Begin Again novel Chapter 217

Lois grabbed her shoulders and shook her hard. "Eden!"

"Listen to me!" Clarke added in a gentler tone. "Liam is going to be okay. The surgery was a success. I told you he's a stubborn oaf. He'll be okay."

It took her frazzled brain a second or two to register his words, and once they'd sunk in, Eden couldn't contain her tears. She broke down and howled, her anguish and fears and heartache flowing out of her, leaving her empty and drained.

"I thought—I thought—You were crying so much, I thought—" She stammered, unable to say the unthinkable.

"I was crying so much because I'm so relieved. My baby is going to be fine," Lois said as she looked through her bag for tissues. When she couldn't find any, she snapped her fingers at the brothers to hand over one of their handkerchiefs.

Julian did the honours, and Eden dabbed her eyes and threw Brenda's rosary around her neck.

"He's still heavily sedated, and they're moving him to the ICU so they can monitor him closely over the next day or two." Lois continued.

Clarke jumped in. "He's not out of danger yet. So don't stop praying for him."

"Okay," Eden nodded quickly. "Can we see him?"

She knew it was highly unlikely, but she desperately wanted to see Liam with her own eyes, even if it was only for a minute, just to make sure the worst was truly behind them.

Clarke patted her hand gently. "Sure we can. Very briefly, though. And only two people can go in at a time."

"Okay," Eden smiled. "Let's go. Let's go see him."

They had to wait another hour, though, before the nurses in the intensive care unit would allow them inside Liam's private room.

Willow and Holly went in first and spent a few minutes with him while Eden was on a call with Brenda.

The nanny and Dave and the rest of the housekeeping staff were still up, keeping vigil. They were all relieved when she told them the surgery had gone well.

"Is Aiden still sleeping?" Eden asked.

"He hasn't stirred since I tucked him in."

"Give him two kisses for me. One from me and another from his father," Eden said before they clicked off.

Liam's sisters were already leaving when she returned from making her call.

She'd only met them twice before, and both times she'd sensed they don't like her, tracing their disdain to their first meeting at La Famiglia when she admitted she buys sales rack dresses. So she was understandably stunned out of her mind by their display of affection when they paused and hugged her briefly.

"Take care of him for me," Holly said, and without any prompting on Eden's part, she filled her in on her travel schedule for the next month. Her ballet company would be performing abroad for the next several weeks, so she'd be out of the country for a while.

"I had to see him before I left, and now that I know he'll be okay, and he has you and Aiden, I can leave with my heart a little lighter."

"Of course. Good luck with your tour." Eden smiled and carried on her way, but Willow stopped her.

"Liam will kill me when he wakes up and finds out I tried to poach you. But Dad can't stop singing your praises, and I'm always looking for new talent. Call me when you're ready to hang your paintings at Fugue!" She slipped her business card in her palm and pranced off.

Eden stared at the card and then back at Willow as she vanished through the doors.

It was surreal how all these opportunities kept falling on her lap. But then again, Liam could just be her lucky charm. Since she came back and ran into him, the odds seemed to be always in her favour.

Still dazzled by Willow's offer, she hurriedly made her way back to the ward, startled to find the brothers lounging on the bench and Liam's parents now inside with him.

"What's that?" Julian asked.

Without waiting for her reply, he snatched the card and made a barfing face. "A business card? How showy!"

"Why are you surprised?" Matthew drawled as he took the card from him. "She was always pretentious as fuck, even back when we were little!"

"Hey," Eden scolded them. "That's your cousin. Be nice."

"You don't know Willow." Julian shuddered in disgust. "She eats babies for breakfast."

"Not funny," Eden groaned. "I have a small baby, you know."

And another one on the way, she added to herself as she touched her tummy, wondering if her baby was doing okay with all the stress and high drama of the day.

She still found it incredible she's pregnant, and she wasn't on an implant like she'd believed for two years.

She wondered now if Liam would be upset with her. After all, he'd just found out about Aiden, and now she was about to saddle him with another baby—

"—Liam won't be happy with that," Matthew said, returning the business card to her.

Eden leaned on the wall when a wave of exhaustion crashed down on her hard. She yawned and rubbed her eyes, determined to drive the sandman away. "He'll be too focused on his recovery. He won't even notice. How's he doing, by the way? Is he conscious now?"