"How is she?" Punk asked the next day, coming into the hospital with a bag and of course Liesel in her car seat which he clutched on the other hand. She'd just been fed and changed, and was now enjoying her morning nap. It amazed him really how all babies done was sleep eat and poop.
"She's doing ok." AJ's doctor nodded, "She woke a few hours ago and she was responding well to everyone. She didn't believe she was unsafe anymore, which is a good start. She's still a little cautious of her surroundings however, and she did keep asking if… if the devil had her baby. But I told her that little Liesel was safe with you, and she seemed to be ok with that." The doctor smiled, "It'll take some time, but she's on the right tracks."
"Good. That's good to hear." Punk nodded. He had got a little sleep after his father had left, not much though, about two hours, until Liesel started to cry. And then he got up and showered, desperate to get here and see how April was doing.
"Your sister, I believe, went in the room to visit her. I told her it was too soon, that the medication had just kicked in, but she wanted to." The doctor said, "AJ didn't respond very well to her. Kept saying that- that she knew the devil, she worked with him." The doctor shrugged, "Does any of this reinact anything? Has April been abused in recent times? Has she suffered from child abuse, rape or any other sort of abuse?" The doctor asked.
"No." Punk shook his head, "Her parents died when she was eight. She wasn't abused." Punk shook his head, "Although my father did try to rape her." His mind wandered.
"Ok. Well like I said, it's her illness talking, not her, don't be alarmed if she's still a little weary of you." The doctor said, beginning to walk down the corridor to lead Punk to AJ's room.
"When do you think she'll get out?" Punk asked curiously.
"It's hard to say. If going according to other patients with this same illness. Maybe a week or two. It all depends on how she responds to the medication and treatment." She said as Punk nodded, reaching AJ's room which had Mendez written outside it with also her illness in big bold writing, as if warning everyone who walked by. He hated this. He hated AJ feeling like this. It broke his heart.
"Her room is dark and pretty basic. It's how everyone's rooms are in the unit. She's not hooked to monitors, keep in mind she isn't physically ill. She isn't weak. She isn't sore." The doctor said as Punk nodded, "Introduce yourself to her, make sure she knows its you, if she starts an episode just call for someone." The doctor said, "And I must ask you only stay an hour at the most. She's obviously tired, and she needs her rest." The doctor said as Punk nodded.
"Ok. Thank you." Punk smiled, watching the doctor walk away as he pushed down the handle to the door, walking into the dark room and looking over at AJ sitting up on the bed, the room was in complete darkness, as if trying to drain her illness out of her.
"April..." He said softly as he watched her turn around, "Can I turn the lights on?" He asked her as she shook her head, "Ok… how about a lamp?" He asked her as she stared at him blankly, turning back around to look at the wall in front of her which she had been the past few hours.
Punk closed the door over and made his way into the room, switching on the lamp in the far corner to give the room some light. He watched her screw her eyes up, but he wasn't going to sit in a dark room talking to her. He wanted to see her, and he wanted her to see him, as her boyfriend, as the man who loved her dearly.
"It's me. Phil." He said, placing the bag he packed for her at the bottom of the bed, sitting down Liesel in her car seat beside the chair he was sitting on close to her bedside, "I'm Phil and-"
"I know who you are." AJ said bluntly, "Why did you put me in here?" She turned her head to look in his eyes. She was still doing that thing with her eyes, where it looked like she was trying to stare into his soul, "You took my baby from me." She spat.
The doctor did mention she'd still be a little out of it, which clearly he was, but at least she was calm and not rushing around frantically like she was last night.
"No I didn't. Look, Liesel is here." Punk pointed down, unbuckling Liesel from her car seat and lifting her out into his arms, "She's right here, and she's perfectly fine. You're just not very well right now, April. But you're gonna get better." He nodded as she just looked away again.
"That isn't my baby." She said calmly, "You gave my baby to him."
"April, c'mon sweetheart. Look around you, you're in a psychiatric unit at the hospital. You aren't well. You're thinking things that aren't true. And you're hearing things that aren't really there." He said, "You gotta get better because… Liesel needs you."
