EVE

EVE
Paul Ward

1 - Loss

The coffee machine produced Peter Gould's fifth drink of the night at
3:30 A.M. and then he returned to the hospital waiting room to continue
his marathon walk backwards and forwards from window to door. He hadn't
had the stomach to attend the birth of his daughter and so just waited
for news from the nurses.
Peter, a painter and decorator by trade, and Joanne, a nursery nurse,
had been trying for a baby for two years and had gone through every
imaginable natural process of conception there is (one of the weirdest
being a shag in the back of their two door Ford Probe at midnight, when
her inner temperature was right, and then Joanne propped up on her neck
with her legs sticking out of the sun roof so the sperm had a head
start finding the egg), when none of these worked they had eventually
gone on to an IVF program. Success still didn't come easy and it was
the second time around that Joanne had caught.
Joanne had gone into labour some three hours previous and Peter had
found the drive to the hospital the worst experience of his life, what
with Joanne screaming down his ear hole every couple of minutes,
fidgeting in her seat (at one point actually kneeling on the seat
leaning over the back of it) and the pouring rain making it hard to see
the road. He felt he had coped well with this unexpected stress and was
glad that Joanne had lasted long enough to get to the hospital, but now
he just wished it was over - time seemed to have stood still and
nothing was happening.
The sound came minutes later - 3:35 A.M. - however, the scream echoing
through the hospital corridors was not that of a woman giving birth but
that of a woman's tortured soul as she is told she has lost the baby
(Eve) that she has carried for the past 9 months. She had held Eve for
5 minutes before the nurses finally prised Joanne's arms from around
her daughter.
The funeral was held a week later and Eve was set to rest having never
seen the world she was born in to. The inscription simply read 'EVE
GOULD - Born and Died 15 January 2000 - We Love You'. The family left
to continue their grieving. Counseling had started immediately after
the birth, a week before, and had not progressed at all, a week after
the funeral Peter and Joanne were referred to a top specialist
counselor, psychologist and hypnotherapist, James Boughton BA(Hons) DHP
Reg.Psychol MUFH. The first visit had been a standard getting to know
you half hour, it was the second visit to James Boughton that had Peter
and Joanne in a state of disbelief. James was speaking with a serious
intonation and a glint in his eyes exuding excitement as he explained
what he proposed to do with Peter and Joanne.
'Now then, the majority of people overcome grief in their own way but
others need special help and that's where I come in. As long as people
feel that they have done everything they can and that somehow their
lost one is not lost at all they will be able to rebuild their
lives.'
'But we have lost our daughter, Eve!', Pete interjected.
'I understand?' James continued, 'what I am proposing is to use
hypnosis on both of you and when you awake you will have an enormous
sense of relief, everything will seem well in the world bec -'
Joanne had to stop James at this moment. 'How? I can see how
hypnotherapy can help in stopping smoking, or dieting and many other
trivial matters, but are you saying that you will put a suggestion into
our heads that makes us forget Eve; believe me, we do not want to
forget Eve, she may not have lived on this Earth but she was a part of
our family for 9 months.' She stopped, holding back tears, Peter
comforted her, 'It's Okay, come on let it go if you want to.'
James was an expert listener and would never interrupt a patient, he
was a true believer of silence is golden and this was a moment for such
silence. He waited for the golden time to be up and then continued, a
little softer.
'I understand completely, and I would never remove the memory of Eve,
that is not my intention. Allow me to explain the details? I believe
that I have found? please bear with me on this, it gets a bit heavy, I
have found the existence of, what the fantasy world call, parallel
universes.. I know, it's way out there but humor me just a bit longer',
