Swept Away, Chapter 17 (Evian)
by ejcrane


“Get away from me!” she pushed Julian from her and stood up off the coffee table.

Eve walked over to the couch and grabbed an afghan and wrapped it around her naked body.

“What is the meaning of this?” Julian stood up, his hands on his hips, “First you slap me, and then you push me to the floor?!”

“Just get the hell out of here!” she walked past him and began picking up her discarded clothes.

“NO! Not until you tell me what’s going on!” he grabbed her wrists.

“Let me go! Let me go!” she tried to pull away from him, but his grasp just got even tighter, “You knew I had taken Nyquil that morning; YOU knew I wasn’t myself and yet, you, you…” she shook her head, “…you got into bed with me; the bed I SHARE with Tc, and had your way with me! How could you, Julian? How could you?!”

“Weren’t yourself? No, no…you knew it was me, Eve, you knew it, DAMNIT!” he shouted, “You even told me you knew I was there…”

“I…I thought I was dreaming…”

Julian smiled.

“What are you smiling at?! This is not a time to be smiling, Julian!”

“You were dreaming about me? How often did you dream about us, Eve?” he said softly as he stepped closer to her.

“No, Julian,” she shrunk from him, “That’s besides the point…”

“Tell me, Eve,” his hand caressed her cheek.

“Julian,” Eve moaned as she closed her eyes, “All the time,” she whispered and looked down, “All the time, Julian,” her eyes met his.

“Darling,” he smiled and opened up his arms wide, “Come here, come here.”

Eve walked into his arms and they embraced each other.

“I’ve longed for you to say that,” he spoke into her hair, moving it with his breath, “I dream about us all the time, my darling.”

“Oh, Julian!” her arms hugged him tighter.

Eve and Julian had continued their love making session on the couch and were now lying in each other’s arms. She looked over at the clock and realized that it was almost time for Tc and the kids to be coming home. It was actually past time, so she knew that she and Julian had better get dressed before they’d have heavy explaining to do.

Julian was standing in front of the mirror tying his tie and Eve was pulling her hair back with a clip. Julian had stood behind her kissing her neck minutes ago, informing her that she’d better do something about it or Tc would know something was up. She laughed, and went straight to work on it; and that’s when the phone rang. They both jumped, and then laughed at each other.

“Hello?” she said giddily, “WHAT?! NO, this has to be a mistake!” Eve’s voice lowered into crying one.

Julian turned and looked back at her. Who had just called Eve and had made her upset?!

“Ohh, nooooo!” she sobbed, “Tc?! NO!” she cupped her mouth with her hand, “And the kids?”

Julian’s confused expression turned into one of concerned…FRIGHT! What was happening with his children?!

“Evangeline?! NOOOOOOOOO!” Eve began sobbing as she dropped the phone to the floor.

“WHAT ABOUT EVANGELINE!” Julian ran to Eve and demanded.

“She’s hurt, Julian,” Eve whispered, not able to speak, “She was in an accident; the kids and Tc were in an accident. Tc’s…Tc’s…he’s…”

“He’s WHAT, DAMNIT?!” Julian grabbed Eve by her arms and shook her.

“He’s hurt; they don’t know if he’ll make it through the night, and my baby needs a heart to stay alive,” Eve wailed as she dropped to her knees…
---

Julian and Eve arrived at the hospital and found their kids sitting in the waiting room crying. It was all three kids, except Evangeline.

“Mommy!” Evelyn rose and ran to her mother, “Save her, mom, save her! You’re a doctor…please!” she pleaded.

Little Evelyn didn’t want her sister to die. No one wants their sister to die. Evangeline was all that Evelyn had, besides her brothers, but their relationship was different…and Evelyn never realized how much she took her little sister for granted, until now where her twin was fighting for her life…

“Oh, honey,” Eve knelt down and hugged her daughter.

The two boys came and joined the embrace, as did Julian. Tracy then walked in. She saw the family before her, and realized that she and Julian didn’t have anything that came close to what he had had with Eve.

The hospital called the mansion, and that’s when Tracy picked up the phone and was informed of Tc and Evangeline. She was frantic in trying to find Julian, but couldn’t seem to, so she decided to join Eve and the children here at the hospital for support, and try and reach Julian as she waited, but now, she could see that he was there too.

Tracy stepped back through the swinging doors and walked down the hallway and found herself in the chapel, where she knelt down and began praying for Tc and her step-daughter.

“Dr. Russell, Mr. Crane?” Dr. Kasper addressed them.

Eve and Julian looked up.

“Doctor? My little girl?” Julian asked.

“Let’s go over here,” he led them away from the quads.

“Dr. Kasper, what is it?” Eve cried, “How’s Evangeline doing? How’s Tc?”

“Eve,” he inhaled, “This is hard to say…”

“Then just say it, doctor!” Julian seethed.

Eve pulled him back and placed her hand over his chest to calm him down. She then looked back over at the doctor.

“As you know, your husband,” Dr. Kasper said and then eyed Julian, “And your children were in a car accident. They rear-ended the truck in front of them, which were delivering long rods to a construction company. Anyways, as Tc hit the vehicle in front of him, one of the tied rods came loose and speared against the windshield of the car,” he exhaled, “Tc must’ve seen it and dove right in front of Evangeline…”

Eve gasped and Julian pulled her closer into his arms.

