He Came Back

Ch. 16

Hospitals always made Kim feel weird. Like she was sterile herself; uncomfortable, displaced, completely lost. She instinctively clung to her mom, reminding herself of a child. But, it didn't matter much at this point. Dr. Gleason was talking to Peg about things to do with Edward, so Kim zoned into her own thoughts. The last time she had been this worried, this scared, was probably with Jim. And then again after Edward and that Christmas. It brought back things that she had tried to bury, hiding how much she missed Edward. Trying to mourn over Jim. Just trying to move on.

And suddenly Peg and Dr. Gleason stopped.

Kim looked up at them.

"So, how long have you known Edward?" Gleason asked as she pressed 10 in the elevator.

Kim stared blankly at her. Snapping back into reality, she sighed. "I... I uh, I met him in high school. He lived with us for a while."

"High school?" Gleason blurted out. She instantly covered her mouth.

Kim stuttered out a small response. "He's always looked young..."

They stepped out onto Edward's floor.

Kim instantly slinked to her mom's side, finding the strange white walls and the weird amount of space very unnatural. Plus, the machines on this level were bigger, and were threatening to Kim in a way.

"What happened after?" Gleason asked.

Kim stopped. "Things didn't work out, you know, and um, well we decided that it was best if he goes back to where he came from."

"And that's the mansion on the hill, right?"

Kim looked up at Gleason, then at Peg. Guilt flooded Peg.

"Yeah... yeah the mansion." Kim said quietly.

"I remember hearing something about that... when I was in high school myself." Gleason muttered.

They stopped again, this time in front of a large door. Kim suddenly wanted to throw up. Behind the door was Edward. And he made it snow. For her.

What would she say to Robin? What if she began to love Edward again.

Gleason was opening the door.

Now or never.

Kim looked down and her feet were moving. Into the room. The patterned tile changed into plain white.

Her eyes traced up and she didn't have time to react. Her heart was already breaking.

She practically fell into her mother's arms.

Edward.

That wasn't Edward in the bed. That broken, fragile, dying, leather-clad figure wrapped in a hospital gown and loads of pads, IVs, and tubes that had his weak eyes closed and his chest rising as slowly as ever, with his hands wrapped in casts and his leg in an intricate brace, gauze wrapped around his head, was not Edward. Edward had a spark about him, this life and air that wasn't like any other person in the world. Edward's small but sweet smile, his endless eyes, and his glimmering hands always moving, separated him from any one else Kim had ever met. And it broke her to see Edward like this. He didn't deserve it. He never could have done anything to deserve it. The world seemed to love hurting Edward.

Gleason put her arm on Kim's shaking shoulder, trying to comfort her as best as she could. How close could Kim and Edward have been?

"Don't worry, he just dozed off. We gave him a large dose of morphine for his wounds. He'll be awake once he gets used to the effects of the drug."