Twinsequences (Twisted Twin #1)(51)
Author: Jennifer Foor

I could tell he was fighting his own tears. He was devastated and I couldn’t blame him for it. I would have reacted the same way if I thought I wasn’t going to ever be able to walk again. It was a terrible tragedy, but it wasn’t the end of his life. If anyone could get through it, we could.

He put his hands back over his face. “I can’t do this right now. Don’t you get it? If you hadn’t snuck off on your own, I wouldn’t be lying in this f**king bed! Now, just get out of here. You’ve done enough!”

I reached over and ran the back of my hand down his arm. “I love you. Nothing will ever change that.”

It was hard for me to walk out of those doors. All I’d wanted to do was rush in and be with him. I had no idea he’d be sending me away like I meant nothing to him. It not only hurt my feelings, but it made me wonder if a part of him would ever be able to get past having a disability.

My parents were standing with Stosh’s. I think they knew that things hadn’t gone the way I wanted them to, when I came out of the room in tears. I felt embarrassed because I’d had faith in our love. It didn’t make sense that Stosh could just push me away. Did he really think I was that kind of person?

Neither my mother nor father asked questions on the way home. They whispered things to each other, but said nothing about Stosh or Ivy. It wasn’t until we pulled up at their house when they both turned around to get my attention. “We can stay at a hotel if it would be easier for you.” I was surprised that they wanted to stay there. My mother didn’t look too sure when she was asking.

I shook my head. “It’s fine. I’m too exhausted to worry about anything else.” That was a lie. The only thing I wanted to do was lock myself in my old room and cry myself to sleep. My heart was breaking and, this time, it wasn’t because someone had died. It was because he lived, but didn’t want to be with me, or our baby.

My sister had stolen my happiness, just like she’d planned. She may have ended up in jail, but in the end, she got exactly what she wanted.

Stosh didn’t want to be with me.

Thinking about it made me break down, in the backseat of my parent’s car. My mother climbed out of the passenger seat and opened the back door for me. I grabbed her hand and let her pull me out of the car. She wasted no time, pulling me into her comforting arms. “I’m so sorry, honey.”

“Why doesn’t he want me? What did I do wrong?”

“He’s going through something traumatic. Until he can come to grips with his situation, it’s better if you stay apart.”

“But, I don’t want to. I need him.” I heard my father getting out of the car and coming around to our side. Her rubbed my back while I cried in their driveway. “All of this was so that we could be together. He blames me for what happened.”

“What happened to him was directly due to your sister’s antics. Stosh will come around. I see this in all of my patients. They need someone to blame. It will pass.” My father tried to say something comforting, but it solved nothing.

“No, you don’t understand. It was my fault. I shouldn’t have gone there alone. I should have told him. Things could have turned out differently. This is all my fault.”

“Honey, this was a terrible accident.”

“He took that bullet to save my life and because of it, he’s lost his ability to walk.”

My mother grabbed me by the arm and led me to the front door. “Let’s get you inside and get you to bed. You need to rest. The baby needs you to rest.” I think she knew if she mentioned the baby I would snap out of my self-‐inflicted pity party.

When we got into the foyer, the sun was starting to rise. A bloody mess awaited us.

I covered my mouth with my hand and looked around. There was blood spatter on the walls and a puddle of dried blood on the hardwood floor. I dropped down to the floor and put my hand down where Stosh had fallen. With my eyes closed, I thought back to how it all happened. It was still so fresh in my mind.

This time, my parents picked me up and forced me to go upstairs. My mother pulled me up each step. “You need a nice shower and a good night’s sleep. I won’t take no for an answer. If I have to lay beside you, I will.”

She was so kind while getting the water to a good temperature. She helped get the soiled clothes off of me and get me standing in the shower. I wasn’t weak from being beat up; I was weak from having a broken heart.

My mother waited in the bathroom until I was finished. Then she proceeded to wrap a towel around me and get me to my old bedroom. Once I was dressed and under the covers, she brought me up a cup of hot tea. “It’s decaf.”

I sipped at the honey tea and sat it down on my bedside table. “Thank you.”

“Sweetie, things are going to be okay. I know he loves you. His mother and I talked about it tonight. He’s being stubborn, like every man does when something goes wrong. You just be patient with him. Let him get used to what’s happened to him. He’s not going to let you walk away. I promise!”

“I wish I could get a do-‐over of the last five years.”

She stroked her fingers through my hair. “We all want one of those.”

“What if he doesn’t want me anymore? How will I be able to raise a baby? I gave up my new apartment and my job to be with him. We were going to run away and raise our baby together.”

“You’re not alone, Willow. Your father and I will help take care of you and the baby. You can move in with us and find a job locally. Your dad and I have plenty of connections to get you started with something here. Please consider it.”

Since I had no other options and I couldn’t have a do-‐over, I knew it was my only option. “I’d like that.”

She leaned down and kissed me. “I would too. Get some sleep, baby. I’m right down the hall if you need me.”

“Mom?” She turned around and looked at me. “Are you okay? You’ve all been so worried about me. I never thought to ask you.”

“Your father and I will be fine. After learning everything that our other daughter had done to you, what she did to us was minimal. I’m just glad we’re all safe. Get some sleep.”

When she closed the door, I couldn’t help but cry a little more.

I found my yearbook in my bedside table where I’d left it. After flipping through a couple pages, I got to the seniors. Under each picture the students listed what they saw for their future. What Stosh wrote finally made sense.