Adrian stirred to the sound of shuffling feet. Blearily, he lifted his head from Evelynn’s bedside and was greeted to the sight of a nurse pushing a trolley into the room. He hadn’t heard the door open, nor had the sounds of the machines woken him. Rather, it was the presence of another that had roused him from his slumber. He had no recollection of falling asleep. Checking his phone showed that it was just shortly after three in the morning.
The room was still dimly lit, Adrian having forgotten to turn off the lamp on the small bedside table conveniently situated just next to the chair. On the trolley was several small bottles, well labeled and clearly containing dicine. Though what kind he knew not.
The nurse parked the trolley next to Evelynn’s IV stand and checked her charts. Glancing at him, she quietly said “Didn’t an to wake you, but it’s ti for Evelynn to get another dose of painkillers.” Finished with the charts, she began looking over the bottles assembled on her tray. Carefully selecting one, she grabbed a small plastic package and opened it. Inside was a sterilized syringe. Attaching a needle to the end, she carefully dipped the tip into the bottle.
Satisfied with the dose, the nurse walked over to the IV and added it to the fluid already present in the bag.
“There we go, that should do it,” she said as she finished her task.
“What did you give her?” Adrian inquired.
“For now, we’re giving her morphine. We don’t want to resort to harder stuff just yet, but if Evelynn’s pain is to much to safely manage with this, we’ll switch her to sothing more potent.”
“Do you know when she’ll wake up?”
“Sorry, that’s not my departnt. I’m just here for the painkillers. You’ll have to ask the doctor in the morning. Though one may check in later.”
Adrian sighed, cursing inwardly at his inability to do anything for his niece. He desperately wished that there was sothing he could do but knew that it was out of his hands.
Once everything was in order, the nurse turned her trolley around and left the room. Adrian sat back in his chair and took out his phone. Now that he was awake, he didn’t feel like going back to sleep. Might as well do sothing productive, he figured.
Drawing a blank on where to start, he eventually decided to look up how to plan a funeral. When his parent’s had died, it had been Annie that had taken care of all of the details. Now that it was his turn, he quickly realized that he didn’t know how to plan a funeral. The only relevant piece of information that Adrian knew was where his parents were buried.
He visited his parents several ti a year. St. Relmor’s cetery was located just outside the downtown core, overlooking the river that the town had been built next to. Away from the ports and the hustle and bustle of city life, the cetery remained a tranquil place of rest.
Near his parent’s plot was a small grove of willow trees, just off the water’s edge. The city hadn’t seen fit to remove them during the construction of the cetery, and they had grown into a lovely, picturesque spot that had beco the selling point of the cetery. A brook had diverged from the river that snaked its way throughout the cetery, before ending in a modest pond. Small red bridges were scattered throughout, allowing visitors the freedom to cross at multiple locations.
Personally, he loved spending ti sitting in the shade and walking around that section whenever he visited his parents. He had always found the spot relaxing, and it had helped him through his thoughts more than once over the years.
Before he knew it, he found himself looking up the website for the cetery. On it, he found the phone number for the funeral ho and details on how to contact the funeral director. He would have to double check, but he recalled Annie ntioning that they had a family plot, courtesy of his father’s relatives. One of the few positive recollections Adrian had of them. They were only good for their money, after all.
He made note in his phone and decided that he would call the director first thing to following morning. As he planned the funeral details in his mind, he realized that he had no idea where Matt and Annie’s bodies were. Taking back out his phone, he made another note. At this point, he was beginning to tire again, and had succinctly decided that everything could wait until tomorrow. This ti, he turned off the lamp before laying back on the seat, trying to find a comfortable position.
***
Early morning found the sun peering through the blue curtains on the window behind Adrian. A detail he had not noticed last night, Evelynn having been in the forefront of his mind. The curtains did a well enough job at blocking out the light, not sothing he would have expected from a hospital. The sunbeams peering through the cracks provided just enough light to see. Motes of dust could be seen dancing within them. Checking the ti, Adrian found it to be just past eight.
He was unsure if Evelynn had been visited again by either a nurse or a doctor; he’d been out cold over the past several hours, the emotional exhaustion of last night catching up with him. Adrian stood up, stretching as he did so. Looking towards Evelynn, he found her face at peace, the look at odds with the rest of her given the extent of her injuries.
Leaving the room, Adrian decided to make his way towards a cafeteria to see if he could find sothing to eat. Upon exiting, he flagged down a passing nurse and asked, “Excuse , do you know where I could find a place to get so food?”
