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Reconciled?- Chapter 9

The soft beeps of the monitor's around Lumina were slowly driving her crazy. She felt as if with each beep, there was less of a chance of Eve waking up. The doctor's had assured her that she was stable, but Lumina just couldn't get herself to believe it.

She hadn't slept a wink since last night, and it was easily 4 am by now. Another few hours and she would have to go to work. An audible groan escaped her lips just as a nurse entered the room. The young man went over Eve's vitals, making sure everything was normal before looking over to the disheveled Lumina. "You know, it could be a while before she wakes up, you should really get some rest." His raspy voice resonated through the room, but Lumina refused to take the advice.

"Thanks, but I'd rather not." She said rather rudely, clearly more concerned with the sleeping cat than the medical professionals. Who is he to give advice anyways? She thought, He clearly smokes a pack a day, he should probably focus on that instead of my sleeping habits. She snorted at her own joke and rolled her eyes. The nurse made a quiet exit from the room, seemingly beginning to understand how intense Lumina was about her best friend. "Eve, I'd really appreciate it if you could just wake up." She spoke out loud, hoping, by some miracle, that she could hear her.

Hours passed and Lumina still sat next to her unstirring friend. She'd made the call to work about the accident and not being able to make it in. Lumina was sure she'd have to make it up to Luther somehow, that is, if she wanted to keep her position.

The bed underneath her arms grew softer with each passing moment, and Lumina found it increasingly harder to stay awake. Her eyes began to blur as she looked to the clock, once again overwhelmed by the amount of time it had been since Eve's surgery. The ticking, beeping, and echoes from people talking in the hall soon became Lumina's lullaby, sleep was finally taking over. It wasn't long before Lumina's head was firmly planted on the scratchy hospital sheets and a slight snore escaped her lips.

Soon after, Eve's green eyes fluttered open, taking in the bright hospital lights and beige walls. Her ears twitched, almost in time with the monitor's surrounding her, the noise harsh to hear after just waking up. A long yawn came over her, helping her shake some of the grogginess. The pressure on the side of the bed gave Eve a pretty good guess as to where her friend sat. "Loomy?" She said, her voice hoarse and crackly. Her hand reached out, nudging Lumina gently, hoping to stir her awake. It would take more than that to wake the sleeping beast that lay next to her. Eve rolled her eyes, unsurprised by her friend's death-like sleep. "Lumina!" She 'yelled' as best as she could and shook her harder.

"What?!" The raccoon shot up, her voice coming out loud and rather annoyed. It took a moment or two, but, eventually she recovered, looking over to Eve with wide eyes and excitement replacing the annoyance. "Evelynn Roxanne Adira! Don't you ever scare me like that again."

Eve let out a small chuckle, clenching her newly bandaged wound on her stomach in pain as she did so. "Sorry, I'll try not to get stabbed." Her smile lingered for a moment more, before fading into the solemn realization that she had been stabbed by a person she thought she loved. She continuously had to remind herself, over and over, that he had stabbed her...and ran.

Lumina watched as her friend began to spiral into her own thoughts, and even took a moment herself, to try and understand. Placing a hand on Eve's shoulder, she met her gaze, "I don't know what you're going through, but I'm not going anywhere. And I won't push you anymore about who you are with. Though I will still voice my opinion."

"I'm not going back." Eve's voice cracked as she spoke, but she meant every word. She refused to let herself back into his trap once more. "Loomy?" Eve took another moment before she found the courage to speak the words she should've said long ago, "I'm not going back." Her fingers twisted the large diamond that still rested on her finger. Even after all he'd put her through, she still felt affection, tears welled up in her eyes as she thought of everything they'd been through together. The only way she could stay strong is by thinking, over and over, he doesn't love me, he stabbed me, he used me, manipulated me.

Lumina couldn't help the smile on her face as Eve first spoke the words, but it faded as she saw the pain her friend was experiencing. "Eve, I know that it's not easy for you to see right now, but it's the right decision, and I'll be here for everything."

"I hate how happy that makes you." Eve said with the tiniest of smiles behind her sad eyes. She was in so much pain, both mentally and physically and here she was, with a smile on her face. Like a five year old on christmas, she couldn't help her grin.

