9Chapter 2
Awakening
White light shined down on Eden while her heart monitor beeped at a steady pace in the background.
Am I dead? She asked herself in thought. She opened her eyes, squinting to get a better look at where she happened to be. Well, if I am, Heaven or Hell turned out to be a hospital. She sat up in her bed, giving herself a little pinch. "Ow!" She said out loud. Ok, so I'm not dead…
A nurse stuck her head in Eden's room. "Are you okay, dear?"
Eden nodded.
"All right. Well, now that you are awake, I'll get the doctor and your Aunt." The nurse smiled and vanished from sight.
Aunt Maggie? Why aren't my parents here to get me? Was that car crash real? She looked up at the ceiling with sad eyes. I want this to just be a dream… Her hand lingered to her neck. She felt the necklace, touching the shape and the crevasses of the small figurine. So this is real... Eden closed her eyes, refusing to cry so easily. Eden, keep strong for me. Her mother's voice echoed in her head. So she opened her eyes determined not to shed a tear, or at least, not right now.
The room was quiet except for the machines and monitors that buzzed on as they continued to work and keep status on their patient.
An older man in a long white coat like the colour of fresh fallen snow entered the room followed by a familiar woman, shorter in height accompanied with soft, brown hair. The woman looked too much like her late mother and Eden felt it was difficult to look in her direction. This woman was none other than Aunt Maggie.
"Hello, Miss Arden. Nice to see you awake." The doctor gave a faint smile for Eden then looked down at his clipboard as he pressed his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose. He flipped over each the page, glancing over all the stats and studying them to come to a conclusion before he spoke out loud. He finally placed the board down on the table. "Well, Miss Arden, it seems that you are quite the little miracle. The crash should have been fatal for all of the passengers, yet you survived it. You managed to escape with only a few cuts and bruises. No complications." The doctor spoke to Eden's Aunt at the same time. "Did as much as we could and I don't see why you couldn't leave whenever you wished."
The doctor stepped aside to talk with Aunt Maggie alone for a moment. When he finished, he said, "Well, I'll leave you to it. There is nothing for you to worry about. Though, I would recommend to clean the cuts every so often and just keep watch that they don't get infected." Then with those final words, the physician left the room, leaving both of them alone in the dull white room.
Aunt Maggie spoke first. "They found that envelope in your pocket. It was the only thing that you had on you." Eden looked over at the table beside her. She reached out for it.
"Oh," She began to speak in coherent sentences for the first time since her awakening. "My mother wanted me to give it to you." She reached out, handing her Aunt the tiny sealed package.
"Thank-you," Maggie replied. "What a pretty necklace you got there."
"Thanks. Mom gave it to me before she…um…" Her voice started to break.
Her aunt cut in. "I know, I know. It's okay."
Eden breathed in.
"I got you some clothes and sandals from the hospital's lost and found. It's only temporary. So how about you get dressed and I get you out of here? I'll buy you breakfast. I heard that the hospital food here is so bad that the flies won't even eat it. That's got to tell you something." Her Aunt joked.
Eden broke into a tiny, broken grin at her Aunt's attempt to make her smile.
Once Eden was dressed and the paperwork was signed, Maggie and Eden walked over to the parking lot and made their way to the car. The blonde haired girl stopped in her tracks, fearing what was parked in front of her.
"Oh dear." Her aunt said to herself. She sighed, turning to face Eden eye to eye. "Sweetie, I know you don't quite like cars after what happened, but you have to overcome it. It's now or never. I promise that I will drive slowly and if you get too bothered, I'll stop. Can you at least try? Will you do that for me?"
Eden nodded. "I know it's irrational." She sighed. "Don't worry about me. I'll be okay." She tried to convince herself too.
Maggie traveled to the driver's side. "Get in." She urged, assuming Eden probably needed a little encouragement.
Both of them got in and automatically placed their seatbelts on. They headed onto the road, going as slow as they could possibly go, just as Aunt Maggie had promised. Yet Eden was still somewhat tense, digging her nails into the fabric of her seat. Her aunt saw her from the corner of her eye and reached out, turning on the radio. The blue-eyed teen listened to the upbeat song, slowly allowing herself to relax. Before she knew it, they had reached their destination at a nearby restaurant.
