... Hi ... Could you tell I'm a terrible updater? Sorry!
This is it friends, the final chapter of Can I Lay Back Into The Dark. I'm just putting the finishing touches on the epilogue and I'll have it to you soon. I wanted to say thank you to everyone who took the time to read this, whether you enjoyed it or not, it was so gratifying for me to get over my fear and put something into the world, you all made a very directionless person a more motivated and focused one and I can never thank you enough.
THIS IS NOT THE END
I have mentioned a few times I have a sequel to this in the pipeline but I have something very special planned in the meantime. I'm excited to share it with you very soon. for now please enjoy this chapter, it's very special to me because it's a circle around to what was the most important theme for me; friendship.
Open up your insides show us
Your inner most lecherous
I'll rip it out carefully
I promise you won't feel a thing
Need a little time - Courtney Barnett
Steve thought it ironic that after all was said and done, they were all sitting in the waiting room of the hospital again. Sure, this time there were a few new faces and Eleven, but it was a sick case of déjà vu. Nancy sat beside him, her eyes closed and her messy hair resting on his shoulder, every few seconds he heard the slightest snore escape her open mouth and he couldn't help but be a little amused. Dustin sat on his other side, face pointed toward the fluorescent lights above, mouth wide open, in desperate search of a fly. The rest of the kids were all squeezed beside him, they had all given up the fight for consciousness not to long ago. He understood Will had already woken up and the doctors had decided to keep him for observation, His Mom and brother were with him now, but he wasn't allowed any other visitors just yet. Will was suffering from dehydration and heat-stroke, a prognosis which confounded the doctors. Steve didn't know how the Chief and Ms Byers had justified that in late Fall but somehow, they were walking away without too many questions.
Thinking of Hopper, Steve's eyes cut toward the window that peaked into the main corridor. He stood with Allison's mother, her small frame in loose mismatched clothes, obviously the first thing she saw in her rush underneath a giant twill coat. Her sandy hair, identical to Daniel's had been thrown into a ponytail to keep it out of her way. She had stormed into the hospital, not fifteen minutes after Steve had carried her daughter in, her jaw tight and tears filling her eyes. Steve couldn't help the stupid feelings of jealousy that coursed through his veins at the worried look in Allison's Mother's eyes. He couldn't help but wonder if his parents would even care, hell they weren't even in Hawkins right now, if something happened to him tonight would they even be reachable? As he had gotten his face patched up earlier the nurse had asked who they could contact, he quickly told them Hopper was fine. Getting his ass beat last year wasn't enough to make his parents care then, he doubted it was any different now. Besides, he was eighteen now, no one was responsible for him anymore.
Hopper had told Mrs Daniels that Allison had been at the lab visiting her father when an explosion rocketed through the chemistry labs, she had been in her Father's office and had sustained 'minor' injuries. It wouldn't take long for the whole weekend to be buried, another tragedy they were unable to talk about without fear of death.
Steve watched Hopper nod at Mrs Daniels before stepping back toward the room an exhausted look on his grizzled face. Shifting Nancy to rest against Dustin gently, Steve rose to meet the Chief, hoping for any news on his friend. "Hey, is Mrs Daniels okay?" Steve asked quietly, aware of the sleeping figures surrounding him.
"No, Allison hasn't woken up yet and she can't get in contact with her Husband." Hopper sighed, running a hand over his face. Steve cursed, pushing his hair from his face in frustration,
"Did she say what the doctors said about Allison?"
"Uh, two broken ribs, her ankle was dislocated they had to set it and she'll be in a cast for a few weeks, the doctor is still trying to understand how she was walking on it. The cut on her head needed eight stitches but somehow no concussion, her body is just spent, and it needs to recuperate from all the trauma. She got very lucky, to be inside a room that exploded and walks away without any burns or more serious damage is a miracle, and we all know how few and far between those are." He answers gruffly.