Peter and Joanne glanced at each other and then looked back at James
with a look that said, HELLO - this is planet Earth, where the fuck do
you come from? Unphased James proceeded. 'Parallel universes are the
same as the one you are in now, but each one is slightly out of sync
with the next and therefore, if you were able to traverse from one
parallel to another it would be like traveling in time. I have found
the doorway, portal or whatever you want to call it that allows this to
happen.'
'Yeah, as you say, in the fantasy world' Peter spoke with frustration,
'I really don't see how this can help us? are you actually saying you
can make us travel back in time?'
James, still calm replied. 'Not physically travel back in time, no. A
part of you, some would call your soul, would connect into another you
in another parallel, this would be a parallel that to you is in the
past and so what it means is that you can step in to another parallel
before the birth of Eve so your daughter has a chance to live.'
Joanne had already started to cry again, but Peter, now in a total
state of disbelief still had many questions he needed answering. 'What
about our current selves, this parallel, what happens to us? What would
be the point of going to another parallel if its the same as this one,
we'd relive the whole trauma again!!' Peter blurted the questions out
one after another without allowing James time to answer.
When James felt it was safe to respond to Peters questions he began, 'I
would not suggest this if I didn't believe it worked 100 percent and I
can answer all your questions and hopefully put your mind at ease with
just two points. Firstly, you are right if the parallels were the same
the whole process would be pointless, however, no two parallels are the
same, major traumatic events always have different outcomes. Secondly
when you awake from the hypnosis in this parallel you will not know
what is occurring in the other parallel, the connection will have
happened whilst you are in the trance, all you will feel is a great
relief and a knowing that somehow Eve is in a better place and is
happy. As for your other selves in the other parallel they will know
nothing of this encounter, simply because it hasn't happened to them,
but they will be continuing their life with a part of your soul.'
'I really think we need time to let all this sink in', Peter said.
Joanne had stopped crying now and was more than a little intrigued,
although confusing she found this to be completely feasible which was
more than Peter thought on the matter, being logical in mind this just
did not fit.
James rounded off the session, 'By all means think it over, I'm here if
you need me.'
The Gould's returned home without speaking a word to each other in the
car. As they entered their house it was Joanne that broached the
subject first.
'What if he can do it?'
'Boughton, you're not serious' Peter replied, 'it's ridiculous, how on
Earth -'
'Why would he say it?' Joanne interrupted. 'He's highly respected? I
mean, he could lose everything if we reported him, plus the fact what
have we got to lose?'
'You are serious!!', Peter said.
Joanne replied, 'People used to think the world was flat, until some
lunatic said it was round? maybe this lunatic is like that one? spot
on!'
'Okay Joanne, I'll call him first thing tomorrow and arrange an
appointment? I don't believe I'm going to do this? I'm going mad, yeah,
that's it, I'm going totally stark raving bonkers.' At this, they both
laughed, for the first time since Eve was born. Pete considered this
and thought - perhaps this is the therapy working, this is his way of
helping you through grief. Parallel universes, ha! That's just to make
your mind think of something else, off course.
James Boughton informed Peter he would be able to see him and Joanne at
4 that afternoon as he had had a late cancellation.
'Welcome again.' James said as he motioned for Peter and Joanne to sit
down opposite him. 'How are you feeling now?'
'A little apprehensive,' Joanne replied, 'but we believe it could
help.'
'I'm glad, well, shall we get on?' James said.
Peter nodded, 'We're as ready as we'll ever be!'.
Within a matter of seconds Peter and Joanne were in a deep
trance.

