Date = 13 April
Place = San Francisco (UCSF Medical center)
POV Aria
Mel is far more anxious than she’s letting on … in my humble opinion that is … but mostly judging by the fierce grip she has on the phone in her hand a grip that would make any crab jealous. Her blue eyes dull and barely blinking as she stares at the wall behind the counter.
The same counter I feel like crossing over to shake the Barbie nurse that is so damn slow. I mean, how long can it take to print out a few papers? We’ve been waiting here all stressed up for what seems like hours, just to get the results … but no … that expressionless face under heavy makeup is glued to the screen, as the false nail tip of her index finger hits a single key every now and then. I’m in a hurry … I left my sister at home with Jesse, but he has a date later. So we need to be quick.
Reluctantly, I keep myself in and rather take a deep breath. I will not cause a fuss this time. BUT only because I feel somewhat responsible for this situation after all, I’m the one Brian chose to blackmail and apparently fell in love with I would call it more of an obsession though. I think he only wants me because he thinks I belong to Enrique.
Taking another deep breath, I switch Brian’s envelope from my left hand to my right, weaving my now free hand’s fingers through Mel’s; holding it tight like a boy on his first date. She slowly turns her head and a faint smile emerges around the corners of her mouth. Her pretty face is still blown up like a birthday balloon and sprouts about all the colors of the rainbow. The same as my tummy.
“What’s taking so fucking long?” she snaps at the fashion doll, just to receive a blank stare back. I swear the girl has the same brain capacity as Amanda … not that I’m judgemental … I’m just stating facts. At last, the slow-witted nurse gets up and walks through a door behind her to appear a few moments later with the much-awaited document that she presents to us.
“And what are you girls doing?” I’m not sure who squeaked like a mouse, startled upon hearing the voice behind us, but I instinctively grab both test results and try to hide them, all while turning slowly in union with my little blond companion to gaze bug-eyed at her big brother. The man is way too smart to fall for some lame-ass excuse … I know that … but my mouth starts talking unceremoniously all by itself …
“Eh … we’re just testing … this thing … that we’re testing to test that … ” I start, stuttering incomprehensible … the freaking stress and pressure getting to me. Ilkay furrows his brows as he tilts his head; an intrigued smile on his handsome face. And as if we weren’t already doomed enough … the twins, Axel and Alejandro appear behind man number one. Jackson as well as Axel’s clothes are stained with blood … the latter has a bandaged arm and the former’s eyes are a stormy deep-sea blue.
“What happened to you?” Mel asks worriedly, looking at Axel.
“Car accident,” Jackson answers casually and wipes his finger over his arm to clean some blood from it.
“And why are you not barfing right now?” Mel asks, pointing her finger at his shirt, “You know … the blood?” Oh yeah, that’s right, Jackson suffers from Hemophobia.
“Don’t know,” he pulls up his shoulders, not in the least bit freaked out.
“It happens sometimes … comes and goes … it’s a strange thing.” His eyes are on me now. Cold. Investigating. Observing. And very very unnerving.
I swallow some dry spit and swiftly drift my attention to my robot. Flip, I should stop thinking that … he’s not mine … not in a long shot … and a tiny pain shoots through my heart. Enrique winks at me and my already mushy knees start to wobble.
“They’ve done a DNA test, doctor,” the nurse says behind me, suddenly becoming professional, and a sound that’s the combination of a slurp and a snore escapes from my mouth … totally un-deliberately must I add.
“DNA test? Checking if Damion is really the father?” Jackson jokes, but his eyes are surveying our every move. Mel pulls a face at him. And before I can counteract … Enrique grabs the envelopes from my hands … giving the new one to Ilkay who pulls the result out without hesitation.
He holds up the other envelope.
“This is the envelope from Brian … the one you’ve been hiding.” He looks angry. Or hurt. Maybe both. He hands that one to Jackson.
Damn … we’re fucked. I know there are no names … just persons A B C and D … but how do we explain why we did a test. I look at Mel and she looks back … the same fear in our eyes.
“This is a sibling test … three male and a female contributor, and it shows that persons A, B, and C are full-siblings while person D is their half-sibling,” Ilkay reads, now serious. The twins also lean over to look at the paper in his hands.
“Who did you test?” Ilkay asks looking at his sister.
“Eh … are you sure they are only half-siblings … can they be full-siblings? Can the test be wrong?” she asks eagerly avoiding his question.