"It's not your fault you know?" Hopper glanced up at the kid in front of him with a frown, "Allison getting hurt, hell all of this, you couldn't have stopped her from going in after her Dad. You did a great job protecting Eleven, but do you ever feel like this was all inevitable? Like no matter how far we tried to push away what happened last year, we could never escape this? … I don't know it's stupid, I guess." Hopper squeezed the teenager's shoulder once before reaching for his hat from the table and placing it on his head with a small smile.
"You did really good today, kid. You somehow kept all those little shits from getting hurt, that is a feat not many of us could accomplish." Steve chuckled, his hand running along his jaw as he glanced at his feet embarrassed, "And hey, the same goes for you, you couldn't have stopped this either." Steve nodded crossing his arms over his chest.
"Thank you, sir."
"You showed a lot of guts today, if the kids' word is anything to go by, you have a need to protect people at any cost. That's something we need in this town because you're right, all this stuff is inevitable. Hey, you ever thought about being a cop?" Hopper queries, walking toward the door, "I think you'd be a damn good one. Get some rest Kid, you look like crap." With that he left, leaving a glowing Steve in his wake.
"Hey, any news?" Steve hears behind him, turning with a surprised jump he sees a drowsy Nancy, rubbing her eyes with one hand while she supports herself on the chair with the other. Steve shakes his head, collapsing back into his seat with a sigh.
"Edwards is still out. Hopper said she has to wear a cast on her ankle and she broke two ribs." He sighs again, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "This whole weekend has been a nightmare."
Nancy glances at Steve quickly, taking in his puckered brow and worried puppy dog eyes that stare ahead before also looking away. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier, about you being led by like a pretty face or whatever, it wasn't fair to you or Allison. I can't imagine what this weekend has been like with her Dad and instead of being a friend to her, and you, I turned on you both. I was so blinded by my hatred of that place that I was trying to see them in everything, I needed them to be behind every strange thing or every coincidence and I attached that to Alli and Daniel." Nancy glanced down at her hands clasped together tightly in her lap, "All I wanted was Justice for Barb and because of what Allison went through in trying to find her Dad, what all those people went through tonight, we may actually like have the platform to do just that."
"I'm sorry," She repeated quietly.
"Hey, hey, hey, Nance, you are one of the kindest and smartest people I've ever met, you were worried, you wouldn't be you if you weren't. I know that and I'm sure Allison knows that too." Her mouth turned up slightly in response before falling again with a sigh.
"Still." They are both silent for a moment, lost in thought. Steve worrying about his friend and Nancy thinking about her revenge. Nancy turns to Steve suddenly a moment later with a question, "So, you and Alli are really close, huh?" Steve faces his ex with a confused frown,
"Yeah, I guess, I mean, you don't really go through all the shit we've gone through and not come out of it with like some kind of friendship… I don't know, we were friends before." He stumbles, his confusion jumbling up his thoughts. "Why?"
"I was just wondering if you guys were together or if you had feelings for her, I saw you carry her into the hospital, Steve," Nancy replies, her tone free of any kind of judgment, natural curiosity colouring her voice. Steve smirks at the girl beside him before leaning back smugly.
"I'm happy that you and Jonathan are together."
Nancy chokes on her spit, "What!?"
"Edwards and I are friends, I've known her for like a week but you and Jonathan have always been more than that, I'm not as stupid as I look Nancy Wheeler."
"I never thought you were stupid, Steve." She's quiet again for a time, a small smile playing on her face. She had always been a pretty terrible liar. Breaking the comfortable silence again she spoke, "Hey, I'm sorry about the other stuff too. The stuff I said on Halloween."
Steve kept quiet this time, trying not to flinch as her hurtful words on Halloween came tumbling back. "It's okay, Nance." Instantly the girl beside him shaking her head vigorously.