Eve thought back to that night, when Eric had re-entered her life, how he showed her the calls on his phone. "I have a feeling that I know the answer, but did you call Eric asking him to take me back and get me out of your hair?"

Lumina glared over at her friend, the smile falling from her face, "Now why on earth would I say something like that?"

Eve sighed, her suspicions confirmed, "I don't know why I believed him." Tears flooded to spill over and down the cat's face, but she held them back.

Lumina moved closer to her friend, rubbing Eve's shoulder in comfort, "Eve, it's okay. In some messed up way, he loved you, and you loved him. It's okay to still have those feelings."

A short knock on the door interrupted Lumina's thoughtful, but painful, words, and a nurse walked in. Her smile was warm and welcoming, someone clearly fit for a job in healthcare.

She was a small mouse and her voice came out in a bit of squeak, "It's nice to officially meet you, Evelynn, how're you feeling?"

Eve nodded, somehow hoping that it answered the question.

"That's good," The woman spoke, not missing a beat, "I'm Mary and I'm your primary nurse for your stay here, okay?"

"And how long will my stay be?" Her voice was hoarse from holding back tears, but she managed to hold it together.

"Well, that depends on a few things. Now that you're awake, we'll be able to better guess, but the Doctor will want to keep an eye on how your wound is healing, monitor your organs- there are a few minor knicks from the stabbing, but overall you're in pretty good shape. So, as long as things look good, your stay won't be too long." A short breath broke the woman's monologue, "I'm going to grab the doctor so he can go over everything with you." She turned towards the door, before stopping once more, "One more thing- there are some police officers waiting to talk to you about the stabbing. It's hospital policy to notify the authorities of any harmful behaviors."

Eve felt blood rush from her face, the idea of Eric getting in trouble scaring her. She may not want to keep herself around him, but she didn't want to see him incarcerated either. Her thoughts were spinning out of control before she felt that familiar squeeze on her shoulder once more. Goosebumps ran up Eve's spine and down her arms, causing her thick fur to stick up all over her body.

"You don't have to talk to them right now, it can wait. They're just trying to do their job, so don't freak yourself out." Lumina's words were smooth as honey, the idea of police not phasing her in the slightest.

"Okay." The nurse waited a moment, waiting on confirmation of what exactly to do.

"Send them now, there's no point waiting." Eve said, her voice wavering slightly.

The nurse nodded, running out of the room in a flash.

It didn't take too long before two large men joined the girls. One a Black and brown shepherd, the other a clydesdale. Both are intimidating as hell.

Eve's hands trembled with nerves, but Lumina's grasp, now on her hand, remained strong.

"Hello...I'm officer Clyde and this is officer Wilson, we just have a few questions for you about the incident involving your stabbing and the subsequent death of Eric Walker."

There was a small snicker between the girls at the announcement of such an unfortunate name, but they regained their composure quickly.

Her body went numb, and the tears that had threatened to spill over, now flowed down her face, "Death? What do you mean? How did he die?" Eve's gaze moved to her friend, searching for any clues as to what happened, but Lumina just shook her head, just as shocked by the news.

"That's what we're trying to figure out, ma'am." The Clydsdale's grey mane beside the young, bright eyes of the Shepherd, made it clear who the senior officer was. The two stepped forward, and looked to Lumina, "Would you mind stepping outside?"

"Please, let her stay." the words blurted from Eve's mouth before either of them had fully processed the question.

The younger of the two stepped forward, shaking his head, but the horse put out a hand before her could speak, "Whatever makes you the most comfortable." They pulled the door shut behind them and took the remaining seats inside the small room.

"Now, would you mind explaining the events leading up to the stabbing?"

Eve went on, sharing every possible detail she could think of from that night, combing her brain for anything that might indicate what had happened to her ex-fiance.

"Would you say that you may have provoked this behavior of his?"

"Excuse me?" Lumina butted in, unable to bite her tongue for a moment, "Are you trying to imply that this was her fault? Eric was an unstable piece of shit, who drank all the time. Eve was just trying to help her friend and he came knocking on my door swinging a knife and..."

"Ma'am, please." She was cut off by the dog, his stern gaze making it clear she wasn't to speak again.

"We're just trying to gather information. No one is on trial here, just tell the truth and we'll get out of your hair quickly." The good cop/bad cop vibe, as cliche as it may have been, was very clear between the two standing in front of them. And damn were they good at it.

