Chapitre 51: Scared to death

After spending some time with the kids in the function room, they proceeded to visit the other pediatric patients who were not capable of joining them.

If she thought that she had seen the worse, she was mistaken. They checked on several kids in the Oncology Unit who were confined in their rooms because they were too weak to interact with the other kids after they have just undergone their chemotherapy sessions.

"What's your name?" She asked the little girl who was almost skin and bones from the several treatments she had gone through.

"Her name is Erin and I'm her mom, Ellen," Ellen said happily, but beneath her smile, she could see the pain that she was going through too. It must be hard to see your daughter in pain, then not having any powers to do anything about it.

"I'm Sabrina." She told the girl who only smiled at her, too weak to even speak.

Halfway through the list of the kids she had to visit in the ward, an alarm sounded off. She noticed that a few doctors and nurses rushed into a room with machines and carts on their hands.

"What's going on?" She asked Edward who also checked if he could help.

"It's an emergency case that they had to check on." He said when he came back. "Don't worry about it. They were able to stabilize the child." From the way he said it, she believed that the child must be ok.

"Are you sure you're not tired yet?" Edward whispered to her as they transferred from one ward to another.

"I'm sure." She assured him, making sure that she made every kid she visited feel that they were special.

She had no idea that the Department of Pediatric had so many different units under it. She had one unit that she favored most. It was the nursery unit. She suddenly remembered holding Princess in her hands for the first time, but this was different.

"I think this is my favorite part of the hospital. I dread coming here actually, but this place." Pointing to the confined space where the newly born were resting on their small bed. "It gives me some kind of peace. It relaxes me and lets me forget my troubles."

"A new life that barely opened their eyes. The tiniest little fingers and toes I ever held in my hands. I believed this experience opened my eyes to a new meaning of living." She continued with her speech as the in-house representative asked her about her tour of the hospital.

"The melodic sound of their cries was quite soothing." She continued.

"Wait till you hear them twenty-four seven. I think you would change your opinion about that." The nurse holding a crying baby interjected while smiling happily at the child.

She smiled at her comment and answered. "I hope to find that out someday."

"Would you like to hold him?" The nurse said as she walked closer to her.

She had no experience of holding a baby, so she was a bit apprehensive. "Of course, but you have to show me how."

The nurse carefully instructed her to support the head and the body of the boy in her arms. In a few minutes, she was cradling the little infant to sleep, humming a nursery rhyme she remembered his father used to sing to her.

"You are a natural," Edward said to her in a whisper.

She suddenly thought of someday having her kids, but with whom. She quickly erased her line of thought, not wanting to ruin the beautiful activity.

The activity was almost over. Only a few more formalities and she was free to leave. Edward invited her for dinner afterward, but she declined. She was too exhausted. She just wanted to go home and rest.

In the hallway, as they were leaving, she noticed a kid being wheeled into a room. She could not take her eyes away from his face. He looked familiar, but she was not sure because she could only see a portion of his face.

As they neared the room, she knew she had to stop and check. She had a bad feeling about it. As if she could sense that it was him, but she needed confirmation.

"What is it?" Edward asked when he saw her stopped just outside the room. "Do you know him?"

"I'm not sure." She said as she tried to peek inside the room, but the doctor was blocking her view of his face. "Could you find out his name?" He asked Edward, hopeful that he would help her.

Edward was hesitant at first but complied upon seeing the concern on her face. He went inside the room and talked to the attending physician. "His name is Xavier Oliver Walker. Do you know him?" He repeated his question.

"Yes. He is a friend." She was not lying, technically. Xavier knew her, but as Sky. "What happened to him?" Her voice laced with so much concern.

She knew that information about the patient was not easily disclosed to non-family members. They needed consent from the parents or guardians before they could tell someone else or use that information.

"You know I could not tell you that if you are not a family member." He said to her apologetically.

"I know. Just tell me if he's gonna be ok." She looked at his sleeping form, motionless on the bed with an oxygen mask that was helping him breathe and a tube attached to his arm.

"Based on Dr. Benson, he will be ok by tomorrow if he responds well to the medication," Edward assured her. "That's all I could tell you."

"Thanks, that's good enough." She breathed easily upon hearing that Xavier would be ok. She leaned on the wall as she tried to control her emotion.

A few minutes later, the doctor and nurse in charge of his care left his room. Xavier was finally left alone on his own.

"Are you ok? Shall we go?" Edward asked slightly worried from the way she was acting. "We could always come back later to visit him." But his words were lost in her. Her mind was only focused on one thing at the moment.

"Could you just give me a minute?" She could not stop herself from entering his room. She needed to see for herself that he was going to be ok. She suddenly remembered what Lindsey said about his condition.

"What are you doing?" Edward asked as he followed her inside. "You're not allowed in here."

She could not care less if they dragged her out of his room. Her concern was for his well-being. Looking at Xavier, made her recall their first encounter. She almost felt scared to death. It was a bit exaggerated, but at this moment, he did it again.