“But,” he paused and swallowed.

“But what?!” Julian exclaimed.

“The rod pierced Tc’s skull and…” he looked away, and then brought his eyes to the couple in front of him, “…and it penetrated through and came out through the back and also pierced Evangeline’s heart…”

Eve fainted and fell limp into Julian’s arms.

Eve had been out for a good thirty minutes before she came to. She found herself lying on a bed in the ER.

While Eve lay unconscious, the doctor informed Julian with the rest of the story.
---

When the paramedics got to the scene, they found everyone unconscious. They had seen what had happened to Tc and the little child, and had never experienced that.

J.J., Julius, and Evelyn were in the backseat and were taken out first. The paramedics then discussed amongst themselves on what to do about the ones in the front. It was very crucial; one wrong move and the both of them could’ve died. There was no way they could pull the rod out of both of them, and have them bleed to death. They had to find another way to separate these two to get them inside the ambulance, and they had to do it FAST!

“Squeeze harder…you’ve almost got it!” one paramedic encouraged the other with a bolt cutter that he had received from the construction worker, “YES!” he cheered as the rod was cut into two and Tc and Evangeline were apart…
---

Julian was informed that once they made it to the hospital that Tc had had the rod pulled from his head, but was now on a respirator; it was too soon to detect if he had suffered brain damage. And his little girl…she still had the rod in her heart. Knowing that the rod had pierced her heart and damaged it, they could not remove it until they found a matching donor, but it could not be left in there for too long, for her vitals began dropping.

Julian closed his eyes. He turned to the wall and raised his hands to his face and began sobbing. His little girl could die if they didn’t find a heart for her! He couldn’t lose her! He couldn’t! She was his favorite, although the other’s new that already…she was his sweet little angel…Evangeline…

He found himself in the chapel. Julian never even looked around, for he missed his own wife who was sitting a few rows behind him. She wanted to comfort him, but decided to just stay back. Tracy figured that Eve would probably be joining him soon, and they’d comfort each other…

Eve pulled her legs to the side of the bed and stood. She then went in search of the doctor and Julian. When she found him, he informed her on what he had told Julian. Eve was then led to her daughter’s room and was told that she could not be touched or moved, because they didn’t want the object lodged deeper into her chest, so Eve agreed to just sit and watch her precious little girl from the side. Evangeline had also been heavily sedated so that she wouldn’t wake up and move around too much…

Julian entered the room with bloodshot eyes and stood next to Eve. He placed his hands on her shoulders and the two watched over their daughter in sorrow.

“Julian, stay with her,” Eve whispered as she got up, “I’ll be right back…”

“Where are you going, Eve?”

“I’m going to go check on Tc.”

“At a time like this?!” he glared at her, “Our daughter needs us!”

“Yes, Julian, I realize that, but don’t forget that Tc saved our daughter! She could’ve died if it hadn’t been for him,” Eve gritted her teeth, “NOW, I’ll be back in a minute!” she turned on her heel and left.
---

“How is he?” Eve asked, as she sat next to Tc’s prone form.

“I’m afraid it’s not good,” the doctor shook her head, “I’m afraid that the CT scans report that Mr. Russell has suffered brain damage.”

“No!” Eve closed her eyes and looked down, “Is he going to make it?”

“To be honest with you,” the doctor gave her a polite short smile, “I don’t know. It depends on the rest of the tests. If the results determine the Mr. Russell indeed has brain damage, then I’m afraid the answer will be ‘no’.”

Eve nodded.

“May I be alone with him?”

“Sure,” the doctor said and left the room.

Eve turned back to her husband. She brought his hand to her lips and kissed it.

“Thank you, Tc,” she cried, “Thank you for trying to save my baby,” her arms reached around his waist and hugged him.

As Eve laid her head against his side, something happened.

“Eve?” Tc gurgled.

Eve raised her head and looked to Tc. He was awake!

“Tc! Oh my God, Tc you’re okay!” she stood and noticed how Tc seemed to be choking on the mouth piece of the respirator, so she slowly and carefully pulled it out.

“Eve?” he sniffed, “Eve, are you there?” he groaned.

Eve was about to turn to the door to get the doctor, but he grabbed her wrist.

“No, Eve,” he swallowed, “How’s Evangeline? Please…” he took in a deep breath, “…please tell me she’s alright, Eve?!”

“She’s not, Tc,” her voice cracked, “She needs a heart…the rod pierced and damaged her heart.”

“No! Sweetheart, please tell me that that’s not true!” tears made their way down the sides of his face.

His hand found her face and caressed it.

“Eve,” he rasped.

“Shh, Tc, I’ll go get the doctor…”

“Nooo,” he took in another deep breath, “It won’t do any good,” he breathed harder, trying to catch his breath, “Give…I’m not going to make…give,” he coughed, “Give Evangeline my heart, Eve,” his thumb swept over her bottom lip, “Give it to her, and…and tell our little one, when he or she is born, that I loved them and I’ll watch over them from above…” Tc said and then closed his eyes as he let out one last breath…
---*~*17

Chapter 18
Chapter 16
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