Chapter 27
He twisted the golden band around his finger absently as his brown eyes looked past the boats to the water that spanned the horizon.
The distant echo of footsteps registered vaguely in his brain.
But the memories wouldn't release him.
He remembered meeting her here.
"Why Kay? I thought we agreed. That night didn't happen," he said in a low voice. Devoid of feeling.
She hugged her arms about her middle protectively. "I know," she whispered.
"What's this then?" he asked. Gesturing to their surroundings. "We agreed to forget. We agreed to never mention it again. We agreed not to see each other. To stay away from each other."
She turned away from him.
He studied her profile as she gazed out at the sea.
A tear slowly made its way down her pale cheek, and she shuddered as a gust of wind.unseasonably cold.whistled around them.
"Aren't you going to say anything? Aren't you going to give me an explanation?" he pushed. Grasping her shoulders firmly and turning her around to face him. Just the hint of feeling creeping into his voice. The hint of concern.
Kay's dark eyes filled with tears as she looked at him. "I didn't mean for this to happen, Miguel. I'm so sorry," she cried.
"Dammit, Kay!" he exclaimed. "Would you stop being so cryptic? You're not the ONLY one to blame here. Much as I hate to admit it," he sighed heavily.
"Don't be so hard on yourself," she said softly. "I needed comfort. And you gave it to me."
He laughed harshly. "Comfort. I think I took comfort a little too far, don't you? You were upset about your mother's disappearance. And I complicated both our lives the second I kissed you."
"Complicated," she murmured. "If you only knew," she muttered under her breath.
He looked at her oddly. Suspicion coiling in his belly as his eyes perused her figure. "Kay?" he asked with growing trepidation. "No," he said in denial. "This can't be happening. Kay.tell me you're not.oh my god," he cried. Clutching the railing of the pier. "My wedding to Charity.it's in less than a month. We're supposed to become husband and wife, Kay. A family. Say it isn't true," he begged.
"Is that all you care about?" Kay spat with sudden anger. "Your precious Charity? What about me, Miguel? You used to care about me, too. You used to be my friend. My best friend. What about the mess I'm in now? I can't exactly tell everyone the truth now, can I? Wouldn't want to ruin your chance at happiness with Charity?"
"Kay.I didn't mean."
"You didn't mean? Don't bother, Miguel!" she shrugged his hands from her shoulders and turned back to the sea.
"So you're going to.are you going to keep it?" he asked uncertainly. The words flowing forth before he could censor himself.
"It'd make you so happy if I said 'no', wouldn't it?" she asked in choked voice. "One less obstacle in the way of your and Charity's eternal happiness?"
He didn't say anything. Things WOULD be so much easier, he thought selfishly. If only.
"I thought so," she said sadly. "Yes, Miguel. I'm keeping our baby."
OUR baby.
"I'm so sorry, Kay," he said. Voice full of regret. "Things could have been so different." He held his head in his hands. If only. "What have I done?" he said miserably.
The fall of footsteps grew louder.
Slowly, he lifted his head, his eyes to a figure emerging from the cloud of fog. "Kay? Kay, is that you?"
"Miguel," she said gravely as he raised a hand to her cheek.
"So sorry," he whispered. Stroking the silk of her skin.
Chad watched the scene in fascination from the shadows.
Kay's eyes filled with the pain of the memories as he cupped her cheek in the palm of his hand. "Miguel," she repeated somberly. "Miguel," she said. Removing his hand from her cheek. "It's Tessa."
Miguel's heart clenched in fear.
"They don't know what's wrong with her."
Chad hurried after them as they left the pier. A sense of urgency in their steps.
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Matthew rubbed his brown eyes tiredly. Squinting at the bright lights that illuminated the small waiting room.
Where it seemed the entire Bennett and Lopez-Fitzgerald families were gathered.
The clock's hands moved agonizingly slow. The hours before dawn crawling by.
Pilar clutched her rosary. Her lips moving, but no sound escaping. Murmuring silent prayers for her granddaughter.
