This Is What Happens When Love Meets Destruction

-|| FF Six Months ||-
"Vinnie!" Alex wailed, "why is it that when you make me drive you somewhere, we always get stuck in traffic?!"

"It's not like I do it on purpose." I retorted. "How am I suppose to predict what the traffic is going to be like? I'm not psychic, Gaskarth."

"You are!" He insisted. "You know exactly what traffic is going to be like."

Suppressing a smile, I reached over and hit his arm playfully. "Shut it, Gaskarth."

"Or else what?" He grinned. "Are you gonna beat me up?"

"Yes."

Alex laughed loudly in amusement, his brown eyes sparkling with joy watching me closely. "If you were not seven months pregnant missy I would probably actually be scared by the thought of you 'attempting' to beat me up."

"What do you mean 'attempt'?" I questioned. "I will beat you up, Alex, no doubt about it. And so what if I'm pregnant? I'll still beat you up."

"Alright, alright," he grinned, "calm down, Vinnie. Don't get all worked up about it. I was only teasing you and your lack of strength." He smirked.

"Alex, I swear, I'm gonna punch you in like ... two seconds." I threatened.

"Hey," he said, holding his hands up as if showing he was innocent, "okay, no more poking fun, I get it."

Although his tone was serious, I still saw the teasing glint in his eyes. He may be done teasing me for the time being, but I could guarantee that as soon as we got back to my house, he'd start at it all over again. As I watched him, he slowly reached over and placed his hands back on the steering wheel, all the while looking at me out of the corner of his eye as if he didn't trust me at the moment. I didn't blame him; judging by my random mood swings, I was highly capable of hitting him at the moment.

Huffing slightly, I turned and looked out my window, gazing at the people sitting in the car next to us.

"I'm hungry." I blurted out. "I was a blizzard from Dairy Queen."

"We'll stop at the one by the house." Alex told me. "Even though your doctor said that you've been eating way too much of that fucking junk food."

"Yeah, well that doctor can fuck off," I grumbled, "I'm carrying three babies, Alex. Three! Count 'em. Uno, dos, three."

"Uno, dos, three?" He repeated, holding back a laugh.

"Shut up, I can't do the tongue rolling thing." I muttered.

Although I wasn't looking at him, I could picture the expression on Alex's face as he tried his best not to laugh at me. Quietly, I sat there, thinking to myself as Alex carefully moved into the far right lane, seeing as how our exit was approaching.

"Hey Vinnie?" Alex asked.

"Hmm?"

"When you make copies of your ultrasound, do you think you can make an extra copy for my mom? She keeps hassling me about how everything's going, and all that stuff. I figured if you make a copy of the ultrasound for her, she'll be happy."

Smiling to myself, I turned my gaze back to him and nodded my head. "As long as she doesn't ruin the surprise and say what I'm having." I said. "If she can see something that I can't, that is."

"Deal." He grinned, locking his eyes with mine for a split second before looking over his shoulder, making sure the lane was clear before he merged one last time. "So, do you think that your mom knows what you're - "

"Alex, do you hear those - " I tried to interrupt him, but I didn't get the chance to finish my sentence either, because at that moment my entire world went black.

Alex, do you hear those sirens? The words I were about to say repeated over and over in my mind, like a bad dream, and thinking it was merely a bad dream, I tried to toss and turn, and wake myself up. Slowly, I grew aware of sounds surrounding me, but everything seemed to sound like I was underwater. As the seconds slowly ticked by, my hearing improved, but just slightly. Then, suddenly, I felt the pain creeping throughout my entire body, and when I opened my mouth to scream, the only sound I uttered was a faint moan.

Somewhere in the distance, I heard Alex's frightened, urgent voice, "Vinnie, Vinnie? Vinnie, can you hear me?"

Fighting against the pain, I forced my eyes open as wide as my energy would allow, and I caught sight of a blurry figure leaning over the top of me. It took me about a minute or so before I realized it was Alex.

"Alex," I whispered, my throat dry and my voice barely audible.

"Oh God, Vinnie," he cried softly, "sweetheart, hang in there, don't leave me."

I felt something tighten around my leg, and I caught a blurry vision of Alex tying something off. The cold that was overtaking my body slowed slightly, thought it seemed that my energy level had been drained a considerable amount.

"Vinnie, the ambulance is on its way. Stay awake until then, okay?"

"Alex," I whispered again, not really knowing what else to say.

Alex finished whatever he was doing with my leg, and then leaned in closer to me. This close to him, I could see the frightened tears in his eyes, and the tremble in his body. There was a lot of blood trickling down his forehead, but I didn't see the wound itself because it was hidden in his hair. He opened his mouth to say something as he gently stroked his fingers down my cheek, but whatever was on his mind, he didn't say.

"Alex, I'm scared." I gasped.

"I know, I know, so am I." He whispered, "so am I."

Staring at me a second longer, he let a single tear fall before he leaned in and pressed his lips to mine, kissing me lovingly, yet gently. Forgetting the situation we were in, forgetting all the pain I was feeling, I was brought back to the time back in high school where Alex had finally gotten the courage to kiss me outside of the restaurant. I remembered how much I loved him then, and I remember how happy the boy had made me just by simply being there.

I mustered some energy and kissed him back for a little while longer, before the shortness of breath made me pull away. I gasped in air, but none of it seemed to reach my lungs. Unable to keep my eyes open any longer, I let them close.

"Vinnie, no, don't go!" Alex screamed frantically. "Sweetheart, stay with me. Please don't go. I love you. I've always loved you, Vinnie. Please don't leave me. I love you." He cried.

