I didn't intend to take this long for an update, but…well, a certain administration has lost the plot and my creativity was temporarily tapered as a result.
-x
The family had just returned from a month-long trip to Paris when the call had come in.
She had entered her parents' bedroom to see her mother weeping on her father's shoulder.
"What is it?" she had asked in the squeaky, curious voice of a six-year-old.
"Grandpa," said her mother.
"Grandpa?" asked the child.
"Your mum's grandpa," said her father.
"The one who's going to come visit?"
"Baby, I'm afraid he can't."
"He doesn't want to visit me anymore?"
"He can't," her father repeated.
It had clicked into place in her developing brain.
Her great-grandfather could not visit her for the first time because her great-grandfather was no longer around.
"Mummy," said Adrianna, "Mummy, I'se sorry."
"Your mummy was close with her grandpa," said Dylan. "She's going to go through a rough time, but we'll be right beside her in this time of sadness, okay?"
"Always," promised Adrianna. "Mummy, we'll always be with you."
"And I, with you," said Brenda as she brought her little girl into her chest.
"You promise?" asked Adrianna.
"Promise on everything I hold dear," said Brenda.
"And when Mummy makes a promise, she keeps it," said Dylan.
"Then she'll keep this one," said Adrianna.
She had been thinking of her mum's promise, since she had first visited Brenda in the psychiatric hospital.
It had been intimidating to walk through the halls until they had gotten to her mother's room, much more intimidating than it had been as a volunteer without a personal connection.
Adrianna had insisted to herself that it was up to her to stay strong for her family.
Her father carried a pretense and, if she hadn't known him as well as she did, she may have believed that he wasn't falling apart inside.
But she did know her parents.
She knew that when one of them fell apart, so did the other.
She knew just by the look on her father's face when he had dropped her off at Naomi's that her parents' relationship was on the mend.
That her mother's mindset had improved.
That her mum would shortly be returning home, this time for good.
That her parents' divorce was over before it began.
That her parents had found healing.
"Dad?" asked Adrianna.
"Hm?" asked Dylan.
"You seem cheerier."
"Oh, I am."
"About Mum?"
"About Mum; she's asked me to drop in on her group tomorrow. Can you sit for Callie?"
"Of course."
Her father was attending a group session with her mother.
That was a terrific sign indeed.
"I love you, kiddo."
"Love you, too, Dad. Is our family coming back together?"
"It is, baby." She hadn't seen her father's face that overcome by radiant light in who knew how long. "Your mum and I; we had to overcome some hurdles, but we're almost there. And I have every faith that we will be there, maybe even before the twins join us."
If her dad could have faith about her parents' situation, then so could she.
Their mobiles had gone ignored.
Hers had gone off first, followed by Ruby's.
Ruby's had shown as an unknown number.
Ruby did not answer unknown numbers.
"Could it be Kai?" Adrianna had asked. "You did delete his number when you were fighting."
"Yeah, but I added it back after the wedding," said Ruby. "And Kai's on that camping trip with Navid and Dixon this weekend so he probably doesn't even have service. Who called you?"
"Also an unknown number," said Adrianna. "I'd think it was Mum if I didn't have the hospital's number saved."
"If it's important enough, they'll keep calling," said Naomi. "Although…"
"Although?" asked Ruby.
"Although, wasn't your dad supposed to come pick you up like fifteen minutes ago?" asked Naomi.
"He's probably running late," said Ruby. "No big, I'm sure Mom or D'Shawn will get me if Dad doesn't."
"If they can't, you're welcome to sleep over," said Naomi.
"What about me?" asked Adrianna.
Naomi said her parents would undoubtedly agree to let both girls sleep over.
She then announced that she required a break from homework and asked if either of them would like to go down to the kitchen with her to acquire a handful of brain-strengthening treats.
"Junk food isn't brain-strengthening," said Ruby.
"It strengthens my brain," said Naomi.
They gossiped amongst themselves as they headed downstairs; mostly about who was dating who, which new breakups had occurred, and if they thought the AP World History teacher was seeing the new English Four Honors teacher.
"Brandon! Brandon, what's happening?"
The panicked exclamation halted the trio in their tracks.
"Brandon, talk to me!"
Naomi rushed down the stairs, followed closely behind by her cousins.
Brandon clutched at his chest, unable to formulate coherent sentences.
The area of his chest that shielded his heart.
"Fuck!" said Naomi. "Dad's having a heart attack!"
"We don't know that for sure," said Kelly. "Girls, I'm taking him to the hospital. You stay here until –"
"Fuck that," said Naomi. "If Dad's going to the hospital, then so are we."
"Kel," said Brandon hoarsely.
"You're going to be okay, baby," said Kelly, caressing Brandon's face. "I'm going to make sure you're okay. You can't leave us, Brandon, okay? You can't."
"My chest," said Brandon. "Flames. Bren. Fire. Val."