"No, it's not. What I said was completely uncalled for, I didn't remember straight away. I was so mad at you because you were mad at me and then when I remembered… I was such a bitch." Nancy cleared her throat before turning her body slightly towards Steve, her eyes trying to seek his without luck. "Steven Harrington, I need you to know, you are not bullshit. You are the most surprising person I've ever met. Our relationship wasn't bullshit, I really did love you and I'm sorry that it ended the way it did."
I really did love you He thought it would hurt more hearing her admit she didn't love him anymore, why didn't it hurt more? "I forgive you Nance, and I'm sorry too. I know I wasn't always the best boyfriend." The teen chuckles, pushing his hair from his face and finally meeting her eyes. "I wish I'd had the balls to stand up with you for Barb when I had the chance, I'm glad you are getting justice for her." The words he had said to Dustin earlier tumbled through his head, act like you don't care; maybe that was bad advice.
"Barb wasn't your fight, protecting those kids with Allison was. It's okay."
"I can't believe she was out with us and I didn't even know she was hurt. I mean I knew; not how bad it was but I still let her come down in those tunnels with us." Steve ranted apparently back with his thoughts of Allison, much to the younger girl's amusement.
Nancy touched Steve's arm gently drawing his attention to her wide sympathetic eyes. "Steve, you and I both know Allison well enough to know that she's as stubborn as a mule. She was never going to let you leave her behind. Let's just be thankful she's walking away with only a few injuries." He placed a hand over Nancy's and squeezed lightly before leaning back with a nod. "Hopper said before that you said she was in an explosion? What the hell happened to you guys?"
"She wasn't with us then, she said she was in a lab or something and a few demo-dogs were running at her, next thing everything exploded around her. She said…" Steve stopped with a frown.
"What?"
Steve glanced at Nancy with confused eyes, "She said it felt like it came from the middle of the room like if it came from her or something. I mean how did she walk away with no burns? If the gas burned from behind her, she should be toast right?" Nancy frowned, tapping her chin in thought.
"It's not possible for her to have just spontaneously combusted, Steve. I mean we've seen some weird stuff but to become a walking bomb? seems like a bit of a stretch, there has to be a reasonable explanation."
"You don't think that she could be like Eleven? Like maybe her Dad experimented on her?"
"Remember how a few minutes ago I said I was obsessed with the lab and finding ways to make everything about them?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No."
Nancy laughed quietly, careful not to wake the still sleeping gaggle of children. "Steve, you've got a concussion, you haven't slept in like forever, once you've rested and we've talked to Allison it'll probably all explain itself. Trust me when I tell you that getting caught up on this is just going to drive you mad." Nancy placated, leaning back with a groan, before using her momentum to stand up with a stretch. Buttoning up her jacket to her neck, Nancy turns back to Steve with a small smile, "It's freezing in here, I'm going to see if I can get some blankets until I can finally get in contact with my Mom. I'll be back."
"I suppose there is probably an explanation for everything." He dismissed to himself lowly, Nancy was usually right and until he's talked to Allison about it there was no point dwelling, he tried to convince himself. watching Nancy leave he sighed again, He was exhausted, but he couldn't bring himself to leave until he'd caught a glimpse of his friend awake and okay.
The lights in her room had been turned off, but a lamp emitted a warm light throughout the space. It's what woke her up, well the light and the beeping. The continued monotonous beeping had invaded her dreams and turned a pleasant run with Melinda at school into an annoyance. The sheets on her bed were scratchy and she shifted uncomfortably, feeling an unpleasant ache hum throughout her tired body. Yeah, that made sense, she thought; I was in an explosion.
Her past few days felt like a never-ending fever dream and she couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't over. Her last real memory was Mike saying he thought that it was all over, but she still couldn't let go of her doubt. How was a thirteen-year-old supposed to fix an alternate dimension for everyone?
