Chapter Text
Over the next three weeks Evie continued to observe Rhys’ training. The only difference between then and now was that apparently Rhys realized he outranked her and could order her to do stuff. A couple days after his leg cramped, he told her to bring him a glass of water. He dumped it on his head and then ordered her to wipe up the water on the floor. Later that evening, he ordered her to clean up after dinner, even though it was his day of the week to do so. The following day he ordered her to cook their dinner, which, again, was his daily chore.
As the days went on, things only got worse. Initially she was very confused about why his behavior changed so drastically but then it dawned on her: He had switched from trying to scare her away from being a knight to bullying her away. Evie almost laughed out loud when she realized what he was doing. It was painfully clear, at least to her, that Rhys hadn’t bullied many, if anyone, before; he was awful at being mean. None of his orders were that bad, annoying, sure but they were just menial tasks. He never yelled at her nor did he order her to do anything weird or gross. She kept waiting for him to order her to clean the bathroom, including the toilet, with only her toothbrush, but he never did. Not that anything he could have done would make her change her mind about being a knight; almost daily she had to fight the urge to tell him to step up his game or, as her Papa used to say, “Shit or get off the pot!” It was insulting that he thought so little of her that tasks such as doing his chores or cleaning up messes he made would be enough to scare her away from being a knight. She had decided to ignore him as much as possible, only speaking to him when spoken to.
The five of them currently sat on the two couches in the common room, listening to the radio. Earlier that day, Rhys had Evie wash his dirty laundry in the nearby stream. When he gave her the order, his haughty grin made it obvious he thought he had found something she hated. It wasn’t that, though. It made her upset that he refused to put any serious effort into being an ass towards her. As much as she fought to block it out, Nate’s voice continued to taunt her about how not only would no man ever want her, that she wasn’t even worth hating. She was just, and would always be, a burden. Excess baggage that had to be put up with for the time being.
"Evie!" Rhys called out.
She clenched her teeth. "Yes, sir?"
"I have a knot in my shoulder. Rub it out," Rhys instructed.
She nodded. "Yes, sir."
Rhys got up and sat on the floor in front of her.
"Um, Rhys. I don’t think that’s a good idea," Haylen said, surprising Evie. In fact, it was the first time anyone had objected to one of Rhys’ orders.
Oh, that’s why. “It’s alright, Haylen. I gave Sorin a massage the other day," Evie assured her.
"Exactly. Now rub, Initiate," Rhys commanded.
Haylen put her hands up in resignation but Evie could have sworn her friend smiled a little.
"Where’s the knot, sir?" Evie asked.
Rhys used his right hand to point to his left shoulder blade. “It’s in there somewhere. It's really deep too, so don’t hold back.”
Haylen coughed and looked like she was trying not to laugh but shook her head when she saw Evie staring. "By all means. Have at it, Evie."
Evie felt like she was missing something, like there was an inside joke going on. She shrugged and was sure Haylen would fill her in later. She widened her legs. "Scoot back, sir. Now hang your arms over my knees."
Rhys tensed. "What for?"
She sighed. "It opens up your shoulder blades and makes it easier to get to the muscles underneath."
Rhys looked at Sorin who, Evie just then realized, also seemed like he was trying very hard not to laugh. What the hell was going on?
"She’s right. His knots really are deep, Evie. You’ll probably have to press pretty hard," Sorin said.
Rhys’ shrugged and hung his arms over her knees. She placed her left hand on his left shoulder for leverage and then, using her right thumb, she pressed right where Rhys had said the knot was, making sure to push hard to reach the knot.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” Rhys screamed before scrambling away from her on all fours. At the same time Haylen and Sorin burst out laughing. Rhys sat on the floor about six feet away and gaped at her. "What the fuck are your hands made out of? Pure iron??"
Haylen and Sorin laughed harder. "I... I tried to warn you. Evie has ridiculously strong hands. Oh... my god. I didn’t think your voice went that high," Haylen gasped, breathless with laughter.
Now it made sense. Evie didn’t really think her hands were particularly strong, but she had to admit, Rhys’ reaction was quite funny.
"How? How can you be that strong?" Rhys asked.
She shrugged. Haylen and Sorin laughed for a few more moments before they quieted. Rhys no longer gaped at her but he also didn’t get any closer. She sighed and knew he’d blame her if his shoulder hurt more tomorrow.
"Come on back; I don’t have to push as hard as that," Evie said.
