They sat in the waiting room a while before another doctor approached them.
"Family of Eva…" he scanned the chart.
"Hi," Max said, standing.
"Family?"
"We're sisters." The doctor eyed her, clearly comparing her to his memory of Eva. "Different moms," she explained. He nodded.
"She came through just fine. She's a little dehydrated, and with a wound that old, we're going to keep her here a while." Max nodded. "She'll be waking up pretty soon, if you want to come say hi."
+++
"Ev?"
"Max…"
"We made it, baby. You're on the home stretch."
Eva smiled and closed her eyes.
"How you feelin?"
"Considering, pretty good," Eva said. "We really made it."
"Not all the way."
"Max, I'm so sorry…"
"Sweetie, forget about it. You didn't know."
"Is Chris here?"
Max nodded and motioned to Chris, who was standing in the doorway.
"Hey stud."
Chris smiled.
"Feeling better, Eva?"
"Yeah. Tired."
Max leaned in to Eva again. "Ev, the doctors said you're dehydrated and you run a high risk of an infection because the hole was open for so long. You've got to stay here a while."
"Okay."
"Do you want to sleep now?" Eva's eyes were drooping. She smiled.
"I think so."
"Okay, babe. I'm gonna go home and take a shower. I feel dis-gusting. And then we'll start working on what to do next. Okay?"
"Okay. Is Logan here too?"
"He went home."
"Tell him… tell him 'hi'. Tell him I'm sorry I'm so much trouble."
"He's used to trouble, but I'll tell him."
She smiled again, eyes closed.
"Take care of that boy. Both of these boys."
"I think I can handle that. I'll see you in a bit."
"G'bye."
"Bye."
