Chapter 8
Although the other members of the group had to wait to see Scott until the Professor deemed it Scott ready to see them, Eve knew that the first two visitors would have caused the main excitement for Scott. And especially the first.
Finally, none too soon for Eve, the hospital's visiting hours ended. Ushering the group out, she assured them Scott would be fine without them. As the last member of the group passed through the doors, Eve sighed in relief. Selfishly, she didn't want to deal with their presence any longer that day. Heading back to Scott's room, she stood outside the door for almost ten minutes. Fear gripped her heart and muscles. She didn't think she could have moved if she had needed to do so.
She desperately wanted to see Scott - now that she knew he was awake and could talk to her. But she was so afraid of what he would say. She didn't want to walk into that room only to hear about the joy he felt at remembering - and at being able to be with his fiancée again. Eve would step aside because, as clichéd as it sounded, his happiness was the most important to her. But that didn't mean that it wouldn't hurt. In fact, deep down she knew that if he told her that he would be going back to his old life, and then her heart would break irreparably. She would never love again.
* * *
The X-Men were slowly walking back to where they had left the plane. It had been an exhausting day for all of them, and the distance seemed to be immeasurably long. The exhaustion also made them quiet and, surprisingly, no one talked about the events of the day.
Out loud, that is.
Jean had waited as long as she could, but the curiosity finally won out. She hadn't had the chance to be alone with Scott again before the visiting hours ended, and she needed to know what the Professor knew. She especially needed to know if what the doctor meant to Scott. For not the first time, she cursed the ethics that had prohibited her from reading the woman's - or Scott's - mind.
Professor? The older man gave no outward sign that he heard her.
Yes, my dear.
Did Scott tell you what happened to him five months ago?
Yes. He was in a car accident and had amnesia. The injury and complications following it suppressed his mutation until he saw you on the news. Seeing you alive jarred his system back to normal.
Oh. Uh...what kind of life did he live?
Well, he went by the name Logan. Jean had to suppress the laughter threatening to burst out of her. The Professor's own amusement tinged his thoughts, which did not help matters any.
He worked for the hospital.
Anything else? Anything to do with...Eve?
The Professor could not hide a physical reaction this time. His head snapped up and away from Jean. He stared resolutely ahead. Perhaps this is something you should discuss with Scott. The Professor didn't even need to raise his shields against Jean - as if Jean could have spoken with him when he did not want her to - for her to realize the conversation was over. However, the Professor's reticence made her even more curious about the woman. Deep down, she knew what Eve had been to Scott. And she could not blame him. Even if he hadn't lost his memory, he would have still thought her dead. But that didn't mean that it didn't hurt just a little. And she conveniently told herself that her...indiscretion with Logan wasn't the same thing.
She knew the hurt at Scott's having a girlfriend was childish. But focusing on that allowed her to ignore the real thing that was bothering her. She didn't want to think about what Scott would do, now that he had a choice. Or, more importantly, who he would choose.
* * *
Taking a deep breath, Eve knocked once on the door and entered the room. Time to get this over with... Even with the bandages around his head, Eve could tell that Scott was still awake. She briefly wondered if he could tell it was her. He finally turned his head toward the door, acknowledging that he knew someone was in the room.
"Who is it now?" Eve almost cried at how tired and pained his voice sounded. She knew the visits, the cafeteria incident and the return of his memories were hard for him, but she hadn't noticed how hard until just now.
"Uh. It's me, Log - I mean Scott." She mentally kicked herself for the slip-up, even though it had been less than 24 hours ago that he was Logan.
"Eve?" His voice, although still tired, sounded much softer now. And, Eve thought, much happier, but she tried to convince herself that it was her imagination. She didn't want to get her hopes up, after all.
"Yeah. It's me."
"How are you doing?"
"How am I doing? I'm not the one in a hospital bed, buster!" He smiled. She sat down in the chair next to him. She longed to reach out for his hand again, but she didn't want to put undue pressure on him. Both were quiet for a few minutes as they searched for easier topics of conversation than the one Eve really wanted to address. Unfortunately, no easy topics were available to them, and Scott chose one that wasn't really what Eve wanted to talk about, but it intrigued her almost as much.
"So, Eve Crawford. My name is Scott Summers. Would you like to hear the story of my life? You've waited for it long enough."
"Shoot."
* * *
The X-Men were just finishing their breakfasts when the Professor dropped his bombshell.
"After our visit with Scott today, we'll leave for home." Everyone looked shocked, but Ororo was the first to say anything.
"Aren't we going to wait until we can bring Scott with us?"
"No. It's true that Scott will be able to leave the hospital within a day or two, and I'm sure Kurt can handle things until we return. But he shouldn't have to."
"Will you be able to make do without me, Professor?" Jean asked softly, avoiding looking at Logan to see how he reacted to her question. She was surprised to see that the Professor was avoiding her eyes in return.
"I'm sorry, Jean. I won't allow you to stay with Scott."
"Wh-what? But he needs someone to help him."
"And he does. He has friends here. He's had five months here to make them."
"But they were friends he made as some guy named Logan. He needs me here."
The Professor sighed and finally met her eyes. The pain she saw in them scared her. Why on earth was he upset now that they knew Scott was going to be okay?
"Jean...all of you, actually need to know. Scott and I had a very important conversation today. As of right now, I don't know if he'll be returning to Westchester with us." He faltered at the expressions that met that statement. "I may have been wrong the other day. Scott Summers, may in fact, be dead - for all intents and purposes."