2 - Deja Vu

Peter and Joanne wakened in James Boughtons office unaware of any
previous conversations with James Boughton, as far as they were
concerned this had been their first visit and somehow they felt a lot
better in themselves and realised they could get on with their lives,
this psychologist was good!
'I don't think we need to see each other again.' James said, 'You have
both done so well in this session that I will leave it down to
yourselves as to whether you need to come back in the future.'
'Thank you for your help.' Joanne said smiling.
'Yes, thanks' Peter added.
With this they left James office never to return.
-
'I'm going as fast as I dare in this weather', Peter said. Joanne's
occasional screams and erratic movements in the passenger seat were
worrying Pete. He was having enough trouble concentrating on driving in
the pouring rain as it was, the windscreen wipers on full were just
clearing the water enough for Peter to be able to see the road. He was
relieved when they got to the hospital and eventually parked the car,
the nurses took Joanne immediately down a corridor and led Peter to the
waiting room as he felt a little squeamish about watching the birth.
Peter found a coffee machine, punched 4312, (coffee, filter, no sugar,
extra milk) and returned to the hospital waiting room and began the
march of an expectant father. Their daughter was to be named Eve, Peter
had already planned the next nights drinking session to wet the babies
head. It had just turned 3.30 A.M. when, as Peter on his fifth coffee
of the night - pacing up and down, felt a cold chill and the hairs on
his body stood on end, premonition or deja vu, he wasn't sure, but a
part of him knew he'd been in this situation before? he was also sure
something horrible was about to happen, but what?
Seconds later at 3.35 A.M. a scream echoed through the corridor and
then silence, the silence seemed to last forever but was just a matter
of seconds, as he stepped through into the corridor he heard the cry of
a new born baby as it is slapped to make it breathe. He walked, uneasy,
towards the theater door, as he approached the doctor emerged, removing
his face mask. The look on the doctors face told Peter all he needed to
know, it was the corridor wall that kept Peter standing, without it he
would have collapsed to the floor. He had a beautiful baby daughter -
Eve, but had lost his wife, Joanne, through a rare complication that
could not have been foreseen.
Peter took extended compassionate leave from work, mainly to take care
of Eve, who he found hard to love as she had been the cause of his
wife's death, but also to attend grief counseling by a Doctor James
Boughton. Again he had a feeling of deja vu and an unquestioning trust
in James Boughton, and when James suggested a theory of parallel
universes Peter was open minded and willing to try anything. James
explained that he would only need to hypnotise Peter and that when
Peter awoke a part of him would be in a time before Eve was born,
therefore Joanne would still be alive. In the current parallel he would
wake up and return home without the overburdening grief and blame he
had felt before and would also have a new found love for Eve.
Seconds later Peter was in a deep trance.

3 - Family

The car sped down the main road headed for the hospital, the rain
beating down so hard that the windscreen wipers struggled to shift the
deluge of water placed upon them. It wasn't until it was too late that
the realisation of how dangerous the driving conditions were entered
the drivers head - along with a thin shard of glass that entered via
his eyeball socket and killed him instantly. His wife, who had not worn
a seat belt as it felt uncomfortable due to the large bump in her
stomach, had been thrown through the windscreen and bounced onto the
road via the lorry that they had been unable to avoid as it pulled out
of a side street. The police arrived first and the ambulance followed,
two paramedics took control of the accident scene.
'The drivers dead' said the first paramedic.
The other shouted for help, 'This woman is alive, she's in a critical
condition but alive. Oh God - and she's pregnant, get a stretcher -
QUICK.'
It took just fifteen minutes to get to the hospital and in another two
minutes they had started to operate. The surgeon had done everything he
could for the mother but the internal bleeding had proved to much and
she died shortly after the start of the operation, her body however had
provided a safe haven for the baby and the surgeon was determined to
save one life that night. The following cesarean procedure successfully
concluded at 3.35 A.M. and the baby was placed into intensive care
until the following afternoon when it was apparent she was fighting fit
and oblivious to the nightmare that had preceded her birth.
Social services were called and informed of the events and they began
trawling their databases for suitable parents, the points system
produced the top ten list and they invited the first couple to visit
the hospital and see the baby girl. They had been trying for a baby for
years and after many tests it was found there was a fertility problem
and they would never have their own child, they had come out on top of
the points list and social services had already decided if they wanted
to adopt the girl then that would be the end of the matter. As soon as
they saw the baby they fell in love with her, the nursing staff watched
as this newly formed family bonded, it was a wonderful moment for
everyone.
As the woman cradled the baby in her arms she spoke softly to her
husband, 'Peter, can we call her Eve?'.
'I think that would be perfect Joanne.'