AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But I am not going to put that thought in her head right now, not with everything else going on in there.
My voice is low. “I need this. All the while in the hospital all I could think was that it could have been you in the operating room. I was this close to losing you.”
That is apparently the right thing to say because she closes her mouth and then sighs, wearily. “Okay. Just for tonight then.”
It doesn’t take us long to reach my place.
Having Eve in my house, I feel a sense of pride when she momentarily forgets her troubles and looks around in barely concealed wonder. “You live here?”
And so will she, soon, if I have anything to say about it.
However, my lips curve slightly. “I have a bedroom set up for Mila. I’ll take you there.”
Mila doesn’t even move as Eve lays her in bed and pulls up the covers. She stands by her bedside and then crouches till she is on eye level with our sleeping daughter, her hand going over to smooth back Mila’s hair.
I lean against the doorjamb, watching the scene and when Eve straightens, I see her pull back her shoulders, and I know she is still trying to pull herself out of the despair that is creeping around her and engulfing her in its darkness.
My heart soars with pride when she turns around to face me and there is some semblance of calm in her eyes. I stand back, silently, letting her pass by me, and then I close the door behind us, making sure that the night lamp is turned on.
Eve stares at her hands, which were, hours before, covered in Lorraine’s blood.
Then, she turns to look at me, her voice flat.
“I need a drink.”
Curled up on the huge armchair in the living room, I muse that the piece of furniture seems to swallow Eve up. Her face is blank as she stares into the flickering image of the flames on the screen that temporarily covers the fireplace in the summers, that she accidently turned on.
They seem to fascinate her, so I let it be.
Walking over to her, I offer her a glass of whiskey.
She tears troubled eyes away from the faux flames and meets mine before silently accepting the glass.
My own glass in my hand, I settle across from her, waiting for her to speak.
The silence for the next half hour is almost deafening in its intensity and Eve lifts the glass to her mouth a few times before lowering her hand without even tasting it.
Finally, she says, “Why is there a Cosmo magazine on the shelf?”
Startled by her odd question, I move my eyes in the direction she is looking and then shake my head. “I enjoy Cosmo. It’s entertaining. Ridiculously insightful at times.”
A short laugh which lacked humor.
And then, a sigh.
That delicate hand idly swirls the whiskey in the glass before finally saying, “I don’t know what to do.”
I raise a brow. “About what?”
She doesn’t answer my question; her brow furrows as if she forgot that I was even in the room, and her voice is soft and confused. “I always know what to do.”
When she suddenly throws back the whiskey, I don’t so much as twitch. “Another?”
“Please.”
I walk over and pour a few fingers, this time sitting adjacent to her on the long couch. “You aren’t responsible for what happened.”
Eve’s head shoots up, her tone wry. “Aren’t I?”
