Second Heartbeat

Brian and Johnny rode in the ambulance with Stormy on the way to the hospital. The paramedics were able to steady her breathing, but she couldn’t manage to stay conscious.

At the house Sydney stood in the middle of the room with her arms folded waiting for someone to explain.

“Where were you?” Aubrey asked.

“I had a doctors appointment and I didn’t know I had to check in with everyone every time I left the house. Now someone better tell me what the hell happened to my sister”

Matt sighed and sat down on the couch, once again his eyes gazed over the signed divorce papers that sat on the coffee table.

“Somebody start talking!” Sydney said.

“We came because Matt wanted to talk to you and I figured we could be here if you needed support after.”

“So, my sister came here to lend me her support? I highly doubt that”

“No, no. She came after seeing the news report” Zacky added.

“What news report?” Syd asked.

“The one announcing to the world that your mother is out on parole” Matt said.

“What?” She said taking a step back.

“Sydney, you don’t have to worry, we wont leave your side.” Zacky said.

“What happened to Stormy?”

Both Aubrey and Zacky looked at Matt waiting for him to answer.

“We had an argument and she fainted.” He said.

“She fainted? Well this just gets better and better. Look at the size of you and look at the size of her. Not to mention the fact that an argument with you is completely unfair no matter whom it’s with. You intimidate everyone until they see things your way.”

Aubrey grabbed Zacky’s hand and pulled him towards the bedroom. “We’re going to give you guys some privacy so you can talk. Just yell if you need me Syd”

Sydney nodded and watched as Zacky” closed the door to the bedroom behind him.

“Come sit down, please” Matt said.

Sydney stepped forward and took a seat in the chair opposite the coffee table. “This is as close to you as I am willing to get.”

He nodded “Fair enough” he picked up the divorce papers and looked at them. “I see you signed the papers.” He looked up at her while she answered.

“What was I supposed to do? Frame them?”

He got up off the couch and walked a few steps over to the chair where she sat. He stopped in front of her and knelt down. His hands rested on her hips, but she seemed unfazed. “Sydney, I know I came down hard on you and it was wrong for me to make you leave. It hurt so badly when you told me that you slept with someone else. You were mine and the thought of someone else touching you made me sick. I know now what you were feeling when I did it to you. I’m sorry Sydney”

“You don’t know anything, Matt. Don’t ever tell ME how I feel, because you don’t know! For the longest time, I couldn’t feel anything and then you came into my life, dangled your heart in front of me and took it away at the first sign of mistrust. What if I had done that to you? Maybe that is what you need, maybe you need to know what rejection feels like.”

His thumbs rubbed her sides as he responded. “I’m sorry, Sydney. I want to be with you and only you. I love you and I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I pushed you away instead of trying to work through it. I’m sorry I am such a jerk and took it out on Stormy. I don’t want a divorce, I want a life with you and our baby.”

“Babies” she corrected.

“Babies?”

“The doctor heard a Second Heartbeat today”

He stood and pulled her up with him. “We’re going to have two babies?”

“Yeah, I had to find the one guy with super sperm. I only promised you one you know”

He laughed and lifted her up off the ground. “Forgive me?”

“I can’t,” she said and he lowered her back down to the ground with disappointment written all over his face. “I can’t forgive you until you forgive me, Matt.”

He smiled and touched her cheek with his thumb. “There’s nothing to forgive”

He kissed her, but their kiss didn’t last long.

“So, I think we’re just going to go now?” Zacky said and Matt growled at him making him and Aubrey move faster.

Matt lifted Sydney up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom. No one saw or heard from them for the rest of the day.

--

Brian waited with Johnny in the hospital waiting room while Stormy was being examined. When the doctor finally came out Brian stood.

“She’s being admitted now, you can see her as soon as she is in her room” The doctor said.

“Admitted?”

“Yeah, I can only tell family members what her condition is though”

“I’m her brother, we don’t have parents” Johnny lied.

“Well, your sister is very lucky to be alive. Her heart rate slowed down so much it nearly stopped.”

“What could have caused that to happen?” Brian asked.

“They back of her teeth show signs of decay, the kind that you get from constant contact with acid in the form of vomit. Her weight and the fact that she is completely dehydrated only add to my diagnosis that she is bulimic.”

“Bulimic?” Brian said

Johnny sat back down and put his head in his hands.

“It’s a sickness and she is going to need to get some help because the next time this happens we may not be able to get her heart rate up again. This is serious.”

The doctor excused himself after telling them that he would send someone for them when Stormy was settled in her room.

“I should have said something” Johnny said.

“What do you mean?” Brian asked.

“I caught her at the restaurant and once in Vegas, I told her that if she didn’t stop I would tell. I should have told.”

“Johnny, damn it.” Brian ran his hands through his hair. “Since when the fuck did everyone in this family start keeping secrets from each other?”

“I’m sorry”

“Forget it, it isn’t your fault”

Brian hugged his friend and they both sat there for a little while longer until a nurse came to get them to tell them that Stormy was in her room.

“You go ahead. I’ll wait here” Johnny said.

Brian followed the nurse back to the room. She left him at the door where he stood for a few minutes. Stormy was lying in the bed with intravenous needles in both arms. There were machines all around her. Once he saw that she was breathing he was relieved, that is when the anger set in. He walked over to the bed and stood beside it. Stormy turned her head and looked up at him.

“You lied to me and told me that you were exercising too much. You made poor Johnny keep this a secret and you have no idea how bad he feels right now. This is the most selfish fucking thing you could have ever done and for me to say it you know it’s true because I am a selfish person by nature. Why didn’t you tell me something was wrong?”

“I couldn’t” she cried.

“Why Stormy?”

“For the last two years, you controlled my every move, Brian. This is something I had control of. For once in my life, I was in control of something”

“and look where it got you. At least everything I did was for your own benefit,” he said.

“tell me how you sleeping with Sydney was for my benefit.”

He clenched his hands into fists, turned around and walked out the door.