Chapter 20
The scans revealed that Annie hadn’t suffered a head injury, news that made both Eve and Nigel weak with relief. She had some deep lacerations to her face, extensive bruising and swelling, as well as a broken nose and fractured jaw.
‘Will they be able to make her look like she did before?’ Nigel’s eyes searched Eve’s face as he waited for her answer and she knew she couldn’t lie to him, because he’d be able to see the truth in her expression.
‘They’re going to realign the bones and use small metal plates to stabilise the fractures in her jaw while they are healing, which will probably remain there permanently.
They’ll repair the deeper laceration and, once the swelling has gone down, we should get a far clearer picture, but it will be a long time before Annie looks like herself again. ’
That was as close to honest as Eve was prepared to go.
She had no way of knowing just how long-lasting the impact of her injuries would be.
Annie was having an open reduction and internal fixation surgery and whilst it was undoubtedly the best option for her, there was no guarantee that it would restore her face to exactly the same shape it had been before.
Some patients could suffer permanent changes in appearance and if Annie got an infection after the operation that could be catastrophic to the chances of recovering her previous appearance.
Nigel didn’t need to hear that when he was already terrified, so Eve didn’t mention any of those possibilities; reinforcing the positives instead.
‘The main thing is that she’s stable and there are no life-threatening concerns. All of Annie’s injuries are fixable.’
‘I know and I’m incredibly grateful to whoever or whatever it was that answered my prayers.
’ Nigel pressed his hands together, as if he was going to start praying again.
‘But I know the first thing she’s going to want to do when she’s well enough is to see Max and you know what he’s like… He’s not going to hold back.’
‘I know.’ Eve put a hand on Nigel’s shoulder. ‘But let’s not worry about that for now.’
‘Okay.’ He placed his hand on top of hers. ‘Thanks, Evie. I don’t know what I would have done without you. I don’t know what any of us would have done without you these past couple of years.’
‘I don’t know what I would have done without all of you either.
’ When losing Annie had seemed like a possibility, and no one had known the true extent of her injuries, Eve had been every bit as terrified as Nigel.
Annie was the closest thing she had to a mother and the thought of losing her had been devastating.
It had brought home once more, just how much Max’s family meant to her and suddenly her decision to tell Annie and Nigel about Felix didn’t seem nearly so clear.
There’d been other difficult decisions to make in the wake of Annie’s accident.
Nigel had wanted to call Lily and let her know what had happened, but Eve’s first thought had been how news like that might affect Lily’s pregnancy.
She was in the early stages and, even though Eve knew it was rare for shock to trigger a miscarriage, it suddenly felt like a risk they didn’t need to take.
In any case, the journey back to the UK in a state of heightened anxiety wouldn’t be good for her or the baby.
She’d figured it would be much better if they waited until they could tell Lily that her mum was going to be okay, but if she didn’t tell Nigel that his daughter was pregnant, he’d never understand why Eve wanted to hold off.
So she’d decided to break the news to him that Lily was expecting a baby and he’d wept like a newborn, a mixture of joy, sadness and fear all rolled into one.
‘I just hope all of this isn’t for nothing,’ he’d said eventually, when he’d finally managed to regain some composure.
‘I hope to God that this accident makes Annie realise that she can’t spend any more time fighting against things she can’t change and that she can find a way to enjoy all the things we have still got and look forward to all the good things that are still to come. ’
‘Me too.’ Eve had never agreed with a sentiment more, but she had no idea if Annie’s accident would be a catalyst for some kind of positive change, or if it would entrench her even further into the bitterness she’d been stuck in since Max’s assault. Only time would tell.
Now, as Eve sat by Annie’s bedside, having ordered Nigel to go home and get some rest, she was still waiting and watching for signs that she was coming round from the surgery and that they could all start to work towards a brighter future.
‘How’s she doing?’ Eve jumped at the sound of Felix’s voice, having not seen him come into the ward.
‘She’s still pretty much out of it, but the operation went well.’ Eve smiled, feeling touched that he’d made the effort to come up and check on Annie.
