January 21st 2011 – At the Clinic

All they could do now was wait. The treatment itself had been successful in that the tumour had shrunk, if not disappeared. But Eve had suffered horrendous side effects. Vomiting, temperature, breathing difficulties, irregular heart rhythm, you name it, Eve had it. And she had been so weak before they’d even started on her. The only saving grace was that Dr Gottlieb had told Tom, that if Eve regained consciousness, the prognosis would be good. She should be out of the woods.

The little girl was in a private room, way up on one of the top floors. It was very modern, all glass wall to ceiling, with an automatic sliding door. Lying flat on a huge bed, Eve was dwarfed by all the machinery monitoring her. And she had been unconscious for nearly three days now.

The doctors and nurses all spoke to them in hushed tones. Little smiles of compassion told a tale in themselves. The medical community wasn’t giving them much of a chance. But as Chloe never stopped reminding him, where there’s life there’s hope.

It had been a blizzard outside. Nothing like what passed for a snowstorm back home. But once it had stopped Chloe had decided to go for a walk round the block to grab a coffee, and try and clear her mind.

Tom was sitting on a metal-framed chair, staring vacantly out at the corridor. He could see the nurses’ station in the distance. The vicar or whatever he was stood leaning over the counter having some sort of conversation with them.

He could see his little girl’s bed reflected in the glass of the wall. And he could also see his own image. Tom thought he looked a little different, probably exhaustion. His reflection showed a marked line snaking right across his forehead. Tom presumed it was a strand of hair. He started to reach up to brush it away, when he heard a groan from behind.

Jumping to his feet he was by his daughter’s bedside in the blink of an eye. Eve’s eyes fluttered open and she turned her head towards him. Her mouth opened but nothing came out.

The little girl swallowed and this time Tom could hear. It was just a single word.

“Father…”

What no daddy! But Tom’s heart leapt through the roof. Eve smiled and spoke again but in a stronger voice, more like a woman’s than that of a little girl. Her eyes had moved from her daddy and they were looking towards the corridor.

“Forgive them. For they know not what they do.”

On the other side of the glass wall, the priest reached for his phone.