Black Roses

Chapter 10

Bridget was startled out of her reverie by her cell phone's incessant ringing. She should really chuck it out of the window someday.

She grabbed the little noisemaker and answered it harshly. She waved at James to tend the counter for awhile.

'Is this a bad time?' The voice on the other line was familiar. It was Chris. Maybe she'll chuck her phone later.

'No, not at all. I just…I hate cell phones. They make too much noise.' She confessed. Chris chuckled over the phone and Bridget's cheeks warmed. She walked out of the counter and out of the coffee shop.

'Well…I took up your offer and called you, I hope you don't mind.'

'Not at all!' Way to be subtle, Bridget. Bridget thumped her forehead with her palms.

A dialling tone signalled another call. 'Could you hold?' Bridget cursed whoever was on the other line.

'Yeah, sure.'

She pressed the green call button. 'Yes?'

'Bridget?' It was Devon.

'I thought I told Logan to not let anyone—'

'Dad was found lying on the street. He doesn't look so good.'

Bridget's phone almost fell from her hands.

'Dev…ugh. Where are you all?'

'Sacred Hearts Hospital. Hurry, Bridge.' Bridget pressed the green call button again and heard Chris mumbling a song. Her frown immediately turned into a smile and she kept as silent as possible.

'You know…the hold tone stops right after the person comes back.' Chris' amused voice made Bridget's cheeks colour.

'Sorry…um, I'm going to have to let you go. My dad's in the hospital and I have—'

'Is he okay?' the concern in Chris' voice warmed Bridget. And it made everything rush back to her, choking up her throat.

'I don't know…I really don't.' she cleared her throat. 'Um…I'm going to have to call you back.'

'Yeah, sure. Um…I hope your dad's okay.'

'Me too. Bye Chris.'

'Bye.'

She clicked off her phone and ran inside the coffee shop. James immediately frowned. 'What happened? Who was on the phone?'

'My dad's in the hospital. I have to go.'

'Of course. I'll cover for you.' James passed her bag over the counter top and asked for her apron which she threw into his hands.

'I'm sorry, James.'

'Just go, Bridget.' James pushed her.

Bridget slung her bag over her shoulders and ran off to get a cab.

::-::-::-::

Once she arrived at the hospital, Anthony greeted her at the waiting lobby. 'He's fine. He just got knocked around a bit by a couple of street kids.'

Bridget pushed him away, ignoring the hurt look on his face and looked for Jordan. 'Where is he?' she asked him.

'Neither of us can get in. Not yet.' He shrugged.

'Bridget,' Devon's soft voice made Bridget turn around.

She looked coldly at all her brother; Jeremy wasn't there. 'All of you didn't have the right to not tell me about this earlier.' She said. She looked at Anthony pointedly. 'Not even you, Anthony.'

'Bridget, could you just let us explain?' Ethan asked, circling his hand around Bridget's arm gently but she yanked her arm away. 'Don't touch me.' She recognized the look on Logan's face. 'I'm not being dramatic, Logan.' The sentence made Logan turn away. 'Our father left us fourteen years ago to fend for ourselves and now that he's back you don't tell me? How do you think that makes me feel?'

The waiting lobby didn't have many people in it but the people who were there pretty much ignored the little argument the family was having.

'Bee, we had good reasons for not telling you.' Anthony frowned.

'What? Just because I'm the youngest I'm supposed to be sheltered my whole life, is that it? You left us, Anthony. You didn't know what he did to us. He never laid a finger on you, yet I, being the youngest, had to stand two of my childhood years being beaten almost into a pulp just because I worshipped the ground you walked on.' Bridget's eyes were watery, making her sight blurred. 'I would've understood why you held this information from me if you could have just called us and asked how we were doing once in awhile. I wouldn't be bawling my eyes out right now if you would have just come to visit us instead of hiding away with Jeremy.'

'This isn't fair, Bridge—'

'You're talking to me about being fair, Anthony?' She gave out a harsh bitter laugh. 'Fairness is when you have a father who sings you to sleep. Fairness is when your family stayed together even through the hardest of times. Fairness is when I didn't have to wait until my father escaped from hospital a week after he was admitted to find out that he was still alive!' Jordan placed an arm on her shoulder but she shrugged it away. 'I want to see him.' She had a hardened look on her face.