I love you too, Alex. I wanted to say the words to him, but I couldn't. I simply didn't have anything left in me to tell him those few words.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

For all the shit that seems to happen at the hospital, the waiting rooms always seemed to be quiet. For the five hours that we waited, it seemed as if no one made a sound as we all anxiously waited for news of Vinnie and the three babies she was carrying within her. Or, would I be more correct by saying 'were'? I don't know. I don't know what was going in inside the operating room. I didn't know if they had to perform an emergency cesarean section, or if Vinnie was still, in fact, considered pregnant.

Beside me, my best friend sat there with his face buried in his hands. He didn't say anything to anybody, but I saw the tears that would escape between his fingers, and I saw the shiver that would spread throughout his body every so often. I wanted to reach over and comfort him, but what exactly could I do to make this situation any less heartbreaking?

While merging into the far lane to exit the freeway, Vinnie and I had been hit by an SUV that was leading the police and highway patrol along in a high speed pursuit. Speeding along the shoulder, I didn't see them coming until they had already crashed into us.

"Henry? Joanna?"

Startled, everyone in the waiting room looked up and eyed the man outfitted in the teal green surgeons' scrubs. Though he was still in his standard surgeons outfit, he looked as if he had recently cleaned himself up. Vinnie's mom and dad stood up and made their way toward the surgeon. When they reached him, they each glanced over their shoulders to Jack. Jack made a move to get up, but hesitated when the surgeons gaze fell upon him.

Vinnie's mom turned back to the surgeon, "Tom, he's Vinnie's fiancé." She told him. "Surely he can come along, too?"

'Tom' let his stare linger upon Jack a few seconds longer before he slowly shook his head. "I'm sorry," he said, regret flashing in his eyes, "I'm afraid I can only talk to the next of kin, Joanna, you know the policy."

A small tear fell from Mrs. Nava's eye, and she nodded her head. Placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, the surgeon led Vinnie's parents away, leaving the rest of us to sit back and pray that everything was alright.

"If it was good news, he would have said it in front of us." Jack whispered.

I snapped my eyes back in his direction and saw that he we sitting back in his seat, his hands sitting loosely in his lap while he stared blankly ahead of him.

"Everything will be alright, Jack." I whispered back. "It has to be. Vinnie is strong, she'll be alright."

Jack didn't say anything in response, but continued to sit there, staring into the distance as if the thin air had all the secrets to the universe written within it.

It seemed to take an eternity for Vinnie's parents to get back, and when they finally did, they returned alone. Looking around at all our anxious faces, they motioned for us to come closer and we quickly obliged. Mr. Nava, however, grabbed a hold of Jack's arm and gently led him away from the rest of us to have a separate conversation with him.

"Vinnie had a punctured lung, and she has a few broken bones," Mrs. Nava told the rest of us, "she's up in the recovery room right now, though and she'll be just fine. We already went up and saw her, but she's still out from surgery."

"What about the babies?" Jamie asked hurriedly. "Are they okay?"

Mrs. Nava paused momentarily, glancing at Jack and her husband, before turning her attention back to us. "As of right now, two of them are on life support ... they ... they lost the third one in the ambulance on the way over here." She whispered, her voice breaking at the end.

Before her emotions overwhelmed her, Casey took her into his arms and held her tightly, while Jamie took Lauren into his arms, seeing as how she looked like she was about ready to pass out. Breaking away from the group, I hurried over to Jack, who in turn turned around to look at me as he heard me approach.

"It was a girl," he told me, clearly stunned by the news. "I would have had a girl, Alex, but ... but they," he paused, shaking his head, "and my boys are in the ICU. I can't see them yet, they're ... " he trailed off, simply in shock.

"Jack," I whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"My God, Alex, I-I don't know what to do."

"Right now you can go up to the recovery room and sit with your fiancé." I told him. "You should be the first person she sees when she wakes up ... she'll throw a fit if you're not there."

Jack nodded his head. "Come with me."

"They only allow immediate family members in there." I mumbled.

"Then come with me, and wait outside." He frowned. "I can't ... be alone right now. Just walk with me."

"Okay," I whispered, and did was my best friend requested.

We walked in silence, and when we reached the door to Vinnie's recovery room, Jack paused slightly, casting me one last look, and then disappeared inside. I didn't dare look inside the room while the door was opened; I was afraid to see Vinnie hooked up to all those machines. Even though we were told that she would be alright, I was scared to death to see her like that.

Slowly, I made my way to a chair that was set up not far from Vinnie's room and sank into it. Closing my eyes, I leaned my head back and rested it against the wall behind me. No one bothered me as I sat there, and I was beginning to think that no one would until I heard a quiet voice.

"You're one of the drivers in the accident that came in earlier, right?"

I opened my eyes and saw the nurse standing nearby, flipping through some charts.

"Yeah." I mumbled.

"You saved her life, you know." She said, inclining her head in the direction of Vinnie's room. "If you hadn't taken care of her open wounds and stopped the bleeding, she would have bled out before the paramedics got there."

Not knowing what to say, I merely turned my eyes to my hands and stared at them. I had tried to clean myself up after they had stitched my head up, but there were still bits of dirt and dried blood under my fingernails. I held my hands up slightly, examining them while I recalled how smooth Vinnie's skin had been underneath my touch.

When the memory of my lips against hers flashed through my mind, I closed my eyes, ashamed of myself. No matter how good it felt at the time, it was wrong of me to have done that. After all we've gone through today, she was still my best friends fiancé.