"Brandon!" Kelly moved to hold Brandon up with the strength that only came in times of great strife.
"Daddy!" said Naomi.
"He said Mum's name," said Adrianna. "Why did he say Mum's name?"
"He said Val's, too." Ruby's expression was as stricken as Adrianna felt.
Adrianna and Ruby ordered each other to check their individual mobiles, just as Naomi's went off.
"Unknown number," said Naomi.
"Answer it!" urged the others.
"Uncle David," said Naomi, "I can't talk right now; Daddy is -"
"Dad?" asked Ruby.
"Uh, Mom, he's insisting on talking to Dad," said Naomi.
"I'll talk to him," said Kelly. "Help your dad to the car. I'll make this quick."
With the combined force of three determined teenage girls, they managed to seat Brandon in the car, who had begun to uncontrollably sob.
"Do you sob when you're having a heart attack?" asked Naomi.
"Maybe," said Ruby.
"D," said Brandon, and continued to sob.
"Why did he say Dad?" asked Adrianna. "Why did he say my mum and dad!"
"Maybe heart attacks cause nightmares," said Naomi.
"He isn't asleep," said Adrianna.
"Could be a daymare," said Naomi.
Was her aunt having a daymare, too? Adrianna asked herself as she caught a glimpse of Kelly's face.
The keys rattled in Kelly's trembling hands.
"Mom?" asked Naomi. "Should Rubes or I drive?"
"We have to get to the hospital," said Kelly.
Her eyes met Ruby's and Adrianna's.
"We are going to the hospital," said Naomi. "For Dad."
"For many," Kelly said under her breath, but Adrianna still heard it.
"Okay, what's going on?" asked Ruby. "Why did she look at me?"
"Why did she look at me?" asked Adrianna.
"I think she was looking at me," said Ruby. "You're right beside me, so it made it seem like she was also looking at you."
"I could argue the same about you," said Adrianna.
Kelly turned on the music in the car, drowning out the girls' debate.
We interrupt this program for breaking news involving one of the world's most famous families in California, the Mc –
Kelly shut off the radio.
"Why'd you do that?" asked Naomi.
A chasmic sense of dread settled in the pit of Adrianna's stomach, branching out to consume other parts of her body until a stranglehold threatened her neck.
"Aunt Kelly," said Adrianna, "what did Uncle David tell you?"
But Kelly did not answer, almost as if she had forgotten how to formulate an answer.
"I'm calling my dad," said Ruby.
"He said he was going to shut off his phone," said Kelly.
"Why?" asked Ruby.
"Mom, this isn't cool," said Naomi. "You can't keep ignoring their questions like this."
"I'm not ignoring them," said Kelly. "I just…can't face it. Not yet. If I answer their questions, I have to face it and I can't."
"Face what?" asked Ruby.
"Call Andrea," said Kelly. "She'll explain." Kelly glanced at Naomi. "Honey, I don't think your father's having a heart attack."
"You don't?" asked Naomi. "But you were so sure."
"He's reacting," said Kelly.
"Reacting to what?" asked Naomi.
"Reacting to what he doesn't know," said Kelly. "Except he does. He somehow does know, but he doesn't know what he knows."
Deciding they were not going to get any clarity from Kelly, the girls assigned Adrianna to ring Andrea.
"Adrianna?"
"We think Aunt Kelly might have lost the plot," said Adrianna. "She told us to ring you."
"This is not the kind of news I want to give you over the phone," said Andrea.
That did not reassure Adrianna in the slightest.
"Adrianna," said Andrea, "your dad; he was in…"
A car accident, Adrianna vaguely heard, as her world fell into the greyed topsy-turvy.
If Andrea had said anything about anyone else, Adrianna didn't hear it.
She didn't hear anything except her own rapid heartbeat.
Had anyone told her mum? she wanted to ask, but words escaped her.
She would have to ring her mum herself; later, when the notes of language returned.
She was the first one out of the car, the first one to run to the receptionist.
"McKay," she panted. "Dylan McKay's room."
"Are you family?" asked the receptionist, peering over his spectacles.
"I'm his daughter," said Adrianna.
"Was a Dylan McKay brought in?" the receptionist asked his colleague.
"He was brought in around the same time as that pregnant woman," answered the colleague.
That pregnant woman, thought Adrianna.
Mum.
Mum and Dad were in a car accident, together.
Her legs threatened to give out.
She wouldn't let them.
She forced herself to continue her run, slowing only when she got closer to his room.
"Uncle Steve?" she asked.
Steve stood in front of the vending machine, staring at the contents within without any indication that he planned to make a purchase.
"Uncle Steve," Adrianna repeated.
Her louder tone startled the man.
"Adrianna," he said.
"Can you point me to my dad's room?" asked Adrianna. "I'm having trouble remembering which one it is."
"He's sharing one," said Steve, sounding more depressed than Adrianna had ever known her uncle to be. "Silver thought it would be easier to visit them that way."