Rhys’ eyes widened. "Hell no! You keep your hands to yourself!"
Evie raised her eyebrows at his refusal. Well, she did try so she figured it was safe for her to pay him back a little for the last few weeks. "Apologies, sir. I didn’t know you were so... sensitive."
Haylen and Sorin started to laugh all over again and this time Evie joined them. Even Danse seemed to chuckle. Rhys’ eyes narrowed. "Oh, screw you all."
"Pretty sure I’m not allowed to do that for another eleven months, sir," Evie said, trying but failing to keep a straight face. Rhys’ jaw dropped again and Haylen laughed even harder. "Oh my god! I’m gonna pee my pants!"
They laughed a little while longer while Rhys sat on the floor and glowered at them.
"Thank you, Rhys. I needed that laugh," Sorin said.
Rhys grumbled as he got to his feet and then sat next to Danse. "So happy I could oblige."
"Serves you right for one, underestimating how strong Evie is and two, ignoring Haylen’s warning," Sorin added.
Rhys looked at her but she didn’t see any anger in his eyes. A bit of embarrassment, and maybe some annoyance but he didn’t seem actually upset. "You don’t look that strong."
"Don’t judge a book by its cover,” Evie said with a smirk.
"What?" Rhys asked.
"It’s an old saying. It means, looks can be deceiving. Just because a book’s cover isn’t interesting, that doesn’t mean the book itself isn’t good," Evie explained.
Rhys shrugged. "Whatever."
Evie couldn’t help but laugh at how frustrated he sounded. She realized she needed to go to the bathroom so she stood up and walked to the door.
"Where are you going?" Rhys asked.
She rolled her eyes and then turned around to face the knight. "The bathroom. Do I need your permission to pee?"
Rhys’ eyes widened and his face began to flush. "No... no. Nevermind."
She left the common room and headed down the hall to the bathroom. When she was finished and on her way back she could hear the others talking. For some reason her feet stopped about thirty feet away from the common room.
"It’s too bad video recording devices are so rare. What I wouldn’t give to have captured that scream on camera," Haylen said.
"You try getting your shoulder dislocated by Mrs. Iron Fist," Rhys grumbled.
"Oh, stop overreacting. You know you love her," Haylen teased.
Evie’s eyes widened. Rhys obviously doesn’t love me. What is Haylen talking about?
"Don’t look at me like that, you know what I mean. You wouldn’t have nearly broken Kyle’s arm and threatened to knock his teeth out if you didn’t care about her," Haylen continued.
Who was Kyle? Evie was very confused.
"If Evie’s not able to defend herself by the time we get home, that little shit better stay the hell away from her. He so much as thinks about calling her a bitch again, let alone anything worse, I’ll break his jaw," Rhys declared.
"Rhys, maybe don’t threaten to beat up a fellow soldier in front of your commanding officer, regardless of whether or not said commanding officer agrees with you," Danse interjected.
Evie’s eyes widened. Rhys must be talking about the resupply knights! Evie didn’t hear them say anything at all, let alone one of them calling her a bitch. The only thing she remembered was the panic of being in handcuffs again. She shivered in earnest at the memory.
"Sorry, sir," Rhys mumbled.
It was then that the realization hit that both Rhys and Danse cared about her enough to be willing to beat someone up on her behalf. But that didn’t make any sense! At least, not for Rhys.
"I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it as I know how difficult it is to not want to protect her. Even so, remember what we talked about," Danse said.
"I know, I know but there’s not much else I can do other than treat her like a little sister until she can start training," Rhys admitted.
Little sister? Evie’s eyes filled with tears and try as she might, she couldn't stop them from falling down her face. It all made so much sense now.
"Speaking of. How much longer before I can start her training?" Danse asked.
"Soon. I’ll give her a full evaluation tomorrow, and as long as there are no issues, she can start training the next day," Sorin replied.
Excitement coursed through her. Finally!
"Excellent," Danse said.
"We placing bets?" Rhys asked.
Bets? Bets on what?
"Rhys, I thought you already accepted she was going to make it through Hell Week," Danse stated.
Evie’s eyes widened. Hell Week?
"Oh no, I was talking about how many times she throws up on the first day. I’m gonna say… three times," Rhys explained.
Evie’s eyes widened. Throw up? While she didn’t regret her decision to become a knight, she couldn’t help but be nervous about what Danse had in store for her.
