The nurses prepared another bed for Kristin in Eve’s patient’s room. Jake’s crib was standing between them. He was sleeping peacefully after Eve fed him and changed his diaper. 

„Let’s try to find some rest, as well.“ Kristin suggested. 

She already changed her clothes into pajamas and gave Eve another pair, as she didn’t have own clothes in the hospital for the night. 

Both were terribly exhausted. But as they were finally lying in bed, they couldn’t fall asleep. After tossing and turning for a while, Kristin suddenly switched on her small lamp at her bedside table.

„Can we talk about Justin?“ Kristin asked. 

Eve looked at her and frowned. 

„Why you wanna talk about Justin?“

„Well, it wasn’t hard to notice, that he’s hopelessly in love with you.“ Kristin answered. 

„Really, mom? You wanna discuss this right now?“ 

„Do you have better plans?“ 

Eve sighed. 

„Okay, listen. I don’t see what you see.“

„So obviously you must be blind.“ 

Again Eve sighed.

„Then please explain to me how you came to this conclusion.“ 

„It’s pretty simple. It’s the way he looked at you, the way he touched you, the way he took care for you…“ 

„Which way, mom?“ 

„He was extremely protective and caring. And it was breaking his heart seeing you suffer.“ 

„What you saw was him being an amazing friend. Nothing more or less.“ 

Kristin shook her head. 

„Honestly spoken, he reminds me of Tom.“ 

Eve scoffed.

„Okay, now you’re losing your mind."

Kristin ignored her daughter’s cynical comment. 

„His self confidence is remarkable. When he enters the room all eyes are on him. But all he sees is you. And so did Tom.“ 

Eve turned silent for a moment. She thought about what her mom just said and asked herself, if this really could be true. 

„I love Josh, mom.“ She finally replied. 

„I know that, darling. But stop ignoring the fact, that his best friend is loving you.“ 

Somehow both women fell asleep for few hours after a while. Eve woke up in the morning, when Jake started crying. She needed a second to sort her mind. Then reality hit her hard. She wished so much waking up and realizing it was all just a bad dream. But unfortunately this wasn’t the case. 

She stood up and put Jake out of his baby bed. 

„Hey sweet little monkey. Let’s call for the nurse to bring you some milk, hm?“ She said. 

Kristin was awake as well and stretched herself. 

„Did you sleep?“ She asked her daughter.

„Yes. My body just resigned at some point.“

„While you take care for Jake, let me call the ICU and ask how Josh is doing.“ 

„Thank you, mom.“ 

Josh’s condition was unchanged. Eve and Kristin were deeply relieved that he was still stabile. After taking care for Jake, he fell asleep again. Eve dressed into some fresh clothes from her mother.

„Can you do me a favor?“ [M]

„Anything you want.“ [007]

„Could you bring my bag which I packed for the hospital, please? [M]

„Of course. Where do I find it?“ [007]

„In the closet. [M]

Justin arrived at Eve and Josh’s house short time later. As he let himself in, he saw the housekeeper tidying up the kitchen. When he came inside, she smiled at him friendly. 

„Good morning, Mr. Timberlake. Can I help you?“ She said. 

„Why are you working, Elena? Eve gave you the week off, remember?“

„I know, I know. But I didn’t finish the house yesterday. I just came to bring everything into order before making a break.“ 

Justin smiled calmly and came few steps closer. 

„Elena, don’t worry about the house. Eve told you to get some rest after all you went through. You need to process, like the rest of us.“

Elena nodded. 

„Let me finish the kitchen, okay? Then I’ll go home.“

Justin smiled again. 

„Hey ehm, I came for Eve’s hospital bag.“

„It’s downstairs in the hallway.“ Elena said.

„Really? She said it’s in her closet.“

„I believe Mr. Chasez went upstairs to get the bag before leaving the house. It was lying next to him…“ 

„Oh. I see…“

The same morning Lucy rushed into Eve’s patient’s room. When their eyes met immediately both started crying. Lucy came towards her and embraced her body tightly.

„I have no words… I just have no words…“ Lucy sobbed.

„Me, neither…“ Eve sobbed back. 

Kristin was watching the scene. In the next second Joey entered the room. He was very tensed, not knowing how to behave. The girls released each other. Eve looked at Joey and fell around his neck. He hugged her tightly, trying very hard not starting to cry.

In the next moment the door got open again. Karly, Chris, Lance and Michael came inside. They were under deep shock. The scene was the same as with Lucy and Joey. No one knew what to say. They hugged to give each other some comfort, hardly being able to process the big tragedy. 

Just short time later Josh’s family arrived. All of them were deeply traumatized. Karen rushed into Eve’s arms first. She was completely devastated. They held each other close for a while and just cried together. 