"Them?" asked Adrianna. "My – my parents?"
But when she followed Steve into the room, it was not her mother in the bed nearest to the door.
It was her aunt.
"Auntie Val?" Adrianna gasped. "What happened to Auntie Val? Was she in the car with my parents?"
That pregnant woman, echoed Adrianna's mind.
It was Auntie Val.
Not Mum.
Mum's back in her room.
Adrianna gave the tiniest sigh of relief.
Relief that evaporated when she saw the other bed empty, sheets rumpled and unmade.
"Daddy?" she asked her uncle.
"He's in surgery, kiddo," said Steve.
"I wish Mum were here," said Adrianna.
"We aren't your mum, but we are here for you," said Steve, giving Adrianna one of his famous bear hugs.
"Uncle David's holding Auntie Val's hand," Adrianna noted.
"He's been doing that since I got here," said Steve.
"Should he be holding your wife's hand?"
"I'm more concerned about how much oxygen Val and the baby will continue to lose the longer she's knocked out like this than that Silver is holding her hand," said Steve.
He continued to answer Adrianna's probing questions that way, even when David's head moved to rest on Valerie's abdomen.
"You know something, don't you?" asked Adrianna. "About Auntie Val's baby?"
"Right now, I just want to know that Val, Dylan, and the baby are all going to make it out of this," said Steve.
"Has anyone rang my mum?"
Raising his head up, David noticed Adrianna's presence for the first time.
"Adrianna?" he asked.
"My dad's in surgery," said Adrianna.
"I know," said David. "They've said Val's headed there soon."
"Was she in the car with my dad?" asked Adrianna.
"She was in the car with your mom," said David.
"With Mum?" asked Adrianna.
David inhaled deeply.
"Adrianna," he began.
Adrianna's attention was captured by the doctors that rolled Dylan into the room.
"Daddy!" she clobbered behind them.
She pulled out her passport card to prove her relationship to the patient.
Due to her status as a minor, she appointed Steve as the individual to be told of Dylan's prognosis.
She toppled heavily into the bedside chair.
Her father's heart had given out.
The doctors had been able to revive him, but for precisely five minutes, her father had been clinically dead.
Her father's heart would not have given out unless…
Unless her mother's had.
Wasn't that what he had repeated to her mother, more times than Adrianna could count?
If anything happened to you, Bren, anything at all, my heart would cease to function. I know it.
You're assuming my heart wouldn't do the same if anything happened to you, her mother had responded each time.
Then we'll make sure nothing happens to either of us, her father had said before embarrassing Adrianna with one of her parents' many makeout sessions.
"Where is my mum?" asked Adrianna. "If she was in the car with Auntie Val, where is she?"
"There was," David fumbled over his words, "Adrianna, I – I don't know where to start…"
"Brenda."
Adrianna recognized the croak as belonging to her father.
"Daddy," she cupped both of his hands.
"Brenda?" he asked.
"No, it's Adrianna," she said.
"Adrianna," said Dylan, "I saw Brenda." His words came out clipped, broken, fighting against the oxygen line that encumbered his nose. "She was – she was wearing all white. She was shining. She was glorious. And she was – was so far. I tried to touch her. I tried, but I…couldn't. She kept getting farther and farther away." Thick tears soared down his face. "Why did she go so far away?"
"Daddy, you – you aren't making sense," said Adrianna.
"There is no sense," said Dylan. "Not anymore. She took it. She took the sense. She took everything. How can I do it, Adrianna? How can I raise our girls when the sense is gone?"
"Daddy, you're scaring me."
"Brenda," Dylan rasped.
He said her name over and over, each one more angst-ridden and tortured than the last.
"You need to tell me why my dad is talking like this," Adrianna told David, "and you need to tell me now."
"He – he thinks your mom is gone," said David.
"Gone?" asked Adrianna. "Gone where?"
"But I wouldn't worry," said David. "We'll see how Brandon responds before we start to worry."
"Uncle," Adrianna choked on the word, "Uncle Brandon was brought in, too. Aunt Kelly thought he was having a heart attack."
"In what way?" asked Steve.
"His chest," said Adrianna. "It was hurting him."
"Brandon's chest was hurting him?" asked David.
"Isn't that what I said?" said Adrianna.
"Dylan's heart stopped and Brandon's chest was in pain," said David. The despair he had carried the entire time Adrianna had been in the room somehow deepened. "Fuck. Then it's true."
"What's true?" asked Adrianna.
"Brenda," said Dylan.
"Why does he keep saying my mum's name!" Adrianna yelled.
"Adrianna," David approached her cautiously, "your mum – she's…"
"Upstairs?" asked Adrianna. "In the maternity ward? She's in the maternity ward because she was in the same crash? Did my parents crash into each other? Daddy isn't a good driver when he's upset. Maybe he was upset. And he hit Mum and Auntie Val. And he's upset he hit Mum and that's why he keeps saying her name. Isn't it?"