‘And how about you, how are you coping with it all?’ He was asking the right things, but there was an awkwardness about him, a sort of over-the-top formality, that was so at odds with the way he’d always acted around her before.
Maybe it was because he’d offered to go and speak to Max about what had happened and Nigel had insisted that it should be ‘one of the family’.
Felix hadn’t seemed in the least bit offended, but perhaps it had been a reminder of her bond with Max’s family and Eve had to admit that she might have found it hard to know how to navigate the situation if their roles had been reversed.
She was probably just reading too much into something that wasn’t really anything.
Exhaustion and stress were triggers for that kind of thing, after all.
‘I’m okay. Much better now that I know the surgery went so well.
It’s all been incredibly worrying.’ A sudden thought entered her head.
‘Oh God, I was supposed to be helping out with the food bank at Domusamare tonight, but I’m definitely not going to be able to make it, and I might have to take a break from volunteering until Annie is back on her feet.
Nigel is worried about how Max might react to her injuries, so I’ll probably have to do the majority of visits until she’s strong enough to go, and to deal with any comments he might make about the way she looks. ’
‘Of course, no one would expect you to do anything other than prioritise your family at a time like this.’ The oddly formal tone was still there and Felix seemed colder somehow, almost as if they were strangers.
Was he regretting their relationship suddenly?
He hadn’t pushed her to tell Max’s family about them, saying it needed to be Eve’s decision.
But maybe he’d never wanted her to come clean, and it had been the clandestine nature of being with her that had appealed.
There’d been no expectations of any future when it was something they had to keep to themselves and maybe he’d liked it that way.
What he said next did nothing to reassure her.
‘I’m sure if you wanted to quit altogether, everyone would understand. ’
Was that what he wanted, to sever one of the bonds that had brought them together in the first place? She shook herself, determined not to go down a rabbit hole trying to guess what Felix was thinking. She’d be better off just asking him straight.
‘I don’t want to quit.’ Eve glanced at Annie and then looked back towards Felix. ‘Are you okay? You seem a bit strained.’
‘I’m just worried about you and Max, I suppose, and how all of this might affect him.’
‘Max will be okay.’ Eve sighed, wishing what she was about to say wasn’t true, because it was a horrible reminder of just how much the man she had adored had changed.
‘If things don’t affect Max personally, he’s okay with pretty much anything.
So as long as one of us buys the stuff he wants and takes it in to him, picks up his takeaways and makes sure he can access his streaming services, it won’t stress him out all that much.
As you know, sadly his empathy was one of the things he seemed to lose after the injury, so he won’t be worrying about how much pain Annie is in, only how much her absence might affect him.
As long as Nigel and I can minimise that, he’ll be fine. ’
‘He’s lucky to have you, they all are.’ For the first time there was genuine warmth in Felix’s voice and she desperately wanted him to take a step towards her, to come and hold her and tell her it was all going to be okay. But instead he took a step away.
‘Okay, I’ll leave you to it then, but if there’s anything I can do to support Max while Annie is out of action, I’m happy to help.’
‘Thank you.’ Eve’s voice was small and it felt as if her heart had constricted to a hundredth of its size.
Felix suddenly felt like a stranger, at a time when she desperately needed someone to lean on.
She should have played it safe and kept his friendship, because now she had a horrible feeling she’d lost that too and she needed a friend right now, almost more than she ever had before.
* * *
It had taken a sleepless night before the realisation had hit Eve that she was still surrounded by friends, even if she had lost Felix.
Word had spread quickly about Annie’s accident, and when Eve had eventually given up trying to sleep and got up at 5 a.m.; there’d been texts from Eden, Drew, Isla, Meg, Aidan, Gwen, Esther and Danni.
At just after ten a huge bunch of flowers had arrived from the whole team, and Danni had called to tell her to take as much time off as she needed.
Eve had been incredibly grateful for the offer, but Nigel had decided to stay off work until Annie was released from hospital.
So Eve had told Danni she wanted to come in for her late shift as usual, in case Annie ended up needing more support when she went home and Eve had to take time off then instead.