"It’s not really fair to compare her to any of my past students since they were all Senior Knights who wanted to become Paladins," Danse said.
"I’ll be honest, sir, I was surprised that Elder Maxson agreed to let you train Evie. Happy, of course, but I thought he would have had her brought home and trained by one of the paladins who train initiates," Haylen admitted.
Go home? To DC? Evie shook her head. No, she didn’t want to go anywhere without the others, even Rhys.
"He wanted to but I was able to convince him that it was best for her to stay here. Sometimes being the Elder’s best friend comes in handy," Danse revealed.
Danse went out of his way so she could stay here? Why, though? Evie didn’t understand but she couldn’t deny how happy it made her, knowing they all wanted her to stay with them.
"What’s taking her so long? Uggg... is she blowing up the bathroom? Right before bed?" Rhys grumbled.
Evie quickly retreated back to the bathroom and waited for a few more minutes before returning to the common room.
"You okay?" Haylen asked.
Evie nodded. "Yeah, just a little gassy. I think something I ate isn’t agreeing with me."
"Gross," Rhys muttered.
Evie rolled her eyes but wasn’t anywhere near as annoyed with him, now that she knew the truth, as she had been.
"Evie, Sorin said as long as there aren’t any issues during his evaluation tomorrow you can start training the day after," Danse announced.
Evie tried to look surprised. It wasn’t difficult, since she actually was excited to train even after learning the first day would not be fun. "Finally!" An idea came to her, and she looked at Sorin.
"How long will your evaluation take?" Evie asked.
"Probably around a half an hour. Why?" Sorin replied.
Evie smiled. "Can you do it now so I can start training tomorrow?"
Sorin raised his eyebrows but after a moment he nodded. "Sure, I suppose that’s fine."
"You don’t need to, Evie. In fact you can spend the day tomorrow doing whatever you want. It will probably be the last time you’ll have that much free time for quite a while," Danse said.
Evie shook her head. "I don’t care, sir. Waiting a day now means it will take one day longer for me to get strong enough to get Shawn back. That’s the only thing that matters to me."
Danse raised his eyebrows but nodded. "Very well."
"Thank you, sir," Evie replied.
She got up as did Sorin and they made their way to sick bay. He motioned for her to sit next to his desk and she did.
"Alright, first on the list is your eyes. Follow my finger," Sorin instructed.
She nodded and followed Sorin’s finger as he moved it around her field of vision. "Any pain?"
"Nope," Evie replied.
"Good. Okay, next I need to check that your face and head can feel everything you should and nothing you’re not. Ready?" Sorin asked.
She nodded and Sorin gently touched multiple places on her face, the sides, top and back of her head. He seemed satisfied and they moved on to testing her limbs for numbness or tingling. She didn't have any issues there so he went to his desk and pulled out a small bell.
"Okay, now for a hearing test. We need to go into the hallway for this one. You’ll face away from me and I will ring the bell. If you can hear it, raise your right hand. I’ll keep getting farther away until you can no longer hear it. Got it?" Sorin explained.
"Yes but it might be quicker if you started at the end of the hallway. I’ve always had good hearing," Evie said.
Sorin looked at her with a quizzical expression and then he shrugged. "Sure, why not. But let’s make this interesting. Turn around now and raise your hand as soon as you hear it. But know that I’m going to wait to ring for a minute so you won’t be able to just guess based on how long since I started walking."
Evie grinned. She turned around and stretched her ears until she could hear Sorin’s footsteps. He didn’t stop until he was close or at the end of the hallway. She waited and about 90 seconds later she heard a faint bell and raised her hand.
"No way!" Sorin exclaimed.
Evie laughed and turned around. She was right, he was at the far end of the hallway, about 50 feet away. He quickly returned. "Told you."
"That’s seriously impressive, Evie." Sorin said.
"I used to freak out my school teachers when I was little. Sometimes we’d get to watch videos and if the TV was left on, the screen would turn black so it looked like it was off. I could walk into a room and instantly tell if the TV was on because I could hear the high-pitch sound the TV gave off," Evie explained.
"Damn. Alright, back inside, but don’t sit down; just stand next to the chair. Oh and take off your shoes," Sorin instructed.
She nodded and stood where he said and removed her boots.
"Okay now for some coordination tests. The chair is there if you lose your balance. Now put your feet together and your arms down by your side. Good. Now, just stay like that for a moment. Try to be as still as possible," Sorin said.