"Adrianna, I found your aunt," said David. "Your dad found us and then…then he found Val's car and…"
A different medical team came in to prep Valerie for surgery.
"I'm her husband," Steve told the doctors. "I'm going in the OR with her."
"Who's he?" one of them asked about David.
"I'm," David faltered. "I'm…"
"He's…needed," said Steve. "Val needs both of us in there."
David looked flabbergasted.
"You're letting me in there with you?" he asked.
"If she wanted you to remove your hand from hers, she would've made it happen," said Steve. "She hasn't made it happen the entire time I've been standing here."
"She's unconscious," said David.
"Val always finds a way," said Steve. "She would've found a way."
"She wants this baby – your baby – so badly," said David. "If the baby doesn't survive, I'm afraid what Val will do."
"I never said it was my baby," said Steve.
"You said if Val was knocked up, then you're the dad," said David.
"Dads come with lots of definitions," said Steve.
"What are you saying, Steve?" asked David.
"I'm saying Val would want you in there with us."
Frankly uninterested in her uncles' further conversation unless that conversation contained explanation of her mother, Adrianna returned to sit beside her father.
"Brenda?" he asked.
"Adrianna," said Adrianna, repeating her name with an emphasis on all of the syllables.
"I have to continue on, Ade," he said. "I don't know how. But I have to. For you girls. She told me to. Bren. She told me to. I have to continue on, for our girls. And God, our – our son. I – I didn't get to tell Bren about our son. Do you think she knows, Ade? Do you think Bren knows about our son?"
"Daddy," said Adrianna in a pipsqueak, "where is Mummy?"
"Gone," Dylan howled. "She's gone."
Adrianna didn't think.
She just ran.
She ran to the topmost level of the hospital.
She ran until boundaries forbade her from going further.
She sat on the linoleum, resting her head against the window.
They must have followed her.
"How's your dad?" she asked brokenly.
"It wasn't a heart attack," said Naomi. "Fuck, Ade, what can I say?"
"Nothing," said Adrianna. "You can't say anything to make this better. Nothing can make this better."
"Do they know how it happened?" asked Ruby.
"All I can gather is Mum and Auntie Val were in the car together," said Adrianna. "Auntie Val made it out. Mum – Mum…"
Didn't.
"How do we know they were in the car together?" asked Ruby.
"Uncle David told Mom that Auntie Val said they were in the car together," said Naomi.
"Coherently?" asked Ruby.
"What d'ya mean?" asked Naomi.
"I wonder if Val told him that coherently," said Ruby.
"What does it matter if she told him coherently?" asked Adrianna. "My mum is gone!"
"You're right; I'm – I'm just trying to figure out how this could have happened," said Ruby.
"I'm going to have to tell Callie," said Adrianna, deadpanned. "I'm going to have to tell her, because Dad could barely tell me."
"We'll help you tell her," said Naomi.
"We'll help you for as long as you need," said Ruby.
"What I need is my mum," said Adrianna. "Can you bring her back?"
"We would if we could," said Naomi.
"I can tell the boys," said Ruby, "if you want."
"I thought I was getting a brother," said Adrianna. "I was so convinced I was getting at least one brother. Now? Now, I don't have a brother and I don't have my mother."
"You can share mine," said Naomi.
"And mine," said Ruby.
"I don't want your mothers," said Adrianna. "I want mine. I want my mummy!"
She released her emotion on Naomi's shoulder.
Ruby encircled them both.
"How can I take care of my dad?" Adrianna blubbered. "Mum would – she would want me to – but how – how can I?"
"You'll need each other," said Naomi, "now more than ever."
"I should probably go back downstairs," said Adrianna. "I might've hurt Daddy by leaving like that."
"I'm sure he understands," said Ruby.
They escorted her back downstairs.
Valerie's group had not returned.
Brandon and Kelly had entered in their place.
Adrianna approached her father's bed, where Brandon and Dylan were wrapped in a tight embrace.
"Tell me I'm wrong," said Dylan. "Tell me you feel she's here…somewhere."
"I want to tell you that," said Brandon. "I desperately want to tell you that, but…your heart gave out. My chest; it was like walking into a blazing inferno."
"Then she's gone," said Dylan. "Our bodies wouldn't have reacted that way, if…if she wasn't. I should've kissed her, Brandon. I had the chance to kiss her and I – and I left. Without kissing her. I should've. I should've kissed her. How am I supposed to keep going? How, B? When three pieces of me are gone?"
"Together," said Brandon. "We'll have to do it together, the way Bren would tell us to do."
"I'd give her the divorce," said Dylan. "If she walked through that door right now, if it meant she was still in this world, I'd give her that fucking divorce."
"No you wouldn't," said Brandon.
"No I wouldn't," said Dylan.
Watching her father and uncle grieve together broke Adrianna.
She barely felt her aunt's arms encompass her.
