Rachel's Accident (28 page)

My eyes felt as heavy as lead, but I forced myself to open them and get a good look at the situation before me. My pupils needed a minute to adjust to the glaring neon lights and the scene came slowly into focus. At the end of my bed stood Ethan and Zach screaming and shouting at each other, verbally tearing each other's heads off. I wondered how they still hadn't started brawling around on the floor. They ju
st kept insulting and verbal
l
y
abusing each other.

Considering the scene unfolding in front of me I kept relatively calm. I watched them for a while, unable to do much more then make groaning sounds through my sore throat.
Sounds that drowned in the sea of shouting.
Why was my throat hurting so much? I couldn’t even understand what they were arguing about. The words didn’t quite make it to my brain. So, I watched and waited. For what I didn’t know, but I had no way of making them notice me.

After a while I let my eyes wander from the two of them to study my surroundings. I seemed to be in a hospital room.
Again.
What had happened this time? Over the last few months I had been in this hospital so often I knew it like the back of my hand. Judging from the color on the walls and the furniture I was in a private room of the maternity ward. Had something happened to my babies? I looked down at my belly and found it still bulging and big like a whale.
It took me a lot of effort to lift my hands and run them over my belly.

Immediately I felt a kick where one of my hands lay. A relieved smile curled the edges of my lips upward. They were okay. But why was I in the hospital then? No matter how hard I tried to remember there was nothing but a slight headache resulting from it. The past few days were a blur. I only knew that I had gone to stay with Ethan’s brother, Zach, for a while and that I had been in a lot of pain, but the reason behind it was unknown to me. Maybe if they would finally stop screaming at each other I could ask them what had
happened.

A little annoyed at
myself
and at the incorrigible twins I grabbed the next best thing off my nightstand and threw it in their direction. Due to my still weak arms the vase of flowers landed at their feet in a loud crash. Maybe I should have looked what
I grabbed before I threw it. I was sorry about the vase, but it had the desired effect.

The two identical men jumped apart and looked at the floor in shock. Then they slowly turned toward me and stared.

“Are you finished?” I asked in my croaking voice with a slightly annoyed undertone.

I watched as simultaneously their features turned from shock to relief as they saw me.
They both rushed to my bed one on either side and took a hand each.
They bombarded me with questions. How was I feeling? Did I need anything? What could they do for me?

“I’m fine, I’m fine. I just have one question?”

I looked at them as they waited with worried looks on their pretty faces.

“What happened?”

They looked at each other, frowning,
then
back at me.

“You don’t remember?” Zach asked.

Slowly I shook my head. “The past few days are one big blur in my memory. I only remember that I went to stay with you, but I don’t know why. And I remember the pain, so much pain. That’s it.”

I swallowed pa
s
t the lump in my throat and looked at the twins to fill the gaps in my memory.
Zach looked sad and outraged at the same time while Ethan looked at his brother, confusion written all over his face. Zach was just about to say something when the door opened behind him.

In came a doctor with a nurse in tow. Zach and Ethan had to get out of the way, so they could check my vitals and talk to me about what had happened. Apparently, my belly had cramped and
I had passed out from the pain. The doctor said the cause was probably such an amount of stress I hadn’t been able to bear it. When I fell I hit my head on the floor, which explained my fussy memory. I was lucky that nothing of that had caused any damage or hurt to my babies, but I had to stay in the hospital for the next few days for observation.

While the doctor talked I looked over at the twins, who were standing in the corner of the room. As she mentioned the stress that had caused my belly to cramp they both looked to the floor guiltily.
Interesting.
That could only mean they had done something that had caused me the stress.
But what?

When the doctor and nurse were finished and exited the room again I looked over at the two of them with raised eyebrows.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” I asked in a low voice.

I was not going to put too much stress on my body again. No matter what they told
me
had happened I would keep my calm.

The twins took their positions on either side of me again and Ethan and I looked at Zach for an explanation. I wondered at that. What did Zach know that Ethan didn’t? Shouldn
’
t it be the other way around
considering that Ethan was my babies’ daddy?

“You came to my office yesterday, completely
hysterical. You didn’t want to tell what had happened only that you wanted to stay with me for a while because you couldn’t go back to Ethan. So, I took you home with me and
let you stay in one of the guest bedrooms. You told me then why you came to me.”

He paused for a second and cleared his throat, never so much as glancing at his brother. He looked intently into my eyes as he told me.

“You told me you saw Ethan cheating on you,” I sucked in a startled breath.”
With your best friend.”

Shocked and hurt warred inside my chest, making my throat close up, as I turned to Ethan. I have to remain calm, I thought to myself.

“You cheated on me?” I asked on a whisper.

But he looked just as shocked as I was.
He shook his head vigorously.

“You’re everything to me, Rachel. I love you and our babies more than anything in the world. I would never cheat on you, especially with your best friend.”

As he talked he gripped my hand in his and kissed the back of my knuckles. This all didn’t add up.

“Then why did I think you did? What did I see that made me think that?”

I watched as it slowly seemed to dawn on him.

“Yesterday, I was just about to bring you something to eat when Jess came out of her room half naked. She was piss drunk and she slapped the tray out of my hands and started to grope me. I was so shocked I didn’t know what to do. I just froze. And then I tried to talk to her, but she wouldn’t listen to anything I said. So, I had to deal with her somehow and finally managed to get her to bed and sleep it off. By the time I cleaned up the mess
she made and came to check on you
,
you were gone. I searched the whole house for you and then Zach called and told me you were sleeping together. So, I thought
you
were cheating on
me
.”