Evie felt a bit silly but she did as Sorin asked.
"Excellent. This next one might be harder though. I want you to do the same thing, but this time close your eyes," Sorin instructed.
She nodded and closed her eyes.
"Very good. Okay. Keep your eyes closed and touch your right index finger to your nose. Good. Now your left pinky finger to your right ear lobe. Perfect. Ok, a bit more difficult. Lift your left foot and try to keep your balance," Sorin continued.
Evie lifted her foot as instructed and heard Sorin stand up.
"Wow, very good, Evie. Okay, you can put your foot down. Now, with your eyes closed, turn around three times and then try to keep your balance. Remember the chair is there on your right if you need it," Sorin said.
Evie spun three times and then waited, she felt only the smallest amount of dizziness. She also heard Sorin moving closer to her but it was clear he was trying to be very quiet. She sensed him approach her left side so she wasn’t completely surprised when he reached out and touched her arm. She jumped but didn’t lose her balance.
"Damn. Ok you can open your eyes and sit down. Oh, you can put your boots back on too," Sorin said. "Only a few more tests. First, some basic math problems. What’s 42 minus 7?" Sorin asked.
"35," Evie replied.
"Good. What’s 27 plus 73?" Sorin asked.
"100," Evie responded.
"Last one. What’s 725 divided by 25?" Sorin questioned.
This one took Evie a few more seconds to work out. "29," she said.
"Any headache? Or odd sensations anywhere?" Sorin asked.
Evie thought about it and then shook her head. "No, nothing."
"Awesome. Okay, now a short-term memory test. Remember these four words: chair, spoon, flower, apple. Now repeat them back," Sorin instructed.
"Chair, spoon, flower, apple," Evie repeated.
"Good. Now, the last test. Oh, actually, you know there were a couple medical questions I need for your file. Do you mind if we go over those? Shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes," Sorin asked.
Evie shook her head. "Go for it."
"Do you happen to know your blood type?" Sorin asked.
Evie nodded. "A+."
"Oh, that’s great, actually. Rhys is A+ as well. OK, when was your last menstrual cycle?" Sorin inquired.
Evie didn’t enjoy talking about anything that had to do with her broken reproductive system but understood why Sorin needed to know. "A couple weeks ago."
"And nothing abnormal about it?" Sorin asked.
Evie shook her head.
"Good. Are your cycles pretty regular, on average?" Sorin asked.
Evie sighed. "Not really. That last cycle was the first one I’ve had in, maybe seven months. My time, of course. I only had maybe three cycles total in the year before the war began.” Sorin blinked at her. "What?"
"Your last menstrual cycle was seven months ago?" Sorin clarified.
"Yes. Is that a bad thing?" Evie asked.
"No, it’s just, seven months ago, you were five or six months pregnant. Right?" Sorin explained.
Evie’s eyes widened as she realized her mistake. She was so used to how Shawn was conceived she forgot her new friends didn’t know. Multiple emotions assaulted her at once, guilt for not telling them that she couldn’t have children, shame for not being able to have children to begin with and fear they’d be angry with her for keeping it a secret. She couldn’t stop the tears from falling.
"Oh no, Evie. I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to bring up painful memories of Shawn’s birth," Sorin apologized.
She shook her head. "I’m... I’m sorry... I’m so sorry."
Sorin took her hand and held it tight. "Evie, you have nothing to be sorry about."
She shook her head again. "I... I should have told you, out of everyone."
"Told me what?" Sorin asked.
Evie tried to summon the courage to tell her friend but the fear was too much.
"Evie, look at me. Are you going to tell me you’re an Institute spy?" Sorin asked gently.
That snapped her out of the despair spiral she had been about to fall into. "What? No!"
Sorin smiled and squeezed her hand. "Then you don’t have anything to be sorry about. Whatever it is, I promise I won’t be upset that you didn’t tell me. And unless it puts you or the others in danger, I won’t tell them if you don’t want me to."
That did make her feel slightly better. She took a deep breath. "Shawn is my son but I’m... I’m not his biological mother. Because I’m broken. I have Primary Ovarian Insufficiency which means my ovaries are empty."
Sorin’s eyes widened, and he let go of her hand to give her a hug. She gasped with relief that her friend wasn’t upset with her.
"No, Evie. You’re not broken. Not at all. Why would you think that?" Sorin questioned.
"I... I can’t have children. The one thing a woman is supposed to do," Evie replied, her voice heavy with shame.