"God is going to punish me because I didn't protect my baby." She said with no emotion.
"April, you're baby is right here." Punk said, "She's missed you. Why don't you… why don't you hold her." Punk suggested. He thought that maybe if she got to hold Liesel, she'd be able to sense it was her baby, because right now she really believed her baby, as she kept putting it like he had nothing to do with it, was in danger some place else.
"No." AJ shook her head, "I knew you'd trick me. You told me you were going to protect us and take us some place safe, and then… and then you took my baby and they put me in here." She said with a certain shiver in her voice.
"April, the baby is right here. She's safe and you are safe here. You're going to get the help you need here, and then you can come home again." He said, "This illness isn't permanent. It's going to go away, and you're gonna be ok soon. I promise." He said as AJ turned her head back to him, looking at him and then looking down at the baby for the first time, her eyes lighting up suddenly and rather worryingly.
"Is that… is that my baby?" She asked suddenly as Punk smiled.
"Yeah." Punk nodded, "Yeah. She's here and she's safe."
"Can I hold her?" She asked, sitting up straight as Punk nodded, placing Liesel in her arms as she smiled down at her, pressing a kiss on her soft head and smiling once she suddenly realised this indeed was her baby, and suddenly came to her senses.
"See." Punk nodded as she looked up at him.
"Phil?" Her lip quivered as Punk nodded.
"It's ok. I'm here." He nodded, sitting down on the edge of the bed with her as she leaned into him, tears streaming down her eyes, "You're ok. You're both ok." He said, kissing her head, thankfully seeing her reach sanity. Not that it may last for very long, but he was glad she could see a little bit of light. The doctor had mentioned that it could come and go whilst she was on her medication. That she would have good days and bad days.
Punk left around half an hour later with the promise that he would come back tomorrow with Liesel for April to see her. She put up a fight in giving her daughter back to him, but she eventually gave in and said her goodbyes. He couldn't stand her being so alone in the cold dark room, but he knew it was just the road to recovery for her. Hopefully tomorrow she'd be even brighter, and her medication would really start to work.
He decided he'd stop by to Elise's house with Liesel to maybe grab something to eat and just enjoy his sisters company. He didn't want to be alone, or else he'd just think about how alone April was in hospital. He also wanted to swing by to give her an update on AJ.
He walked on through the door and was surprised to see Dean yet again sitting on his sisters couch watching TV.
"Hey, man." Dean looked up at him as Punk just shook his head.
"Are you stalking my sister or something?" Punk said, "Why are you here?" he asked just in time for Elise to come through from the kitchen and break the question.
"Hey, how is AJ?" Elise asked, having just put down Toni's dinner in the kitchen.
"She's ok. She was a little off at the start but she came round." Punk nodded, "You shouldn't have seen her like that this morning." Punk said, recalling back to the doctor telling him that Elise had tried to go see AJ when she had just woke from being sedated.
"In all fairness… I didn't think she'd be that bad." Elise said, "She started talking about the devil, and him taking her baby." Elise shook her head.
"She's not herself." Punk said, "Do you mind if I stay here for a bit, grab something to eat? I could really use the company." Punk admitted as Elise just smiled.
"I've just put our dinner on." Elise smiled as Punk paused in the middle of taking Liesel out of her car seat.
"So this is what you do? Come round here so my sister can make you dinner." Punk slapped Dean's head as Dean just chuckled, watching Punk take Liesel from her car seat and walk away into the kitchen to see what was for dinner.
Elise and Dean just exchanged weary glances to one another and immediately followed Punk into the kitchen, watching him stand in front of the washing that Elise was just about to put on.
On the way home from the hospital earlier, Dean had gabbed some clothes to keep her, and Elise had offered to wash the ones he was wearing yesterday whilst he took a shower and put on clean stuff.
"Why the hell are you washing his clothes?" Punk laughed to himself at first, looking at them both as they stood quiet as mice, "What?" Punk shook his head whilst bouncing Liesel lightly from side to side.
"Phil, maybe you should sit down." Elise said as Punk shook his head.
"What's going on?"