"You want honesty? I don't even know how Eric knew where I was. I came straight from work- left early to make sure everything was okay." the blue cat looked small in contrast to the tall men, "Whatever happened, yeah, I would say that the news I was with Lumina would have triggered him."

The men exchanged glances, making notes in the little flip books they held in their hands.

"But." Eve continued, "He had to have been drinking long before he found out where I was. I was only at your house for what, an hour? Maybe two? I was on my way out when he showed up."

"So this was something that occurred frequently?"

"Yeah, I mean, he drank a lot."

"Okay...so can you tell us who else was there that night?"

"Lumina," Eve answered, motioning to the girl at her side, "And Kris."

"Can we get some last names, please?"

"Lumina Sinclair and Kris Thompson."

"Alright..just a few more questions... were any of you emotionally unstable that night, that may have caused you to act irrationally?"

"What do you mean?" Eve's brow furrowed, "I was there to help a struggling friend and Lumina was at wit's end."

"Okay-" he trailed off, looking down at his notebook, double checking his notes, "Do either of you know of anyone who may have wanted Eric dead?"

Eve spoke up, "No..as far as I knew he didn't talk to anyone besides me."

"No drug dealers, sketchy friends, violent people that you ever knew?"

"No, really, if he was doing drugs...he did a really good job of hiding it from me. I really just knew him as a drinker."

"And what were the order of events after you were stabbed?"

"Honestly? I have no idea. I passed out almost immediately. Just remember seeing the shocked look on Eric's face."

Lumina stepped in, hoping to provide the insight they were looking for, "After he stabbed her, he cried like a little bitch, saying stuff about not being able to get involved with the police right now and ran out. I called 9-1-1 and Kris and I waited with Eve until they got there. They loaded Eve up on a stretcher and took her in the ambulance. Kris left to take the bus back to her dorm and I drove to the hospital. I waited a while for Eve to get out of surgery."

A low "Mhmm" escaped Clyde's long snout, "How long was Eve in surgery? How long would you say you were waiting?"

She thought for a moment, wanting to be as accurate as possible, "A few hours? Maybe? Why?"

"Can anyone vouch for your time spent here waiting?"

"I..uh..maybe? Everyone was working. There was a nurse that updated me every so often..but other than that, no."

Eve sat up a little, her eyes wide with frustration, "Is she a suspect? Seriously? She saved my life! Get out. I don't want you here anymore."

"Relax, we're just about done here."

The beeping of Eve's monitor grew, as did her anger, "I SAID GET OUT!"

"Could we just get a phone number to get a hold of you all if we have any more questions?"

"OUT!"

The beeping had grown incessantly loud, and the nurse from before barged in, "Excuse me, I'm going to need you to leave, you're upsetting my patient. Now." Her voice was stern, and seemed to have much more of an affect on the two officers,

"Thank you for your time." They nodded, and quickly made their exit. They would have to continue their investigation some other time.

Mary approached Eve, a calming tone taking over her stern one, "Dear, I need you to calm down..." She went about checking vitals, reaching for an oxygen mask on the chance that Eve couldn't calm herself down.

It took a little while, but Eve did manage to calm herself down. She couldn't even fathom the audacity that they had had while she lay in a hospital bed, trying to recover. Mary made her way out of the room once more, leaving the two besties alone once more.

Silence creeped into the room while each girl gathered their thoughts, stress making it impossible to voice what they were feeling. At least for a little while.

"Lumina?"

"Yeah?"

The words cut through like ice in the empty room, "You didn't kill him did you?"

The raccoon's face began to change. Stress shifted to pain and hints of betrayal began to show. "Do you really think I hated him that much? That I hated you that much?"

"No..that's not what I meant...I know you wouldn't kill him because of your feelings...and maybe it was an accident...and I wouldn't blame you if you had...I just, I need to know."

"No...I didn't kill him." Lumina stood, stretched, and walked to the edge of the room, "I'm going to grab some food, get some air...Okay? Do you need anything?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."

"It's okay, Eve, just get some rest."

The pain was clear in Lumina's face as she exited the room, leaving Eve with her thoughts alone. The regret flooded her mind, she had just wanted the truth. To some, it would seem she got what she wanted.