About to walk past him, the nurse stopped short and turned to face him. “The cafeteria is in another wing. There’s a small café on the first floor that sell bagels and coffee if you’d like instead.”
“Do you know where exactly I could find it?”
“When you exit the elevator, make a left and then another left. You should be able to see it down the hall from there.”
Adrian thanked the nurse and then made his way towards the elevator. He went down to the first floor and followed the instructions given to him. Sure enough, he found a small café at the end of the hall selling mostly croissants and other breakfast items. The scent of coffee and freshly baked bread filled the air, a saving grace from the sll of disinfectant that perated the rest of the hospital.
He ordered a ham and cheese bagel along with a coffee and sat down at one of the few small tables in front of the café. The round tallic table top sat on a single stand in the middle, resting on four prongs. Vines seed to sprout from the base, before separating into the rounded top, where holes outlined tallic flowers pointing towards the center. While impractical, Adrian had to admit the table was beautiful, if albeit a bit wobbly.
He finished his food in record ti and made his way back towards Evelynn’s room, coffee in hand. The coffee he left for later, on account of it being too hot to drink right away.
He was halfway done his coffee when two police officers knocked on the door. Both of them were won. The first one had a stern air about her, while the second seed softer and more approachable.
The first cop stayed near the door, her brown hair in a tight bun and dark brown eyes taking in the room. The second one had shoulder length, unbound, blonde hair and green eyes and was the first to speak. Both were a full head shorter than Adrian.
“Are you Mr. Blackwood?” the woman asked.
“Yes, that would be . Seems like everyone’s calling that these days. Please, call Adrian,” he said, standing to greet them.
“We’re here about the car accident that occurred last night,” she replied. The look on her face softened. “We regret to inform you that both Annie Blackwood and Mathew Strovaine perished last night in a car accident.”
“Thank you, but I was already made aware,” Adrian replied dryly, motioning towards the still form on the bed.
Wincing, she glanced back at her partner. The stern cop spoke up. “We’ve arrested the bastard that caused the accident.”
“Jaimie!” exclaid the blonde woman, “We’ve been over this before. You can’t go around calling everybody you arrest a bastard. We’ve received complaints about that.” Clearly, this was a regular event.
“Those complaints ca from the perps,” Jaimie remarked, rolling her eyes. “What are they going to do, sue us from prison?”
“Yes,” the blonde woman deadpanned. “You’re aware that that’s exactly what’s happening to our departnt right now, right? Because a certain soone couldn’t keep their mouth shut on cara, the rest of us have to deal with the fallout.” She cast a aningful glance towards her partner.
Adrian blinked at the exchange. Whatever he had been expecting, that hadn’t been it.
“Anyways,” she continued, changing the subject, “I’m officer Rael and behind is officer Silver, or Jamie, since clearly professionalism is out of the bag. You can call Amanda.”
“Amanda, Jamie, it’s a pleasure to et you. What may I help you with?” he asked politely. He might not have done anything wrong, but having cops show up on your doorstep was never a good thing. He felt it best to err on the side of caution.
“Right, so as I was saying, the bas-” Amanda shot Jaimie a warning glare, “the offender, has been arrested. He was actually a patient at this hospital. He was brought here by ambulance just to be safe, since he was unconscious at the ti. Apart from a few bruises and a nasty bump on his head, he’s alright. He was kept overnight, so finding him was trivial.”
“I don’t understand how he killed both front passengers and dealt this much damage to Evelynn, though.”
“He drove an eighteen-wheeler truck into them. Hit them from the driver’s side. He was drunk and ran the light, crashing into the other car before veering and hitting light post.”
Adrian felt a rage building inside of him. “You an to tell they’re dead because that asshole couldn’t make good life decisions? Fucking bastard” he swore loudly, almost yelling. He huffed. “You were right, calling him a bastard seems very fitting,” he said, lowering his voice sowhat. He was trembling as he did so. “He cost my family. He hurt my niece. Lock him up where the sun doesn’t shine.”
Jaimie smiled for the first ti since entering the room. It was a vicious smile, displaying her full thoughts about the case she was assigned. “Consider it done,” she said. “He’s going to have a real hard ti getting out of this since the hospital has record of his blood alcohol content.”
“That being said,” interjected Amanda, “we do have a few questions for you. They primarily involve Evelynn. We heard from Dr. Maniel that you were currently staying with her, so we ca to follow up with you”
“Oh? No ‘where were you the night of the murder’ type questions?” Adrian said sardonically.
