Chapter 4 He’s Alive #2
The doctor smiles gently. “You got into an accident. It was raining heavily that night as you might recall, and the oncoming car lost control of the vehicle. Unfortunately, it came right over you, causing a multitude of injuries from broken limbs to more serious tears on the inside. When you were brought in, your blood test immediately showed us you were pregnant, and we had gynecology on standby in the OR to help when things would inevitably turn into a direction which we all knew they would. It’s just simply not realistic for the fetus to survive such accident, and then have the mother undergo a heart transplant surgery and survive, but… ”
“But?” I rasp out, the monitor slowly slowing down and a bewildered smile overtakes his face.
“But…here we are. Your boy is alive and safe in your uterus without any plans to vacate the premises before he has to.”
I blink. “H-he…he’s still there? He survived?”
“Yes. Would you like to see him?”
“Yes.” I start nodding and regret it instantly when a sharp pain explodes over my whole body.”
“Shh.” The doctor rushes toward me, but Stella beats him to it, pinning me with her stern gaze.
“Ray of my sunshine, do not move a muscle,” she grits through her teeth.
“Okay, I won’t.” My voice quivers. “It’s a boy?”
“Yes.”
“Can I…can I see him? Please?” I feel a tear slide down my cheek.
He’s alive. He made it. The storm didn’t take him.
Cold jelly splashes across my stomach and then…
“There he is.” Dr. Knight smiles again, looking from the black and white screen to me. “There’s your little miracle.”
There he is…
The tears come faster and faster as I watch the small bean wobble happily inside me.
“His heart…turn on his heart sounds, please,” I plead, needing that last confirmation. Needing to hear that sweet sound of my son’s beating heart, and a second later it fills the small room, and the tears spill anew, my body shaking despite the piercing pain, aching and strain.
I cry, shaking with undiluted elation.
“Stella,” I whisper, tasting every salty tear. “He’s alive, Stella.” I tear my eyes off the small screen and look at my trainer, who is slumped in the seat next to my bed, her arms resting on the edge of it as the palm of one covers her trembling lips.
But nothing can hide the wet streaks over her cheeks.
“Did you expect anything else from my grandson?” she asks with finality.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t made aware Aurora was your daughter?”
“She’s not. She’s just mine. They both are.”
“Stella,” I rasp out, a new wave of tears washing over my soul, but she doesn’t look down. My stoic trainer is trying to hold it together.
Stella clears her throat. “Can you now do the same thing to this one, please?” she asks the doctor, who frowns, not understanding what she means.
Stella motions to my heart. “Hers, I need to hear hers now. Please.”
A moment later, the sound of my beating heart replaces my son’s.
A heart that doesn’t belong to me but one that saved me. The sound so familiar, yet the tune is different like a song you’ve heard before but can’t recall all the words.
“There it is. Your new chance at life. We’ll run a few more tests and then let you rest, okay?”
I nod and they get to work.
Not two minutes later, my father runs into the room, his eyes red and swollen and so tired. He wants to stay with me, but I make him go home and get some decent rest. He doesn’t need to worry about me on top of everything.
I’m not going anywhere, and he can come back tomorrow.
My body feels weak and spent after staying awake for an hour, and I can feel the sleep dragging me under once more. There are still a thousand questions I want to ask. Needing to know the answer to, but one seems more important than the others.
The warmth…
“Stella?”
“Hmm?”
“Did anyone else come to visit? Aside from you and dad?”
“You mean Electra? Sorry, I didn’t tell her yet.”
“No, no, please don’t. She has enough on her plate right now.” My tongue peeked out to wet my lips. “So…no one else?”
Stella shoots me a look before clearing her throat. “Joey came by while you were out of it.”
“Did he?” I ask incredulously.
“The whole Kloss clan showed up.”
“Why?”
“We’ll talk about it later, Rory. It doesn’t matter.”
“Tell me, Stella.”
“Aurora—”
“Just tell me.”
Stella sighs. “Joey told them you were pregnant, and on the off chance that you and the baby would survive, they wanted assurances that you wouldn’t come after them.”
I want to cradle my belly, protect my baby just from the mere mention of those people.
“What did they do?”
“They made a deal with Seth. And I didn’t stop him. Maybe I should’ve and you can hate me, but I thought this was for the best.”
“What deal?”
“Your insurance won’t cover everything, so they did. And in return, Seth, on your behalf, signed a paper that Joey is not the father and has no obligations before you or the child.”
After everything…after everything he’s said and done, the knowledge that he doesn’t want anything to do with his child shouldn’t hurt.
But it does.
How could I be so blind and not see the evil inside his rotten heart all this time? I was naive. A dreamer.
But not anymore.
Not after everything.
Joey Kloss has died, along with my old heart that night.
I swallow the bitter sting of my disappointing choices in life and turn my gaze back to Stella. “That’s all? There was no one else?”
She tilts her head, studying me. “That’s it.”
I nod absentmindedly, accepting that fact, but…but where did the warmth come from?