Love In Twenty And Five

DAY SIXTEEN AND SEVENTEEN

Judie succeeded in sneaking Mike out of the hospital that evening. It was an odd mixture of fear and excitement; fear that they would get caught and excitement at the thought of seeing Eden.

But he didn't see Eden.

They arrived at her home that evening to the disappointing news of her absence. She was with Philip, her grandmother had informed them. Then, she offered to host Mike while Judie spent the evening with Henry.

Highly uncomfortable, and desiring to return to his sick bed so he could mourn his miserable life, Mike reluctantly agreed.

"So, are you married?" Lynette made her way to him carrying two glasses of wine in her hands. Handing a glass to him, she settled on the couch beside his wheelchair and turned to stare at him through her glasses.

"I was married." He nodded in appreciation, taking a sip of his wine. Again, he was disappointed it didn't contain alcohol. He had been hoping to use the alcohol to numb his highly overactive emotions. Maybe he was starting to go crazy due to his lack of alcohol? Maybe it explained his highly annoying desire to see Eden.

"Divorced?"

He turned to Lynette then, seeing the resemblance between her and Eden. While her hair was completely grey, and her lips a little thinner than Eden's, both women had blue eyes, pointy noses, oval faces, and quite a flair for digging into other people's businesses. A flair he decided there and then, that he liked. Lynette didn't ask about his personal life because she was looking for some dirt on him, she asked because she cared. And so did Eden.

Eden showed up on that bridge that evening to stop him from killing himself, because she cared. She found his apartment and forced him back to work, because she cared. She brought up Maddie so many times because she cared.

Taking yet another sip of his wine that did nothing to calm his nerves, he shook his head. "She died... And so did our little girl."

Lynette frowned. "Must have been tough. I remember when my Joseph died. I've spent the last thirty years missing him."

"You have?"

"Oh, of course. You never stop missing a loved one that's dead. It's always the toughest when you have to do something you used to do together, all alone."

"The pain doesn't go away." He drained his cup.

Lynette shook her head. "It doesn't..." She sighed and placed her cup on the table. Turning fully to him, she said, "when Eden was a little girl, her mother left. She was about four at the time, and I had to raise her all by myself. I was a little old, and I desired nothing else but to enjoy my retirement, and move to an island somewhere where we're allowed to move around naked." She laughed. "All of that went down the drain when my silly daughter dumped a four year old on my doorstep. Needless to say, we were both frustrated. Neither of us took the news very well, and Eden, well, it was harder on her. She would act out and throw a tantrum... She hurt herself throwing one of those tantrums. It required going to the emergency room and getting the injury stitched... Worst night of my life. I cried myself to sleep. I woke up the next morning and there was blood everywhere. Can you imagine my shock? Turns out Eden had ripped the bandage off, as well as the stitches and we had to return to the hospital... Three times! It was an old wound, but my little girl didn't let the darn thing heal. Spent a fortune treating her." She sighed. "But I did learn something; a wound doesn't heal unless you let it. You keep ripping that band aid out, and picking on those stitches and it'll never heal. But you give it time, endure the pain, and endure the process? It does heal, Mike. And all that'll be left would be a scar, a scar that's got a background story. Pretty cool scar if you ask me."