The officers shared a look. “No, that won’t be necessary in this case. We have all the information we need. Although if you have any additional details you’d like to add, you’re more than welco to share.”
“They were on their way to my show. I was the director and they wanted to co see it. If it hadn’t been for , they wouldn’t have been in an accident that night,” he said, his voice full of emotion.
“Hey, listen, it’s not your fault. There’s no way you could have known that would happen. It could have happened to anyone,” Amanda said, a sympathetic expression on her face.
“No, I… you’re right,” Adrian sighed. “It’s just really hard not to see it that way. The guilt has been eating alive since I got the news. My brain understands what you’re saying, but my heart doesn’t.”
“Back to Evelynn,” Amanda said, steering the conversation back on track, “We need to know who her guardian is. Does she have any grandparents, or perhaps another relative to take her in?” She was obviously concerned about his relatively young age.
“I’ll be assuming that role,” Adrian said defensively. “We don’t have any other relatives that we’re in contact with. What few relatives we do have are estranged and haven’t ever been in contact with Evelynn.”
Annie had interacted with his relatives on his father’s side only a handful of tis, but that been before Evelynn had been born. Since her birth, they rcifully hadn’t heard from them. All the better, Adrian thought to himself.
“That will be for you and child services to figure out. They may take issue since you’re so young, but for now she’ll be in your care. Let’s hope it remains that way, for both your sakes,” Jamie added, oblivious to Adrian’s internal musings. “Will you be able to care for her once she’s released?”
“I live on my own, but I should be able to properly care for her. Worst case, I’ll cancel my lease and move into her parents’ house,” Adrian said pensively. “It might be difficult for Evelynn at first, but I’m sure that would be for the best. That or I sell the house and live off of the earnings.”
“We have a friend that might be able to help you out. She specializes in this sort of thing,” Jai said, gesturing between him and Evelynn.
“Jai, don’t,” Amanda warned.
“Oh co on Amanda, the kid clearly needs the help. What’s wrong with nudging him in the right direction” Jamie complained.
“We’re not supposed to get involved in people’s personal lives, that’s what,” Amanda snapped back.
Jamie gave Amanda a pointed stare.
“Fine,” she acquiesced. “Do you have a pen and paper? I’ll give you the number for a lawyer we know that might be able to help you sort through this ss.” Looking at Adrian expectantly, she waited for him to answer.
Adrian looked around the room but didn’t see any paper. Suddenly recalling the note Elizabeth had given him, he fished around in his pocket and retrieved it. “I only have this post-it note,” he said laly, presenting the crumpled paper. “If you have a pen, maybe you could write on the back of it?” he said, attempting to smooth the note on his pant leg.
“Sure thing,” Amanda said, eyeing the piece of paper.
He walked closer and handed her the note. It was still hopelessly wrinkled, but at least it could be written on. His efforts had paid off. Sowhat.
Taking the paper in hand, Amanda turned and placed it on the wall in front of her. Materializing a pen from a pocket on the front of her uniform, she wrote down a phone number, with the na of the person written underneath.
Handing the paper back to him, Amanda said “Use this number to contact our friend. Her na is Miriam Rosemont. She’s a lawyer that specializes in wills and estate planning. She might be able to help you out.”
“You just happen to know the exact kind of lawyer I need right now?” his eyebrow raised questioningly.
Amanda scratched her head. “Work in our line of business long enough and you get to know all sorts of people.”
“Fair enough.”
Adrian took the pink post-it note and carefully folded it in half before taking out his dark brown leather wallet and storing it in the sa slot as his credit card. Putting his wallet back in his front left pocket, he asked “Is there anything else you need from ?”
“No,” Jamie said brusquely. Her face had regained her initial, stern expression. There was no trace of her earlier smile.
“This was really more of a courtesy visit, since we happened to be close by,” added Amanda, starting towards the door.
Adrian thanked them for their ti and effort and watched them leave. The room felt bigger now, with only him and Evelynn’s tiny form to occupy it. Picking his coffee up from Evelynn’s bedside where he’d left it, he gingerly took a sip.
“Bleh,” he grimaced, imdiately regretting his decision. There was nothing worse than cold coffee. It left a sour taste in his mouth, one that he couldn’t get rid of.
He reached into his right pocket and took out a pack of spearmint gum and popped one in his mouth. He was imdiately relieved from the foul taste that had been there before, replaced with the freshness that ca with the first few bites of gum.
As the morning wore on, the scent of disinfectant and cleaning product get to him. He eyed the window that was behind the chair that he had slept in. Cracking the window open, he was greeted with the crisp, cool morning air, bringing with it the scent of crushed leaves.