'Mr Cohen?' all five of the Cohen brothers turned at the female voice. 'We can only allow two visitors at once.'

No one said anything as Bridget and Anthony followed the doctor.

'He's a little bit shaken up so don't expect much from him.' The doctor said to the two siblings. Neither gave her any sign of wanting to speak, afraid they'd burst.

Anthony let Bridget go in first but she didn't thank him. She walked slowly towards the figure on the bed.

He looked thinner and sunken but still had the hard look of a person who's been through a lot. She suddenly felt frightened of him as she backed away.

'Bridget? Is that you? Is that my baby?' she stopped and bravely pulled her eyes to meet her father's. 'Beautiful…just like your mother.'

She suddenly felt like a little girl who was still in love with her father, who thought the world of him.

'Daddy.' She whispered as she walked towards her father and grabbed his neck and hugged him. Jeffrey's arms circled around her waist and pulled her close. 'My Bridget.' His eyes welled with tears as they rushed down his cheeks like waterfall.

Both of them sobbed in each other's shoulders, the years absent from each other seemed to be forgotten.

'Oh baby…' Jeffrey pulled Bridget away from him and looked at her. 'You look so much like your mother.'

'Daddy…where have you been?' Bridget hiccupped.

'I'm sorry…I couldn't stay any longer. I…can't stand the fact that…I…I never meant to lay a finger on you, darling.'

Her hiccups turned into sobs again and the tears just rushed down her cheeks. 'I don't care about that…I waited for you to come back…I—'

'Bridget.'

Both Jeffrey and Bridget turned to Anthony who had a stone cold glaze over his eyes.

'Anthony,' Jeffrey grimaced.

'Dad…' Anthony's voice softened a bit and Bridget could see that he was trying so hard to stop himself from coming any closer.

'Come here,' their father's voice was gruff and choked with emotions. Anthony's shoulders slumped as he walked to his father and embraced him.

'Why did you just leave?' Jeffrey asked between sobs.

'You told me to go. I couldn't just stay there while I knew you didn't want me.'

'What kind of father would be so cruel…why didn't you come back?'

'I thought you didn't want me back.'

'I didn't raise you to be a person with no backbone! You're a Cohen, tried and true. You should know that!'

Bridget looked at the exchange, surprised at the sight of the two men in her life she adored more than anything else sobbing like there was no tomorrow.

'I'm sorry I disappointed you dad,' Anthony sobbed as he pulled away from Jeffrey.

'You didn't. I disappointed you. I should have accepted you for who you are. You're my son…I should've…I disappointed myself.'

'No, dad…you…what?'

Jeffrey choked on his laughter. 'Anthony…I wish I could blame someone for what happened when your mother was alive. But all I could blame was myself.'

'No…Bridget told me everything. Mom died because of the tumour in her lungs. It wasn't your fault.'

'But I beat her up, Anthony. I beat your mother up…because of you. Oh God I wish I could have just accepted you…your mother would still be alive. I'm so sorry all of you had to suffer because of me. I'm so sorry.'

Anthony shook his head as he pulled his dad into another hug. Bridget couldn't stand it any longer. She couldn't see both of them like this. She wasn't part of it.

'Bridget…I'm so sorry, darling.' She choked on her tears when she heard her father's voice. Anthony pulled her into a hug before going to her father for another hug.

This was all happening so fast she almost felt like this was all a dream. She couldn't believe it was really happening.

And then reality sank in. This was the man behind her every scar on her back. He inflicted them on her because of her brother. Shouldn't she hate both of them instead of hugging them? It was too much of a Hallmark moment that she had to move away. She wriggled out of their embrace and looked at both of them disbelievingly.

They looked at her and had identical questioning looks in their eyes as they frowned slightly.

'Both of you are the reasons why I have scars that sometimes bring back so many bad nightmares that I can actually feel it being inflicted on me again.' Her face held no emotion as she looked at the floor. 'I wasted my whole life thinking both of you were my reasons for living. That both of you were my heroes.' She shook her head and looked up at them, her eyes were cold. 'It was because of you,' her eyes roamed to Anthony, 'that made you,' and down to her father, 'almost kill me and mom. Yet I still waited for your return. My heart still yearned for both of you to be back in my life.'