"Why'd she leave?" asked Adrianna. "Why'd she leave me? Why'd she leave Callie and Daddy and her brother?"
"Sometimes, people need to leave," said Kelly, "and when they do, no one can ever answer why. If I could, Ade, I would tell you why."
"She didn't need to leave," said Adrianna. "She needed to stay. We needed her to stay and she couldn't do that. I should be mad at her, Aunt Kelly. I should be. I should be madder at her than I've ever been mad at anyone, but I… but I…"
"But you love her," said Kelly. "She's your mum."
"Did she love me?" asked Adrianna. "If Mum left, did she love me?"
"Oh, honey," said Kelly, "you and your sister have been your mom's whole world since before the moment you were born. That isn't going to change."
"I miss her, Aunt Kelly," said Adrianna. "I miss her already."
"We've suffered a lot of blows together in this family," said Kelly, "but this one? This one affects us all. It's going to be painful. I won't mince words, Ade; it'll be painful for a long time, for the rest of all of our lives. But you aren't going through this by yourself. We're all with you; with your sister, with your dad. We're a family and we always will be."
Adrianna took comfort in her aunt. She imagined that instead of her aunt, it was her mother's arms that encircled her.
"David?" asked Kelly. "How is she?"
Adrianna peeked at her uncle over her aunt's shoulder.
Exhaustion dominated his features.
"She had a bleed," said David. "They were able to stop it, but they're going to have her on the fetal monitor for observation."
"Oh, David," said Kelly.
Adrianna stepped aside for her uncle to receive his own dose of her aunt's comfort.
"She isn't mine," said David. "She isn't mine to love, but I – but I –"
"But you do," said Kelly.
"I should hate her," said David. "She stabbed me in the back. She married my ex-best friend. She's having a family with him. She's got us all sharing custody of my son. I should hate her more than I've ever hated anyone."
"Except you can't," said Kelly. "You can't hate her. You never could hate her. I saw you break up with her twice and each time, you still didn't hate her. You were furious with her after Christmas, and you still showed up to her wedding."
"It's this – this thing between us," said David, spreading out his hands. "I can't explain it. Ruby explains it better than I can. That's why I went to the wedding, you know. Ruby told me I would regret it if I sealed Val and Steve off like that, if I permanently sealed off the – the thing between me and Val. She made me think – made me think that maybe Val marrying Steve wasn't the end of everything."
"It's that thing that will keep Val alive. She will stay alive, David. She'll do it for Bryant. I promise you that."
"We aren't in the clear yet, Kel. She isn't out of the woods. I – me and Steve – we can still lose her. And the baby; God, the baby is too small to fight on its own…if I lose Val; if we lose the baby…"
Kelly asked how Valerie had wound up in that situation in the first place.
From what he had been told, David relayed, and from what he could gather based on his own observations, Valerie had managed to escape from her car before it had gone over.
"And then somebody hit her," said David. "Some sick fuck ran her over and left her there to die."
"Who?" asked Kelly. "Who would do that?"
"Someday, I'll find out," said David, "and when I do, I'll kill them with my bare hands."
He darted back to Valerie's side as soon as she was rolled in.
Dylan pulled at his wires.
"What are you doing?" Brandon latched onto both of Dylan's shoulders.
"I'm not sharing a room with her," said Dylan.
"With Val?" asked Kelly.
"With the woman who didn't save my wife," said Dylan. "I don't want anything to do with her."
"What?" asked Brandon and Adrianna together.
"Ask her," said Dylan. "She said it herself. I asked her where Bren was and she said Bren was – was…gone because Val is selfish. What am I supposed to take from that except that she didn't try to save my wife?"
"Is that really what she said?" asked Brandon to David.
"Honestly, I don't know much of what she said," said David. "She wasn't making sense. She barely strung words together and Dylan's swearing by what little words she did say."
"Then what the fuck did Val mean when she said she's selfish, Silver!" said Dylan. "Because she said it. You heard her say it! I'm not making this shit up!"
"She could have been introducing herself," said David.
"Introducing herself?" Dylan scoffed. "To us?"
"Hi, I'm Val and I'm selfish," said David.
"Bullshit," said Dylan. "I asked why Val didn't save Bren and Val said she's selfish. That tells me everything I need to know. Val had the chance to save my wife, she didn't, and I refuse to be around anyone responsible for my wife's…for Bren's…"
He couldn't say it, just as Adrianna could not say it.
"You aren't getting out of bed until we get the medical approval," said Brandon.
"Do you truly believe that, Daddy?" asked Adrianna. "Do you truly believe Auntie Val chose to not save Mummy?"
"I don't want to believe it," said Dylan. "I've been under the impression your aunt loved – loves your mum more than that, but she said it, Ade. She did say it."
"I say we wait until Val wakes up to hear more of the story before you start ripping out your wires," said Steve.
"You're just defending your wife," said Dylan.