“I’m sorry,” I said with relief and regret evident in my voice.

I had seen them together and just assumed the worst.
Now I felt bad for both of us, causing us so much pain. I felt the first tear trickle down my cheek and Ethan’s face blurred in front of my eyes.

“I’m sorry,” I said again, but it sounded garbled through the lump in my throat.

I was pretty sure I looked like a snotty mess as I sat there sniffing and hiccupping. Ethan pulled me to his chest regardless and let me burry my face in the crook of his neck.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” he said into my hair. “You had the right to be suspicious. It must have looked really bad and I’m sorry that you had to see that; that you had to go through that. But you also have to know that I love you more than anything in the world and would never even think about cheating on you. I want to make you the happiest woman in the world. And I know that sounds really cheesy,” he laughed into my hair, “but it’s the truth.”

His words calmed me down considerably and he pulled back a little to look me in the eyes.
I swallowed back the rest of my tears and smiled at him.

“I love you, too,” I whispered.

The lids of his eyes lowered to half mast and I watched the glimmer of passion spark in his eyes a second before he swooped down and took my mouth in a hungry kiss. There was nothing sweet or gentle about him. He seemed like a man, who was finally getting a bite to eat after starving for too long.

When his tongue swept into my mouth
I moaned from the sheer pleasure of it. My hands moved of their own accord,
touching him everywhere at once, wherever I could reach. As he tried to pull back my mouth went with him and my hands reached for his head and into his hair to hold him in place.

I didn’t want him to end the kiss or stop touching him, but after a few more seconds I heard the annoying beeping that I had tried to ignore get louder. Bewildered I let go of him and he pulled away. I looked around dazed and saw that the nurse from before was standing at the other side of my bed scowling heavily. Behind her stood Zach with Jess at his side, who must have rushed in after the
nurse.
I looked at them confused not quite comprehending why they were staring at me when the nurse
spoke, “No kissing or touching. I
t’s bad for her heart.”

“Huh?”

I didn’t know what else to say. What was she talking about? Why couldn’t I touch and kiss the man I loved and who loved me, too? When Ethan pointed
with a sheepish grin
to a monitor behind him I finally understood.

“Oh,” I said.

The monitor showed my still erratic heartbeat that had gone out of control when we were kissing and had given off that horrible noise. I
blushed
bright red as I turned back to the others with my own sheepish smile, trying to hide behind my blanket.

The nurse tsked at us and stormed out again. As the door slowly shut behind her my gaze turned to Jess. She was looking at me with guilty eyes and a questioning expression on her face. I knew what she was trying to ask me, but too afraid to voice. Did I know what had happened between her and Ethan? And if I did would I forgive her?

I didn’t quite know what to really make of the situation. I waved her over to the bed to talk to her.

“Tell me what happened yesterday,” I coaxed her.

Almost instantly she turned into a blubbering mess. She told me through her tears what she could remember, but didn’t know what had made her do such a horrible thing.

“I’m so sorry, Rachel
. I never thought I’d do something so horrible to you. I almost ruined your relationship. I’m sorry.”

I held her hand while she blubbered and clung to my hand like a lifeline. I knew why she had done it. She had been heartbroken and felt so lonely like a piece of her was missing. I knew that feeling, too.
She had been there for me when Ethan had broken my heart, but I hadn’t had the luxury to drown my sorrows in alcohol. I had been pregnant with our twins. But I would be there for her as much as I could
,
considering
my pregnancy. I also knew I didn’t want this to happen again and as much as I loved my best friend I didn’t want her to live under the same roof as Ethan.

“You know I love you, Jess,” I began. “
and
I want to help you through your heartbreak as much as I can, but I don’t want something like this to happen again.
And as much as I love you like a sister I don’t want you living under the same roof as Ethan. I hope you understand that.”

She nodded vigorously in answer. “Does that mean you forgive me?”

At the hopeful expression she directed at me I couldn’t really be mad at anymore. I smiled and nodded.
“Of course.”

“Then I guess
I’ll
need to find another place to stay,” she said as she smiled back at me and
leaned in to kiss my cheek.

“You can stay with me,” a male voice announced from the back of the room.

All eyes turned to Zach as he stepped forward, his gaze on Jess. “If it’s alright with you, that is.”

Shock and surprise lined her features as she slowly rose from the floor next to my bed, where she had been kneeling for the past five minutes. She looked over at me for advice or permission, I didn’t know exactly, but at my nod she turned to Zach with a bright
, if a little watery,
smile
on her face.

“That would be won
derful. Thank you,” she sniffed
.

Zach gave another curt nod. “Let’s leave these two alone for now and let Rachel rest. We can start to move your stuff in the meantime.”

He looked expectantly at Jess, waiting for her confirmation. At her nod he helped her to her feet and turned to leave. Before he reached the door he looked back at me with a smile.

“Get well soon. I can’t wait to meet the little ones,” he said as he held the door open for Jess.

And then with a wave from Jess they were gone
; off to gather Jess’ stuff and move it and her into Zach’s apartment.
When the door clicked shut behind them I turned to Ethan with a little grin and a raised eyebrow.

“They get along well,” I said.

“Yeah,” he answered absentmindedly, staring intently into my eyes. “I love you.”