She looked back down on the floor. 'I must be delusional.' She shook her head and walked out of the room, ignoring the calls from her dad and brother. When she was at the lobby, the rest of her brothers stood up from their seats and asked her what happened but she didn't answer them as she walked out of the hospital's automatic swinging doors and got into a cab and left for home.

::-::-::-::

Her door was knocked but she didn't answer because she heard the voices behind it. It was one of her brothers; she couldn't care less to identify. Her phone rang off the hook but she ignored it when she saw that it was her brothers again. Mark called three times but she didn't answer.

She lied on her bed with her phone beside her. For a long moment, there was just her and silence.

Her phone rang, killing the calm, and Bridget looked at who the caller was. It was Chris.

'Hey, how's your dad?'

'He's fine.' Her voice was devoid of any emotions.

'Bridget, are you okay?'

'Yes,' was her automatic answer.

'I'm coming over…in five minutes.'

'Okay.'

'Bridget…'

'I said okay…'

'See you later.'

True to his word, five minutes later, the door was knocked. Bridget answered the door without looking through her peephole and let him in, not waiting for him to get in before walking off to her room.

She flopped down on her bed, her emotions all drained out from her.

Chris came inside the room, leaving the door wide open, and sitting on the floor beside the bed. 'Bridget, what's wrong?'

She didn't know why but she told Chris everything that night, even though she knew next to nothing about the guy. He didn't interrupt her at all throughout her confession but he did frown whenever she mentioned her father and the beatings. She even told him about what happened at the hospital word for word. She guessed this was the compensation for all the years she never opened up to anyone except her brothers and her best friend. She just hoped that Chris would never take advantage of the information she just gave out. She really wished that Chris would be her saving grace. Oh, wishing was such an overrated act.

When she finished, she was crying again and Chris comforted her by running his fingers through her hair and whispering to her that even if nothing turns out okay, she still had him. Which she thought was absolutely sweet, even though the event was supposed to be depressing for her.

'Thank you.' Bridget said, her hands moving up to caress Chris' cheeks. It was softer than she imagined. He closed his eyes and moved into her touch. He kissed her inner palm and faced her. He moved in close and they were inches apart but he moved away and blinked. 'I'm so sorry, Bridget. I shouldn't have…I should go now.' Chris scrambled to get up as Bridget dropped her hand to the floor. 'I'm sorry…we just got to know each other. I'm sorry.'

Bridget rolled out of her low bed and pushed herself up to let Chris out the door.

He was already outside, just going into the lift when Bridget arrived at the door. 'I'm sorry Bridget.' He said before the door closed him off.

'Bridget!' she turned her head and saw Mark at his opened door. He rushed out and slammed his own door as he ran to hers. 'Bridget…what happened?' he asked as he pulled her in the apartment. He turned for a moment just to close the door.

Bridget leaned against him. 'Mark…when you think everything's just about going right with your life, everything stumbles down the pits, doesn't it?' she asked.

Mark guided them both to the couch and flopped down. Bridget's head rolled down to the armrest. 'I suck in life. Just when I find someone that isn't you or my brothers to love, my dad comes back and ruins it all.'

'Logan told me everything just now. I called you three times and came over but you didn't answer. I tried your workplace and also the Blue Bay café? You weren't there. I didn't know where else to look so I just stayed at home biting my fingernails down to the finish, worrying about you and then suddenly Chris—'

'You talk too much, Mark.' Bridget said softly as she looked at Mark with a small smile.

'I'm sorry…I was just worried.' Mark said, grinned sheepishly. 'You know how I get when I worry.'

'Yeah…you become worse than a girl. Not that I mind.' She smiled weakly.

'Good to have a friend who can be a girl on whim alone.'

Bridget nudged him with her foot gently. 'Get outta town. How is it that you can push me into dating a guy I barely knew just last night and still be in my good graces?'

'I'm special that way, what can I say?'

As Bridget got up and laid her head on his chest, Mark laid an arm over her and laced her fingers through his just like they used to when they were kids; when Bridget was upset over something.

'So what did you and Lizzie do last night?' she asked.

Mark gave out a small laugh. 'Nothing…'

'Yeah right. You were practically peeling each other's clothes off with your eyes last night before I left.'

'Bridget…' Mark said in a warning tone of voice. 'What? Can't a girl wonder? She's still human.'