Allison looked to her left noticing her Mom for the first time, her head and arms resting on the edge of Allison's bed. She had never seen her Mother so untidy before, her light hair falling from a messy ponytail, her Dad's favourite coat wrapped around her small frame tightly. Tears welled in Allison's eyes as she watched her Mother sleep, she felt the true weight of her failure at that moment.
Nudging her arm gently, Allison felt those tears spill over. "Mommy? Mommy, wake up." Her Mother woke with a start at her daughter's pained voice, her eyes watered at the sight of her daughter, bruised and defeated, she couldn't remember the last time she had seen Allison cry.
"Oh, Baby, are you okay? Let me get the doctor." Allison shook her head quickly, clutching onto her Mom's hand tightly, "Alli, Baby what's wrong?"
"I couldn't find him, Mom, I'm so sorry. I tried so hard and I couldn't find him, it's all my fault." The teenager sobbed, "I looked everywhere, and I couldn't find Dad." Her Mother sucked in a deep breath, gripping her daughter's hand tighter.
"Allison, was your Father not with you when the explosion happened? Sheriff Hopper said you were in your Father's office when the Chem lab beside it exploded, do you remember anything else?"
Allison swallowed the lump in her throat, and looked away from her Mother's anxious eyes, "Yeah, I was in Dad's office." She lied. "I wanted to see Dad, so Dan and I thought it would be nice to bring him some dinner and while I was there, we had a fight," Allison's eyes overflowed again as she thought back on her last conversation with her Dad. "I couldn't leave it the way we did so I went back to talk to him, to clear things up, I hate fighting with him."
Her Mom nodded understandingly, her worried eyes taking in her Daughter's fingers, which gripped at the bed roughly, Allison's eyes still refusing to meet her own. "What aren't you telling me, Allison?"
"He wasn't there so I decided to wait just for a few minutes, I was gonna leave him a note if he didn't show. I was standing against the wall and everything started getting really warm, I heard this insane… boom. A second later everything got dark and that's the last thing I remember when I woke up everything hurt, and it smelled like smoke. I could barely breathe. I couldn't find him after, Mom, I looked but Daniel was outside, and I didn't know if he was okay, I chose Daniel," Allison swallowed roughly, the story was a lie, and it twisted in her stomach and made her feel ill, but the choice was not. Allison had chosen her brother over her father and now her father was missing, it was her fault. "By the time I got to Daniel, I couldn't go back in. I'm sorry, Mom, its all my fault." Allison began crying again and her Mother pulled her into a tight embrace.
"You did the right thing, Alli, I'm so proud of you. You did exactly what your Father and I would want you to do, taking care of Daniel is more important than anything else. It's not your fault, it's the labs, and they will pay."
Mary grabbed her daughter into another tight hug she thought the teenager could stand. Allison's arms banded around her Mother's torso and she finally let herself break down completely. For the first time all weekend Allison knew she didn't have to be strong, she didn't have to pretend to be a grown-up for the younger kids, she didn't have to pretend that the horror she had seen was okay. She had seen real people torn to pieces, she had seen monsters from a twisted nightmare kill and try to kill her and her friends. She had been helpless to stop anything, that task is left to a thirteen-year-old girl who was a secret government experiment.
Her Dad was probably dead. Richard Edwards wasn't a good person. That was the one fact she had learned that clung to her. All night she had tried to force it away, Allison had pushed it away angrily trying to remind herself over and over; He's still my Dad, I can be mad at him after I find him safe.
Never would Allison admit to anyone ever that her decision, Dad or Daniel had been a no brainer. She would carry her guilt forever in the darkest parts of her but at the moment despite how she argued with herself the choice was simple: Daniel was innocent, Richard was not. Despite how hard she tried to forget, to be mad later, she couldn't let Richard's indiscretions go.