"I am," said Steve. "And you would do the same."
"I've had my wife and our two youngest kids ripped away from me in the cruelest way possible," said Dylan. "The only reason I'm still on this planet is because Bren kicked my ass back awake so our oldest two wouldn't be orphans. The only reason I'm not demanding a bottle right now, the only reason I'm not dialing the nearest dealer, is because of them."
"Don't think I don't remember what that feels like," said Steve. "Do you think I wanted to live after I lost Janet? But I had to. I had to keep living, for our kids. And so do you."
"I know I do," said Dylan. "I just – I don't know how."
"One day at a time," said Steve.
A sharp moan sounded on the other side of the room.
"Bryant," it said.
Frantic glances jumped between David and Steve.
The former stepped back to allow the latter to draw near.
"Bryant's with Mom," said Steve. "How are you feeling, Val?"
"Husband," Valerie murmured. "Want…husband."
"That's me," said Steve, tickling his fingers along Valerie's hairline. "I'm your husband."
"No," said Val, and she repeated the negative word several times until she began to cry.
"I – I am," said Steve through his own pain. "We said the vows."
"Val," said Brandon, "can you tell us what happened? How – how did you and Bren get hurt?"
"What happened?" asked Val.
"We're asking you," said Dylan.
"What happened," said Val.
"My wife was hurt, Val. She was hurt badly. She was – our kids were – they were kil – and I want to know how!" Dylan demanded. "You're the only one who can answer that, so tell us how, fucking dammit!"
"How?" asked Val.
"I should get her doctor," said David. "They can give us an update on the baby while they're at it."
"The only update I want to know is if they've found my wife," said Dylan.
"Now who's being selfish?" asked David. "You aren't the only one who's been climbing the walls tonight, Dylan!"
"I'm the only one who can't be with my wife!" Dylan retorted.
"Brenda wouldn't want this," said Brandon. "She wouldn't."
"Don't think I'm not just as mad at her," said Dylan. "She had a choice and she made the fucking wrong one. I'm not going to forgive her for it. I won't, but I still want the chance to hold her fucking body in my arms again."
"David?" asked Valerie.
"Yeah, Val." David attempted to calm himself. "I'm over here."
"David." A smile came upon Valerie's face. She stretched out her hand in his direction.
"Val," David looked uncomfortably at Steve. "Val, I need you to answer a question for me. And I need you to be completely honest when you do. For once, no bullshitting around. Can you do that?"
"Okay," said Val.
"Who is the father of your baby?" asked David.
"You are, of course," said Valerie.
"I – I am?" David's knees faltered. His knuckle pressed against the wall to hold him steady.
"Did you think my husband hadn't fathered my baby?" asked Val in her broken breaths.
"Your husband?" asked David.
"Yes," said Val. "My husband. You."
The hospital room had transformed into an art museum, with every individual in it having metamorphosed into an ivory statue, highlighted only by a sliver of arriving sun.
xx
Sunlight had crept its way in.
It was strange to experience any sun in such an unkempt place.
Strange to experience sun where there should not be sun, where shadows outlined every corner.
The slamming of her chest into the ground had surely left a mark.
The sensation had been one of being aflame, though it had not been anything like the pain that had reverberated through her heart.
The belief that her heart had stopped, even when it hadn't.
Her hand was already showing signs of bruising from where she had shielded her stomach against the concrete.
"Nice of you to join us," said her captor. "You were out a while. I was getting bored."
"If you don't want your victims unconscious, maybe don't throw them on the floor," she snarked.
She sat against a wall, her hands bound upon it.
"They're going to find me," she said. "My family's going to find me and then you'll be dead."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that," said George. "Gina had our tracks covered pretty well."
"You underestimate my family's power," said Brenda.
"And you underestimate mine," said George. "Who do you think could supply Ty Collins with all those drugs? I got pretty good at it, in jail. Dealing. Had to, to survive."
Brenda's back arched.
"You?" she asked. "You're responsible for my daughter's addiction?"
"Making you as miserable as humanly possible could only be done if your daughter suffered, too," said George.
"What did I do to you?" Brenda yelled. "What did I do that you would hurt my daughter like this?"
"What did you do to me?" asked George. "What did you do to me? The star quarterback with his whole life ahead of him, until you put him in jail? Did you like jail, Brenda? Was it fun? Was it more comfortable than my time in jail? My brother works in Lynwood, you know; or used to. Did you know him? Did you know my brother? He can get a little flirtatious. Some would say overly flirtatious."
Rather than focus on George's statement about his sibling, Brenda sifted through memories long discarded.
"Bonnie," she said. "Bonnie, the cheerleader from West Bev?"
"That's right," said George. "It's me. George Sudaris, from the old alma mater. For years and years and years, I sat in that cell, without a clue who had put me in there. And then Grandfather Rosenbach, he said –"
"What did you say?" asked Brenda.
