“How’s Aria?” He seems truly worried and that doesn’t make me feel better. In fact, it makes me feel worse.
“I’m sorry, sweetie, I tried to pull her back but I just wasn’t strong enough,” Amanda grips my arm and puts her head on my shoulder. I take a deep breath and gently push her away. I dump the empty cardboard cup into the dustbin before I respond.
“She’ll be alright. Excuse me, I need to get back to my girl,” I turn on my heels and walk straight back to Aria’s room.
Distance. The word crosses my mind and I then decide to take a detour to check on the little guy.
I find Haley laying with her head on Alejandro’s shoulder. She looks worn out and tired, her eyes wide open just staring at the wall, dried tear tracks on her cheeks. Alejandro doesn’t appear to be in any better shape. He gives me a small nod, but his eyes are dull and emotionless.
“Hi, how is he?” I ask and Haley slowly lifts her head, only now aware of my presence.
“He’s gonna pull through,” she tries a hopeless smile, “Deimos is with him. They won’t let us in yet.”
She sighs and then goes back to staring at the wall.
“Why does this always happens to us? What did we do wrong? Why my kids?”
I’m not sure if she’s talking to me or the doctor poster on the wall, but I was thinking the same thing. Alejandro puts an arm around her shoulder and pulls her closer to him. She closes her eyes but then as if she just had a bad dream they pop open and she looks straight at me.
“You must go to Mel!” she orders leaning forward to put her head in her hands. I look at Alejandro asking the question without speaking. He squeezes Haley’s shoulder and gets up.
“Eh, we didn’t want to tell you, ’cause you already have your hands full with Aria, but Mel started having cramps as a result of the shock so they took her to the ER. Damion and Ilkay are with her. Jackson took Kiara to go get some clean clothes and supplies for all the patients.”
“Fuck!” It feels as if someone punched me in the gut. Not this. Mel can’t go through that again. Not to mention Damion … that guy was broken last time my sister was in hospital …
I start running back to the ER and find Thalia walking up and down the corridor. She immediately stops when she sees me.
“Is she …,” I can’t even get the words out cause it feels as if a hand is gripped around my throat, crushing my trachea.
“Her Gino is monitoring the baby, and your brother is gonna stay with her. He just went to fetch something to drink. Damion is in a bad state though … first his brother and now this.” She puts her hand on my arm and tilts her head to the side.
“How are you doing?” I can’t answer her, the invisible hand still in place, so I just shrug my shoulders, trying to look unaffected. And if all this isn’t enough, just then Logan calls. He phoned me early this morning to wish me a happy birthday, but it’s not strange for him to phone again.
I answer the phone, not knowing if I should tell him or not. He has a big game tomorrow and Logan is someone that gets easily drowned in his emotions.
“Hi little bro,” I try to sound cheerful, “how’re things going in DC? Have you seen the president?”
“Hi, Sportie, no, the bastard is hiding from me … ha ha …” he continues the joke, and his teasingly calling me by Aria’s nickname doesn’t go unnoticed. As if he knows what it means. Gmf. I’ll get the little fucker back. He then tells me that you can still see the cherry blossoms when you walk around the Tidal Basin and how the pretty girl that gave him a massage ended up in his jacuzzi. He talks a little bit more about how great Washington actually is and then comes the devastating question.
“Bro, I can’t get hold of Mel or Damion … are they with you? Are you guys having a joll without me?”
“Um, Logan, we’re in hospital … ” I start but he interrupts me.
“Fuck, seems I’m missing out … what happened this time?” Yeah, ending up in the hospital is a rather normal occurrence on our birthdays, usually from doing something stupid.
“Eh, the girls planned a surprise party on a boat … ug … I’ll tell you the details later, but Aria and Luke fell overboard into the bay,” I start again and when I hear him taking a deep breath I quickly add, “but they’re both going to be fine. Mel felt a little bad from the shock, so they’re keeping an eye on the baby.”
“Holy shit! Should I come back?” I can hear the shock and worry in his voice.
“No, don’t worry too much, they’re all in good shape and I’ll keep you up to date.” I peek into my sister’s room, but she and her lover are sleeping in each other’s arms on the small bed. Her tummy is attached to some machine that monitors the baby’s heartbeat and I listen to the rhythmic beeping sound for a few seconds. I close the door softly, not wanting to disturb them. I start walking back to Aria’s room.
“Mel is sleeping now, but she will phone you soon, okay,” I tell my littlest brother. I see Amanda standing at the coffee machine, her back turned to me. Why is she here? A small bug starts chewing on my heart.
“Don’t worry, brother, the doctor said the baby is fine. He’s a Blackburn after all, so he’s a strong little bastard. Nothing would get him down.” I console Logan. “I have to go now but I will keep you informed, okay?” I hang up the phone, now standing in front of Aria’s door.
“She pushed us,” I pause upon hearing my girlfriend’s voice.
“Maybe it felt like that, but she tried to grab you, Aria, I promise,” Brian’s voice sends a chill down my spine. They’re talking rather softly as if they don’t want anybody to hear.
“I’m not stupid, Brian … I know what happened!”
“Sure she seems over the top, but she’s not a murderer. She’s really upset,” Brian continues and I guess they’re talking about Amanda. It’s quiet for a while and I decide to go in, but then Aria speaks again.
“I know what I know … but … I can’t prove it, so it doesn’t matter. So you and your tramp better just stay away from us!” She seems agitated.
“I can’t promise you that,” Brian says coldly.
“What do you want from me, Brian?”
I’m waiting frozen in anticipation and then an imaginary cold bucket of water drops on me.
“I want you.”