He didn't just know about the child torture happening in his lab, he assisted in it. He experimented on Eleven and who knows how many others in the hope of what? Allison couldn't wrap her mind around the justification of what they had done. Torturing innocent, stolen children to turn into weapons against the Russians? To make America great again? That last one gave her the chills, how far were people willing to go to restore something that wasn't broken? Richard had lied about his position in the Laboratory, had assisted in lying to the town with the fake labs and offices that were being presented in that horrible place. He had lied about too much for Allison to begin to make sense of his true ties to any of this in her current state.
Allison watched her Mother with sad eyes as they pulled away from each other, maybe it was just the drugs, but she thought she could see something in the older woman's eyes that didn't quite belong to the docile woman she knew so well. Allison had noticed something change during her story now that she thought about it. There was something in those orbs that she desperately wanted to ask about. The blue eyes so similar to her own were glazed with unshed tears and worry but beneath all that was an intensity, Allison couldn't understand. Mary Edwards was furious, she was confused, she was calculating. Did she… know something? Something she wasn't supposed to.
Pulling her hand away, Allison cleared her throat never removing her gaze from her Mother's. She saw the brief looks of hurt and confusion before the older woman fixed a comforting smile on her face and moved her hand to her Daughter's cheek gently.
"Rest my baby, we can talk about everything in the morning properly when you are feeling up to it," Mary spoke quietly, wiping her tears with her left hand, her right still gently placed upon Allison's cheek. "I'm going to get the doctor and then I need to get your brother home to bed, will you be okay by yourself?" Allison nods, forcing a small smile to her lips as her mother rises from her seat. "Good night, Alli, I love you so much." Mary bent down to kiss her daughter's forehead gently, careful to avoid her stitches.
"I love you too, Mom." Allison smiles gently at her Mother, watching her hesitate at the door before pushing it open and closing it quietly behind her. She wanted to know what Mary knew but her brain was too foggy for her to make sense of anything. She needed to rest, her body was screaming at her and so was her mind. The journalist in her was screaming for answers, Mary Edwards was an innocent school teacher, what could she possibly know about what happened this weekend?
Allison settled back into the hospital bed as comfortably as she could against the hard mattress and let her eyes close. Could it be the drugs or the exhaustion? Allison thought she saw something, did she say something to give away her lies? No, she had been careful, even in her hazy mind she had masked the truth well. A few moments later the door opens again and a small Asian woman in pink scrubs enters, clipboard and a cup of pills in hand. Allison peels her sore eyes open tiredly watching the woman smile at her apologetically all her previous worries pushed to the back of her brain.
"Hello, Allison, how are you feeling? I'm sorry to bother your rest, I just need to check your vitals quickly." She said kindly, placing her things down on the table at the foot of her bed. "My name is Yuri and I'm one of the nurses here to help you tonight."
Yuri ran through Allison's injuries and asked her for a quick recap of what she remembered. She told Yuri the same story she had told her Mother and when she was finished her stomach ached. She wondered how long the lies would tie her stomach in knots and make her brain feel like it was about to rot in her skull.
"Get some rest, honey, you've been through a lot tonight," Yuri says with a kind smile, hanging her chart back on the end of her bed and handing her a cup of water to chase her pills. Allison's eyes instantly drooped and the last thing she remembered was the gentle click of her door as Yuri left.
"Hey."
Yuri had come in to say goodbye minutes before and let her know that visiting hours started in a few moments. Seconds after the nurse had left, she heard a tentative knock on the open door. Yuri had helped her into a sitting position before she left and that's how he found her, fingers joined nervously in her lap. Right knee partially bent and the other pin straight, a thick white wrapping from her toes to just below her knee protecting her left ankle.
Allison looked up from her knotted fingers seeing his swollen face watching her with concern. His colourful band-aids had been replaced with white butterfly bandages and the blood and dirt had been cleaned from his skin, but his wounds still looked frightening, they were a visceral reminder of the last few hours. His hair still looked good, normally that would make her smile. She itched to tease him, but she didn't even know how to open her mouth as she took him in. She wanted to crack a joke, say anything to break the tension between them, to see just a touch of happiness and humour in those soulful brown eyes of his but she couldn't think of a thing to say. For once in her life Allison Edwards didn't have a witty remark or comment, she didn't have an obscure pop culture reference or her pretty smile to hide behind. She sat bare before her friend, raw and hurting and broken; her emotions reflected back to her. A single tear fell down her cheek as she watched her friend, frozen at the old cream door.
