradition for them, getting up as soon as it got light and hunting the streets to find a house that had something worth taking. Sometimes Eponine would be sent with her sister to knock on the door and sing the first carol that came into their now she was stood watch.
They'd found a house that was empty on the edge of the city. Her father and his gang were inside, taking anything that was worth a bit of money. She closed her eyes as she leaned her head back against the wall. She was coming down with some kind of bug.
After a few minutes she heard the window shut and the men appear back around the corner and quickly took the items that were thrust into her arms by her Father. She sighed as she glanced around before following them down an alley, heading back home to check out what they'd stolen.
They were almost home when the snow globe slipped from her hand and fell to the floor, the glass cracking as it hit the floor and the liquid slowly oozing out. Her father turned, narrowing his eyes at her. "Useless brat, d'you know how much that's worth?"
"Not a lot now," the youngest of the men smirked, winking at Eponine.
She swallowed hard as she took a step back, tripping over a bin and dropping the rest of the items that she carried in the process. She flinched as her Father stepped forward, grabbing her roughly by her hair. "You'll pay for that," he threatened. He raised his hand, slapping her across the face as she cried out. "Useless brat!"
"Lay off her," one of the men smirked as he watched. "It is Christmas you know."
Thenardier turned to the man, his eyes still narrowed as he let go of her, leaving her to fall back against the ground. "Don't tell me what to do."
"Lets just go," the younger man groaned, grabbing Eponine roughly by the arm and yanking her to her feet. She quickly grabbed the items that she had dropped, keeping her eyes cast down on the floor as she followed them home.
The men spent most of the night getting drunk. Azelma was locked away in their bedroom and their Mum was no where to be seen. Eponine sighed as she was sent to fetch another beer, she should have been used to this by now. She grabbed it from the fridge and set it on the side, gripping the bottle opener tightly as she tried to open it but her hands were shaky, she couldn't get it right. She gritted her teeth in frustration as she tried again until she felt a hand close over hers.
She jumped, bumping back into the body that slid an arm around her waist to keep her still. "Let me," he breathed against his ear as he opened the bottle for her.
She smiled as she turned around in his arms, looking up at him. "You should be with them, Parnasse," she told him as she placed a kiss on his lips.
He laughed as he rolled his eyes. "They wont even notice I'm gone," he told her as he ran his fingers through her hair. He took her by her hips and pulled her up onto the counter, standing between her legs as he kissed her again. "Merry christmas."
She snorted as she shoved his chest lightly. "Since when did you become all soppy? Been watching too many Christmas films?"
"I'm trying to be nice," he told her, grabbing her wrists before she could try and push him again.
She smiled as she leaned down, resting her forehead against his. "Maybe next Christmas we'll have our own place."
"Of course," he told her. "We'll be out of this place by then. Just me and you, Ponine."
"And Azelma, she can come too, right?"
"Anything you want," he told her. "I'll do whatever it takes to make you happy."
They stayed in the same position for a few minutes, just the two of them. One day they'd have a better life, just the two of them. She flinched at the pain that radiated through her forehead, her face scrunching up. Parnasse frowned as he looked up at her. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she told him as she forced a smile, rubbing at her forehead. "I'm fine, really."
"Azelma said you've been feeling ill," he told her, raising his eyebrow.
"I'm fine," she insisted, shaking her head. She flinched as the pain radiated through her forehead and around the side of her head again.
"For Gods sake, Ponine. You look awful," he told her bluntly as he took a step back.
"I'm fine!" She insisted as she slid off of the counter and grasped the side of it as she stood up. "I'm perfectly fine!"
"Just go and see the bloody doctor," he snapped, crossing his arms against his chest. "They'll either tell you that you're fine or you're dying! Just do it!"
"And I already told you, I'm fine! I don't need a Doctor to tell me that!" She told him stubbornly.
"And what if you're not?" He demanded. "What if you're not fine? What if you are sick?"
"Then they'll just throw some pills at me and tell me to get out," she replied.
He gritted his teeth as he stared at her, his hands balling into fists at his sides. "Can't you just do what you're told for once?"
"I don't want to go to the Doctors!"
"Azelmas worried about you!" He told her. "She came and found me. Me. She told me what's been going on! Look at yourself!"
She looked down quietly. "I'm fine…."
"No you're not," he snapped again. "You're going tomorrow."
"Parnasse-"
"No, I don't want to hear it!" He told her.
"I can't."
"Yes, you can! It's easy! Just go there and tell them your name, sit down and wait until they call you!"
She scuffed her foot against the floor as she frowned. "Fine..."
Combeferre quickly dropped the file back on the desk as he noticed Eponine stiring in her bed. Her recovery had been rocky at first but for the past few weeks she had been doing well. The surgery had been a success and once her body had found it's strength and she had gotten over the initial fever that she had gained after the surgery, she had bounced back, even if she was still tired.
He picked up another file, occasionally glancing up at her as she slowly began to wake. The third time he glanced up over the file, his eyes locked on her sleepy ones that gazed in his direction. Giving her a small smile, he slowly lowered the file and placed it down before standing and heading towards her.
"How are you feeling?" He asked her as he picked up her chart and glanced over it. It wasn't that he didn't know the chart off by heart by this point, but there was something about her eyes when she was still half asleep that was alluring. She was a patient. She was his patient. When she didn't reply, he glanced up at her, smiling faintly as he realised her eyes had closed again and her breathing had softened. He would just have to wait until later to tell her the good news.