Charity hunched over in the chair beside her. Wringing her hands. Her pale yellow hair pulled back at the nape of her neck. Her blue eyes closed. As if warding off the reality of the situation.
Jessica played cards with Danielle. Trying the best way she knew how to offer the little girl a moment's distraction. Far too cognizant of the alarming similarities.
In the far corner, Luis stroked Sheridan's golden hair softly as she slept. Her head in his lap. A fitful, restless sleep.
"Mrs. Lopez-Fitzgerald? Mrs. Lopez-Fitzgerald?"
She jerked awake when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Mrs. Lopez-Fitzgerald," the doctor repeated. A somber expression on his face.
"Where is he? Where's my husband?" she asked. Growing more frantic with each second that passed that Luis wasn't by her side.
"Right here," a voice said.
And she sank back into his embrace. But strangely, she didn't feel the calm she usually felt. Somehow she knew.
"Dr. Chase?" Luis asked with growing dread. "How is he? How's Andrew?"
Dr. Chase ran a fatigued hand through his silver hair. Blue eyes sad as he uttered two words. "Not good."
She grabbed fistfuls of his shirt. Sobbing into his shoulder. Her tears soaking through to his skin.
"No.no. It's a lie. You're lying."
Charity started to sob.
Danielle couldn't swallow over the lump in her throat when her mommy's anguished cry reached her ears.
"Danielle?" Jessica asked gently. Laying her cards down between them and reaching out a hand to brush her dark hair from her forehead. "Are you okay, Sweetie?"
Pilar rose from her seat and knelt in front of her. "Mija," she whispered softly.
"Andrew," her mommy whimpered in her daddy's arms.
Matthew scurried to his nana's side. Slipping his little arm around her shoulders and burying his face in her curve of her neck. "Nana," he mumbled. "What's wrong with Aunt Sheridan?"
Danielle's chin quivered as her grandmother answered him. "She's sad, Mijo. Aunt Sheridan's heart hurts very much. Oh, Mija," she sighed. Opening her arms to Danielle, too.
Danielle shut her blue eyes to the sight of her daddy wiping her mommy's tears away. Made her ears deaf to her cries of "Andrew."
"Sheridan," Luis shook her awake gently. "Wake up. Please wake up, Angel. It's just a dream."
Her blue eyes fluttered open, and he inhaled sharply at the sheer pain in them. "No," she told him despondently. Removing herself from his arms and sitting up stiffly in the ugly plastic chair beside him. "It's not. It's real."
A nightmare, Luis thought silently as she shrank away from his touch. A never-ending nightmare, he realized with a sinking heart as she stood up and stalked down the hall. How he wished they could wake up from it.
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Pale yellow hair fanned out over the pillows. Framing her delicate features.
Tape secured the tube in her mouth.
Precious oxygen pumped through it. The hiss of the machine echoing in the quietness of the room.
Another machine beeped rhythmically. Recording each beat of her heart.
Her eyes moved rapidly behind her lids.
And the sounds in the room changed. Grew louder. As she was transported to another place. Another time.
Her blue eyes were wide as she studied him. All the tubes, all the machines.she could barely recognize her little brother.
Except for his teddy bear lying on the pillow beside him.
Just like always.
Her daddy lifted her to his knee.
"Daddy?" she asked. Her question the only noise but for the whistles and beeps of the machines.
"Yeah, Sweetheart?" he said softly. Stroking her long dark hair lovingly.
"Is Andrew sleeping?"
Her daddy's eyes shone bright. "Yeah," he finally answered. "Andrew's sleeping."
Her mommy held a hand to her mouth. Her shoulders shaking as she turned away from them.
"But Danielle," he whispered. Reaching out a hand to trace Andrew's golden brow. "Andrew.Andrew," he closed his eyes. Unable to go on.
Danielle watched Andrew's tiny chest rise and fall as the machine pumped air into his body. And somehow.she just knew. "He isn't going to wake up, is he, Daddy?" she said somberly.
Her daddy kissed her temple. Wrapping his arms around her tight. "No. No, Danielle. He's not," he told her. "God wants to take him home. With the angels up in Heaven."
