Less than Perfect

18. Lifeline {part two}

                                                          Chapter Eighteen

                                                                   Lifeline

                                                                 Part Two 

Turning the door handle, Skye stepped into the hospital room, slowly, blinking away her tears. The moment she laid eyes on Leah, she smiled, sighed, and felt warm droplets of water sliding down her cheeks. Leah turned her head towards the sound of the closing door and caught Skye's gaze, retuning it with a smile. 

   "Mom," Skye breathed, rushing to her side. She managed to wrap herself in Leah's arms, avoiding all the machines and obstacles at her bedside, and burst into tears. She couldn't help but cry tears of joy for her mother's life, nor could she help crying for what could have been. She couldn't help but miss the past life she had before Johnny; a time when everything was so much better. 

   "It's okay, sweetie, I'm going to be just fine," Leah's voice whispered around Skye's ears. The warm breath sent chills down her spine. A broken side of her mind imagined the times when Johnny's breath had touched her skin, but a better side remembered Jules' breath against her skin, tickling her in a good way.

   "I know," Skye whispered, holding on tighter. "I know, Mom." 

   After about a minute passed, both holding onto each other, rocking in tears, Leah slowly pulled Skye away, touching her daughter's face and pushing stray hair away. "I love you, Skye. You know that, right?" 

   Skye quivered a laugh, blinking away a few stray tears. "I love you too, Mom. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't woken up." 

   Leah blinked hard and shook her head a little, regarding Skye with such love and care. "Oh sweetheart, you shouldn't think like that, alright? I'm here now, and that's all that matters." 

   "Yeah," Skye choked on her tears, forcing a small smile. "I'm just so glad you're going to be okay!" She gasped, wrapping her arms around her limp mother again. 

   "I know, sweetie, I know. I'm fine, the baby is fine; everything's right where it should be." 

   Skye froze inside, involuntarily on edge. Baby? The word echoed in her mind over and over again, pounding painfully against her skull. She must have heard her wrong, right? Leah couldn't be with child, she couldn't. But as Skye registered Leah's glowing smile, a smile with so much radiance and happiness that it could only belong to an expecting mother who'd always dreamed of having another child, she gave up second-guessing. It had to be true. After all, Joe had mentioned that it was really big news. 

   Slowly pulling herself away from Leah, she took her mother's hands in her own. "Baby, Mom?" she gasped. "You're pregnant?" She was utterly surprised, her voice small and squeaky, eyes big and bold, everything about her shaken up.

   Leah nodded her head enthusiastically, tightening her hold on Skye's hand. "Yes, Skye," she chirped, "You're going to have a baby brother or sister! Isn't that wonderful?"

   Everything hit Skye at the same time, clouding her vision and twisting her stomach. Leah was pregnant with Johnny's child. Johnny: a man so vile and horrid that every last nerve of Skye's is put on high alert by the small mention of his name. Not only was Leah pregnant, but she was ignorant to the terrible thing that was happening around her. She was clueless of both the physical and emotional pain this new baby's father had caused on her daughter practically every day for the past four years. If she were to know about Johnny's dark secret, there's no possible way she would feel the same way.