"Hey," Her voice wobbled. It was enough for Steve to move forward settling into the seat beside her bed.
"Hey," He repeated, grasping her hand in his tightly.
"Hey."
She squeezed his hand.
They sat together for a moment a small smile gracing each of their faces. Nothing special happened in those few silent moments, her sheets were still scratchy, her lips still felt dry, her gut still clenched but for breath or two, Allison felt her mind still. Here was maybe the one person she didn't have to lie to.
Maybe it was the drugs but when she stared into Steve's eyes at that moment, brown and blue melded, no words needed to be said, she just knew they were going to be okay as long as they stuck together. He just smiled at her like he understood, squeezing her hand tighter.
Allison shifted gently, careful not to jostle her numb ribs. Her eyes found the door again as a nurse walked past quietly, her green scrubs creating a quiet swish that faded as she moved further into the artificial light. The beeping of the machines behind her created a steady rhythm that helped to settle her, she knew she would start to find them frustrating eventually but right now they added to her peace. When her eyes found Steve again, he seemed at ease for the first time since he had entered her plain eggshell coloured room, his shoulders and jaw had relaxed, as he leaned back in the burgundy chair. His eyes shone with relief. "You should totally be in bed, Harrington. Don't tell me you've been here all night."
Steve shrugged a shoulder his thumb caressing over her knuckles slowly, making her somehow even more calm. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay, Edwards, you scared the shit outta me. I left not long after your Mom did early this morning. Hopper drove me to my car out by the tracks. Did you know he lives out in a cabin in the woods?" Allison shook her head,
"That totally sounds like the beginning to a bitchin' horror movie." Steve winced at her joke and she smiled a little, "Too soon?"
"Yeah, maybe." He smiled none the less.
"I'm sorry, Steve." Allison mumbled her eyes shining with remorse. Steve shook his head gently, continuing his gentle motions on her hand.
"Hey, hey, hey. You don't have to apologise, Edwards."
"I do," Allison frowned. "I don't regret my choices, Harrington. I can't. I needed to help you and the others, and I needed to protect my Brother. I can't even regret not telling you that I was hurt because I know you would like, never have let me go with you. I am sorry though for scaring you and the kids, I never should have pushed it as far as I did, it was way harsh. I should have told you sooner than I did."
Steve is silent as he watched his friend apologise still feeling the fear and anger, he felt last night. "I carried you into this hospital, Allison. I sat around for hours terrified because I didn't know what happened to you. But when I woke up today, I understood why you did what you did, because I did the same thing." He gestures at his face with a broken grin. "I guess we're both just morons with hero complexes, huh?"
Allison chuckles lightly, taking in his bruised face again. "What's the damage?" She asked quietly, gesturing to his face.
"Mild concussion, a couple of black eyes, I'm gonna have to walk around like a weird alien wastoid for a few weeks but no lasting damage. We all got lucky, I guess."
"What about Will?" Allison asks worriedly, she had asked Yuri last night how the youngest Byers was doing but she had no updates to give. He had heat stroke is all she would say. "Is he okay?"
Steve nodded a small smile growing on his face again. "Yeah, he woke up last night. The kids are in annoying him now, Joyce is going to have fun trying to get them to leave. Your Mom and your Brother will probably be here soon too." Allison's matching smile fell from her face at the mention of her Mother.
"I think my Mom knows something about last night."
Steve frowned, leaning closer to the bed. "What? Are you sure?"
