Trauma of the Forest (Meadema)

~ Chapter 77: Calming down ~

It felt horrible, Beth shaking in her arms from the fear that was coursing through her body, the knocking on the door, Beth looking at her with wide eyes. 'It's not them, liefje, I promise. Try to relax baby. The police are after them. I will open the door okay?'. Actually, Beth didn't want to let go, she absolutely didn't want Viv to go to the door now to open it. Because that pounding, that had clearly been a knock on the door, but who was on the other side of the door?

Viv only felt the grip Beth had on her tighten when she suggested opening the door, so Viv knew enough, letting go of Beth now, opening the door now, that wasn't an option. 'Relax, liefje, take it easy. It's alright. I'll stay with you'. And besides, the only people who had any business here were people who had a key. Through all the panic that could be heard outside, a key turned in the lock and the door was thrown open.

It was Kim, followed by an ambulance worker, who put down his bag and immediately came to get all kinds of things out of the bag. 'Hey Beth, hey Viv. I assume you know what happened. This is Jayden, the local doctor, who will make sure that you, Beth, stay stable here, in the hope that you don't have to go to the hospital'.

A huge relief rolled through them both when they saw Kim and behind her an unknown man, but who was apparently a doctor. Even a bigger relief that Beth, who was clearly in a panic, could hopefully be treated here, instead of in the hospital as they had agreed if something happened again. But Kim knew better, as long as Beth could just be treated here, they would go for it.

'Do I need to move?'. A friendly smile appeared on Jayden's face. 'No Viv, you can stay here in the bed. Only I need some space around Beth, so you only have to move a little bit to the side'. Very slowly Beth let her go, really only a maximum of 10 centimeters, because Beth wanted to feel her close, wanted to be able to hold her hand. 'It's okay liefje. I'm not going anywhere'.

Jayden abruptly measured her blood pressure, which was indeed higher than it should be, but thankfully not dangerously high yet. But with the vunerable state Beth is in, nothing is certain and everything can change at any moment. And thank God, the baby was calm again. 'Okay Beth, it looks okay so far, but I'm going to give you a sedative so you can get through the rest of the evening and night a bit calmer. I'll come back tomorrow morning and we'll take a look at your condition then'.

All Beth did was nod, of course she was relieved that everything was fine, that she didn't have to go to the hospital. But so much was still uncertain, so much was unclear. Why exactly had those men thrown a grenade at Katie and Cailtin's old house? Where are they now? Has the police found them yet? Do they know where she and Viv are and will they come for them now if they aren't caught?

Suddenly those thoughts seemed to become less and less, she slowly faded away into the darkness and fell asleep, the pill abruptly done its work. Through all the noise that could still be heard outside, Beth's soft snores were what caught Viv's attention, Viv felt Beth's hand relax in hers, she was out for the count. 'Sleep well my beautiful'. She carefully pressed a kiss against Beth's slightly parted, soft lips and stroked her forehead.

With Jayden satisfied with Beth's current state, he left the room, leaving Kim, Viv and Beth alone again. 'You want to talk about it? Or do you want me to leave you and Beth alone?'. Viv was far, far away in her thoughts, didn't even seem to have room for the question Kim asked because of all the questions that were running around in her own head. 'Viv?'.

She started, suddenly seemed to realize in the midst of the jumble of questions that Kim was still here. 'Can you take me into your head? What's going through your mind right now?'. Another silence followed, Viv stared at Beth, who was sleeping peacefully on her side, lying with her body against her. 'Do you think it's a good sign that a grenade was thrown there?'.