'Well, we didn't do much. I suggested we go to my apartment and we ordered pizza and watched this soapy teenage romance thing halfway before we…well…you know…'

'Made out?' Bridget said with a smile.

'Well yeah…oh man…she was whispering some things in French that I didn't know and I'm like…shut up and just kiss me, woman!'

'Men and their hormones.'

'Hey, I'm allowed to have them okay? I'm nineteen.'

Bridget chuckled and they fell into a comfortable silence. They didn't say anything for about ten minutes before Mark yawned.

'Oh my God it's one o'clock. I should be heading home. You're gonna be okay here alone tonight or you need some Mark?'

Bridget pushed herself off Mark and shook her head. 'You go on ahead. I need to take a bath anyway. Goodnight and thanks, hun.'

'Anything for you gorgeous.'

Mark and Bridget got off the couch and hugged each other tightly. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before hugging her again. 'Take care, boo.'

'You too, moo.' Bridget smiled as Mark exited with a wide smile.

She locked the door and went to the bathroom for a shower before retreating to her comfortable bed.

What seemed to start off as a miserable day had ended so sweetly. She should be grateful for the people around her, not curse them to the next millennium. She should call her brothers and dad to explain her rash behaviour.

No one should turn their backs on family.

::-::-::-::

The next day somehow found all the Cohens under the same roof once again. They were missing one member but their mother and wife was in all their hearts.

No one said anything for the first couple of minutes upon arriving at Bridget's apartment. They were all crowded in the kitchen; Jeffrey, Jordan, Logan and Anthony sat at the tiny four chair dining table while the twins sat on the counter tops and Bridget stood by the stove with a huge steaming mug of tea in her hands.

Jordan was shocked when he got a call from his baby sister asking him to call everyone to come to her apartment and since her father was already fine yesterday, the hospital let Anthony bring him home, although he didn't really know where home was to his father anymore.

The twins looked at Bridget, who was standing in front of them, and smiled. Bridget smiled back at them. No one made a sound until Bridget cleared her throat and put her mug on the counter behind her.

'I apologize to everyone here for just rushing out and not answering your calls or opening the door for you last night. I had a lot of things on my mind and please let me finish dad, Anthony. I meant every word I said yesterday, no use lying about that. But that doesn't mean that I love you all any less. I was driven by my emotions last night and I lashed out on all of you and I'm sorry. I still stand my ground when I told you all you had no right in withholding the fact that dad has come back albeit being very sudden. I might be the youngest but I'm still a Cohen, which I think is enough to stand down a storm. I wish all of you would have just trusted me and let me handle the truth no matter how hard it is for me to take and stop sheltering and babying me like I'm some kind of reckless toddler.' Bridget stopped to take in a breath and continued. 'I might only be nineteen but I've been bringing myself up for the past three years without any of you because you've taught me how to stand on my own when I was just six. All of you helped me through my life. Logan, you taught me how to trust only those close to you. Ethan and Devon…you taught me how to see the world in not just black and white. Jordan, you taught me how to speak my mind only when necessary. Anthony…you taught me how to look for the best in people. Dad, you taught me to stand the pain people might inflict on me.' Bridget held back her tears as her eyes focused on the floor. 'All of you taught me how to trust your own family but you never trusted me.' She smiled to the floor. 'While I'm saying all this, my mind is asking me to shut up and hug all of you begging for your forgiveness just like I did when I was a kid but even though I'm the youngest Cohen, I still have a voice and my voice needs to be heard. I just hope you'll take time to listen to me.' Bridget couldn't continue even if she wanted to. She was out of words and all she needed right now was some kind of comfort.

Ethan slid from the counter top and planted a kiss on her forehead, opening his arms which she gladly fell into, immediately recognizing the familiarity of the moulding of his body. She loved Ethan's hugs the most, apart from his ability to see the world through rose-tinted glasses but still manage to be serious about things that truly matter.

After him, came Devon who ruffled her hair and pinched her cheeks. 'I was wondering when you were gonna do this.'

Anthony came next with a huge hug and a tear which she wiped off for him. 'I'm so sorry, sweetheart.'

Jordan came after with a kiss on both cheeks. Jeffrey followed his second born and took her hand in his. 'No words can describe how I feel right now.' His eyes were red and his cheeks were wet.

Logan didn't move from his chair and Bridget didn't want to go to him, feeling unsure of where they stood then.

They left it at that.