24. Health comes first
HEALTH COMES FIRST
“Don’t leave yet,” I grabbed her wrist lightly.
Summer turned towards me with confusion and hatred warring in her eyes. Her hand came across my face with enough pressure to turn my head sideways. I didn’t flinch. Maybe I should have she would look more satisfied if I had a pained reaction. Of course.
“I can’t let you leave without an ultrasound, Lucas maybe fine risking your health.
I am not.” I urged pulling her back to the room.
She reluctantly followed, but didn’t say anything.
She pulled up the red shirt she’d been wearing to reveal her stomach; a slight bump had already formed in the weeks since I had seen her.
For a second, I almost reached for her. Instead, I grabbed a set of gloves.
It was a miracle she was even letting me this close to her.
I squirted gel on the wand and pressed it to her stomach. Immediately, I was taken aback.
“Did Lucas tell you anything besides the gender?” I asked when I had the wand positioned and a photo already taken.
She continued to look forward, not giving me a reply.
Sighing, I turned the screen towards her and pointed with my finger.
“Look,” I paused. “There’s two. You didn’t know.
” Confusion crossed her face as she registered the grainy images. “Same sac. Identical. Both girls.”
Her mouth hung open in quiet disbelief. It was taking every muscle in my body to remain in the neutral posture I had begun with, as I watched a smile turn up on her lips.
“Heart rate of this one — 145 bpm,” I paused, pointing at twin A. I shifted to point at the other one. “and this one —151 bpm. Healthy. Both very healthy.”
Tears welled in her eyes as she stared at the screen.
I removed the wand a minute later, already printing the photos I took and passing them over.
Summer’s hand moved to her stomach before she seemed to realize she’d done it.
She clutched the images to her chest as more tears rolled down her cheeks.
I let her cry while I stowed away the machine and grabbed a cloth to clean the gel off her.
She hadn’t made a sound the entire time, and that was the worst part.
Already determined that I wasn’t worth her words.
“I know you don’t like me at this moment, hell hate me if you have too, but because your twins are in the same sac, you are considered high-risk.
What you did earlier — ripping your stitches.
Don’t do it again. If you are going to keep Lucas as your doctor have him check you bi-weekly and if you care about these two please take prenatal vitamins and eat plenty of food when you can stomach it. ”
She didn’t say anything, just nodded once. That was all she had left to give.
Nade greeted me at the door as I dropped the bag of cat treats into the bowl by the door. I reached down, stroking the cat before he marched towards the living room. I hadn’t seen the orange burst of explosive energy in weeks. He was fatter than I last saw him—good.
“You want them to die?” I asked in the open space, not even bothering with small talk as I passed over to the kitchen.
“Doesn’t matter to me whether she lives or dies,” Lucas’s voice came from the sofa. He didn’t sound as if he meant it. My jaw tightened anyway.
“That’s the difference between us.” I came around to face him; he didn’t even look up from the mound of paperwork he’d engrossed himself in while waiting.
I kept a respectful distance; maybe it was best, considering every time we were close we’d fight or fuck.
My dick strained in my pants at the thought, and I took a noticeable step back.
“What are your plans with them?” He glanced up.
“Settle down. Have a family.” I shrugged.
It was true; I always wanted a family, with some kids playing in the yard.
Experience childhood through their eyes instead of the one I was so graciously gifted.
Lucas’s jaw ticked, but he said nothing.
Passive-aggressive as ever. We’d been at odds since the girl.
Casey. Although to say we were ever fully aligned to begin with was a stretch.
He would never stop tinkering. And I couldn’t live that way.
I craved normalcy. That was ultimately why I took the teaching position and the rotations at the hospital.
Mundane in everyday life. Truth be told, I hadn’t known Summer was related to Casey.
It didn’t change the fact that I wanted her.
“Why a blonde?” He asked quietly, as if he were judging me as much as possible.
That it meant more than he was ready to admit.
The hurt disguised in his tone as he contemplated the hair color.
He hated blondes. I was the exception to his rules, and only because my condition had been more fascinating than he’d care to admit.
“You detest blondes, so she was the safest option.” I sighed. He shuffled the papers off his lap and stood, cracking his neck.
Nade jumped on the coffee table between us and meowed.
“I’m keeping the cat.”
I didn’t argue. There wasn’t anything to say that he didn’t already know.
I didn’t mention the fact that he’d taken up residence in my house in my absence or that he’d taken an interest in the cat he so violently wanted to kill months prior.
There was no amount of words I could muster to express the thoughts that ran rampant in my mind.
So instead, I pulled the house keys out of my pocket, sliding a blue-painted key off my key ring and set it down next to the cat.
The paperwork would find its way into his possession soon enough.
The assets we shared would be signed over without delay.
Everything we’d once shared — I shook my head; it didn’t matter anymore.
I stroked the cat once down its back and turned to leave.
“Don’t write me out of your life just yet.” Lucas spoke.
My hand tightened on the door.
“Never.”