Looking outside gave way to the beautiful, splendid, magnificent view of the parking lot. Truly, an astounding sight to behold. A toll gate was situated at the entrance, just off the side of the main road, its yellow bar down, requiring paynt to enter.
The lot itself was a large rectangular area, with five rows for cars to park. Looking closer, Adrian pitied the poor souls who were unsuccessfully circling around, having no luck securing a spot in the full lot.
Sunlight glinted off the roof of the cars and into Adrian’s eyes. Squinting, he looked back into the room, his vision full of spots. The room felt noticeably darker, his eyes accustod to the harsh light outside.
Blinking to clear the pesky spots, Adrian pulled out his phone from his pocket. Returning to his seat, he looked at the note he had made himself last night. He wasn’t looking forward to the call with the funeral director but reluctantly punched in the number. The director was the man in charge of his family’s plot at the cetery, but it had been Annie who interacted with him when needed. He’d hardly spoken with the man.
The director turned out to be an affable man. He had been in the business for twenty years, making him the very sa director that had helped service his parents’ funeral. The humourless part of him found it very fitting that he be the one conducting the rest of the family’s funeral. He scheduled a eting for the following morning, dreading having to actually face his sister’s death by taking care of the details.
Until then, there was little to do besides wait. He staunchly refused to leave Evelynn’s side until he absolutely had to.
***
It was late afternoon now. The sun had visibly lowered in the sky, the wind having beco cooler. The sky above had turned a deeper shade of blue. Adrian had been forced to shut the window he had cracked open before when the room had felt too stuffy. Goosebumps had ford on his arms, a result of him not being properly dressed. All he had was his white dress shirt and thin jacket. Not exactly the warst of clothes. He made do, but sorely wished he had a sweater.
He had spent his ti looking at casket and cremation options, learning a bit about what to expect for his eting tomorrow. Currently, he was seated next to Evelynn in the chair he had claid the previous day. He hadn’t showered in over twenty-four hours and it was beginning to show. His hair was beginning to grease over, and his clothes had beco wrinkled. He was starting to sll stale. He knew that he was in desperate need of a shower and a fresh change of clothes, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave Evelynn’s side.
Thus far, she had remained stable. Each passing second brought her closer to regaining consciousness, sothing Adrian hoped would happen sooner rather than later. He felt that things were beginning to look up.
Suddenly, the beeping of the machines changed to an angry staccato, a flurry of sounds coming from them.
“What? What’s happening?” Adrian asked aloud. Glancing at the heart monitor, he could tell that Evelynn’s heartbeat had spiked.
Panicking, he scrambled out of his chair and reached over to the small remote that was on Evelynn’s bedside table. He dimly recalled one of the nurses instructing him to push the button should anything happen to Evelynn while they were gone.
The small grey remote had only a single orange button. Grabbing it, Adrian pushed the button several tis out of desperation. “Co on, co on, co on,” he said hurriedly.
He looked over towards Evelynn. Her face was no longer peaceful, as it had once been. Instead, he found her brow laced with sweat, her eyes held tightly shut, her face scrunched. He watched as her breathing beca laboured, helpless once again. She began thrashing in her sleep. He didn’t know if touching her would aggravate her injuries and make them worse. He gripped her bedside, his knuckles turning white.
The door burst open as two nurses swiftly arrived. A quick look over was all that was needed before one of them made the executive decision to call for a doctor, imdiately.
“Sir, we need you to move away from the patient” said the first nurse. Reluctantly, Adrian released his grip and backed away. He retreated to beside the chair, unable to bring himself to sit down.
In the two-minute interim while waiting for the doctor, the nurses did their best to tend to Evelynn, mostly trying to keep her from moving too much.
Her heart monitor turned erratic, before beginning to fall. At first, Adrian was hopeful that her fit was passing. He soon realized that wasn’t the case. The heart monitor steadily dropped, the signals becoming weaker and weaker.
“She’s flat lining, we’re losing her!” exclaid one of the nurses. The doctor arrived at this mont and imdiately began assessing the situation. He had heard what the nurse had said as he entered the room and realized that they had limited ti to act.
Adrian remained silent where he stood, not wanting to disturb the professionals at work. For a brief while, everything looked like it would be ok. His hope was quickly dashed. No matter what the dical team did, Evelynn’s heart rate continued to fall. He watched on as the monitor stilled, and with it, the rise and fall of her chest.
They had failed.
Evelynn Blackwood passed away at 4:03 pm, October 23rd. She never woke up.
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