“Well, any test can be wrong … but it’s highly unlikely … if they were full-siblings the percentage would be closer to 50% … whereas in this case, it is 28% with the one and 27% with the other two … implying that they only share one parent. DNA does not lie … it’s more likely that the parent is lying than for the test to be wrong,” he says sounding very doctorly. And my heart drops onto the ground … taking my hope with it.
It’s true then. Brian didn’t bluff. Mel turns white and she’s crushing my hand now painfully.
“Oh, here’s your toothbrushes back,” the incompetent nurse holds out three see-through plastic bags … each containing a toothbrush one red, one blue, one green. Okay, so we needed something with DNA on it without the brothers knowing what we were up to … so we stole a toothbrush from Logan’s house, and one from Ilkay … and I bought Enrique a new one, telling him that the other one was old and scruffy. We couldn’t get Jackson’s, but since he and Enrique are twins it’s not really necessary to test both. Mel did a cheek swab.
But why, in Frankenstein’s name, would they give the toothbrushes back? Can’t this person think a little … just a tiny little bit? Mel gives the nurse an angry stare … she just unknowingly blew up the biggest bomb. She clicks her tongue and leaves.
“Hey, wait … that’s my toothbrush,” and the pow-pow hits the fan faster than you can say shit! I curse my robot’s over-observant eyes. He grabs the bags and stares at the convicting evidence. There’s no way we’re going to explain this away. And these brothers will put two and two together in mere minutes no matter what we come up with.
“And is that Logan’s?” Enrique shows the bag to Jackson who nods. How the hell do they recognize each other’s bloody toothbrushes.
“And yours?” he holds the green one in front of Ilkay’s face. Mel grabs onto the counter with her free hand.
“Mel, are you alright?” Ilkay steps forward and grabs her shoulders.
“Yeah, I just haven’t eaten anything.” He seems to be satisfied with her answer.
“What is the test for?” Enrique asks this time … looking right at me for an answer. I swallow … my brain working overtime.
“Eh … to make sure … ” I struggle it out but Ilkay interrupts my pathetic attempt at thinking of an explanation. Not that anything came up in my mind anyway.
“You tested me, Logan, Enrique, and Mel … and one of the males is a half-sibling …,” Ilkay says to himself and I just nod over eagerly, trying to stabilize my rushing heart.
“Shit!” the twins shout out simultaneously, their eyes big and wide from shock. And at a time like this, all my mind thinks about is how they look exactly alike … carbon copies of each other … until you look into their eyes. That’s when you realize how different they actually are. Jackson’s eyes are like a dark hurricane with a need to destroy … not sure if the destruction is aimed at others or himself. Enrique, although also having a stormy side, at least also cradles some warmth that he’s trying to hide behind his robotic demeanor. And it’s for this reason that I’m able to fall for him. Fuck … I would never be able to date someone like Jackson … he’s just too much for me to handle. He’s gonna need a ninja girl with the psychotic attitude of Hannibal Lecter and the IQ of Einstein.
I shake my head to get rid of my thoughts. To say that this is the most flabbergasted I’ve ever seen both twins is an understatement. At least something can still get them emotional. Axel just stands there silently with a dropped jaw. And Alejandro turned a shade of white that matches the walls.
Mel suddenly yanks my arm – HARD.
“Run!” she yells while pulling my body with her. I follow her instinctively down the hallway and we’re about halfway towards the stairwell before my brain kicks in to decipher that this might actually not be a good idea. I’m sure all five of those boys are quicker than us … or at least faster than me.
“Mel, what are we doing?” I ask, stopping at the top of the stairs to catch my breath.
“I don’t know,” she answers, not even winded. She keeps a firm grip on my hand and leads me down the stairs. But I was right … ’cause there at the bottom are five men standing in a row, waiting with folded arms. Mel sighs.
“Heaven forbid, why could I not have been an only child?” she mumbles.
I swear, one or other Blackburn is going to be the end of me before I can even complete my contract. And how the fuck did they get here so fast? Can they teleport? I won’t be surprised if they have superpowers.
“There’s another staircase,” Enrique says and winks at me. See, they can read minds too.
Mel walks forward toward them with a sinister smile on her broken face.
She drops like a rock, conveniently caught by her oldest brother before she hit the floor. He carries her to the nearest gurney, shouting orders at the stunned nurses standing around. I’m frozen for a second, but Enrique grabs my hand and pulls me with him; giving such big strides that I need to run to keep up. I take deep breaths and remind myself that I seriously need to go to the gym before I start praying for the baby while cursing Brian Cruise all at the same time.