Allison nods, averting her gaze back the white blanket over her legs. "I could see it in her eyes, Steve. Like I can't explain it, but I just know she knows something about the Lab and my Dad. She didn't look very scared or shocked, she just looked… I don't know I can't describe it; calculating. It's completely wack." Allison shook her head, meeting Steve's confused gaze. "She looked completely unsurprised by what I told her like she knew what I would say. I just can't figure out if I'm going crazy, like I saw the look on her face I'm sure, but I can't make heads or tails of it. My Mom just thought it was ace that I was in an explosion…?" Her wide blue eyes search her friends for a sign that he believed her.
"I don't understand? What did she say?"
Allison shook her head at her friend patiently, "She didn't say anything, Steve. I'm telling you it was all in her eyes. One second she looked worried and thoughtful and then, for just a second something switched." Steve nodded, nibbling at his thumb as he thought, she could see his brain trying to make sense of what she was saying. "I told her about the explosion and everything in her changed."
Steve's eyes instantly found hers, wide and clear. He'd figured something out. "What is it?" Allison frowned. She knew Steve was smarter than even he gave himself credit for, but she had never seen that look on him before, he looked as if he'd figured out something she hadn't.
"Alli, do you think it's possible that your Mom is involved?"
Brow furrowing, she thought back to any memories of her Mother talking about her Father's work. Allison remembered Mary saying that Richard did important work but never expanding on that. She was an elementary school teacher, as far as Allison was aware, she had no background in science.
"Maybe, I think it's more likely that my Dad spoke to her about his work."
"Didn't you think that you had caused the explosion? You said that you felt it came from within you. Why would your Mom have reacted to the news of the explosion?" Steve asked with a curious gaze. Allison shrugged, averting her gaze.
"I don't know what happened in that explosion, all I know if that those burners had no gas in them or nothing to ignite a flame. It all happened so quickly, I don't even really know what happened." Allison glanced back to Steve a frown still creasing her brow. "I just have to find a good time to talk to her about it, I'm sure once we've spoken about it I can get some answers."
"Do you think your Mom will-"
"Her Mom will what?"
Mary Edwards breezed through the door, a kind smile on her face as she watched the two teens with confused eyes. "Arrive soon." Steve quickly redirected with a nervous smile, "Good morning, Mrs Edwards, how are you feeling today?" He continued politely to the older woman who smiled graciously.
"Much better now that I know my beautiful daughter is okay. How are you feeling Steve?" Her Mother's brow furrowed with concern as she approached Steve and gently brushed his cheek. "You should be home resting."
"Oh, I'm okay, Mrs Edwards, the doctors gave me the all clear last night, thank you." Steve stands, clearing his throat awkwardly, "I better go actually, my parents are due home today. I just wanted to check on Allison."
"Okay, dear. If you need anything please let me know, after everything you've done for my baby, it's the least I can do." Mary smiles sympathetically at the boy. Steve turns back toward Allison, her big eyes watching him impassively.
"I'll see you later, Edwards." He spoke carefully, still grasping her hand in his. Allison squeezed once, forcing a smile onto her face. She really wasn't ready for him to leave but she understood, he was injured too. He was also clearly uncomfortable with her Mom in the room, not knowing what role she played in all this was making Allison uncomfortable as well.
"Go home and rest Steve, please, for me and my nerves."
Steve huffs a laugh and turns away, gently releasing her hand. He looks back and waves once before walking down the hall dejectedly. Allison watches him go with a frown her mind running a mile a second, trying to figure out what he was thinking before Mary had interrupted him.
"You look exhausted, Honey, why don't you have another little rest and I'll bring Daniel around later?" Her Mother suggested gently. Mary grabbed the remote to the hospital bed and reclined it, so Allison was laying down. Allison did feel tired and in desperate need to avoid the older woman. Her eyes closed at her Mother's suggestion. The last thing she remembered was Mary's cool hand resting against her forehead as she fell into a fitful sleep.