Betrayed

Jason and I walked back to the house, hand-in-hand to find Matt, Neche and Bear sitting on the front porch. I gave my sister a questioning look and she stood up and motioned for me to follow her into the house. Neche led me into the kitchen and I gasped when I saw two vases of red roses sitting on the counter.
“Please… please tell me they’re not…”
“They are… they’re from Brian.”
I felt faint and shook my head, mumbling that I needed to lay down. Turning on my heel, I walked out of the kitchen and brushed past Jason and Matt, heading toward the stairs. They saw the roses and I heard Jason swear, I had made it halfway up the staircase when I heard the shattering of the vase against the wall. I gasped and went to turn to make my way back down when I slipped on one of Bear’s toys and found myself tumbling down the stairs.

I landed hard on my back and instantly felt a puddle of blood start to seep from my head. Something wasn’t right… I felt warmth between my legs, and for a second I felt I had wet myself. But that wasn’t right either. I looked down and saw a red stain start to expand down my red shorts onto my legs.
“Jason… Neche… somebody help…” I managed to scream out before everything went dark.

Jason

Neche and I sat in the waiting room waiting to hear news about Mina. My stomach was tying itself in knots. Bending forward, I rest my head in my hands as every bad outcome ran through my head. We had managed to stop the bleeding the best we could before the EMT’s got there, but it looked like there was so much blood on the floor! The EMT’s looked at each other before rushing to pick Mina up and get her into the ambulance. Neche and I rode along while Matt took Bear to Aunt Linda’s the second he had seen the blood. Bear didn’t need to see Mina like that. I mean, none of us wanted to see her like that, but five year olds are extra impressionable. Neche rubbed my back and I looked over my shoulder to throw my sister-in-law a grateful smile. Sighing, I closed my eyes again and rubbed my eyes with my palms. We were finally going to be a family, and this happens… did God not want me to be happy? We found a way to make everything work, and Mina gets hurt. I wasn’t stupid… all that blood… all the blood from down there… deep down, I knew there was a chance the babies… my baby wasn’t going to make it. I angrily brushed away a tear I felt start to fall from my eyes and stood up to start pacing. Moving made me feel a little bit better, but not much.

After a bit, Matt showed up. After giving his wife a kiss, he pulled me aside.
“Jason… I talked to Brian… he didn’t send the flowers. He had no idea what the fuck I was talking about. I managed to keep everything from him, but this doesn’t feel right.”
“What do you mean?”
Matt shrugged, “It just doesn’t feel right. It feels like… like before.”
I gave him a questioning look and he sighed before punching the wall. I cringed when I saw the fiery look in his eye when he looked back at me.
“When that fucking creep took my Neche away from me. It feels like that. Like our family’s been infiltrated once again Jason. Jesus Christ!”
I felt my eyes widen in surprise… this was proving to be just to much.

“Family of Mina Seward?” a voice called out. Matt and I turned to see Neche stand up and walk over to where a doctor was standing with a clipboard.
“Come on,” Matt sighed, placing his hand on my shoulder.
“I’m her sister,” Neche said when we approached them.
“I’m her fiancée, Jason,” I said, offering my hand to the doctor.
“Jason, my name is Doctor Lemmings. Mina is in stable condition. We had to put staples in the back of her head, but it seems like there’s no real damage, just a minor concussion…”
“What about the babies,” Neche gushed out and Matt gave her a look as if to say be quiet.
The doctor gave us a small smile and asked to speak to me privately. I followed him down the hallway and sat next to him in one of the chairs.
“I understand that the twins were a special case… that one had developed exactly one day after the first was conceived. Is that correct?”
I nodded, “That’s what the nurse told Mina earlier today.”
The doctor sighed and ran a hand over his graying hair, “And you…?”
“I’m the father, if that’s what you’re asking.”
The doctor nodded again, “Mr. Berry… I’m so sorry… but the babies didn’t make it. The way Mina miscarried, was indicative that the babies probably wouldn’t have made it anyways. I’m so sorry.”

As much as I had tried to prepare myself for this, knowing full well that the chances of this were high, I still felt like I had been punched in the stomach.
“Mr. Berry?” the doctor asked as I stood up, but I waved him off and walked down the hallway, punching the wall once as I passed Neche and Matt. Maybe Mina and I weren’t meant to be happy after all.

Jason

Mina