Chapter Nine
Liam was already in theatre by the time Eddi had got up to AAU. It was going to be a lengthy operation; he had been badly wounded, and although her colleagues were hesitant to say it, Eddi knew that there was a strong possibility that he might not make it. She sat waiting in the relatives room, a strange feeling for a nurse who was so used to passing that room every day. It gave her a fresh appreciation of what it must be like to know that your loved one's life is hanging in the balance, while you can do nothing but put your trust into the skilled hands of the surgeons. Chantelle had stayed with Eddi for a while, but her presence soon proved to be more of a hindrance than a help; despite her good intentions and endless supply of tea and biscuits. Sitting alone in what suddenly appeared to be a very large empty room, guilt forced her to repeatedly look at her phone. Why had Liam called her so many times? Could she have helped him? Maybe she would have been able to prevent all this, if only she had swallowed her pride and stopped to listen.
But she was Eddi, that was never going to happen. She would continue to screw it all up and do everything wrong; it was an inevitability.
She had been waiting for about an hour when she heard footsteps outside the door. Oh God, she thought, this was it; they were coming to give her the bad news. She wondered who had been sent to do it; it was a job that all doctors and nurses absolutely dreaded, no matter how much of a brave face they put on. Steeling herself, she brushed her hair out of her face and sat up straight. Yet nothing could have prepared her for the figure she saw standing in the doorway when she looked up.
"Hello, Eddi'." He said, in the calm and ever professional tone that defined Luc Hemmingway.
'Jesus!' Eddi exclaimed, nearly jumping out of her skin as if she had seen a ghost.
'No, not quite." He suppressed a vaguely smug smile, knowing that it was neither the time nor the place. Daring to take advantage of her silence, he sat down next to Eddi.
'What are you….what are you doing here?' She stammered. She had expected to be furious if she ever saw him again; she had vowed that she was going to kill him on several occasions, but here she was, speechless. Luc looked to the floor, taking a deep breath.
'Sacha called me. Well, he left me a message.'
'I've left you messages.' Eddi said, barely audible, hurt by the thought that he was willing to listen to Sacha, but not her.
'He told me about Liam.' Luc continued. 'Is he okay? He immediately regretted asking such a stupid question.
'Oh yeah, he's absolutely fine.' Eddi suddenly stood up, exploding into a fit of rage. 'He's been stabbed and he's suffered severe blood loss, and he's currently lying upstairs being cut open by your pal Sacha, but apart from all that, everything is fine and dandy!' Her words were soaked in satirical venom, and Luc was quite taken aback. He had almost forgotten how fiery she was.
Walking over to the window so she wouldn't have to look at him, Eddi decided to address the elephant in the room.
'Where did you go, Luc? What happened to you?'
'I went…away.'
'Yeah, I did notice.' She replied, with more than a subtle hint of bitterness.
'I had no choice, Eddi, I-' He began to speak, but was cut off.
'You had no choice?' She folded her arms defensively and turned to face him. 'There is no such thing as not having a choice. Maybe you did have to go away, and you didn't have to tell me why if you didn't want to, but to just up sticks like that all of a sudden? Did I not deserve at least a text or a call to say you were alive?' The words had a new poignancy for Eddi now.
There was an icy silence for a few moments, which seemed to last centuries.
'I'm sorry.' Luc finally managed to say.
'Is that all? I don't get any kind of explanation?'
'I can't tell you, Eddi. Not now anyway.'
'Why, what's the big secret? Is there another woman? So what, I don't care anymore.'
'No, it's not like that.'
'No?' Eddi stared into his eyes, searching for clues.
'Eddi, I came back because I heard what had happened to Liam and I wanted to…to be there for you.' Luc tried to change the subject.
'You wanted to be there for me?' Eddi laughed sarcastically. 'Well it's a bit late for that!'
'Eddi, please, you should be thinking of Liam, not me.'
'That's what I was doing, until you showed up. You can't just arrive back all of a sudden and expect everything to be normal again.'
For the first time in his life, Luc really didn't know what to do for the best. She was right, of course, she did deserve an explanation, and maybe it was wrong of him to just turn up like this when she was already facing a crisis. She didn't need Luc to add to her worries. He was facing a real dilemma; should he try and pacify her at least until the operation was over, or should he just tell her the truth? Looking into her deep brown eyes, he suddenly came to a decision.
'Eddi, I'm dying.'
