RETROUVAILLE | oliver queen

07.

07. ➳ A MOTHER'S PAIN
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BEFORE

     EVELYN LAID ON A BED, with a thin blue robe covering most of her body, her legs pushed apart. Many doctors and nurses surrounded Evelyn in the medium-sized room, while Colby and James watched the horrific scene from a large window that was connected to another room, the window placed on the wall next to the bed, where they could see Evelyn in a side view. Colby shouted, cried, and begged for mercy over his unborn child, wishing he could fight them all off, but he was unable to move, for he was tied to a chair and forced to watch the process. Evelyn didn't bother to fight at that point, she was tired of begging and she was tired of crying and no matter how hard she tried, she knew there was no saving her baby now.

     Hot tears rolled down Evelyn's face as she painfully squeezed her eyes shut, sobbing as she drifted off into an induced sleep and the doctors began their work on Evelyn. Evelyn remained frozen even after the deed was done as the doctors began to clean up the area. A nurse helped Evelyn from the bed and rudely tossed a clean pair of clothes at her, showing her to the nearest bathroom down the hall before leaving. Evelyn hopped in the shower and stood in the hot water for over an hour, staring at the ground as she watched streams of dirt and blood run off her body and down the drain.

       It was as if she was in a trance. She had no idea what was happening and she could barely process what had just happened. She didn't want to believe it, but she knew she had to eventually mourn and come to terms with what had happened that day. But not today. Today was not the day to think. It was not the day to mourn, or properly process everything. It was her, standing in silence under the running water, with her eyes wide.

       Once she was finally done showering and getting changed, Evelyn was taken to James by his men, where she was yet again tied to a metal chair next to Colby, who was already there when she arrived. He avoiding eye contact, looking at anything but her.

     "Feeling better after that shower, I hope?" James asked. Evelyn glared at James through tired red eyes, blinking away tears as James laughed. "I guess since you've already lost your thing today, we can wait until tomorrow for you to say your goodbyes to Colby." James then decided. Colby and Evelyn snapped their heads to look at each other so fast they almost broke their own necks, before looking back at James.

     "No, please don't!" Evelyn begged desperately between sobs, causing James to smirk as he clicked his tongue and tilted his head back and forth as if considering it.

     "Alright. I'll spare him. On one condition." James taunted, holding up a finger in front of them. Evelyn and Colby prepared themselves to listen to his conditions, "You've gotta do everything exactly as I say, or you're both dead." He threatened. The couple agreed, and after an hour and a half of being brutally beaten by James's men and James himself, they were tossed into Colby's room together and locked up, left alone to stitch each other's fresh wounds up. Evelyn didn't even want to talk to Colby. She didn't even want to look at him, or be near him. They'd both just lost a child and she had no idea how to react, or how to comfort her wounded and grieving boyfriend, specially after his life had been threatened. Instead, she locked herself in his bathroom, sliding out a blade from her boot and holding the tip to her arm.

     Evelyn shut her eyes and bit her lip in fear, her skin breaking and making a disgusting splattering sound as she dragged the blade along her arm and blood gushed from her arm and stained the white tile floors. Evelyn sobbed, taking the blade in her injured hand and slitting the other arm open, waves of pain engulfing her immediately and causing her to collapse. Colby kicked the door open at the sight of blood spreading out under the door, quickly slamming his fists into his bedroom door after seeing her laying there, close to death.

     "HELP, PLEASE! Help! Evelyn is bleeding out!" Colby cried out as loudly as he could, hoping one of James's men would hear his cries. Evelyn's consciousness faded in and out as she let herself sit against the bathroom's door frame and watched Colby through clouded eyes, her face draining of color, watching as he rushed to her side and took off his shirt before tearing it in two. Colby wrapped the rags tightly around her arms, trying to stop the bleeding. Soon after, Evelyn was covered in torn rags. The bleeding was slowing down, but it didn't stop. James's men rushed in and picked Evelyn up in their arms, carrying her to the emergency room in the clinic a few floors above. Colby waited in his room impatiently, being stuck with the duty of washing the blood-stained floor. James stormed into the room and Colby turned his head to look at him before a punch to the jaw forced him back down onto the bloody tiles.

     "Look at what you have done!" James spat angrily. "If it weren't for you getting this stupid girl pregnant, I wouldn't be so close to losing a valuable member of my army!" James accused angrily, "She may be stupid, but she's one hell of a fighter. I need this army to grow, not shrink!" James's nostrils flared, as he continued. "Nothing like this shall happen again, or I'll have both your heads, and she'll be first, and I'll make you watch."