As they made their way in, they were directed to their seats, choosing a booth near a window. Scanning the menu, both of them searched for what their empty stomachs desired. In time, the waitress came to their table to take their orders.
"Just a glass of orange juice for me." Eden said in a dull tone.
"Dear, at least get something to eat." Maggie urged.
Eden sighed and glanced at her menu and said what her eyes first laid on. "Blueberry pancakes for me then."
"Just eggs and toast for me. Oh yah, and coffee too, please." Maggie requested.
"Sure thing. I'll be back with your orders." The waitress left, leaving them in peace.
"You're one lucky girl," Aunt Maggie said, "surviving something like that. I know you might not want to talk about it but we might as well get this chat out of the way and make things clear between us. Personally, I think I shouldn't have to sugar coat these matters for you. Innocence has completely flown out of the window." She paused, double-checking that her niece was still listening, fearing she was probably being too harsh. She exhaled, trying to put things into perspective gently.
"You should know that your parents chose me to be your guardian, if they should ever past." It wasn't a surprise to Eden. Aunt Maggie was a big part of her life and was nearly the only one who visited her and her parents. Maggie had always been there in her life. "You are old enough now to decide to live on your own. Though, I'm not about to kick you out onto the streets either. You are welcome to live with me if you wish. If you prefer to live with me, I know I can't live up to be like your parents but I will try to do my best to take care of you. So it's really up to you." She clasped her hands together, waiting for Eden's decision to be made.
Eden grimaced at first with her Aunt's bluntness but she nodded, knowing she had a choice. She opened her mouth, deciding to be quite truthful. "Honestly, I don't think I'm ready to live on my own. Sure, there's college. But I, at least, hoped that I would have had more time..." She trailed off, gazing down at her hands. She was going to add: more time to spend with my parents. Yet, it hurt too much to say it out loud. A few strands of blonde hair fell in front of her face.
Maggie leaned over the table. "What are your plans for college anyway? I heard that you took a year off before you went." She leaned back in her seat as the waitress placed their drinks in front of them. Maggie smiled, wrinkles forming at the edge of her mouth and nodded a thank-you.
Eden shuffled in her seat and took a sip of her orange juice before she chose to speak again. "Well, I always knew how tight my parents were for money so I took a year off to work and make enough money to go to school. I've had my heart set on one school in particular and I knew it would be totally out of their price range unless I changed my mind to go to a community college."
"And what school would that be?" Aunt Maggie asked.
Eden's mouth made a straight line but now the smile couldn't contain itself and emerged onto her lips. She had only mentioned it to her parents once and then, several times to her two best friends, Dean and Mel. "Julliard."
Aunt Maggie stopped raising her coffee cup to her mouth as her eyebrows shot up to the top of her forehead. "Holy baby ducks!" She shouted. She nervously as she and Eden noticed some of the customers staring. She flapped her hand, waving at them and then turned her head away. "Wow." She tried to speak in a lower tone. "You've always been an amazing dancer. I'd be surprised if they didn't let you in. Ahhh!" She cheered. "I'm already excited for you. When do you have to send in your application and all that jazz?" She blew on her coffee before she drank it.
Eden smiled, enjoying the light-hearted conversation. It distracted her, if only for a while from the fresh wounds of the circumstances. "It's already been sent. Auditions are only a few weeks away."
"Oh wow, kiddo."
She knew that the kids at school always whined about their parents nagging but now she would give anything to hear her mother's voice, not even caring if it was something along the lines of "clean your room." Anything would please her. But, since she wasn't given her wish, she was glad that Maggie would not handle her like some breakable, fragile thing. Eden's gears changed. "And don't worry about the living arrangements, I'm pretty much an adult now. You won't have to worry about me. I can pretty much take care of myself."
Maggie narrowed her brows, not use to her niece's sulky attitude. Eden had always been a bright, shiny personality. Though, with this particular situation, her sunny self had been dulled. She made a mental note that she would check-up on Eden's attitude once in awhile so she wouldn't end up digging herself deeper into her melancholy.
