Missing Martha

69

"Hey." Whispered Zoë, touching Martin's brow and gently brushing his fringe away from his pale face.
His eyes opened gradually, his dark brown delicate eyelashes separated and pointed upwards. His adjusting irises focused on her, but he didn't feel anything anymore.
He didn't feel a craving, he didn't feel happy, he didn't feel sad, nor did he feel angry.
He didn't even feel betrayed, it was almost as if he had expected it. She was above him, she could be disloyal all she liked, he deserved it.
"Tell me about Emily." Said Zoe, sitting on a chair that she had pulled over beside the bed.
"W-why?" Asked Martin, feeling a kick of nausea just from hearing the name.
"I want to know what she was like." She replied.
Martin looked to the other side of the bed -the empty side- and pictured her lying there.
"She was small." Was the first thing that came to mind, "She had long brown hair.. it was sort of a copper colour.."
He pictured her face right in front of him, smiling at him, and all the tiny details came back to him.
"Her eyes were a weird colour, greenish.. but with hazel towards the pupils. She had freckles on her cheeks and over her nose, but they sort of faded in her twenties. She had a birthmark on her left temple. Her lips were quite small, her top lip was bigger than her bottom. Her teeth were pretty regular apart from the tiny gap between her centre ones. She hated it, I loved it." Martin looked back to Zoë, "sorry.. that was probably too much detail."
"And what kind of personality did she have?" Asked Zoë, politely smiling back at him,
"The best.. sometimes. She loved Martha.. she loved her a lot. She was a nurse; good with kids. Flirtatious; but mostly with other men. She cheated on me on a monthly basis, didn't even hide it because she thought I was okay with it. She was a liar. A liar that liked to get my hopes up. She could manipulate me into staying with her but in the end she didn't have time for someone like me."
Zoe bit her lip, feeling guilty because she knew that she had been similar about the baby.
"W-what should I change?" Asked Zoë, looking down.
Martin looked back at her, "Zoe, don't change a single thing."
"But I lied to you.. I said that the baby was yours.. I'm a liar too."
Martin smiled slightly, knowing that it was now his job to cheer her up, "But you're a bad liar." He justified, taking her hand.
Zoe bit her lip as her eyes watered, "you loved her a lot didn't you?" She said, looking to Martin thinking about Emily.
"Unrequited love." He said, "she never knew.. I'd have given her the world."
Zoe reached out and embraced him, "You did. You gave her Martha."
"No I didn't. She was Alex's child." He replied.
"I don't think so." Said Zoe, "I was having a really big think last night..." She told him while taking out a white Samsung phone.
"Is that Emily's?" Asked Martin, sitting up, not wanting to go through those texts again.
"The messages.. that were exchanged between Emily and Alex.."
"Yes?"
"They're not real."
"What?" Asked Martin.
Zoe went onto the text messages, scrolling through them back to the top.
"The dates.. well.. they're all wrong. They're all sent a couple days after Emily died. You can only see the dates if you flick to the left.. so you wouldn't have noticed it. They're almost believable but they're not real."
Martin's eyebrows curved downwards in the centre in curiosity.
"Also.. was Martha premature or late?" Asked Zoë,
"S-she was born on the due date." He replied, confused.
"Alex and I were on a placement for six months from that previous July to January in Vancouver." She said, "so.. it's absolutely impossible that Alex was Martha's father."
Martin's eyes gazed immediately up at Zoe in shock, "d-does that mean..."
"Martin. She was always yours." She told him, hugging him hard as he broke into tears and a smile. "Every cloud has a silver lining, eh?" She laughed, rubbing his back and burying her face into his neck.

Ollie and Ryan were sharing a room. Ollie had his back against the wall as he watched Ryan do his hair in a way that his scar wasn't seen.
"Y-you were really good yesterday.. thank you." Said Ollie, breaking the silence.
Ryan shook his head in response, "Nah."
"Mr McCafferson could have died."
"I was the reason he wanted to kill himself."
"No you weren't." Said Ollie, taking a deep breath and standing up behind Ryan.
"I killed her baby. Someone died because of me."
Ollie tried to find words to respond, "you saved Mr McCafferson's life, you drove us all here. And okay, you were completely out of your mind, you felt threatened so you lashed out at a lady that you didn't think was pregnant. You're a good person, Ryan."
Ryan sighed, looking down, "I'll spend the rest of my life trying to tell myself that." He turned around to face Ollie, "do you think he's gonna kill himself, after we go home?"
Ollie chewed his bottom lip, "I think Miss Flynn is whats keeping him here."
"Her baby wasn't his. So I doubt he's gonna be into her as much as he was." Added Ryan.
This was news to Ollie, "w-wait who's baby was it then?"
"Alex's, of course. Apparently she was twelve weeks pregnant." He told him.
"Then.. why would Mr McCafferson think it was his?" Asked Ollie,
"Well... with sharing a bed and all that.." began Ryan, catching Ollie's eye.
"Wait- not that night where all of us slept in the same room!"
"Jesus I hope not!" Laughed Ryan.
After they stopped laughing Ollie had a realisation and curled his lip,
"Ryan what's the date today?" Asked Ollie,
"It's the eighteenth of May."
Ollie looked over at Ryan and smiled, "happy birthday, mate." He said, reaching over and hugging him.
"Thanks, mate." Said Ryan, unable to stop smiling.