CHAPTER SEVEN
Violet heard faint murmuring from Dell's desk where she was updating patient files at the computer. She looked up at Sam's office. She couldn't imagine going though what Naomi and Sam had been though. Suddenly the murmuring became louder and there was the sound of something, or someone, hitting the wall.
"Oh my God," she said to herself, figuring out what was going on. Embarrassed, she left Dell's desk and walked in the opposite direction.
"Hey!" Cooper said happily as he left his office and spotted Violet in the hall. "I heard Naomi and Sam!'
"So did I," Violet said, blushing.
"I'm gonna go say hi," Cooper said.
"No!" Violet shouted, stopping him in his tracks. "You don't wanna do that."
"Why not?" Cooper asked, puzzled.
"We all deal with things in different ways," Naomi started. "And the way that they are dealing with this is not healthy in any way."
"What do you mean… oh!" Cooper said realising. He started to laugh. "Good on them. Hey, whatever gets you through. Who are we to judge?" Violet shook her head.
"Naomi was getting herself together and now she's taken about twenty five steps in the wrong direction. I'm the one who's gonna have to deal with this."
&&&
"Oh my God," Naomi said, breathlessly from where she was laying on the cough. "I needed that. Thank you."
"No, thank you," Sam said as he was getting dressed again. His mobile phone began to ring. "Okay… yes, thank you. We'll be there soon." He finished the call. "That was Doctor Hughes. They wanna talk to us." Naomi quickly dressed herself and they carefully exited Sam's office.
"Bye Violet, bye Cooper!" Naomi called out as they left.
"Bye!" Violet and Cooper waved back.
"Yep, they so did it," Cooper said when they were gone.
&&&
Naomi and Sam rushed back to Maya's room to find Maya gone and Doctor Hughes standing there alone. Naomi gasped.
"Good news," Doctor Hughes said. "Maya's scans showed that she has no residual damage from the injury or the surgery. We've moved her to the pediatrics ward where she's settling in now. "Your daughter is going to make a full recovery." Naomi and Sam breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you," Sam said, gratefully. They walked down the hall towards the elevator and saw Addison turn the corner.
"You've gotta be kidding me," Naomi said as Addison walked towards them.
"Naomi, I-" Addison started, trying to stop them.
"What part of stay the hell away don't you understand?" Naomi said with cold anger. "I said that I don't want you anywhere near me or my child and I meant it."
"Naomi!" Addison protested as Naomi tried to walk past her. She stood in her path. Naomi looked up at Addison and noticed the purple bruise from where she had hit her earlier and the tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry for everything. Please, we need to talk." Naomi looked at the floor.
"I'm going to see my daughter," she said. She stepped around Addison and walked away, Sam following her path. They got into the elevator and waited as it descended to the pediatrics ward.
"Don't you think that you should at least talk to her?" Sam asked as the elevator doors closed.
"Whose side are you on?" Naomi asked, accusingly. "Look at where our daughter is now! We never should have left her with Addison."
"You and I both know that Addison loves Maya," Sam said calmly. "And we both know that she wouldn't put Maya in harms way. I think that you should at least talk to her and see what she has to say before you throw away your friendship." Naomi didn't reply. The elevator doors opened and Sam and Naomi stepped onto the Pediatrics ward.
"Ruby?" Naomi asked as she saw a girl standing in the hall that she recognised as Maya's friend.
"Oh hi," Ruby said shyly. She had been wary of Sam and Naomi ever since her ectopic pregnancy. "I'm here to see Maya."
"I don't know if she's up for visitors yet," Naomi said protectively.
"Ruby, do you know what exactly happened? We've only spoken to doctors at this stage," Sam asked. Ruby looked away shyly. "I think that you should tell us what you know and then maybe you can see Maya." Ruby nodded, shyly. Sam gestured over to some chairs and they all sat down.
"Apparently Maya had a boyfriend?" Sam asked. Ruby nodded.
"Well she did…"
"But he died in the accident?" Naomi asked.
Ruby shook her head. "That was another guy. I was talking to some friends who were at that party. She had only just met him." Naomi and Sam looked confused.
"Maya wanted to go to this party and she knew that you would never let her go and she knew that Addison would never let her go. So she said that she was meeting some girlfriends at the cinema when they were really just going to this party. She wanted to go to see her boyfriend who went to another school."
"Went?" Sam asked. Ruby nodded.
"He broke up with her at the party. She was really upset and then this other guy started chatting her up. She got in the car with him. He told his friends that he was taking her to a motel… but they crashed on the way there."
"So she didn't know the driver of the car?" Naomi asked.
"They'd only met at the party," Ruby said.
"I didn't even know that Maya had a boyfriend," Naomi confessed. "She used to tell me everything."
"She thought that you'd say she was too young and-"
"She is too young!" Sam protested.
"That's why she didn't tell you," Ruby said. "She didn't tell Addison either because she thought she'd go straight to you after last time." Naomi and Sam sat there dumbfounded. "Can I see Maya now?" Ruby asked.
"I think that we need some time alone with our daughter," Sam said. "Maybe you should come back another day." Ruby nodded sadly and left.
"I can't believe that we never knew about any of this. I can't believe that she snuck around like that!" Naomi said to Sam.
&&&
Pete sat in his car and watched Addison walk over to it despondently.
"No luck?" he asked as she got in the passenger side.
"No," Addison replied with a sigh. "She still hates me."
"She's angry. It won't last forever," Pete said reassuringly.
"Oh I think that it will," Addison corrected him. She turned and looked at Pete. "Anyway, don't you have somewhere to be other than driving me around?"
"Nothing that can't wait," Pete said with a little smile. For a moment they looked at each other, both thinking the same thing.
"Anyway…." They said at the same time, embarrassed.
"I'll take you home," Pete said.
"And I'll… uh… go… home… alone," Addison said, blushing.
