Clarity || John Murphy

Chapter Seven - 'Stupidity'

Jay just stood there, staring at the both of them with his eyebrows furrowed. He almost looked like he was in a daze. Hannah reached for his hand, intertwining her fingers in his, and he sighed softly, smiling softly at her before turning back to Eve. "Are you alright?"

She nodded, and he walked over to Jay, still holding Hannah's hand. "I didn't even think about where you were until he asked... He ran in and saved you. I didn't expect him to end up like this." He sighed. "He was fine when he came out. I don't think he even realized that he had burned his arm that badly until he got you out, he kept staring at you the entire time. I think he was more worried about you than he was about himself."

Eve swallowed dryly, letting go of Murphy's hand and putting her hand in her lap. "It's my fault he's here."

"No, it's not." Jack argued. "You didn't know the building was going to catch on fire, it was his choice to save you. I would have gotten there sooner if I had known you were in there." He bit his lip and sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"How did the building catch on fire, anyway?"

"Some of the wires sparked, turns out whoever cut them didn't do a very good job." Hannah mumbled.

"I'm sorry, but all of you need to go." The nurse said. Eve had almost forgotten that she was there. "These two need their rest. You can come visit them tomorrow."

"Eve, you're going to have to stay here a few nights for observation. They think that you're alright, but they just want to make sure." Jack said, staring at her with worry evident in his eyes.

Eve nodded. "Have a good night, don't worry about us too much." She gave them all a quick hug goodbye.

Soon, she was hooked up to those infernal machines again, and the doctor had given her a sedative to help her sleep better. She was out like a light within a minute.

*

For the next week, Eve and Murphy stayed in the hospital, one awake and alive while the other seemed practically half-dead.

Murphy had made a few improvements. His burns were beginning to scab over, which meant that they would heal quickly, and likely not leave a scar for very long. Maybe a few months at the most. His breathing had gotten much better, the doctors said that he didn’t need the breathing mask because all of the smoke was now out of his lungs.

Unfortunately, the improvements were quickly followed by pain and suffering for Murphy. He had developed a harsh fever and seemed to have slipped into a coma-like state. He was able to move, he just wasn’t able to wake up. Not yet, anyway. He thrashed around erratically whenever he had a nightmare, which was three times a day. Maybe two if he was lucky. The only thing that seemed to calm him down was if Eve touched him or talked to him.

At this point, Eve was beginning to fear for Murphy’s life. With a mixture of smoke inhalation, burns, and a coma like state, she knew that he was not in a very good nor promising situation. She knew that the doctors and nurses didn’t think he would survive if he didn’t wake up in the next week. She had heard them talking to Jack. Not only that, but their faces were always filled with pity and sadness when they saw him.

Eve sighed softly as she stared down at Murphy sadly. She took his hand, and squeezed it gently before noticing that he was shivering slightly. She covered his torso with the blanket, and went back to her own bed. She knew that she wouldn’t sleep well that night, just like every other night she had been in the hospital.

She missed her old bed. She missed her old food. She missed her old home. But, she couldn’t leave, this was her home for now. At least, until Murphy woke up. She needed to be here when he woke up, she had to. She couldn’t bear it if he woke up thinking that she hadn’t made it, and that his injuries were in vain.