Seeds of Jealousy

Brianna



I can’t believe this is happening to us. My mom has lost her mind. Some of the girls from the bus came over when I was watching the twins. They wanted to make sure everyone was okay.



“Hi sweetie, how are you doing?” one of them asks me.



“I’m holding up. Thank you for checking on us.” I wipe a tear from my eye.



“We were horrified when we learned there were children in the car. I’m so glad the three of you are OK.”



“We all are,” the other girl says, “If you need anything while you wait, just let us know.”



“Thank you,” I reply.



“Brianna!” I hear my dad yelling down the hall as he and Justin run up and embrace me in their arms.



“Dad,” I whisper, clinging to him. “I’m so glad you’re here. I was so scared.”



“Shh,” he says, holding me close and stroking my hair. “It’s OK, everthing’s going to be OK.”



“Mom won’t wake up,” I sniffle.



“We’ll make sure she gets whatever care she needs,” he assures me.



“Are you all right?” Justin asks me.



I turn to see him already holding the twins in his arms. “I’m OK,” I say, trying to force a smile through my tears. “I’m so sorry, Justin. Please don’t hate me.”



Justin hands the twins to Dad and kneels on the floor in front of me. He puts his hands on my shoulders and looks straight into my tear-filled eyes. “I could never hate you,” he says gently. “I was just as worried about you as I was the twins. I love you like you were my own, do you understand that?”



I want to believe him, but there are too many emotions going through my head right now. “Mom said you tricked me.”



I see him glance up at my Dad before looking at me once again. “Your mom was upset,” he explains. “She wasn’t thinking clearly. Sometimes that happens after giving birth, especially with the problems she had at the end of her pregnancy. But I didn’t trick you, Brianna, I would never do that.”



“Promise?” I ask, my voice a whisper.



“I promise,” he assures me with a smile.



I fling myself into his arms, my tears staining his shirt. “Thank you.”



He kisses me gently on the cheek and hugs me tighter. “I’m just glad you’re OK.”



“You must be the fathers,” Hayden says. I reluctantly pull myself away from Justin and turn as he gets to his feet.



“That would be us,” Dad tells her, handing Aidan back to Justin. “Thanks for staying with them.”



“It’s the least we could do. We were on the bus and wanted to make sure the children were all right.”



“Mr. Kinney, I’m Sara, the nurse you spoke to on the phone. The nurses have fallen in love with the kids and they’ve been well cared for, I assure you,” she says with a kind smile. “Now, if you want, I can take you to the doctor who is treating your wife.”



“She’s not my wife. This is my daughter, these are his twins, but that woman is not my wife,” he snaps irritably.



“Oh, I see,” she says, obviously confused. “I’ll just go tell him you’re ready to speak with him.” She walks away from us to get the doctor.



Justin



As we follow the doctor into the office, I hand Justine to Brian.



The doctor clears his throat and begins. “As you know, your wife….”



Brian cuts him off with a glare.



“Sir, all we know is that her ID says Denise Kinney. I guess we all just assumed…”



“Well, you assumed wrong. How is she?” Brian asks.



“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid she’s in a coma. She suffered head injury in the collision.” He looks from Brian to me.



“Will she wake up?” Brian asks quietly.



“She should, once her body is healed enough. I can’t say when. The twins and Brianna are all fine, however. Brianna has a big lump on the head and a few cuts and bruises, but she seems more traumatized with what her mom did,” he informs us. “But, I think now that she is back with her fathers she will be okay. Just be there for her.” He stands up.



“Thank you, doctor.” We shake hands with him.



“She had an ID with your last name on it?” I ask Brian once the doctor leaves.



He shrugs. “I guess so. I didn’t know she wanted me that much.” He smiles at me. “But I don’t want her, I want you.” He kisses me.



“You’ve got me,” I say with a smile.



We walk back out to where the girls are. Brian goes over to Brianna as I sit down with my twins.



“Everything okay with the Mrs.?” Hayden asks.



“She’s not a Mrs. to either of us,” I tell her. “Were you the one driving?”



“Yes, I’m Hayden. I am so sorry for the accident.” She leans over looking at the twins.



“Well next time, make sure the kids aren’t in it and ram it harder.” I shake my head. “I didn’t mean that. I’m just pissed off. First she tries to break me and my partner up, then she takes my kids and now this.” I can’t believe I am telling her this. “I am just still upset. I’m sorry.” I look away from her.



“No need to apologize. Well, since we can see everyone here is fine, we will head back out. We just stopped in to make sure everything was okay,” she tells me.



“Well, the nurses took care of them, but we kinda felt bad about it the whole thing. I was just praying everyone was all right. In all my years of driving, nothing like this has ever happened, I swear.”



I get it, now; she’s worried about getting sued.



“We don’t blame you,” I assure her. “We won’t be taking legal action against you or the bus company, if that’s what you’re worried about.”



“I was more worried about the children, but that’s nice to hear, too,” she says with a smile before walking away.



Brian walks up to me and slips an arm around my shoulders. “Ready to go to a hotel, Sunshine?” He picks up Justine as I stand with Aidan.



“Yeah, I want to get out of here. I hate hospitals.” We look at each other, silently speaking with our hearts.



He puts his arm around my neck, walking out of the ER for the time being. Brian wants to go back after they do more tests on Dee, but he wants to get the kids out of here as much as I do. “Okay, let’s go.”