Stranger In My House - Chapter 1
by lala02



Beep

Beep

Beep

Beep

Beep

For the past three months, that has been the only sound coming from room 301 here at Harmony Memorial Hospital. The person who has been occupying this room since then, was once a well-respected doctor, but now is nothing more than a shell of her former self. For three whole months visitors have come and gone, but only one person has remained by her side through this whole ordeal.

He saw it all, the act that put Dr. Eve Russell in the hospital and in a coma for three months. All of it, from the moment he arrived at her home to the moment when he called 911. Never in his wildest dreams did he think something like this would ever happen to her, but it did.

{Flashback}

Julian had just left Eve’s office to hurry and follow her home. He didn’t like the idea of her going home to face T.C. with his terrible temper by her lonesome, he should be by her side. Besides something just did seem right with Eve before she left her office, like she knew something else was going to happen. As he pulled up in front of her home, he heard screaming and yelling from inside of the house.

“Damn you woman, you lied to me! You lied to me Eve!” Julian heard T.C. shouting at Eve.

“T.C. let me explain…” Eve said as she tried to make him listen to her, but T.C. wasn’t going to have that.

“What’s to explain, huh Eve? That you were a singer in some nasty nightclub, that you and that bastard Julian were lovers, that you bore him a bastard son, that you did drugs and alcohol?! I don’t understand how you could keep this from me for all of these years. You’re nothing but a filthy gutter rat. You nasty wh*re!” T.C. spat at Eve with so much venom in his voice.

The way that T.C. was shouting and yelling at her didn’t go over too well with Julian. Eve didn’t deserve to be treated the way that she was being treated now. No matter how horrible her past was, T.C. had no right to yell at her like that or call her those vile names. He couldn’t stand to hear anymore of it. So he got out of his car and before he could even comprehend what he was doing, Julian approached the front door to the Russell home and kicked it in with all of his might.

“What the hell?!” T.C. said out loud.

“Don’t you dare talk to her that way again! You have no right to talk to her that way, ever!” Julian shouted at T.C.

“You sonofab*tch! You’ve got some damn nerve to show your filthy face in my home. But since you’re here you can take this sl*t with you too. Just thinking about the two of you together makes me sick!”

“Eve, are you alright?” Julian asked Eve completely ignoring T.C.’s comments.

“No Julian…everything that I have worked so hard for is… Who was it T.C.? Who told you about my past? I deserve to know!” Eve shouted at T.C. suddenly.

“I don’t have to tell you anything. I’m just glad they told me about the real Eve.”

“Damn it T.C., who was it?! Was it Liz? Where is she?!” Eve shouted at T.C. again.

“Why would Liz know anything about your past Eve?” T.C. asked Eve with a confused look on his face. Eve then looked to Julian with a confused face as well.

“Julian if it wasn’t Liz, then who was it?” Eve asked Julian. Then she thought to herself, ‘The only other people who know about my past besides Liz are, Ivy, Rebecca, Pilar, Julian, Alistair and Grace. But Ivy and Rebecca wouldn’t dare tell T.C. to his face and I can trust Grace and Pilar not to say anything. Then that leaves Alistair…’

“I have no idea darling.” Julian answered.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the nightclub sl*t. Long time no see Eve.” Said the person coming from the kitchen.

The moment Eve saw the person and heard those few words that they person spoke, she knew right then that it wasn’t Alistair but a face from her past come back to hurt her, and she froze from fright right then and there on spot. He really hadn’t changed that much in the years since Eve last saw him, but that wickedness and lust was still in his eyes. Even after all of this years, his desire for her was still there. ‘Dear god no, he can’t be here, he just can’t. I have to get out of here!’ Eve thought in a panicked state of mind, and forced herself to will her frozen legs to move. She ran pass Julian and T.C. as fast as her legs would take her and didn’t look back. She ran to her car in the driveway and hopped in, started it and pulled out of the driveway just as a car came speeding down the street to her right.

Time just stood still as Julian raced out of the house after Eve. ‘I’ve never seen this look in Eve’s eyes before. Who is this man and how did he know about us?’ Julian thought to himself, but that thought vanished instantly from his mind when he saw the speeding car headed toward Eve. “EVE WATCH OUT!!!” Julian shouted. He saw her turn towards the car coming from her right and her trying to move, but it was too late.

