The Stolen Heart

Chapter 12: Blanking out

 “The rotten bastard….that annoying snob….…who does he f*****g think he is? He must still think of me as their maid’s daughter. No matter what all I achieved, I guess that’s what all I am ever going to be.”, I shouted at my bewildered brother, who looks like he had been caught in a real tight spot.

“Maybe he was dealing with some family stuff and maybe it wasn’t his intention to be rude to you”, Nick offered sweetly, to which I shot him a deathly glare which immediately shut him up.

“Why did you come here? Shouldn’t be at your friend’s place and throwing this tantrum there?”, Nick asked while rolling his eyes at me.

“Well, Jen is busy with her divorce and Nicole hasn’t got back from her honeymoon yet, so you are my very last option, little brother.”, I said stoically, crossing my arms around my bulging stomach.

 Now that I was almost seven months pregnant, my bump was starting to get noticed and people had been starting to ask me about the baby. By thinking there was no point in hiding it anymore, I had disclosed that I was indeed having Richard’s baby before the rumors got too wild. The reaction to my proclamation was mixed and varied. While some were happy for me, some were worried that I might use my baby as a ladder to climb up to the top at Malcerk’s.

“Oh golly! Lucky me”, he replied and let out a sigh, slumping on the couch.

I was about sit when I saw the broken pieces of glass and blood drops staining the carpet.

Nick followed my gaze and went pale, which further irked my curiosity. I raised an eyebrow at me in surprise and asked, "You got company?"

“Nothing….. I was just having a drink. It accidently dropped from my hand. Wait a second, let me just fetch the mop from the kitchen to wash away all the whisky”, he said nervously fumbling with the sleeves of his shirt.

I bit back a laugh. It was very obvious that he was not alone. There were two glasses on the table. My gaze immediately followed his hands and there was no blood on it. Does he have a girlfriend? She might have cut herself on the glass pieces while trying to clean up in a hurry. Was I intruding in on their date?

Oh! That sneaky bastard. I looked around and spotted his room. His room was the nearest to the dining hall. Nick had opened the door within a few minutes so she didn’t have much time to hide, so it was obvious that she was in his room right now. I snickered, then quietly took off my heels and I tiptoed quietly to his bedroom.

I pulled the door open and immediately a man fell on me, completely crushing me to the floor. I shrieked in surprise as I saw who it was….Justin…goddamn …Malcerk….Oh! My brother is dead meat. It was clear as day that he had been eavesdropping on us.

I groaned as I felt the glass pieces which were already on the floor, sink into my back. Justin looked embarrassed at being caught eavesdropping. He immediately removed his body from mine and got back up within a second, only to slip on the spilled whisky and fall again. I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the hit. I felt the glass go deeper into my skin as his body once again crashed into mine. I jerked my eyes open in surprise when I felt his lips on mine. His lips grazed mine for a split of a second when he fell. I could feel his heart beats thundering against my chest. He locked his gaze into mine and kept his lips on mine for a second longer than necessary.

He then blinked and shook himself and got back up as he shot a panicked glance at my stomach. I gasped out in pain as I got up and felt my back bleeding. My hands instinctively went to stomach protectively. Justin was a mountain of a man and all that muscular two hundred pounds crushed my bulging belly twice. I hoped to god that the baby was fine. I gently took a step forward, slowly putting my weight in each of my foot, then rubbing my belly. I let out a relieved sigh when I didn’t feel anything to be amiss. I rubbed my belly adoringly then shot him a death glare.

Justin looked at me with concerned eyes as if he hadn’t just been yelling at me a few hours ago. He immediately made a move towards me and stopped abruptly when I held up my right hand. Nick came running from the kitchen then cursed out loud when he found Justin in the hallway.

“What is he doing here?”, I snarled at Nick, who took a step back, scared by my tone.

“He is my friend. Just like you first went to your friends to rant, he came to his.”, he said and shrugged as if it was no big deal, which further pissed me off.

“You are siding with him? After hearing all about how he humiliated me, you are still siding with him over your own goddamn sister?”, I shrieked at him, losing my cool. Blame my pregnancy hormones or whatever but I was seeing red.

“And you….”, I started towards Justin. I almost manhandled him by pushing him, then slamming him into the wall…. My hand was pressing firmly into his chest, holding him there.

“You owe me a goddamn apology….Apologize..NOW”, I screamed at him.

Justin looked a little taken aback by my outburst, then soon the bewilderment was replaced by a bemused expression.

“Okay! I am sorry. I am sorry I was such a d**k to you earlier.”, he said, holding up his hands in a mock surrender position and grinning widely.

 Oh! I so wanted to wipe that stupid grin off his face.

I took a step towards him menacingly, intending to threaten him, then let out a gasp as I felt a sickening, heart wrenching pain in my stomach. Justin immediately held me in his arms, and I didn’t even have the energy to protest. I was that much in pain.

Justin looked at his bloody hands confusedly and realized that the glass pieces has been sunk into my back.

My v****a felt like it was burning. I couldn’t even stand up properly. My legs were becoming wobbly so I knelt on to Justin, who immediately scooped me into his arms and shouted at a worried Nick to get the car ready. The pain was getting unbearable and my vision was starting to get blurry. The last thing I remember before passing out was me being pushed into the emergency room.

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I opened my eyes to a very concerned group who was eyeing me keenly, waiting for me to wake up. Justin immediately rushed at me as I opened my eyes, and immediately put the pillow straight and helped me get up and lean against it. Jen and Regina were crying their eyes out. Nick looked visibly upset and Justin wasn’t meeting my eyes.

“Hey, it’s okay. I am okay. See”, I said and smiled at them.

Regina came forward and held my hands and then started sobbing hysterically.

An uneasy feeling passed through me. I snatched my hands from hers and slowly moved it to my stomach. The baby is got to be okay right? It was just a small fall. Nothing happened, right?

I frowned as I felt the stitches in my stomach. Oh! It was as if I had a C-section operation.

“Did I have a caesarean?”, I asked Jen, who nodded lightly, then pursued her lips worriedly.

I gently raised my hospital pajamas slightly and felt the stiches over my stomach. I winced in pain as I saw how gruesome the stitches on my stomach were.

Did I already have the baby? This early? My due date was on December.

“Was the baby premature? Where is my child?”, I got up anxiously.

Strong arms immediately pulled me back to the bed. I, immediately felt a shot of pain on my stomach and I screamed out in pain, my eyes filled with tears. I couldn’t move due to the pain.

Looking at all their expressions, a dreadful feeling passed through me…No..No Way….I couldn’t possibly have had a miscarriage? God wouldn’t be that cruel? He already took Richard with him and now my baby? No, no he can’t…My baby is the only one I have left to remind me of Richard.

“Where is my baby? Where? Where?”, I started shrieking hysterically, all color draining from my face.

My vision was starting to get blurry and my head started feeling heavier. Regina came forward and gently patted my hand, looking at me with pity in her eyes. I immediately latched on to her, my nails digging deep into her skin as I screamed out in panic, "Where is my baby boy? Where is he?"

My eye lids were getting heavy and I was desperately fighting with myself to stay awake, but to no avail. I saw Regina’s disheveled face looking anxiously at a worried Justin before I completely blanked out.