Pulse

EIGHT

EIGHT

Hate would be a weak word to use to describe how Liam felt about the drunken man upstairs who was meant to be his father and every time the man had lashed out at him after having had one too many, Liam had vowed to leave this decrepit home and the dangerous man who inhabited it.

But every time he had packed his bags to run away in the dead of the night, the words his foster father had said would ring loudly in his mind, reminding him that he could run as far and as fast as he wanted but he could never hide.

"You can try," the older man had said one night at dinner. "But I'd beat you to it. No. I'd probably beat you to death before you get to it," he said, laughing at his own joke, his voice hoarse.

Liam had frequently contemplated either the idea of freedom outside of these 4 walls, or hanging on for another 2 years when he would get his legal freedom but he had always been far too afraid to pursue the former.

Until tonight.

He knew he had to try, even if the old man had threatened that he would die trying.

-

There's something about climbing up to the rooftop of the hospital and watching the cars and people beneath tiny as ants, that never fails to calm Siobhan down every single time.

Whenever things get far too overwhelming—which happens more often than not in life, what more for a doctor—that's where Chase would find her.

As Siobhan inhaled the night breeze into her lungs, she closed her eyes and felt tears streaming down her face and before she knew it, she was sobbing uncontrollably.

Chase walked up behind her and squeezed her shoulders, comforting her from the nightmare of an evening she had to live through, silently wondering how Dylan and Alexie must've felt at that exact moment in time.

Absolute torment, as he could only imagine, and his heart went out for them both and the little one they'll never watch grow.

"You did all that you could, Siobhan. They know that," he whispered, realizing that Siobhan had stopped crying but remained silent as she watched the dotted lights below blinking as if they were on a Christmas tree.

"How's little Pip doing?" Siobhan finally asked, referring to the couple's baby girl, Piper, who was born at a healthy preemie weight of 5 pounds, wailing at birth like any other newborn would.

Siobhan can't help but wonder if Piper also wailed because she was separated from the twin sister she had spent the past nine months together with, and the fact that they both had to part ways now.

"She's in the NICU under observation but Pip's a fighter, that's for sure. And hungry, she's really hungry. She had her first serving of 4 ounces of milk before I came up here," Chase said, laughing.

"4? Wow. Well, that's something to celebrate," she smiled but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Nights like tonight...they're just hard," she said suddenly, walking closer to the edge of the railing where she leaned forward and looked up at the clear night sky, dotted with a velvet blanket of stars.

"I mean. I know that life's short but their baby got the short end of the stick when it comes to short. She came out and she didn't even get to cry, she didn't even get to draw her first breath," Siobhan found herself rambling as Chase remained silent several feet behind her.

Lost for words, she finally settled with, "I guess...life is just unpredictable. Sometimes scary. But sometimes, oh so beautiful," she said, looking up at the night sky again, finally appreciating its beauty for once tonight and finding her lips curving into a genuine smile.