Bad Omens: The Attack (Novella)

Chapter 26

"Gabe, there's something you're not telling me!" Gabriel had been acting strange ever since her parents had stepped out of her room.

"You need to finish your tea." Gabriel replied, knowing full well what was coming.

"Is there something wrong? My parents looked upset when they left..." Eden drank the rest of her tea with Gabriel's help.

"Eden dear?" Aziraphale said as he and Crowley stepped back into the room. "Did you finish your tea?"

"Yes, now what the bloody hell is going on? You three are acting weird and I want to know why!" Eden tried to sit up but bit her lip at the pain.

"Eden, don't!" Gabriel stopped her as her parents darted to the bedside.

"Ungh, fine." Eden gritted out as she laid her head back on her pillow.

"I brought you some ice cream," Crowley began but was interrupted by Eden. "Tell me what's going on first." Eden shifted and grimaced as Crowley set the bowl of vanilla ice cream on the bedside table.

"I'm afraid your father and I....." Aziraphale's voice faltered. He reached out and squeezed Crowley's hand tightly.

"I should leave...." Gabriel said awkwardly, rising from his chair but Eden stopped him with a glare. "You know about this too, I can tell. Sit."

Gabriel sat back down, his stomach twisting into knots.

After a moment of silence, Crowley spoke. "Queenie, it's about your birthday." Crowley squeezed Aziraphale's hand in return when his own hand began to shake.

"What about it?" Her fever was gone, so surely they could resume her exercises and have that family meal at the table as planned.

"When your stitches broke, you lost a lot of blood, again, it undid a lot of the progress that had been made...." Aziraphale stepped in.

"You're sutures had come undone as well." Aziraphale continued, his voice cracking as he recalled helping Bella re-stitch Eden's stomach wound.

"But I'm all patched up now, what does this have to do with my birthday?" Eden demanded.

"You can't leave your bed for two weeks." Crowley said flatly.

There was a moment of stunned silence.

"But the 26th is less than a week away!" Eden exclaimed, ignoring the stabbing pain in her gut. "What about our family meal?!"

"We can't risk your stitches breaking again; I'm so sorry Little One." Aziraphale rasped, his heart breaking at the look of dismay that crossed his daughter's face.

Eden, blinking tears from her eyes, stared up at plastic stars on her ceiling; she was getting quite sick of looking at them, even when they glowed in the dark....

"Queenie...." Crowley ran his free hand through Eden's hair but Eden jerked her head away.

Shocked, Crowley asked, "Would you like your ice cream now?"

"No." Eden snapped turning on her side with a grunt of pain. Gabriel and Aziraphale panicked, afraid that she would hurt herself.

"Stop it, both of you." Eden growled. "I'm not laying on my broken arm for fuck's sake."

"Eden...." Aziraphale began but she interrupted him.

"Just leave me alone." Eden muttered not meeting her Papa's concerned gaze.

Crowley and Aziraphale shared a look of dismay while Gabriel felt his gut twist with guilt.

This was all his fault....