"I said Grandfather Rosenbach."
Brenda gagged on her own oxygen.
"Rosenbach?" she asked.
"So you do know my grandfather," said George, "and you know the power my family line wields."
"You raped her," said Brenda. "Over and over, you raped her. You even brought your little friends along to help you. Are you going to do that to me? Are you going to rape me?"
"The thought is tempting," said George. "I do like a beautiful girl, and while you're no Gina, you are pretty damn beautiful yourself. Maybe I would fuck you, if my fiancée weren't so dead-set on you having a healthy baby. Same reason we aren't forcing your labor, even though I know tons of good techniques. Gina wants it to happen naturally and what my baby wants, my baby gets."
"What are you going to do to my babie – baby?" asked Brenda.
"Oh, we're going to raise the tyke," said George. "Me and Gina. Raise the little tyke as our own."
"My husband will never allow that."
"Your husband doesn't get a say," said George. "In case you haven't noticed, you're our prisoner and neither of us are going to be releasing you anytime soon."
"I will hunt you," said Brenda. "If you take my child from me, I will hunt you until my dying day."
"Your dying day is much sooner than you think," said George, "'cause as soon as that kid is born, we won't have any need for you. So if you want to live past the afterbirth, I'd shut my yap if I were you. 'Cause I'm the guy with the weapon. And you're the woman powerless to stop me."
"Are you flirting, George?"
"I'm just telling Brenda our intentions, baby," said George.
"Oh, so she does know that we're only keeping her around until the baby is born," said Gina.
"I still say we cut it out of her and then we can be rid of her sooner," said George. "If we get lucky enough, she'll bleed to death and we won't have to do any of the messy business ourselves."
"We aren't risking my baby like that," said Gina. "I've already lost one baby because of Brenda. We aren't going to give her the chance to lose me another one."
Turning the key in the lock, Gina sashayed into Brenda's holding area.
"Get away from me," Brenda spat.
"I'm just checking on my baby," said Gina. "We had a long car ride. My baby isn't used to long car rides."
Brenda attempted to swing out her legs, which failed to move.
"I brought my baby a present," said Gina.
She sat down Maddie's beloved Sakura and raised the hem of Brenda's clothing.
"Isn't it nice of Brenda to carry you for me?" Gina scraped her hand across Brenda's stomach. "She's been mean to me, so mean, so judgey and bitchy, but I can forgive her of her cruel transgressions when you're here. I bet you can't wait to meet me as much as I can't wait to meet you. I'm going to be the best Mommy to you. I'm gonna make sure you're never gonna want for anything."
"This is my baby," Brenda bit out through a vial of venom that surprised even her. "Not yours. Mine," she emphasized.
"You're carrying the baby for me," said Gina, "just as Valerie was carrying my other baby."
"Was?" asked Brenda.
"Sacrifices had to be made," said Gina. "I had to choose one baby over the other. It was a tough choice, a painful choice, but it had to be done."
The vice grip returned on Brenda's chest.
"What did you do to Val, Gina?" she asked.
"I did what had to be done," said Gina.
"If you hurt Val, I'll – I'll –"
"You'll what, Brenda?" Gina cackled. "What can you do to me? Face it: you can't do anything to me. I'm the one in control here. Your hands are tied. Literally."
"I'm sorry you lost your baby," said Brenda. "I am, but Gina, I am not responsible for that! Val is not responsible for that!"
"Don't talk about my baby!" Gina shouted.
"We did not give you warfarin!" Brenda shouted in return. "We did not hurt your baby, but you will hurt ours!"
"I will never hurt my baby," said Gina. "Never ever. I love my baby." She rested her cheek against Brenda's abdomen. "Love my baby," she said again, kissing the area where she thought the baby may be. "George will love you, too. You'll see. We'll both love you more than anyone ever can, especially stupid Brenda and that fucking monster who calls himself your dad. George will be a better dad, a much better dad."
Brenda could only tighten her body in response.
She couldn't hit Gina. She couldn't kick Gina. She couldn't get her mouth close enough to Gina to bite her.
She could taunt her, taunt her relentlessly.
Taunt her as Brenda had been taunted, for months.
"You know that 'fucking monster who calls himself my baby's dad' won't stop," said Brenda. "Dylan's not going to stop until he finds me. He's not going to let you live when he does. Why risk your life like that, Gina? Why become so consumed by revenge for something it's been proven I didn't do that you would put yourself in harm's way?"
"Dylan?" asked Gina. "Oh, you mean the moron who got himself into a car accident? That Dylan?"
"Car – car accident?" Brenda swallowed.
"It's all over the news," said Gina giddily. "Dylan McKay in a car accident. Terrible, terrible car accident. I believe it was reported your daughters were in there with him. I heard there weren't any survivors."
"What a terrible shame," said George, his tone in no way matching his statement.
Brenda's ribcage collided into the underbelly of a monster truck driven by a careless driver.
