Desperate Lies

Chapter 19 (Trigger Warning)

A/N: Mentions of the miscarriage and the aftermath, and the eating disorder, but nothing too drastic.

After what seemed like hours of talking to the doctors, talking to the police, and Chris having to call various members of the band to explain that he would need to take some time off from writing, Chris and Eve finally got to go home.

Eve leaned back against the headrest and gazed out the window, looking like she had completely checked out. This was probably the most worried for her that Chris had ever been; he heavily feared that this would send Eve spiraling back into her eating disorder, or potentially even trigger something worse.

"Talk to me," Chris finally says, "What's on your mind?"

Eve blinks, as if to be coming back to reality at the sound of Chris's voice. She pauses for a moment, then sighs.

"It's probably for the best," Eve says, quietly, "We wouldn't have been ready, and I was never really sure if I ever wanted kids. I know it wasn't on your agenda."

"You're still allowed to be sad."

Eve nods, "Thanks," She says, nearly at a whisper.

They pause again.

"Do you think they'll find him?" Eve asks, referring to Paul.

"He couldn't have gone far," Chris says.

"And what do we do if they do find him?" Eve asks.

"If you still wanna file a lawsuit, I know some good lawyers."

Eve nods.

Chris sighs, "I'm sorry," He says, "We should have been more careful, I - "

"Stop, it's not your fault. I shouldn't have given my dad even an ounce of trust again."

"It's not your fault either, Eve. It's his."

Eve again just nods. She pauses again, unsure if she should ask the question that was on her mind, but she just couldn't help herself from wondering what could have been.

"Do you think we could have made it work?" Eve asks, "I mean, I know it would have been...difficult, and...terrifying, but..."

"Hmmm..." Chris thinks for a moment, "I think that...given all the other difficult things that we've gone through together, it probably would have been the icing on the cake. I can't say that I know what exactly we would have done, but...we would have figured something out."

Eve nods.

"It's probably not healthy for you to dwell on that though," Chris continues, "I mean...of course you can be sad and of course you can grieve, but..."

Eve just nods again.

They arrive back at the house and Chris helps Eve out of the car. Her leg where Paul had kicked her wasn't broken, but it was sprained and the doctors recommended that Eve stay off of it and keep it elevated for the next couple of days. Along with having been kicked in the abdomen, miscarriages in general were at times painful, with abdominal pain that the doctors warned could last a couple of days - potentially more since Eve had literally been kicked in the gut. Since Eve was only six weeks into her pregnancy, the doctors didn't think the pain should last too long, but told her to keep her primary care provider posted.

Eve also hadn't been able to hear out of her left ear since Paul had hit her across the face with a hard back notebook. She'd scheduled a separate doctor's appointment later in the week to get this looked at, but the doctor at the hospital was pretty sure she'd lost hearing in that ear permanently.