The tension swirling in the small private hospital room could be cut with a knife, it was so palpable. Yet Evelyn wouldn’t want a knife in this room for anything because as she steps further into the room, eyes darting over Kelly’s expression and then Rachel’s, edging further to the far side of Clare’s bed and reading the pain in her grimaces as she tries to defend and protect; a knife would only encourage the animosity from any one of them. Perhaps even herself.
Rachel’s explanation twists Evelyn’s heart. It’s so easy to believe. That this woman who was meant to nurture, protect, support, and love them is capable of such violence against her own blood. The youngest takes in the sight of Clare, the cast and bandages, the mottled bruises standing out against her once unblemished skin. Her big sister, always brave and strongest of the three, suddenly looks defenceless and weak in the hospital gown. The fear of Kelly grips harder at Evelyn then as the thought strikes her: if the woman can so easily abuse her older two daughters, what is she capable of unleashing on the youngest. The one not even her direct daughter.
The words Kelly flings back to them dig and inflame her already crumbling emotions toward the woman. Rachel has suffered enough of those destructive words, as they all have. But what’s more, standing with her damaged family for the first time in what feels like decades, Kelly’s words remind Evelyn of her duality and the falseness of her relation to each of them. Still, the rage and anger, the need to keep her sisters close to her, fills Evelyn. None of them deserve this. It’s sickening. Clare is in pain, injured not at Kelly’s hands as Rachel reasonably thought but by driving under the influence, and Kelly thinks lashing them all with their faults is the logical thing to do.
Hearing Clare’s supportive claims of her sisters brings a small smile to Evelyn’s lips and she rests her hand on top of Clare’s and then reaches over and grasps Rachel’s hand with her other. Whether Kelly’s aware of it or not, she’s got no support on her end. Evelyn knows that she has both her sisters here, Regina waiting for her out in the waiting area, and even others in town who care and support her, and the knowledge allows the girl to brush away the hurtful words.
"Don’t bring dad into this," Evelyn snaps as she glares at Kelly from across the bed now, heart pulsing harshly in her chest. "Just don’t. And it’s really sad that you continue to think of the kingdom when you don’t even have it here, mother. For all you know, the ogres and trolls have ransacked the castle and defecated on your precious throne so just stop it.”
It takes every once of her self-control to deliver the harsh reality without also releasing the hot tendrils of magic she feels stirring to the surface already. Kelly knows just what to do to get her going faster than anyone else. Never before would she have had the nerve to say anything foul against her mother and it speaks to what Clare just said that she stares at Kelly without hesitation.
"Clare’s in pain but thank god she’s alive. So if you’re going to stand there and judge and verbal abuse your own children then leave. It isn’t as if you’re exactly welcome here after what you’ve put us all through." Evelyn then turns to Clare with far less ire in her gaze, prepared to ignore anything the woman wanted to sling her way next. "Clare, do you need me to ring the nurse to give you something for the pain?"
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