"But Daddy," she said sadly. "I want him here. I don't want him to go to Heaven. I don't want him to go," she cried. Struggling in his arms and finally breaking free.
Sheridan sobbed as her daughter snuggled close to her baby brother.
"Danielle," Luis cried. Tears streaming down his cheeks. "Baby.Andrew isn't here. The Andrew we love is already up in Heaven with Nana Katherine and Papa Martin. And he's happy. He's waiting for us. We have to tell him goodbye," he whispered. "Don't you want to tell him bye?" he asked. Cupping her silky cheek and wiping her tears away with the pad of his thumb. "We have to let him go," he said. Glancing at Sheridan with sorrowful eyes.
Danielle nodded her dark head. Tears clinging to her lashes as she closed her eyes. And leaned forward to kiss her baby brother. One last time. "I love you."
Luis smiled through his tears as he gathered her back in his arms and placed a final kiss on Andrew's brow. Saying a silent 'I love you.'
His son.he would never grow old.
Danielle clung to his shoulders as he walked out of the room. Her heart broken and aching as they moved farther and farther away.leaving her mommy and Andrew alone.
The nurses wore grim expressions as they removed all the wires and tubes from Andrews's little body.
The room was silent.
She crawled into bed beside him. Cradling him as she had the day he was born. Clasping his tiny brown hand to her cheek and kissing his palm tenderly, she rocked him gently as she sang him a lullaby.
"Hush little baby."
She closed her eyes and lay her cheek against his forehead. Tears seeping from her golden lashes.
"Don't say a word."
Each tiny breath came slower. And slower.
"Mama's going to buy you a mockingbird."
Until.they stopped. Just like that.
And she clutched him to her breast. Unwilling to let his spirit go.
"Mama's sorry," she sobbed as she held his limp little body in her arms. "Oh god," she cried. "Andrew," she brushed her lips against his temple. "Mama's so sorry."
Dr. Nelson sighed. Dropping Tessa's wrist, and turning to face the nurse at his side. "I don't understand. There's no medical explanation for what's happening to her."
He twisted the golden band around his finger absently as his brown eyes looked past the boats to the water that spanned the horizon.
The distant echo of footsteps registered vaguely in his brain.
But the memories wouldn't release him.
He remembered meeting her here.
"Why Kay? I thought we agreed. That night didn't happen," he said in a low voice. Devoid of feeling.
She hugged her arms about her middle protectively. "I know," she whispered.
"What's this then?" he asked. Gesturing to their surroundings. "We agreed to forget. We agreed to never mention it again. We agreed not to see each other. To stay away from each other."
She turned away from him.
He studied her profile as she gazed out at the sea.
A tear slowly made its way down her pale cheek, and she shuddered as a gust of wind.unseasonably cold.whistled around them.
"Aren't you going to say anything? Aren't you going to give me an explanation?" he pushed. Grasping her shoulders firmly and turning her around to face him. Just the hint of feeling creeping into his voice. The hint of concern.
Kay's dark eyes filled with tears as she looked at him. "I didn't mean for this to happen, Miguel. I'm so sorry," she cried.
"Dammit, Kay!" he exclaimed. "Would you stop being so cryptic? You're not the ONLY one to blame here. Much as I hate to admit it," he sighed heavily.
"Don't be so hard on yourself," she said softly. "I needed comfort. And you gave it to me."
He laughed harshly. "Comfort. I think I took comfort a little too far, don't you? You were upset about your mother's disappearance. And I complicated both our lives the second I kissed you."
"Complicated," she murmured. "If you only knew," she muttered under her breath.
He looked at her oddly. Suspicion coiling in his belly as his eyes perused her figure. "Kay?" he asked with growing trepidation. "No," he said in denial. "This can't be happening. Kay.tell me you're not.oh my god," he cried. Clutching the railing of the pier. "My wedding to Charity.it's in less than a month. We're supposed to become husband and wife, Kay. A family. Say it isn't true," he begged.
