Colateral Exchange

(17)

(17)

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

<<Vincenio's Point of View>>

"Dead man," I mumbled over and over again, my stride increasing in length. This man! He will never learn will he? I threatened him, he comes back, I beat him up, he comes back. Any person with a sane sense of mentality wouldve left the country months ago. But no. This man was determined. Asking for his death wish. It wasnt a hard task. Yes, I understood that theyve known each other for years, but when my wife tells me she wants no contact with this man and he is still around, I couldnt just sit and do nothing.

I shouldve killed him when I could.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, stopping me in my tracks. "Hello," I ground out in anger. I was not in the mood. I had to finish the task. It didnt matter to me about them being friends. He was finished.

"Where are you going?" Everly's sweet voice carried across the line. I sighed heavily, and rubbed my temples.

"Im going to kill him," I told her honestly. She was quiet over the line for a minute, digesting what I was saying. Her heavy breathing was the only thing heard as I picked up the pace to the car.

"You cant do that sweetheart." She was trying to stop me. I understand. She wasnt used to this type of behavior. She was afraid. What she didnt know was that this was normal in my family. Death was a guest that visited quite often when I was a child. It caprtured everyone that pissed my father off. I was used to killing someone in less than thirty seconds. It didnt phase me anymore today then it did when I was a kid.

"I can. I will," I anwsered her before hanging up. I unlocked the corvette, and sped off to the warehouse where I knew my brother and father would meet me.

<<Everly's Point of View>>

My heart raced. I knew that Vincenio was serious. I knew what that man was capable of and I felt extremely sorry for Terrance. I was already grieving his death, and he hadnt even died yet. A single tear slipped from my eye. He was a nutcase. That much was obvious. I shouldn't feel bad should I? But I couldn't help it. This was all too overwhelming. My best friend....

A sharp pain shot up the length of my spine the same time that I doubled over in agony. My hand instantly cupped my belly. All this stress is probably where this pain is coming from. The pain kept coming in hot waves, tears streaming down my cheeks.

There is something wrong with my babies. With that realization, tears came rushing down my face tenfold, as I gripped my cell phone harder. '911' was displayed on the screen before I pressed the call button.

I explained to the operator that something was wrong, and that I needed help quickly. I told her were I was, somewhat relieved that help was on the way.

As my palms dug into the carpet of the office, a scream tugged at my lips. I had never felt pain like this before. We're they contractions? It couldn't be. It was too early. I had to keep them in as long as I could. Nothing was ready! There was no nursery. Not even a crib! We were so unprepared. They had to stay in.

"Please wait," I cooed to my babies, rubbing my stomach. "Momma's not ready and neither are you," I said out of breath. I was sweating. I was nervous and before I passed out, I glanced at the puddle of blood that was pooling between my legs...

***

A constant beeping was heard as I slowly came too. My eyes squinted as the bright lights flashed on them. The smell of cleanliness hung heavily in the air, making me somewhat nauseous.

My eyes instantly darted to my stomach, a band wrapped around it. A machine was connected to it, a little heart line rising and falling. A sigh of relief came through me as I thought of my babies. They were okay right?

Just then, a male doctor walked into the room with a smile on his elder face. He had black hair with grey weaving its way through here and there. His smile was bright and met his bright blue eyes.

He picked up my chart before removing a pen from his coat pocket.  "Ms. Finley, very nice to meet you. I'm Doctor Carbon," he greeted cheerfully. I didn't necessarily care about him. My babies were my main focus.

"How are they?" I croaked. I didn't realize how dry my throat was until I attempted to talk. Where was my husband? I internally rolled my eyes. Was Terrance really that important right now?

"I actually have some good and bad news," The Doctor seriously said as he took a seat next to me on the hospital bed. Something bad was happening. My heart raced in my chest as I thought the worst.

"What's the good news?" I questioned wearily. Tears were clouding my vision they had to be fine right?

"The good news is that both babies are fine. They were in distress. I was also able to identify the gender of them both if you wanted to know," he explained, a small smile grazing his face.

This is the second time I've been offered to find out of the gender of my babies. Vincenio yet again was not here. Maybe I should know.

"What- what are they?" I questioned feeling somewhat awful but excited at the same time.

"We'll, you're having a girl and boy," he answered. A tear slid down my cheek as I held my stomach. A baby boy and girl! They're already wrapped around their momma's fingers.

"The bad news is that one of the babies, Baby B specifically, has shown the traits of a baby with Dwarfism. I can't tell for sure, but I will run more tests."

I wouldn't really say that this is bad news. I'd love my baby regardless if they weren't 'normal' in society's eyes. I knew that there would be countless surgeries and life would be harder for my child, but I'd fill their life with love. That's all that matter. They were my baby and I will love them regardless.