Eden knew that there was no one better that could have been in charge of Callum’s care than Juniper, no one that gave more of a damn about him than she did. Clearly things hadn’t gone well between he and Shannon – after all, there had to be a reason the were hadn’t phoned his brother to let him make the medical decisions for him, surely she had a bloody good motivator for pretending to be Cal’s wife to pull this whole thing off. Someone had to have his best interest at heart right now, someone had to put what was best for him above what even Cal might have wanted that had started all of this and Jun was that person without a doubt. “Alright, love, let’s go in and have a look at him,” slipping her arm around her shoulders, Eden stood and moved with Juniper through the doors and into the trauma room that housed Cal. She knew she had to ready herself before they went in, sure that whatever she would see inside wouldn’t be the fun loving, loud-mouthed Irishman she’d come to know over the past year and a bit of freaking out wouldn’t do much to help the woman at her side right now.
It was the smell that hit her first – that plasticy, sterile, medicinal smell that seemed to permeate any hospital you entered. The sound of the not-so-steady beeping of the monitors they’d hooked up to Cal came next and Eden’s brain hurriedly tried to figure out exactly what each of them did, what every unique little sound would mean in terms of his health. There were only two nurses in the room, watching over him closely, making almost constant rounds of those little machines to fill his chart with notes about each, glancing away only as the two women entered to interrupt their paces. “He doesn’t look like himself, not a bit,” Eden agreed quietly, releasing her grip on Jun so that she could move closer to Callum’s bedside. The elemental took the time to really take in the sight of him, her eyes sweeping over the lack of color in his usually sun-darkened skin, the slightly gray tinge that clung to him. His dark hair was fanned out behind him, a faint line of stubble darkening his jaw under the layers of tape holding the various tubes against him. He looked so unlike himself… Eden couldn’t imagine what could keep Shannon from his brother’s bedside at a time like this. Did he not know what had happened? How could that be? It was hard to remember anything more difficult she’d ever endured than standing there, listening to Juniper try and convince Cal to wake-up, to respond, to do anything to let them know that he was still in there, that he was still fighting. “He loves you too, Jun, you know that,” she moved forward, slipping a hand over the were’s back gently, that innately maternal streak of Eden’s making a momentary appearance. “Do you know who his dealer is?” she asked after a moment, almost afraid of the answer given the ferociousness in the other woman’s tone. “Have you…does Shannon know?” She was almost afraid to ask, almost didn’t want to know. What would be worse: to find out that Shannon had no idea and that they’d have to break the news or that he was aware of Cal’s state and had chosen not to come anyway? It seemed a lose-lose situation either way. The doors swished open again to interrupt them, the doctor from earlier standing there with a clipboard in hand. “I was able to put a rush on the papers, given his current status. All I need is your signature on the bottom line and I can authorize the procedure. I really do think you’ve made the best decision for your husband, for whatever that’s worth.” Eden slipped an arm around Juniper’s shoulders, giving her a supportive squeeze.