Chapter 31 - Melanie
Waking up in my childhood bedroom was always a strange feeling.
I'd been back in this room many times over the years, of course, but almost always with Ben by my side.
I looked at the memories that decorated the walls and shelves and had to blink back tears.
He had poisoned so many memories with his betrayal.
My mother looked almost as grim as I felt when I joined her at the table with my letters in hand.
“I didn’t want you to read her last words to you with this letter coloring your view… but now that you’ve read yours, I feel like I should share this with you.” Mom explained.
"I don't want to keep secrets from you... One of the letters my mother left contained information for you. She wanted-she needed to know that you wouldn’t be left in the dark...” My mother’s voice cracked, and she cleared her throat.
I watched as her hands smoothed out the same wrinkle in the dining room tablecloth over and over. She finally dragged her eyes up to meet mine, and I saw there were tears in hers. “She told me that she had been in Vegas at the same time as Benjamin a couple of months ago.”
I felt my face pale as images of Ben and a couple of prostitutes in an apartment I had known nothing about flashed through my brain. I couldn’t form words as I stared at my mother with growing horror. She powered on as the first tear fell from her lashes.
“She witnessed him walking through the casino with a couple of women who were far more friendly than they should’ve been with a married man.” My mother flinched as if struck by the whimper that escaped me.
Gram knew?
“She left the letter for me in case Ben didn’t do the right thing himself.
Apparently, her last letter to him explained why he was cut out of the will and that he needed to tell you the truth about his behavior.
She was disappointed in him and embarrassed that she hadn’t had the courage to tell you herself,” Mom admitted.
I watched as more tears rolled down her cheeks.
“She didn’t want your last memories of her to be her breaking your heart. ”
“How is feeling betrayed by her, but unable to say anything to her, any better?” I demanded. I didn't recognize my own voice. It sounded broken.
Mom just shook her head sadly.
“I don’t know. I think she just couldn’t handle watching your heart break while she was dying.” My mother reached for my hand, but I pulled mine away.
I felt like I was being suffocated by my skin, and I couldn't escape. The idea of anyone touching me, anyone adding to that sensation, made me want to bolt. My heart raced under all the layers of betrayal that were stacking on my chest.
Am I having a heart attack?
“Would you like to read the letter?” Her voice was soft, and there were tear lines down her cheeks.
“Not right now.” I stood abruptly. “I need to lie back down.”
“Do you need a snack or a drink?” Mom looked worried and rose to her feet as well.
“N-no…” I said shakily, “I think I’m just struggling to process this.”
I felt lightheaded and reached out for the back of the chair I’d been sitting in to steady myself. I could hear my mother as she yelled something, but she sounded like she was underwater. Then my vision went fuzzy, and the ground tilted beneath me.
· · ─ ·?· ─ · ·
When I opened my eyes, I was staring at the living room ceiling. I blinked a few times to clear my eyes and then flinched when my mother’s face appeared over me.
“Melanie, I called an ambulance. Don’t move.” She said in a controlled voice.
“An ambulance?”
“You fainted. I don’t think you hit your head, but you and the baby need to be checked.” She explained and then turned her attention back to the phone that I hadn’t realized was in her hand.
“Honestly, Kyle, I didn’t realize you had alerts set up on your phone for if we contacted emergency services from the house.
That seems incredibly invasive.” My mother scolded, and I felt my lips twitch.
Only our mother would be scolding Kyle, from hundreds of miles away, while waiting for paramedics to arrive.
She saw the tiny smile on my face and rolled her eyes.
“She’s laughing at me. Your sister just passed out but she’s laughing at me.
” She pressed a button on the phone, and Kyle's voice filled the living room.
“Melanie, I JUST got back to Seattle, if you missed me that much, you could've just said so... you didn't need to get all dramatic about it,” he teased.
“You caught me.” I sighed.
“What happened?” he sounded more serious.
“I don’t know.” I admitted, "I don't really remember..." and looked to my mother for clarification.
“She was emotional about something your grandmother had left in her letter, and when she stood up, she fainted.” My mother’s eyes stayed locked on my face while she spoke. Suddenly, the minutes before I fainted came rushing back.