"Is that all you care about?" Kay spat with sudden anger. "Your precious Charity? What about me, Miguel? You used to care about me, too. You used to be my friend. My best friend. What about the mess I'm in now? I can't exactly tell everyone the truth now, can I? Wouldn't want to ruin your chance at happiness with Charity?"
"Kay.I didn't mean."
"You didn't mean? Don't bother, Miguel!" she shrugged his hands from her shoulders and turned back to the sea.
"So you're going to.are you going to keep it?" he asked uncertainly. The words flowing forth before he could censor himself.
"It'd make you so happy if I said 'no', wouldn't it?" she asked in choked voice. "One less obstacle in the way of your and Charity's eternal happiness?"
He didn't say anything. Things WOULD be so much easier, he thought selfishly. If only.
"I thought so," she said sadly. "Yes, Miguel. I'm keeping our baby."
OUR baby.
"I'm so sorry, Kay," he said. Voice full of regret. "Things could have been so different." He held his head in his hands. If only. "What have I done?" he said miserably.
The fall of footsteps grew louder.
Slowly, he lifted his head, his eyes to a figure emerging from the cloud of fog. "Kay? Kay, is that you?"
"Miguel," she said gravely as he raised a hand to her cheek.
"So sorry," he whispered. Stroking the silk of her skin.
Chad watched the scene in fascination from the shadows.
Kay's eyes filled with the pain of the memories as he cupped her cheek in the palm of his hand. "Miguel," she repeated somberly. "Miguel," she said. Removing his hand from her cheek. "It's Tessa."
Miguel's heart clenched in fear.
"They don't know what's wrong with her."
Chad hurried after them as they left the pier. A sense of urgency in their steps.
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Matthew rubbed his brown eyes tiredly. Squinting at the bright lights that illuminated the small waiting room.
Where it seemed the entire Bennett and Lopez-Fitzgerald families were gathered.
The clock's hands moved agonizingly slow. The hours before dawn crawling by.
Pilar clutched her rosary. Her lips moving, but no sound escaping. Murmuring silent prayers for her granddaughter.
Charity hunched over in the chair beside her. Wringing her hands. Her pale yellow hair pulled back at the nape of her neck. Her blue eyes closed. As if warding off the reality of the situation.
Jessica played cards with Danielle. Trying the best way she knew how to offer the little girl a moment's distraction. Far too cognizant of the alarming similarities.
In the far corner, Luis stroked Sheridan's golden hair softly as she slept. Her head in his lap. A fitful, restless sleep.
"Mrs. Lopez-Fitzgerald? Mrs. Lopez-Fitzgerald?"
She jerked awake when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Mrs. Lopez-Fitzgerald," the doctor repeated. A somber expression on his face.
"Where is he? Where's my husband?" she asked. Growing more frantic with each second that passed that Luis wasn't by her side.
"Right here," a voice said.
And she sank back into his embrace. But strangely, she didn't feel the calm she usually felt. Somehow she knew.
"Dr. Chase?" Luis asked with growing dread. "How is he? How's Andrew?"
Dr. Chase ran a fatigued hand through his silver hair. Blue eyes sad as he uttered two words. "Not good."
She grabbed fistfuls of his shirt. Sobbing into his shoulder. Her tears soaking through to his skin.
"No.no. It's a lie. You're lying."
Charity started to sob.
Danielle couldn't swallow over the lump in her throat when her mommy's anguished cry reached her ears.
"Danielle?" Jessica asked gently. Laying her cards down between them and reaching out a hand to brush her dark hair from her forehead. "Are you okay, Sweetie?"
Pilar rose from her seat and knelt in front of her. "Mija," she whispered softly.
"Andrew," her mommy whimpered in her daddy's arms.
Matthew scurried to his nana's side. Slipping his little arm around her shoulders and burying his face in her curve of her neck. "Nana," he mumbled. "What's wrong with Aunt Sheridan?"
Danielle's chin quivered as her grandmother answered him. "She's sad, Mijo. Aunt Sheridan's heart hurts very much. Oh, Mija," she sighed. Opening her arms to Danielle, too.
Danielle shut her blue eyes to the sight of her daddy wiping her mommy's tears away. Made her ears deaf to her cries of "Andrew."
