The past few days had been hell and pure torture for Ryan, who even now, sat on a hospital chair, trying his best not to doze off, as he stayed with his unconscious sister in her hospital room. The last four days had been a nightmare from which he wished he could wake up, but time after time, he woke up, only to find himself still in the same nightmare. It was real…everything was. His elder sister and her husband were slowly dying in this hospital, and there was nothing that he could do to prevent it, despite all the money he had. He felt so helpless … and alone. Utterly alone and dejected.As much as he tried not to, he could not help thinking about Becca, his ex-wife, at this time. It was at times like this that he missed her sorely because he knew that if she had been around, he would have had a shoulder to lean on. Becca was like that … a succor and the type of person everyone needed in their lives … until she showed her true colors, that is. Even despite everything, he could not
The teaching job at the school was one that Becca enjoyed a lot, despite the fact that she was not so familiar with kids. She taught the 2nd grade and quickly fell in love with the kids, as they did with her. It was such a huge relief and pleasure not to have to sit at home every day from morning to night, that Becca wondered how she had managed to survive doing that for so long without running out of her mind. She was now in the middle of the fifth month of her pregnancy and was seriously thinking of starting to buy baby clothes.It was weird to think how time flew by. She was beginning to show now, and her clothes were starting to get really tight, so she not only had to shop for her baby but also for herself too. Sandra was such a godsend. The woman helped her out in so many ways and gave her helpful tips whenever she was overwhelmed. They had fast become friends, and Becca was now very glad that their paths had crossed. The woman's husband was another matter entirely. Nowadays, he
Becca averted her gaze immediately, thinking to herself, “And here it comes.”“Oh my God! That is so horrible! That poor man is going through a whole lot. I mean, wasn’t he in the news some months ago when it was said that his then-wife, now ex-wife, was cheating on him … and with her ex-boyfriend too, who also happened to be siphoning money from one of the man’s companies. The whole thing was like a scene from a bad movie. Now, this…” Sandra said, trailing off when she saw the tears that were still gathered in Becca’s eyes.“Aww. You’re so soft. You don’t even know him, yet you feel so sad for the poor man.” Sandra said again, turning her gaze back to the television. Becca was relieved to see that her picture was no longer on the screen. Instead, the newscasters had moved on from whatever they had been saying about her, and were now discussing where Craig could be and why he had not bothered to attend his own wife’s funeral. They finally decided that he must have been overwhelmed wit
There was silence for a few moments, as Becca tried to process what Sandra had just said. The latter was still seating on one of the chairs in Becca’s house, the terror on her face clearly visible in the light that reflected from the porch. She looked as though she was afraid that the man at her door would somehow discover that she was in Becca’s house now, and would come to break down the door to get Alex.“I don’t understand…” Becca began, trailing off, as she tried to reconcile the Dan that she knew with the maniac who was shouting next door but failing dismally. So this man was cheating on his wife, and also had the balls to act the way he was acting now? Something wasn’t adding up, though. Even with his philandering ways, Dan seemed to love his wife and child a lot. Maybe they had had an argument then, not that an argument was a justifiable excuse for what he was doing, and at past one in the morning.“I know it’s hard to believe, and even embarrassing,” Sandra said sheepishly, s
The atmosphere in Ryan Harris’s was a really tense one. The servants moved around quietly, trying their best to stay out of their master's way, for Ryan had never seemed as scary as he did to them as he had in the two weeks following his sister’s death. It wasn’t as though he maltreated them, or anything like that. No, that was far from the case, but the actual situation was even worse. Ever since the burial two weeks ago, Ryan refused to talk to anyone and got this disturbing, spaced-out look in his eyes. All he ever did was visit the hospital in which Sandra’s babies were still battling for their lives in the babies’ intensive care unit, and her husband was on life support.As soon as he got back from the hospital, he proceeded to lock himself in his study and drink himself into a stupor. For such a formerly lively man, it was a disturbing behavior indeed. Only Margie, the housekeeper, was allowed into the study, or more precisely, could allow herself into the study, because she had
The two women, Becca and Sandra, were awoken around seven the next morning by a series of sharp knocks on the door. Both were still groggy with sleep, considering the events of the previous night, and the fact that they had stayed up after that, watching a sitcom to lighten their moods, because they both couldn't sleep. Becca got up groggily and went to open the door, to see Dan standing there. For some reason, she felt shy and embarrassed, now that she knew that he was Sandra’s brother. He nodded coolly at her in greeting, his face tense.“Good morning, Becca. Please, is Sandra here?” Dan asked politely.“Good morning, Dan. Yes, she’s here. She’s still sleeping though.” Becca informed him, wincing at the surprised look on his face. He seemed surprised that she was talking to him normally, without the disdain and dislike that she usually showed before. “Okay, thanks. Is she okay? And Alex?” “They’re both fine.”Dan heaved a huge sigh of relief, the lines which were creasing his forehe
Becca stayed in the garden for a while with Alex, before Dan came out to look for her, a wry smile that did nothing to disguise how worried he was, on his face. Sandra was not with him and was probably still inside the house.“I’m so sorry that we sort of kicked you out of your own house,” Dan said apologetically.“Oh, don’t be silly. It’s totally fine. Thank God it’s a weekend, so I don’t have to go to work or anything.”“Yeah. Thank God for you, at least. There’s nothing like a weekend for me, but I don’t mind in the least bit.” Dan said. “That’s good, then. At least you enjoy your job.”“You don’t enjoy yours?”“No, no. Of course not. I enjoy it a lot. The kids are wonderful. I’m fast beginning to realize that I love kids a lot.” Becca told him.“I’ve always loved kids. They’re so pure and innocent.” Dan said, his face taking on a sad expression, despite the slight smile on it.“You’re right. Take this handsome young man here, for example, I could stare into his cherubic face fore
For the next few weeks, Ryan continued to visit the hospital where his niece, nephew, and brother-in-law were admitted, every day. The twins were much stronger now and were rapidly growing bigger as the days passed. They were now two months and some days old and had been taken out of the incubator two weeks ago. Today was the day when they were going to be discharged and would finally be taken home. Ryan’s nervousness knew no bounds, and although he was still very scared of the kids, and had in fact, never held them, except to hold their tiny hands briefly, he was glad they were coming home with him. Right now, it was a few minutes past six in the morning, but he had been awake for more than an hour because restlessness engulfed him.What if things went wrong? He did not know the first thing about raising a kid, and here he was, having to parent two kids at the same time. It didn’t matter that he had hired two nannies to take care of the children. He was going to be horrible at this.