*Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Passions, NBC, or JER. I don't own these characters so don't sue me!
CHAPTER 27
Hospital
Sam got as close to Ivy as he could without getting on the bed. "Ivy, I'm here."
"Oh God, Sam, it was terrible." Ivy changed her line of conversation quickly and her eyes shot open. "Where are Ethan and Theresa? They were just here. And my girls. Where are they," Ivy was beginning to get panicky.
Sam hadn't let go of her hand yet. He gave it a squeeze, "Calm down. He and Theresa just went down to the cafeteria. With the exception of this morning, Ethan has been by your side for the past three days."
"I've been asleep for three days?"
"Yes. No one has contacted your girls yet. We found no reason to worry them when there was nothing we could tell them. We've all been so worried about you." Ivy looked Sam in the eye for the first time. "Um, I should get Eve to check on you and let Ethan and Theresa know you're awake. I'll be back in two minutes." Ivy just nodded her head.
Sitting in her bed, Ivy looked out of the open door and down the corridor. The elevator doors opened and she recognized Ethan and Theresa stepping off of the elevator, carrying some bags from the cafeteria. They began coming down the corridor towards her room. Ivy decided to surprise them, so she tried to pull herself up a bit and then smiled and waved with the arm that wasn't sore.
Ethan stopped short and dropped the bag he was carrying. "Theresa, did you see that?"
"Your mother's awake!" They began running down the corridor only to be intercepted by Sam.
That's all Ivy saw because at that moment Eve walked into her room and shut the door. Eve breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Ivy really was awake. "Oh thank God. You really are awake."
Ivy was confused. "Don't get me wrong, Eve, I appreciate all the care you've given me in this…situation," Ivy said, her voice still hoarse, "but I would expect you to be one of the last people to care if I woke up or not."
"Well, the past is the past. A lot of people I care about have been really worried about you. I'm a doctor, and I don't like to see any of my patients die." Eve had already checked Ivy's heartbeat and fractured arm.
"Well, thank you for your concern, Eve. I just hope you'll believe me when I say again, no more blackmail. I'm done with that. Right now I'm just going to concentrate on Ethan's happiness. I don't expect us to be friends now, or for you to even forgive me for what I did, but I hope we can be civil with each other."
"I think I could arrange that," Eve smiled down at Ivy. She suddenly felt her heart go out to the obviously pain stricken woman. Eve had her husband and children to go home to. She had a loving environment. All Ivy had was Ethan, and he would be gone soon. Julian was no comfort, Eve knew that all too well, and she was almost positive he was the reason Ivy was in the hospital. "I think now that you're awake, you can go home first thing in the morning. Is there anything you need right now?"
"No, but please tell Ethan to come in on your way out."
"Sure," Eve began to open the door.
"Eve, thank you." Eve just smiled again and went out into the corridor.
Not five seconds later Ethan came running into the room with Theresa in tow. Sam slowly came in after them and stood in a corner. "Mother, I'm so glad you're awake," Ethan gently tried to embrace his mother without hurting her sore body. Then he kissed her on the forehead, "I was worried sick about you. Worried that you'd never wake up." Ethan had tears in his eyes.
Theresa joined in, "The doctor said that you'd only wake up if you wanted to. If you felt there was a reason for you to come back to us."
Ivy smiled slightly, "I guess I found my reason for waking up."
"And we have Chief Bennet to thank for that," Ethan got up and shook Sam's hand. "You were the last one to talk to my mother before she woke up, so you must have convinced her to come back to us."
Sam was humble, "I was just trying to help."
Ivy knew it was time. "Well, Eve said I can check out tomorrow, but there's something I need to tell you right now, Ethan." She looked at Sam who nodded and came to stand by her side.
Ethan was looking confused. "Okay, what do you have to tell me?"
Ivy took a deep breath and with her hoarse voice answered, "It's about you father."
"What does Father have to do with this? Unless," Ivy saw the anger build in Ethan's eyes. "Mother did he do this to you?"
Ivy was shocked. This wasn't what she had been planning on telling Ethan. Certainly not in this way. "Well…yes, but –"
"How could he," Ethan roared as he got up from the chair he had been sitting in.
"Please, Ethan," Ivy pleaded.
Theresa placed a hand on Ethan's arm, "Ethan, let's just sit down and listen to your mother's story. That's what she needs right now." Ethan nodded and sat down with a storm still in his eyes.
Ivy smiled at the calming effect Theresa had on her son. He really did love her.
Ethan spoke again, "Why, Mother? Why did he do it?" Then he rephrased his question. "Was it because of Theresa and me?"
Ivy had to tell him the truth. Lying hadn't proved good in the past. She hesitantly replied, "Well, partially Darling."
Ethan's anger began to boil again. "I can't believe I let this happen to you because of me. I should have known he would find out."
"Ethan, stop," Ivy said loudly. They were all surprised by her outburst. Her hoarse voice had been barely above a whisper throughout their whole conversation. "Please, just listen to me. It was about you, but it wasn't your fault, it was mine."
Now Sam jumped in, "Ivy, it wasn't your fault either. You had no choice."
"Not to be rude," Ethan interjected, "but why is it Chief Bennet already knows about what's going on and I don't."
"Because I told him the other day. It involves him, too."
Something clicked in Theresa's mind. Earlier in the week, the night she and Ethan had been talking in the garden, Pilar had come home quite late and very agitated, almost as if she was worrying about something. The next day, Mrs. Crane had disappeared. She had gone out of town the night before, according to Mama. When Mrs. Crane had come home, her eye was purple and her cheek swollen, but she had said it was from running into a wall in the dark. But Theresa had noticed a bruise on her neck and an uncovered one on her arm as well. Theresa acted on her suspicions, "Mrs. Crane, has this happened before?"
Ivy looked flustered, "What do you mean dear?"
"Well, several days ago, when you went out of town without telling anyone, what was the real reason? Please, don't cover up for Mr. Crane. I saw the bruises on your neck and arm the day you came back. We just want to help you."
Ivy stiffened. "Alright, I'll tell you about it, but first I have to start at the beginning." She looked at Sam. "It all started over twenty years ago…."
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