Eliona's War 2: Veiled Healer

Chapter 45

The ride out of the hospital was an odd and silent affair. Jake pushed the wheelchair, Mrs Beakor walked swiftly ahead, and Seth sat rigidly. He half expected to hear his mother and sister come running after them, but they hadn't, and that bothered him more than he would have liked to admit. It should be a relief that they were letting him go so easily, but at the same time, it was a disappointment.

It showed how much they really cared.

When they approached the main entrance/exit of the hospital, they could see Tripp's car waiting for them through the glass doors. Tripp leaned against the side of the car casually while waiting for them, but when Mrs Beakor came towards him, he got a big old grin and came forward to greet her with open arms.

She wasn't shy about it either, grabbing him in a tight embrace and crushing his face into her chest. Tripp cackled like a crazy old man, clearly delighted with this. Seth grimaced and covered his eyes with his good hand. Gross.

They thankfully broke apart a moment later, with Tripp beaming. "Looks like everything worked out."

"Of course it did," Mrs Beakor swatted him. On the behind. (Seth coughed and cringed.) "It was my plan."

Tripp gave her a fond look of exasperation. "A plan that almost failed when you got kicked out for fighting with the nurses. I'm surprised they let you back in."

"They didn't." Mrs Beakor winked. She went to open the rear car door. Jake brought the wheelchair closer, and then set about lifting Seth inside.

Seth twisted in Jake's hold so he could stare at Mrs Beakor. "You what? You got into a fight?"

He momentarily lost sight of her as she went around the car while Jake deposited him in the backseat. While he was settling in, she scooted in next to him from the opposite side.

"It wasn't really a fight, kiddo. Those little girls would fall over if a sheet of paper landed on them."

She reached across Seth and took the blanket and pillow from Jake, who then shut the door and pushed the chair away from the curb. Seth used his good arm to buckle himself in, then watched as she piled the pillow and blanket in the center of the backseat. As thin as they were, they looked rather inviting at the moment.

"Isn't this stealing hospital property?"

"They won't care. Now come, why don't you rest? You're looking pretty wiped." She patted the pile between them.

Seth didn't really feel like it, but he was rather tired. Now that he was away from the hospital and away from his family, the tension started to fade leaving behind a bone-deep exhaustion. He leaned in, but froze once he realized he'd be lying on his left side.

Grimacing, he twisted and sort of flopped over on his back, though the seat belt pulled uncomfortably at his waist. Tilting his head back, he gazed at the upside-down sideways version of Mrs Beakor's face.

"Do you have some aspirin or something?"

"Or something." She grabbed her purse and rifled through it. She didn't even bother asking what it was for.

A moment later, he heard the rattle of pills in a bottle and soon a single blue horse pill was held out to him. It didn't look like an aspirin, but he trusted her. He choked it down with a sip from a bottle.

He gratefully lay back on the pillow. His neighbor, boss, and coworker were incredible. He couldn't believe that they actually had a plan to break him out of the hospital. And they'd done just that, with no hesitation and no questions asked. Who did that? No sane people, that's for sure.