Sorin pulled away. "Evie. A person’s worth is not determined by whether or not they can grow a human inside their body. Come here, sit with me." Sorin pushed the few items on his desk to the side and waited for her to sit before he sat next to her. She sniffed and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt.
"I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner," Evie said.
Sorin put his arm around her. "Don’t be. So, Shawn was adopted?"
"Sorta. I guess technically I adopted him, but he’s Nate’s biological son. He used a donated egg and a surrogate to bring Shawn into the world." Evie explained.
“There are more than a few people in this world who would benefit from that technology. My best friend, Mark, is one of them. Whenever we go back home, I’ll mention it to Dr. Kaede Samara. He’s our surgeon general, which means he’s the head of the medical scribes. He’s also my mentor. If anyone could recreate it, it would be Dr. Samara." Sorin mused.
"Is Mark’s wife unable to have children, like me?" Evie asked. She felt Sorin tense, just a little.
"No, she died a few years back, before he joined the Brotherhood. Her loss was so painful he decided to never get involved with anyone again. He’s always wanted children and if that technology could be replicated, maybe he could finally become a father," Sorin explained before shrugging.
They sat in silence for a few minutes. “Are you feeling better?" Sorin asked finally.
She debated telling Sorin about Nate and the abuse. She couldn’t deny that she felt a bit better after telling him about Shawn. Fuck it.
"There’s... there’s something I need to tell you. I don’t want to talk about it but... I suppose you should know, being a medic, our medic and all," Evie said.
Sorin didn’t say anything, just waited for her to continue when she was ready. She took a deep breath. "There’s a reason that I don’t wear my wedding rings or talk about Nate and it’s not out of grief or respect for the dead as he deserves neither. I let all of you think it was the man with the scar who gave me the bruises on my wrists, but he didn’t. I’d gotten those two hundred years ago.
Sorin gasped. "Oh, Evie. That’s why you think you’re broken. He told you that, didn't he?"
Evie looked down and nodded.
"He was wrong, Evie. Absolutely wrong. In fact he was the broken one because only someone who was broken could hurt the one they’re supposed to love," Sorin stated firmly.
A few more tears leaked out of Evie’s eyes. "Haylen knows but Danse and Rhys don’t. Please... please don’t tell them."
Sorin squeezed her. "I won’t, but out of the two of them I don’t believe Danse would care. I agree that Rhys shouldn’t know, at least not for a while. He’s been acting like an ass the last few weeks but I swear, that’s all it is: an act. He really does care about you; he just doesn’t know how to express it, not well anyway. Finding out about Nate would pretty much guarantee he wouldn’t be able to spar with you, out of fear of you getting hurt."
Evie shook her head. "I can’t tell Danse either. Not yet. I can’t risk him going easy on me because of my past. I need him to teach me everything he knows so I have the greatest chance of getting Shawn back."
Sorin nodded. "I understand. And I know you don’t want to talk about it so I’ll only say this once: If you ever need or want to talk about it, I’m always here to listen. About Nate, or what happened in the vault, or Shawn. Whatever and whenever you want to talk, you just come find me. Okay?"
Evie nodded. "Thank you, Sorin." He squeezed her again and she took a deep breath. "So can I start training tomorrow?"
"Yes. Oh and I would suggest asking Haylen if she’ll braid your hair tonight. The female knights back home seemed to like two side braids," Sorin replied.
Evie breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. "Yeah, that’s a good idea. I should probably go talk to her about it now and then go to bed. I have a feeling I should get as much sleep tonight as possible."
Sorin grinned. "That would be a very wise decision. None of Danse’s students ever forget their first day of training."
"I fully expect tomorrow will be hard as hell but it and the days that follow will increase the chances that I find my son. Doing nothing will give me nothing in return, so it’s not an option," Evie declared. She got off the table and gave her friend another hug before walking to the door.
"Oh, Evie, I did actually have one more question." Sorin called.
She stopped and looked at Sorin. "What were those four words I told you to remember?"
Evie’s eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, that’s not fair!"
Sorin laughed. "In my defense, I was planning on asking much sooner but I’m curious, do you remember them?"
Evie thought back for a moment and then grinned. "Chair, spoon, flower, apple. HA!"
"Very impressive. I’m confident that your concussion has fully healed. Good luck tomorrow," Sorin said.