"Sheridan," Luis shook her awake gently. "Wake up. Please wake up, Angel. It's just a dream."
Her blue eyes fluttered open, and he inhaled sharply at the sheer pain in them. "No," she told him despondently. Removing herself from his arms and sitting up stiffly in the ugly plastic chair beside him. "It's not. It's real."
A nightmare, Luis thought silently as she shrank away from his touch. A never-ending nightmare, he realized with a sinking heart as she stood up and stalked down the hall. How he wished they could wake up from it.
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Pale yellow hair fanned out over the pillows. Framing her delicate features.
Tape secured the tube in her mouth.
Precious oxygen pumped through it. The hiss of the machine echoing in the quietness of the room.
Another machine beeped rhythmically. Recording each beat of her heart.
Her eyes moved rapidly behind her lids.
And the sounds in the room changed. Grew louder. As she was transported to another place. Another time.
Her blue eyes were wide as she studied him. All the tubes, all the machines.she could barely recognize her little brother.
Except for his teddy bear lying on the pillow beside him.
Just like always.
Her daddy lifted her to his knee.
"Daddy?" she asked. Her question the only noise but for the whistles and beeps of the machines.
"Yeah, Sweetheart?" he said softly. Stroking her long dark hair lovingly.
"Is Andrew sleeping?"
Her daddy's eyes shone bright. "Yeah," he finally answered. "Andrew's sleeping."
Her mommy held a hand to her mouth. Her shoulders shaking as she turned away from them.
"But Danielle," he whispered. Reaching out a hand to trace Andrew's golden brow. "Andrew.Andrew," he closed his eyes. Unable to go on.
Danielle watched Andrew's tiny chest rise and fall as the machine pumped air into his body. And somehow.she just knew. "He isn't going to wake up, is he, Daddy?" she said somberly.
Her daddy kissed her temple. Wrapping his arms around her tight. "No. No, Danielle. He's not," he told her. "God wants to take him home. With the angels up in Heaven."
"But Daddy," she said sadly. "I want him here. I don't want him to go to Heaven. I don't want him to go," she cried. Struggling in his arms and finally breaking free.
Sheridan sobbed as her daughter snuggled close to her baby brother.
"Danielle," Luis cried. Tears streaming down his cheeks. "Baby.Andrew isn't here. The Andrew we love is already up in Heaven with Nana Katherine and Papa Martin. And he's happy. He's waiting for us. We have to tell him goodbye," he whispered. "Don't you want to tell him bye?" he asked. Cupping her silky cheek and wiping her tears away with the pad of his thumb. "We have to let him go," he said. Glancing at Sheridan with sorrowful eyes.
Danielle nodded her dark head. Tears clinging to her lashes as she closed her eyes. And leaned forward to kiss her baby brother. One last time. "I love you."
Luis smiled through his tears as he gathered her back in his arms and placed a final kiss on Andrew's brow. Saying a silent 'I love you.'
His son.he would never grow old.
Danielle clung to his shoulders as he walked out of the room. Her heart broken and aching as they moved farther and farther away.leaving her mommy and Andrew alone.
The nurses wore grim expressions as they removed all the wires and tubes from Andrews's little body.
The room was silent.
She crawled into bed beside him. Cradling him as she had the day he was born. Clasping his tiny brown hand to her cheek and kissing his palm tenderly, she rocked him gently as she sang him a lullaby.
"Hush little baby."
She closed her eyes and lay her cheek against his forehead. Tears seeping from her golden lashes.
"Don't say a word."
Each tiny breath came slower. And slower.
"Mama's going to buy you a mockingbird."
Until.they stopped. Just like that.
And she clutched him to her breast. Unwilling to let his spirit go.
"Mama's sorry," she sobbed as she held his limp little body in her arms. "Oh god," she cried. "Andrew," she brushed her lips against his temple. "Mama's so sorry."
Dr. Nelson sighed. Dropping Tessa's wrist, and turning to face the nurse at his side. "I don't understand. There's no medical explanation for what's happening to her."