“Gram knew.” I whispered and felt my heart start to race again.
“Gram knew what?” Kyle asked.
“Honey, you need to stay calm.” My mother said and squeezed my hand.
“She knew…”
“Mom, what is going on? What did Gram know?” Kyle raised his voice.
“Walter call the hanger and tell them to get the jet ready.” There was a muffled response in the background.
“Immediately, I don’t care about the logistics or clearances.
Just. Get. It. Ready. And get Griffin on the line.
” Kyle barked orders at his assistant while I tried to wrap my head around Gram’s betrayal.
“Melanie, she didn’t want to hurt you— she never intended to let him get away with it.
” My mother murmured while Kyle continued to yell on the other end of the phone.
I counted to ten slowly and tried to regulate my breathing, but Kyle's panic overwhelmed me as he bounced back and forth between demanding answers from us and demanding his staff make a plane magically appear.
“Gram knew that Ben was cheating. That’s what she knew.” I snapped, desperate to shut him up for a minute.
Kyle went deathly silent.
My head had started to spin again, and I closed my eyes tight against the wave of nausea. In the distance, I heard an ambulance turn on to our road.
“Kyle, the paramedics are about to arrive. I will call you from the hospital.” My mother said softly.
“I’ll be home soon.” He sounded tense and far away.
“I don’t want you to move until they move you.” My mother instructed, and I hummed an acknowledgement.
I barely listened as she explained to the paramedics what had happened and that I was pregnant.
They asked me a few questions, but then quickly realized that I was distracted and switched into transport mode.
They gently warned me that they were going to stabilize my neck ‘just in case’ and load me into the ambulance.
Then they turned to my mother and told her which hospital I was going to be at if she wanted to follow. My jaw dropped at the incredulous scoff that came out of my otherwise polite mother as she followed me into the ambulance without bothering to reply to them.
“Mom!” I hissed as the paramedics exchanged confused looks. “That was rude!”
My mother looked back at the paramedics and then settled down beside me with a frown. “Melanie, they expected me to just leave you alone after watching you pass out on my floor.”
“I’m an adult, they might have rules against letting parents ride along for adults.” I rolled my eyes and groaned. She narrowed her eyes at me for a moment and then shifted her body back to face the men.
“My husband is planning on meeting me at the hospital. I’d be more comfortable traveling with my daughter to the hospital if you don’t mind.” She sounded like her usual self again, and I relaxed.
“That should be fine, ma’am.” One of them replied with a casual shrug. The other grumbled something under his breath about not riding in the back of the rig and headed to the front. He left the back of the rig and my mother for the man who had pulled the imaginary short straw by being kind to us.
“I apologize for being rude before.” A contrite smile softened Mom’s features.
“People tend to behave unlike themselves in moments of high stress; we learn not to take it personally.” The man replied, and then his eyes shifted to the front where his partner was, “eventually.” He shot a wink at my mother when his partner scoffed.
Then he put his professional face back on and asked me how I was feeling.
I assured him that my vision had returned to normal and that I didn’t feel like the earth was tilting beneath me anymore.
By the time we got to the ER, he had conducted the concussion exam again, checked all of my vitals, and convinced my mother that I was stable.
My father had beaten us to the ER and had insisted on waiting by the ER entrance rather than in the waiting room.
He was lucky that most of the staff knew him from his years of being a pharmacist in the area.
After a quick triage and short wait, a doctor stepped into the little room they had stuffed us into. The ER doctor concurred with the paramedic’s assessment and told me that even though he wasn’t worried, he wanted to run some labs and get an ultrasound just to be safe.
Then a plump and pleasant older nurse came in and set me up with an IV and some fluids to make sure that I wasn’t dehydrated and told us that the doctor would be back to speak to us shortly.
All of which seemed perfectly normal until he returned and informed us that a room had already been prepared for me.
“Which one of you called and forced them to admit me?” I glared at them and waited to see which one would crack first.
“Honestly, I didn’t even know you could reserve a room ahead of time. That’s convenient.” My mother smiled and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear.
“You’re not supposed to be able to.” I grumbled and stared at my father.