The nurse noticed the small spike in Evelyn's voice, but she was used to breaking bad news to the relatives of patients.
"He is stable and out of ICU. Unfortunately he is in a coma, and the doctor can't say when he will wake up."
Evelyn was assailed by sadness and disappointment, but she tried not to show it.
"Alright, thank you. I will come to the hospital as soon as I can."
Evelyn hung up weakly, and remembered the time spent together with the man now at the hospital.
Their strolls hand in hand, the love in the eyes they used to look at each other with.
After Evelyn hung up, she inhaled deeply to push away the sadness that was trying to take some space from the resentment she couldn't do away with even after all those years. A resentment mixed with hope.
She left the toilet she had gone into to take the call and returned to her desk.
At the end of the afternoon, she left the office at the same time as everyone else and went to take her son from his school.
Seeing him leave the school compound with lowered head and a depressed face, she hid everything in her heart behind a smile and went to crouch in front of him:
"What is troubling my little champion?"
"Nothing."
Evelyn looked at the parents around, with some kids looking at Jason and her in disdain, before smiling at her son after turning to him once again:
"Alright, even if it's nothing, we can't let the man of the house stay depressed. Tonight I will cook your favorite food for dinner. You must make sure to tell mom how good it is later."
"Yay! Let's go, mom."
Jason's depression was swept away. He tried to pull his mother to go back faster, but the latter stopped him and asked softly:
"What did I tell you about the behavior to have outside?"
Jason immediately stopped and lowered his head:
"No running around. I must be careful and pay attention. I should not be reckless, and… and…" Jason raised a finger to his lips as he made every effort to avoid disappointing his mother.
Under her encouraging gaze and patient smile, he had an eureka moment:
"And even if I'm happy or angry, I must not lose my composure."
Evelyn ruffled the dark hair in approval, and said:
"Alright. Then let's go, but this time don't try too hard to pull me, and make sure to look at where you are going."
"Alright, mom, let's go. And you can't take away your promise."
"How can I do that to my little man?"
She tucked her hair behind her ear and walked away with the small hand in hers.
The single mother ignored the looks around and left with her son with a gentle and affectionate smile full on her face.
Once home, she cleaned him up, and they didn't take long to finish eating. She spent some time with her son, before stopping in front of the door, as she was about to go out once again:
"I'm leaving. Be a good boy, okay?"
"Yes, mom."
"What must you do after I leave?"
Jason raised his hand like a little soldier and started listing the rules:
"I must do my homework before I can watch TV. At half past eight, I must go to bed after checking all the locks. A good kid doesn't stay up late, and Jason is a good and sensible boy."
Evelyn smiled with pride, but also with a bit of sadness, before she messed with his hair:
"Yes, Jason is a good and sensible boy. I will be a little late because I have to visit someone at the hospital after work, so don't worry about me, alright?"
"Is someone you know sick?"
"Yes."
Evelyn looked at the innocent and curious face and added inwardly:
'Your father.'
Jason put a finger on his lips and thought fiercely before making a concession:
"Then you can take care of that person, mom. Don't worry about me."
"How can I not worry? I will come back as soon as I can. What is the last rule?"
"No matter what happens, I must not open the door. If there is a problem, I must call you, or the police if I can't reach you."
After an exchange of hugs and kisses, Evelyn locked the door and left for her second job at the bar.
At 10 PM, Evelyn arrived at the hospital and went to the room Damien had been put in after asking around.
Inside, she saw him on the bed. His face was covered by bandages, making her have trouble recognizing him, even more so because of the years apart.
She was looking at him in hesitation when she noticed what he was holding in his hand.
Her eyes turned misty, as she got some validation for the thought she had held onto for the last few years. She recollected herself when she heard footsteps coming in.
She turned around and saw the doctor from yesterday entering. He was also surprised to see her, but not so much.
"You are here to see your relative?"
"Hm."
The doctor saw her looking at the hand of the comatose man, and commented:
"He had been holding that wallet since he got into the ambulance. Even with the anesthesia, nobody managed to pry it from him. After all, we can't break his fingers or cut them off just for that."
The doctor joked a bit, and went to take the patient's file to start the last check before he ended his shift.
Evelyn looked at the wallet and asked in confusion:
"Then, how did you get my number yesterday?"
"Oh, you must be Evelyn Softsnow then?"
"Yes?"
The doctor understood the hesitation, as it was normal to feel suspicious that he knew about her:
"We struggled to pull the ID card out of the wallet. It happened to look obvious, so we pulled it out of the wallet and managed to recognize the patient despite his younger look in the old photo, and the wounds on his face. It was a bit memorable, so we kind of remembered a bit of the irrelevant information about the patient."
Evelyn got closer and touched the wallet with her finger. She was stunned that Damien still kept it.
She looked at the bandaged face, and the smile she thought that she forgot came out of her dusty memories. That slight smile that showed the softness beneath the taciturn shell.
"What happened to him?"
Six years of absence, only to find him like that was making her unsure of what to feel. At the very least, the small relief she was feeling inside could not be fake.