Trauma of the Forest (Meadema)

~ Chapter 74: Peace Restored ~

The night was absolutely horrible, for both Beth and Viv. While Beth was already sound asleep, Viv hadn't been able to sleep a wink. It was of course great that the police have a shelter at the station, but that also means that loud sirens can be clearly heard during an emergency call, which kept her from sleeping. And then, just when it seemed to be getting quieter with the police calls, it was Beth who woke up from extreme nausea and actually spent most of the night vomiting. That was another reason for Viv not to go to sleep, so all in all they both barely slept a wink.

Viv found it horrible. The first time Beth started vomiting, it was around 2am, 5 hours before Viv was even allowed to go to Beth. It was horrible to see, every time Beth had to vomit and she couldn't be there to support her. Horrible to see that she was vomiting so much that she was given some extra food to kind of get stronger. And Viv wasn't even allowed to be with her, had to watch via a screen how the nurse tried to support her, while Viv knew for sure that no one could support Beth as well as she could. So it was literally watching the minutes on the clock. Every minute seemed to last an hour.

And finally, when it was still completely dark outside and it was 6.45am, there was a knock on the door and Paul was standing at the door, who would take her to the hospital. She was completely ready to go, had already changed at 6.15am so that when Paul knocked, they could go straight away, every second she wasn't near Beth was one second too many. To her great happiness she saw on her phone that Beth had fallen asleep again. A big smile appeared on Viv's face, Beth radiated peace again, she now lay with a small smile on her face still deep in dreamland.

It was still quiet on the street, the streetlights still burning brightly on this dark winter night. In the meantime, some snow had fallen, so the streets were covered in white. It suddenly seemed so peaceful, with many houses already having Christmas lights on. Suddenly there seemed to be so much peace, so much tranquility, while for Beth and Viv the opposite was currently happening.

After a fifteen minute drive they arrived at the hospital, at a separate parking lot. It felt strange, it felt a bit like in her football days, that special treatment, taking a different entrance because you were "important". But now? Now it was just to protect herself from the media, from speculation, from their greatest enemy, two of whom are still walking around freely somewhere.

Together with the officer she walked into the hospital, through the corridors, to Beth's room. 'So Viv, have a nice day today. You can call me when I can pick you up again'. And then the officer walked away, there was no one else in the department yet. Officially, visiting hours for this ward also don't open until 7.15am, but because of the privacy that needs to be guaranteed for Beth and Viv at the moment, Viv was allowed to come a bit earlier.

She was happy with this opportunity, that the hospital and the police were willing to help, but it also raised that one question: 'Why can't she just stay with Beth in the hospital?'. After all, no one will be in Beth's room if they have to guarantee their privacy. So why couldn't Viv just sleep in that bed here in Beth's room temporarily?

But hey, that's how it is, rules here are the rules that have to be followed. In any case, she could now be with Beth for the next twelve hours. She carefully opened the door, because on her phone she saw that Beth was still asleep, and if Viv wanted anything, it was for Beth to get as much rest as possible.

And indeed, when she opened the door, Beth was still sleeping soundly, her breaths deep through her nose, her lips slightly parted. Viv's eyes changed into hearts again, she loved sleeping Beth so much and she had missed her so much. She decided to sit in the chair next to Beth's bed and started scrolling through her phone, waiting for the moment that Beth would wake up.

It was an hour later, around 8.15am, the moment that Beth slowly opened her eyes and started looking around her. Viv immediately put her phone down next to her, immediately all her attention for Beth. Beth rubbed her eyes a few times to really wake up, and then she saw her sitting there. Her Vivi, her wife, whom she had missed so much last night, was now sitting right here next to her.