"By the way, while you were changing in your hospital room, I read the contents of the envelope. It explained your special abilities more in depth and future possibilities." Her aunt pointed out discreetly in public.
Eden, at first, tensed up at her aunt's words. But, if her mother wrote her the letter, she felt that her aunt was to be trusted with the classified information.
"Well, I have to say that I won't treat you any differently." She clarified. "I've known about your abilities since the day your own parents knew." Eden blinked, surprised. "You're quite human. Only, you have some enhanced modifications, sort of like compared to a side of fries, you, my dear, are the super-sized fries."
Eden laughed at the odd comparison.
Maggie smiled at her niece's brief moment of happiness.
"Well, you get the picture." Aunt Maggie said laughing too, realizing how silly it was. "Anyway, I just wanted to get that all out in the open. Remember that you can talk to me whenever you want. Tell me anything that is bothering you. I'm not forcing you to, but just want you to be aware that I'm a secondary source if you need anyone to talk to."
"Got it, Aunt Maggie." Eden grinned at her peppy, high-spirited aunt.
The waitress finally returned with the food. "Here we are, the pancakes for the young lady," placing the plate down in front of Eden, "and eggs and toast for you," she delicately placed Aunt Maggie's plate down. "Is there anything else I can get you?"
"No thanks. We're good."
"Alright. Enjoy." The waitress disappeared.
Eden reached for the syrup, drowning her hot cakes in the sweet, sticky substance.
"Mmm…" She hummed.
"Well, look at that, I thought I'd never see the day when pancakes could swim." Both women, young and old, laughed together as they enjoyed their simple but lovely meal.
An hour later, when they were happy and full, they made their way back to the car. Before heading home, Maggie made sure to make a stop to get Eden some clothes. Detouring to a nearby mall, Aunt Maggie helped Eden pick out some new clothes. Afterwards, they headed to Maggie's. Eden had visited her Aunt often. It was Maggie's home away from home. Most of the time, Maggie was in the heart of New York City at the restaurant she worked at. Her boss had living spaces on the second floor of the establishment. He granted her a room, which she stayed in anytime she wished. It was easier rather than travelling back and forth from her tiny house. She worked at the restaurant for several years now and it became her true home. She loved the people and the people loved her.
Maggie pulled up into the driveway, killing the engine. Slamming the door behind her, Eden walked onto the short walkway that led up to the small but cosy trailer house that was slightly larger than a with several plastic bags in her hands. Three wooden steps lead up to the four by four foot patio. Eden leaned against the railing as Maggie got her key out to open the door.
Maggie's home was as Eden always visualized it. As they walked in, the living room and the kitchen, which merged into one another, greeted them. The living room had a decent television, a plastic houseplant (Maggie wasn't home long enough to water any living thing), a sad looking couch and a rocking rock. Eden's nose welcomed the comforting smells of mint and lemon from the kitchen. The kitchen counter was off to the sidewall with a sink, a microwave, an oven and not too far away was a small pine table circled by four chairs.
"You can take the spare room down the hall to your right. If you need anything extra, just let me know." Eden nodded, walking over to the rectangular cut-out space in the wall. Eden pushed the curtain of beads on strings to the side as if moving a multi-coloured waterfall. Walking into the hallway of the back-end of the one-level home, Eden headed for her new room as she listened to the beads hit one another like hail hitting a window. She let go of the plastic bags, allowing them to fall to the carpet floor after she had closed the door behind her.
Walking over to the bed, she laid down and looked up at the ceiling. Blue light poured in through the window. She burst into tears as she rested there alone on the quilted sheets. Eden took off her necklace, entwining the string between her fingers and placed the crystal angel in the palm of her hand. She traced it with a finger. The saltwater tears poured down, drenching her pillow as she recollected everything that had happened in only a few hours. Every image of the recent past flickered and burned through her mind. Eden clenched the necklace, totally oblivious to the blue light it emitted.
She cried herself to sleep.