Tides Of Fate

Chapter Twenty One

I was flat on my back in bed, in a room I didn’t recognize. “Lee, you have to stop this habit of waking up in unfamiliar places,” I mumbled to myself.

I looked around. The wall at the head of my bed was cream and there was a curtain around my bed. I reached out and pulled it. Behind it were a couple of other beds. I looked myself over; I was in a gown, covered in a blanket with a huge symbol on it. I was in the hospital.

Ann won that fight. I smiled to myself, grateful to my nutty sister. Just then two pretty faces appeared from behind the curtain.

“Hi. How are you feeling?” Maria sat on the edge of my bed. Ann sat in the chair.

“‘Are you okay’ ‘how are you feeling’ those words are becoming very common lines in our diction these days. I’m fine.”

“Our lives have become even more eventful these days.”

“I knew those guys were trouble the minute I saw them,” Ann announced and we laughed.

“With trouble came a psycho, attacks, near death experiences, pleasure, love and family. I think we balanced out okay.”

Ann placed her fingers on my arm. “How is the pain?”

“I expected to wake up crying but no pain. That was worse than the previous one. Did they give me morphine?”

“No. They wanted to run some tests before they gave you any drugs. The doctor should be back with the results soon.”

I panicked. I shot up from the bed and stared at her. “What if they notice something is wrong?”

“If there was something abnormal with your blood tests they would have come back here hours ago. You were out for seven hours this time.”

I relaxed, leaning back on the bed. “At least it’s not an everyday thing. Thank you for insisting. I didn’t particularly like the part you threatened to shoot my dad, but thanks.” I placed my hand over hers.

“What are sisters for? You’d do the same for me.” Ann laughed. She was right. I might have even shot him, if he wasn’t my dad. “But I would have shot you if you crushed my car like that.” She gave a nervous laugh.

I knew I was hitting something when I was in pain but I didn’t think I was crushing anything. “How bad is my dad’s car?”

“Bad doesn’t even begin to describe it! You took a chunk off the passenger door. The dashboard is crushed in and you almost knocked off the back doors. The good thing is you created more space in the back seat.” Ann laughed louder. But I stared at her confused by her last comment.

“You reshaped the back doors. They are curved outwards creating more space in the back seat,” Maria explained, trying hard not to smile.

I felt guilty. I had completely ruined my dad’s car. “Where is my dad, and did you call Ash?” I looked up at Maria. I knew Ash wasn’t going to like my being here, and my dad must be pissed at Ann and me.

“I didn’t call Ash, didn’t think it would be a good idea. Considering how crazy he gets when you get a paper cut, I didn’t think he’d handle you having passed out again too well either. And we brought you to hospital when there is clearly something more than human going on with you. Your dad is manning the door, just in case our least favorite wolves show up.”

“Ash might overreact sometimes but he’s not crazy.”

“Are you sure about that?” Ann raised an eyebrow at me.

“Maybe a little crazy but he’ll cool off once we finally get the pains under control.”

Before the conversation went on, a male doctor walked in. He was tall and beautiful, just like in the sitcoms on TV.

 Ann shot up from her chair. “Hi Doc.” She had a grin flashed at him.

“Hallo.” He returned the grin, n turned to me. “How’s our patient doing?”

“She’s fine. How are you doing?” Ann asked before I could.

Maria and I looked at her shocked. Ann was flirting with the doctor!

“What our married sister meant to ask is what did the tests show?” Maria spoke, struggling to sound serious. Ann’s eyes widened. I bit my lips to hide my bursting smile.

“You should congratulate your husband on such a fine catch.” The doctor sounded disappointed. Then he turned to me seriously. “Merilee, you should leave rugby to the professionals, it was very risky playing in the first place. The tackle however was worse. You are very lucky. It’s amazing all you had were pain and a few bruises, other than that you all are fine.” He buried his nose in his clipboard.

Rugby, I mouthed to Maria, who pointed at Ann, who shrugged and sat back in her chair.

“When was your last visit to your OBGYN?”

“Excuse me?”

“When was your last prenatal appointment?”

“What!” We all shouted at him, stunned. That made him jump.

“Merilee, you’re pregnant.” He said it as if it was something I was supposed to have known. It was something I would definitely know which couldn’t be possible. Ash hadn’t touched me in months and I wasn’t sure if he could procreate, especially with a human. Our DNA coding wasn’t compatible and besides I am eighteen years old, I’m too young to be anyone’s mother!

“Are you sure you got the right Merilee or maybe that chart isn’t mine?”

Maria grabbed the chart out of his hands. Her eyes were skimming through it fast. I was hoping she would spot an error.

The doctor took the chart back. “Are you Merilee Jackson?”

I looked at Maria for some sort of assurance. She just stared at me, and then I looked at him, scared out of my mind. I was so tempted to say no. “Yes.” I dragged the word out of my mouth.

“The right Merilee Jackson, the correct chart. You’re pregnant.”

“I am?” That sounded stupid, but the shock had taken me over completely.

He pointed at my belly. “Considering how big you are, I’m surprised you didn’t notice.”

“With all that’s being going on in my life, I know how I didn’t notice,” I whispered back at him.

“Okay, how about we start again. Congratulations, you’re pregnant!” The doctor sounded cheerful, but all it did was scare me even more. I put my hand over the bump that resembled a mountain compared to the slight bump it had been a few hours ago.

My hands shook as I caressed it. “How is this even possible?” I whispered.

“Ash…” His name sounded sweet as it rolled over my tongue. Suddenly, I wasn’t so scared anymore. I was deliriously happy, excited and very proud of myself. I was going to give the man I love a child.

“Miss Jackson, are you okay?” The doctor pressed his fingers on my wrist.

I laughed. For once I welcomed those words. I nodded. Maria wiped the tears from my face. I hadn’t even noticed I was crying.

“That’s not the best part. You are having twins!” The doctor was excited. The news gave him as much pleasure giving it as it did me receiving it.

Maria squealed happily. “I’ve always wanted to be an aunt.”

“Two crying babies…” Ann sounded depressed. “Well, goodbye sleep.”

I hadn’t fully processed being pregnant, and now I was having twins!

Were they okay? How was my body reacting to them? What about the venom? I had so many questions but I could only ask him one. “How are they?”

“Considering the blow you suffered, they are lucky they are still safely inside you. There were a few tears in your uterus but they are healing well and quite fast. The bleeding wasn’t so bad so don’t worry about that, but you need to be careful from now on. They are twenty weeks and very healthy.” He smiled, and then jotted something on his clipboard.

“I’m going to schedule your appointments and leave it with the nurse. You can get it as you leave.” His smile faded when he noticed we weren’t so cheerful anymore. The minute he said twenty weeks, I started doing the math in my head, going over it repeatedly.

“What do you mean twenty weeks?” Maria demanded her tone high pitched. She too had done the math.

“There must be some mistake!” Ann was close to shouting. She was out of the chair and leaning close to Maria.

“No there isn’t. I’ve signed your discharge papers. Pick up your schedule and some prenatal vitamins on your way out.” The doctor sounded rattled. He hurried away.

“That means—oh no!”

I lay there, unable to think or feel anything. My body was still in shock. My brain had shut down. Life had thrown me another curve ball. I was never meant to be happy. The universe hated me too much to let me.

“Please take me home.”