CHAPTER 21
Claire slowly walked into the hospital room where Mira laid with monitors, IV catheters and oxygen hooked up to her. Her skin was pale and looked thin, like it was almost transparent. Her eye had deep blue circles under them. So this is what death looks like, Claire thought to herself.
She sat down on the chair next to the hospital bed. Noah slowly made his way into the room after her. He stood with some distance between him and the bed, not sure if he should approach her.
"Angela, I'm glad you could come," Dr. Collins said as he walked into the room.
"Thank you for calling, Marty. Dr. Collins, this is Noah and Claire Bennet," she introduced them.
"Friends of Mira's?" he asked.
"Almost like family," Claire spoke up. Dr. Collins smiled at Claire, and looked at Noah, who was lost in his own thoughts again.
"So how's the baby?" Angela asked him.
"It's hard to say right now. He was just under 1 pound when we delivered him. He's still alive, which is a miracle in and of itself," he answered honestly. "We have him in an incubator right now, fighting to survive."
"So it's a boy?" Claire asked. He nodded.
"Do any of you know if she had a name in mind?"
"As a matter of fact, I do," Angela said as she turned to leave the room. "Do you think we could see him?"
"I'm afraid I can't let you in the nursery. At this point, he's highly prone to infection. We can't have any contaminants enter the room. However, you can probably see him from the nursery window," he offered. Angela nodded.
"Could you show me where that is?" she asked. He nodded and she followed him out of the room.
Claire stood up as soon as the doctor left and began to roll up her sleeve. She started digging through the cabinets under the sink.
"What are you looking for?" Noah asked her.
"An IV line. Or syringe, or something…" she said as she opened and closed the doors.
"You're going to do it right now?" Noah seemed surprised.
"Well did you want me to wait until she's dead?" she asked. He shrugged.
"Either way she'll be healed, and I don't want the doctor to come back while you're doing it."
"I'll make it quick," she said as she grabbed a syringe from the cabinet. "Here, can you hit a vein?" she asked.
"We can't do this yet."
"Why not?"
"Because…how are we going to explain that her gunshot wound and C-section scar just miraculously healed on their own?" She didn't think about that part.
"Fine. I'm going to see if I can catch up with Angela and Dr. Collins," she said as she left the room. He nodded and slowly sat down in the chair. He rolled closer to the bed and held Mira's hand.
"I'm sorry, I never meant for any of this to happen," he said. "I never wanted to see you get hurt. I thought if I had Sylar killed, that you'd be happier in the long run. I underestimated you," he said, with a tear in his eye. "I never wanted any of this to happen," he confided in the sleeping woman.
"So this is your fault," he heard a man say from the doorway. Noah whipped around. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me," Nathan said as he entered the room. "I know you would never intentionally hurt her," he tried to make him feel better.
"Nathan, I'm surprised you came," Noah answered.
"Yeah, well, mom told me what happened. Heidi and the boys are freaked out. They wanted me to make sure she's okay. So is she?" he asked. It was obvious he really didn't care one way or other.
"She will be. Doctors don't think so, but we know better." Nathan smiled a little.
"Well, I'm sure the boys will be happy to hear that."
"Did you hear about the baby?"
"I passed my mother in the hallway. They said his name was Noah," he said. Bennet looked up in shock. "I didn't even know she was pregnant."
"Why would she do that?"
"I guess she admired you," he stated with a shrug. Noah was wracked with guilt, and couldn't even look him in the eye. "Well, I'm going to go. I've got a meeting, and I need to let Heidi know how she's doing. Take care, Noah," he said as he left the room.
"You too, Nathan." He looked back at Mira with guilt in his eyes. This whole thing was his fault.
*
Dr. Collins returned with Angela and Claire. Claire smiled at her father as she entered the room.
"Dad, did you want to meet baby Noah?" she asked, with emphasis on his name. He smiled.
"Of course," he said as he stood up. He followed her to the nursery. Angela stood over Mira's body, staring at her pale face.
"I'm sorry, I failed you," she said aloud. "I promised your mother a long time ago, I would make sure you were taken care of. And now, here you are, sitting in a hospital bed, dying. If you make it through this…" she trailed off. There was no point in making promises to someone who couldn't even hear them. She took Mira's cold hand and held it. "You're going to be okay," she said as she folded her arm back down. She sat down in the chair, and stared off into space.
A nurse walked into the room. Angela watched as she checked Mira's vitals and replaced her almost empty IV bag with a new one. She smiled a sympathetic smile and said hello to Angela before leaving the room. Angela closed her eyes, slowly drifting to sleep.
*
Angela awoke with a gasp.
"Are you okay?" Noah asked her. She nodded.
"What time is it?" she asked. He looked at his watch and he saw that it said 5:33. "I need to go…" she warned him.
"What's going on? What happened in your dream?" She ignored him and started for the door. "Claire…" Noah motioned to his daughter.
"I'll be there in a minute," she said. He followed Angela out of the room. Claire stood over Mira. She pulled the syringe she had earlier out of her pocket and thrust it into her arm. She pulled a few CCs of blood and removed the needle from under her skin.
"I know, it may be a little weird, explaining what happened to the surgical staff…but I'm doing what I came here to do," she said as she thrust the needle into the IV port. The clear IV line turned red with blood. She was slowly absorbing it. Satisfied, she left, hoping to catch up with her father and grandmother.
*