Blood Brothers Reprise
It was a cold day in Blackshear of 2011. My friends and I were on our way to see my Aunt. After a confusing ride from Waycross, we made it to her ramshackle house. It's a testament to her poverty. She'd really fallen on hard time. We parked in front of the decrepit house. As we approached the door, I rang the doorbell. The door swung open revealing Melanie. Two young children clung to her dress, which perturbed a bit from the pregnant belly, She was pregnant again with twins and a one year old was in her arms.
"Oh hello Angel. I was hoping you show up soon." She said in a weak voice as she leaned against the door frame weakly.
"Well we drove through a corn field, but it was worth it to see you and the kids." I said.
"I'm certainly happy to see you, I missed you Angel." She said hugging me weakly with her free arm.
"I missed you too Aunt Mel." I said returning her hug. She looked weak. Her face was sunken in and her eyes were dark. Her limbs were boney and most of her body looked frail. Her only healthy feature was her pregnant belly. Seeing her like this made me worried.
"Are the twins ok?" I asked.
"Yeah they're doing fine, but I wish I could get a sonogram to make sure." She replied weakly.
"I can do it if you want." I said.
"That'd be lovely." She replied weakly. We went into the living room and she laid down on the couch and lifted up her shirt reviling her belly. I got the machine and smeared the gel on her belly and scanned for the twins. After some scanning we found them. They seemed to be well. In fact they were hugging each other. It was sweet.
"Are they ok Angel?" She asked weakly.
"See for yourself Aunt Mel." I said happily.
"Awe they look good." She said weakly.
"I know and cute too." I said. As I wiped the gel off of her belly and printed, Scarlet came in. She was carrying a teddy bear and crying. As she walked in, we could tell she was sad. She approached Melanie and began to sob. Melanie hugged her weakly, she seemed worried.
"What's wrong Scar?" Melanie asked weakly while stroking her hair.
"Mummy I dw-dweamed you were taken away by a skeleton man." Scarlet sobbed.
"That's horrible Scarlet." I said hugging her lightly.
"I'm not going anywhere honey." Melanie reassured weakly. It was harrowing to see. It took her an hour to calm Scarlet down. After a few moments of cuddling and a glass of warm milk, she Mel sent her to bed. I could tell she was in deep thought. I was worried.
"Aunt Mel what's wrong?" I asked.
"I'm scared Angel." She replied weakly.
"Scared of what?" I asked.
"Dying, loosing Tom, Scarlet, the kids and you." She sobbed weakly. Suddenly she began to retch. She began to vomit. I could see blood. As I began to clean her mouth with a wet rag I got scared. She was getting worse.
"When did this start?" I asked
"This morning." She said weakly. With that she fell back. Then she rubbed her belly. She looked down. It was obvious the twins had kicked.
"Are you alright Aunt Mel?" I asked.
"Yeah the twins are just active Angel." She said weakly. Suddenly she reached out and grabbed my hand. As soon as I touched her stomach it fluttered. It was weak. It was disturbing. I was frightened for both my aunt and cousins.
"Its weak do you feel it?" She said weakly.
"I can but it's faint." I said worried. Suddenly she began to weep. She was in pain. So I did what any niece would do, I hugged her gently. I could feel the tear flow from her eyes as she sobbed on my shoulder.
"Aunt Mel what's wrong?" I asked.
"I feel so helpless Angel." She said weakly, "Angel I feel sick." And she began to retch.
"Its ok." I said grabbing a garbage pail.
"Angel that's blood." She said weakly after vomiting.
"Its ok lets get that cleaned up." I said wiping her face with a rag that was nearby.
"Thank you. " She said weakly but shakily. Suddenly I heard an audible growl from her stomach. I could tell she was hungry. I propped her up with some pillows and set to work. Nor wanting to give her anything to heavy, I made broth. I took it in after it cooled and began feeding her. I fed her spoonful after spoonful until she was full.
"Thanks Angel that was good." She said weakly.
"Its just broth." I said modestly.
"Broth is good to a sick woman." She said weakly. After we talked I could hear someone walking through the door. I turned around to see Tom. He was in a tattered suit. He looked tired. It felt like he was down trodden.
"Hey Uncle Tom, how did the job hunt go?" I asked
"Not so good. No one's hiring." He replied. This was sad news. Nonetheless, he went over to Mel; as he stoked her I knew why he came home. He wanted to spend time with Melanie. He was worried about her.
"How are you doing Mel?" He asked.
"I'm vomiting blood." She said weakly.
"That's not good." He added.
"Yeah I fed her some broth." I said.
"Yes thankfully I've held it down so far." She said weakly.