Evie waved to the medic and then returned to the common room. Danse wasn’t there but Haylen and Rhys were.
"So? Are you training tomorrow?" Haylen asked.
Evie nodded. "Yup! But could we talk for a bit, in private?"
Haylen’s eyes widened but she nodded. "Of course!"
"Why don’t I get to participate? Do I have to order you to talk here?" Rhys grumbled.
A wicked idea occurred to her. "My apologies, sir." She looked back at Haylen and winked. "Haylen, can you show me how to attach multiple menstrual rags to my panties? My flow is veryheavy, there’s just so much blood, not to mention the mucus..."
"Oh my god, I think I’m going to throw up," Rhys exclaimed.
Both she and Haylen started to laugh.
"Hey! You did that on purpose!" Rhys accused. "Lying to a senior officer is no laughing matter, Initiate! I'm going to have to come up with a suitable punishment!"
Evie rolled her eyes in full view of Rhys. "You can drop the act; Sorin let the cat out of the bag."
Rhys blinked. "Wait... When did Sorin get a cat?"
None of them said anything for a few beats before Evie and Haylen both began to laugh all over again. A tear or two even leaked from Evie's eyes. As she tried to contain her mirth, she realized she couldn't remember the last time she laughed so hard she cried. At least ten years ago, but probably longer.
Rhys' eyes narrowed when he realized they were laughing because of what he said. "That's... that's enough! Go... go make me a cup of tea!"
Evie wiped her eyes and looked at Rhys. A grin spread across her face. "No, I don't think I will."
Rhys' jaw dropped for the second time that night. "You... you can't refuse a direct order!"
She shrugged. "Looks like I just did. What are you going to do about it?"
Rhys just stared at her in shock.
She shook her head but smiled at the same time. "Like I said, Sorin told me all about your little bully act."
Rhys' eyes widened as the realization sank in and he sighed overdramatically. "Of course he would spill the beans."
Evie tilted her head to the side. "Sorin didn't have any beans in sick bay," she said as deadpan as possible. Only once Rhys got the joke did she smile. "Two can play this game. Yours needs work."
His eyes widened and he returned her grin. "Be careful what you wish for. Initiate."
She nodded. "Bring it on. Sir."
Rhys laughed and waved her off. She and Haylen went to her room and Evie closed the door.
"So what’s up? I doubt you really need help with the rags," Haylen said.
Evie laughed. "No but I couldn’t resist. Oh my god, his face. Priceless. But I was hoping you might know how to cut hair."
Haylen’s eyes widened. "You want to cut your hair? Why? It’s so long and pretty!"
"Sorin suggested I braid my hair but that’s going to get old fast. On top of that, I don’t want long hair anymore. The only reason it’s this long to begin with is that Nate wouldn’t let me cut it. And then, in the vault, that man was able to grab me by my hair. Braids wouldn’t prevent that. So I want to chop most of it off and couldn’t care less about how it looks. I just need it to be out of my face," Evie explained.
Haylen nodded. "Yeah, that does make sense. Alright, let me go get my good pair of scissors."
Haylen left and quickly returned with not only her scissors but a flat razor and comb as well.
"Am I getting a shave?" Evie asked.
Haylen smirked. "If we’re going to do this we’re going to do it right. You may not care what it looks like but I do. Alright, sit on the floor."
Evie sat as instructed. "There’s also something I need to tell you. It came up accidentally when I was talking with Sorin, and it’s only fair that I tell you."
Haylen didn’t say anything and Evie appreciated that her friend never rushed her or tried to get more information out of her. As Haylen cut more than a foot of hair from her head, Evie told her about having POI and how Shawn was conceived. Around an hour later, Evie looked in the bathroom mirror and had to admit she was impressed with Haylen’s work. It was only a couple of inches on top and tapered down to the skin on the sides of her head and the back of her neck. She couldn’t believe how much lighter her head felt. Whatever happened tomorrow, at least she wouldn’t have to worry about her hair getting in the way.
Evie took a deep breath as she thought about her first day of training. She was nervous, there was no doubt about that, but no matter how hard it got, she owed it to Shawn to see it through. She left the bathroom, went to her room and got into bed. She closed her eyes and pictured Shawn in her head, remembering the way he felt when she cradled him in her arms and the sound of his laughter. “Mommy will find you. If I have to walk through the gates of hell itself, I will find you and bring him home, Shawn," Evie vowed.
She closed her eyes and waited for sleep to find her.