Justin, Mateo and Eric showed up as well. The room was full of people now, who didn’t know how to handle the unbearable situation. Jake’s birth gave all of them some comfort, but still they just couldn’t feel happy. They talked about the accident and about Josh’s current condition. Some of them asked, if they could visit him at the ICU. Some of them weren’t brave enough to see him this way. 

The day passed by slowly. When everybody was finally gone, Eve went to the ICU, to spend some time with Josh on her own. She sat down at his bed and grabbed his hand. Carefully she kissed his fingers. She couldn’t cry anymore, even if she wanted. There were no tears left. 

„Please come back to me. Please come back to me…“ She whispered. 

One week later.

Josh’s doctor asked Eve for a meeting. She showed up in time and waited for him in his office. Jake was at home with her mother. All of them left the hospital three days after Josh’s accident. Eve wished she could stay longer just to be close to him, but Kristin convinced her to leave the hospital. She was aware of, that she needed another environment to process the situation. Still she spent hours in the ICU with Josh every day. 

Josh’s family and their friends returned home after few days, as well. There was nothing they could do for Josh on the spot. Lucy was the only one who stayed in town. She asked her boss to let her work from home for a while and moved back into her apartment in Santa Monica. 

„Mrs. Chasez, thank you for coming.“ The doctor said, as he entered his office. 

„Good morning.“ She answered, being terribly tensed. 

„How are you?“

„Wrong question. But I’m sure you didn’t ask me to come for having small talk. So…?“ She replied impatiently. 

The doctor cracked a smile. Then he started to explain.

„This morning, we made an EEG.“

„What does it mean?“

„It means, we measured your husband’s brain activity.“

„With which result?“

The doctor made a short pause and cleared his throat before answering. 

„We realized that his brain activity is pretty low, Mrs. Chasez. That’s why we do not expect him to wake up from his artificial coma.“

Eve needed a moment to sort her mind. 

„I don’t understand…“ She said concerned. 

„What I am trying to say is, that he’ll remain unconscious.“

„But… you don’t know for sure, right?“

„Look.“ The doctor said next. „We will try to wake him up, as we’re positive his body can breath on his own. But obviously the lack of oxygen caused some serious damage in his brain and it didn’t recover, yet. There is hope he’ll make some progress at some point, but I can’t give you any prognosis how long this may take. Unfortunately we have no influence on brain recovery.“

Eve was processing hard. 

„But… he will wake up, right? He just needs time? That’s what you’re saying?“

The doctor smiled calmly. 

„Your husband is a strong man. There is a chance that he’ll wake up. But I can’t make any promises, Mrs. Chasez.“

Eve’s eyes filled with tears.

„When will you try to bring him back from his artificial coma?“ She sobbed.

„We’ll do it this afternoon.“ 

The same night Kristin fed Jake and was carrying him on her arm to make him fall asleep. Then she heard someone entering the house. In the next moment Justin appeared in the living room. 

„Hi.“ He whispered, coming closer. 

Kristin smiled. Jake just closed his small eyes. She put him into his crib carefully.

„Why you always let yourself in, Justin?“ Kristin asked. 

Justin smiled sheepishly. 

„I’m sorry. It’s a habit.“ 

Kristin smiled again. 

„So, what brings you here that late?“

„I just wanted to know how you’re doing.“ 

„Eve is in the hospital.“ Kristin explained. „They tried to wake Joshua up this afternoon, but unfortunately it didn’t work out.“

„Why not?“ Justin asked nervously.

„His brain is not okay, Justin. They don’t know, if he’ll recover. But the good news is, he’s breathing on his own now.“ 

Justin was lost in thoughts for a moment. 

„Is she alone in the hospital?“

„Lucy and Mateo joined her for a while, but they already left. She’s refusing to come back home. Maybe you should go and try to bring her back.“ 

As Josh wasn’t attached to the mechanical ventilation anymore, he got transferred to the progressive care unit. Eve was with him, caressing his hair gently. She imagined, that he was just sleeping peacefully. 

Short time later the door opened up.

„Here you are.“ Justin said calmly, coming few steps closer.

Eve looked at him and smiled.

„Wow, he’s looking better. No more ventilation. That’s a good progress, right?“ 

„They don’t know if he’ll wake up, Justin. And even when he does, no one can tell if he’ll ever fully recover…“ 

„I know. Your mom told me…“ 

Justin knelt down in front of her.

„I understand you wanna be with him. But your baby is waiting for you at home.“ He said calmly. 

Eve gave him another smile. 

„The nurse said, I can bring Jake here.“ 

Justin smiled back.

„That’s awesome. So, what about you and me coming back tomorrow with Jake?“ 

Eve agreed. The nurse wouldn’t allow her to stay the night anyway and she just realized how exhausted she was.

They left the hospital together short time later.

„I’ll bring you home. You can leave your car here.“ Justin said.

„I came by Uber. I was too excited driving on my own after the doctor called.“