The impact of the two cars colliding made Julian shield his eyes and cover his ears because the site and noise was so unbearable to see or listen to. Metal scraping across the ground, sparks flying everywhere as the cars flipped and tumbled down the street were a nightmare all in itself. And when they finally came to a complete and messy stop six houses down from the Russell home, Julian raced to Eve’s horribly destroyed car to see if she was all right. As he approached the upside down car, the smell of smoke and gas was so thick that you could choke to death from the unbearable stench.

Getting down on his knees near the smoking and damaged car, the site that presented itself to Julian was enough to make his heart drop from his chest and into his stomach. Eve lay there strapped in her seat with blood coming from her nose and mouth, scratches all over her face and a big gash over her left eye. It even looked like her left arm was twisted in a way it wasn’t supposed to be twisted. It broke Julian’s heart to see her like this but it would break his heart even more if he didn’t get her out of this car before it exploded. So as carefully as he could, he crawled under the car through the passenger’s side window and went to work on getting Eve out of her seat. A few minutes passed before he successfully got Eve from her seat and carried her a few feet away from the car before it was engulfed in flames.

Looking down at her so badly injured in his arms, Julian somehow got his cellphone from out of his jacket pocket and dialed 911.

“Don’t you leave me Eve, don’t you dare…”

{End of flashback}

Looking down at her now, tears filled Julian’s eyes as he watched the love of his life fighting for her life. For these three months, he waited patiently by her side just in case she woke up, but each and every day that passed, there was still no progress in Eve’s recovery.

‘How could things go from bad to down right disastrous?’ Julian thought to himself as he sat next to Eve in a chair on the side of her bed.

These three months had not only taken its toll on Julian mental state, but on his outer appearance as well. Three months ago, normally you would see a much healthy looking Julian wearing a nice business suit with a nice tie and a crisp shirt, a nice clean shave and his hair neatly did. But now all you would see is a deathly looking Julian in a wrinkled shirt with three or four buttons undid, a messy mustache and beard and his hair, which had grown some all over the place. Sometimes it took two or three nurses to get him to leave Eve’s side just to get something to eat or drink because they were scared he’d just waste away.

As the hours passed, Julian sat to the side of Eve’s bed holding her left hand in both of his hands tight, while he rested his head on top of them. While he was doing this, two people entered into Eve’s room and slammed the door close.

“What the hell are you doing here Crane?” the voice shouted at Julian, who had jumped up the moment he heard the door slam.

“You know the answer to that T.C.! I’m not leaving her side.” Julian spat at T.C.

“You can’t talk to my father that way Julian. He has more of a right to be here than you do. You are not my mother’s husband!” Whitney shouted at Julian.

“I know that I’m not her husband or your father, but I’m not leaving her side. He’s one of the reasons that your mother is in this state now.” Julian said to Whitney.

“You’re way out of line Julian and you know it.” Whitney shouted at Julian again, but he just ignored her this time and put his head back down on his and Eve’s hands before he spoke to her again.

“Did your father tell you just how your mother really came to be here Whitney?” He asked Whitney who looked at him like he was crazy.

“What are you talking about?” Whitney asked Julian. “If this is about her past with you then you really shouldn’t be here. She needs to be with her family right now, and not her ex…I…I don’t even know what to call you.” Whitney stuttered out as she turned towards her father.

Julian then decided to turn and look at T.C. at that moment. The way that T.C. was looking at him let Julian know that T.C. hadn’t told his daughter the whole truth about Eve’s accident.

“Well Whitney, just so you know. I am a part of Eve’s family whether you like it or not. We were together first, we have a son out there somewhere and I promised her that I would find him. And if you’re gonna blame me for your mother being here now, then you’re totally wrong.” Julian said looking Whitney right in the eyes, then turning his vision back toward T.C.

“Who was that man T.C.? How did he know about Eve’s past with me? Who was he?” Julian looked at T.C. and asked. T.C. waited a moment before he finally answered Julian.

“Well it just so happens that Eve failed to mention to me that she had an older brother.” T.C. said.

Confused, Julian looked at T.C. as if he had gone crazy. ‘Brother?!’ Julian thought to himself before he spoke to T.C. again.

“I would know if Eve had a brother, but she doesn’t have a brother. A sister yes, but a brother…” Julian spoke more to himself then to T.C.

“Well then I guess you really don’t know Eve as well as you thought then, huh Julian?” T.C. said in a nasty voice to Julian.

Just as Julian was about to ask T.C. what Eve’s so called ‘brother’ name was, Eve’s monitors started to go haywire.



Chapter 2
Prologue
Site Index