"They're – they're alive," she stuttered. "I know they're alive."
"Are you sure about that?" asked Gina. "The news was very clear. No survivors."
Brenda's heart had stopped.
Her chest had been aflame.
That had been from the floor.
Had it?
Could it have been from the loss of her world?
Her…her girls.
Her…her husband.
Gone?
"You look downright pitiful," said George. "We'll put you out of your misery. Reunite you with your lost kin. You'll thank us for it. Soon as that baby is born."
"As soon as I'm holding my baby," said Gina.
They left Brenda alone in her grief, a grief that overpowered any sorrow she had experienced before.
"I – I have to carry on," she said. "For you two. I – I don't know how…but I have to. For him. Dylan would tell me to. We – we will get out of here. Somehow…somehow, we'll get out of here."
Get out of there and go where?
Back to Los Angeles, to a home emptied of her family?
Back to London, where memories of her family would be ever-present?
Baja wouldn't be any better.
Neither would Paris.
"We'll start over," said Brenda. "Somewhere new. When we get out of here, we'll – we'll go somewhere new."
I should've kissed him, she thought. I had the chance to kiss him and I…I let him leave. Without kissing me.
If he were here right now, what would I tell him?
I'd tell him…
I'd tell him I hate him for doing this to me.
I'd yell at him for leaving me behind.
I'd yell at him for taking our girls along.
I'd tell him I don't want the damn divorce.
I'd tell him I love him.
I'd ask him how I'm supposed to keep going, when three pieces of me, the biggest three pieces of me, are gone.
"We were wondering when you would get here," she heard George say above the haze.
"I had to get a few affairs in order before I left town," said the new voice.
"Where's our money?" asked George. "We brought her here. Give us the money."
"You'll get the money when she's dead."
"That's not what Gina said."
"Then Gina misled you. You'll get the money when Brenda is dead, and no sooner than that."
That voice. Brenda knew it. She had heard it, only that year.
"Can't we negotiate?" asked George. "Gina won't let us kill Brenda until the baby's out and we need the money, like, yesterday. Gina's got us in debt up to our fucking eyeballs. That money will square us away and get us the hell outta this country."
"Then you should have waited until Brenda was already in labor before snatching her, or Gina should've held on better to that baby I risked my career to help her get. I don't negotiate."
"Did your people clean up the scene of the crime?" asked George.
"My people wouldn't have needed to clean up the scene of the crime if Gina hadn't attacked that woman. Waste of a perfectly good car. It physically pained me to have a car that beautiful destroyed. But considering what that woman did to my marriage and the way she wrecked my ex-husband's career, can't say I wasn't pleased to hear of Gina aiming to finish her off."
"You're still a Furies," said George. "Once a Furies, always a Furies."
"And the Furies clan gets the job done."
"How'd you get it done so quickly?"
"This isn't my first go-around dealing with cleaning up the mess of a dead woman. I think I can say I've gotten rather good at it, since the first time."
"The first time?"
"Let's just say my ex-boyfriend needed some punishment for what he did to me."
"Is it the same thing Brenda did to you?"
"Worse. He betrayed me in the worst possible way. So I paid him back, by taking something – or someone – he held dear. I didn't intend to kill her. I didn't. She was sweet; much sweeter than I expected someone like that asshole to marry, but he needed to be punished. So I killed her. I ran her car off the road. I killed her and I liked it. I liked watching her bleed. I liked seeing her suffer. And I look forward to the day I can watch Brenda do the same."
"With your expertise, I assume they aren't going to find her?"
"They aren't going to find her," said the woman, "because for all they know, there is no Brenda to find."
There is no Brenda to find, rattled Brenda's brain.
Brandon will find me, she told herself.
And when he does, I'll visit – I'll visit Dylan and I'll tell him – I'll tell him –
Severe pressure enveloped Brenda's lower half, interrupting her previous thought.
The tug on her back followed suit.
I'll tell him the twins just dropped.
Fuck.
They can't.
Not now.
Yet, they had.
They assuredly had, in the same week and way their oldest sister had.
Adrianna. My Adrianna. My Calista. My…Dylan.
If she allowed the sorrowful pain of her loss to envelop her, if she focused on it hard enough, could her mind connect with Brandon's despite their distance?
She had to try it.
Squeezing her face in intense concentration, Brenda brought forward an image of her brother.
She focused solely on that image.
Brandon, hurry and find me, she commanded the image.
Please find me.
I can't – I can't have them here.
I can't let them be taken.
I can't lose the only parts of Dylan I have left.
I can't survive if I no longer have a reason to survive.
Find me.
Please, God, let my brother find me.
Soon, Brandon.
Do it soon.
-x
Sources: Google and Reddit anecdotes, as well as other baby forum anecdotes.
(Shout-out to KJ to express my continued gratitude and appreciation, as well as those of you whose review I could respond to directly.)
Thanks a million!
And stay safe out there. xx