Not A Creature Was Stirring

[Keeley Saunders]

December 24th, 2018

Christmas Eve; 7:45 p.m.

New York Hospital

 

It was almost time for visiting hours to be over. Most would be leaving; visiting family coming to see loved ones that were stuck spending the holidays in the hospital. Some would come back tomorrow while others wouldn't be able to, and then there were those poor souls who didn't have anyone to visit them. That was the saddest thing.

 

Keeley had insisted that she'd be staying the night. That she'd wake up here on Christmas morning with her son. The hospital staff hadn't fought her on it. They'd given up on trying to tell her that staying the night was not in her best interest. She didn't care if it was a strain on her mental well-being or not — she was going to stay. She'd taken days off work just to be here. Had refused invitations from Derrick to do something else.

 

Of course, Derrick had only offered cause plans had changed.

 

Micah was supposed to be awake tonight and tomorrow. Her 8-year-old son should've been excitedly bouncing in his bed; opening early Christmas gifts and waiting for her to read him stories. They always read a book, or two or three, on Christmas Eve. Not this year though. . .

 

Plans changed when Micah's binding slipped two days too early. Alarming enough was that when it slipped unexpectedly that meant he wasn't gradually awoke which always made for a mess. The other alarming factor was that the OFL magus who regularly did the binding had been baffled about why it'd come undone suddenly. His best guess had been that 'something had interfered' though there wasn't any explanation yet as to what. They would, of course, investigate the matter. Keeley wasn't feeling reassured on the matter.

 

What it meant in the end though was that Micah wasn't awake. They'd had to re-do his binding and induce another coma before she'd even been able to get to the hospital. And they'd moved his room further away from other patients. . . after he'd damaged some equipment, scared some patients, and injured at least two nurses. Luckily nobody had been killed. The idea that Micah had been awake for that mess depressed Keeley greatly. It meant that he'd been terrified and alone, and that he'd remember all of it.

 

There weren't anymore tears. She'd cried a lot over this mess the last two days. And honestly? She'd cried so many tears over the last six years that she just didn't have any left at this moment. Bloodshot eyes stared at the silent, wan figure of her son in his bed; hooked up to tubes and IVs and wires completely shut away from the world. A sharp pain drew her gaze down to her hands as she noted the grooves in her hands from where she'd pressed neatly trimmed nails into her skin and broken it. After being sure that it wasn't significant, and that there wasn't any blood, she pushed up from her chair and made for the hall.

 

Sneakers carried her along mindlessly. . . time passing, elevator taken, until she heard the sound of crying.

 

Stopping, she realized that she was in the maternity ward. The place wasn't as active as it would've been prior to Resonance, but there were still births happening in the world. The cycle of life and death continued ever onward. She paused in front of the glass, dark ponytail swaying at the back of her neck, as she pulled her sweater tighter around herself and looked in at the mix of peaceful and squalling tiny faces in their little beds.

 

When she first looked at Micah in his little bed? She had thought everything in her life would turn out differently. She could've never seen this all coming.

 

[keeley]Husband dead, kid in a coma. . . and the both of us fucked up.[/keeley]

 

A bitter laugh passed her lips as Keeley stood there now wondering what future these precious children had to look forward to in this fucked up world.