Eddie ~Paul McCartney Fanfiction~

Chapter 30: Misery

September 2nd, 1961

''You are discharged, Miss Lennon. Good luck from now on...'' 

The words of doctor Lawson kept resonating in Eddies mind as she silently sat on the edge of her bed, her right hand clasping the handle of her small blue suitcase laying beside her and the other resting over her lower abdomen, still waiting for her new dose of painkillers to take effect. Her scar she was left with from her surgery wasn't completely healed. Shoulders curved inwards, she couldn't get her gaze off the pale grey linoleum floor, feeling the eyes of other patients on her...at least the ones of those who were not as poorly as her when she was first wheeled in the ward, almost lifeless after a rushed visit to the operating theatre. 

Eddie couldn't remember how many days it took her to finally be lucid enough to understand where she was and to remember the action she took that put her in this predicament. From this day on, she thought about it every second she was awake.  Before finding their way in her suitcase, carefully placed over her folded nightgowns, the numerous cards containing heartfelt 'Get Well' messages were placed on her bedside table. They were left during the countless visits she received from Mimi, John and Paul. Even Jim, Cynthia, George, Pete and surprisingly, Richard, dropped by for a visit. Eddie had guessed her brother strongly advised them to do so, but was grateful nonetheless. Sadly, any of them could help putting Eddie's agitated mind at ease for more than 30 minutes. At the second they stepped out of the ward, all the bad memories would come back and hunt her. 

Hearing some indiscreet whispers coming from the back of the large room. Eddie's head rose up to look in the direction where those breathy sounds where coming from. Two pupil nurses, distinguishable by the pale mint color of their uniform instead of the usual lilac of the qualified ones, where bent over the matron's desk, hiding their mouths behind their hands. Both of them quickly turned on their heels, pretending other patients needed assistance when they saw Eddie was watching them.

What pushed Doctor Lawson to lie about how she got to the hospital with a moderate case of sepsis and a perforated womb was a mystery to Eddie, but she rapidly found out he was fooling no one. Even though nothing was said out loud, they knew what she has done. She wasn't the first one in there, victim of some backstreet abortionist, but unlike many of them, she survived. She never questioned her family about why she was not reprimanded in any way by law. Not seeing the police coming in to interrogate her or worse, arrest her for the criminal act she was guilty of made her stay silent about it, afraid they would eventually come if she said something, confessed anything.

''Eddie, love! You've already packed your bag?'' Questioned Mimi, having barely entered the ward. Her niece turned around at the sound of her voice. She nodded, smiling faintly. The quicker she was out of this place, the better she would be...or so she thought. 

***

''We better hurry back home before Mimi and Ed comes back. I don't want to miss her face when she'll walk in and see all of us.'' Smiled Paul as he and his best friend stepped out of a bakery on Russel street. The commute was a bit long from Woolton, but Mimi insisted the boys to get a Battenburg cake from this precise establishment. Holding the white box by the string used to tie it shut, John, reached in his pocket with his free hand and pulled out his pack of cigarettes. ''Can I have one cig too?'' Asked Paul, patting the front and back of his trousers, realizing he forgot his at home. John nodded, throwing him the pack in a high ark, compensating for the short distance between them. After catching it, Paul pulled two cigarettes and put one in John's mouth before doing the same with his. The elder then passed his light to his friend who lit both of their cigarettes. John winked behind his black-framed glasses as a thank you. ''Let's go then.'' He pointed to the left for the right direction to take.