The Unexpected

Chapter 21: Tradgedy Strikes Again

Two Days Later... LIAM'S POV...

Lily has been in a coma for two days now. I've barely left the room for an extended time because I fear this perverted lunatic would return and finish what he's started. I've only been gone long enough to spend some time with Ashley at my brother-in-law's house and to take a shower. Even during that small period, I was afraid that this damn nutcase would get to her before I returned to the hospital.

Hell, I haven't even had enough time to tell my family the whole extent of Lily's injuries. To be honest I don't even know if I will be strong enough to go into vivid detail about her attack. All I've told Ashley so far is that Lily is in the hospital because she gave birth to her baby sister, Chloe. I refused to bring her to the hospital while Lily was in a coma and all bruised up. My reason for her still not being able to visit Lily is running out fast. I sat by the head of Lily's bed holding our daughter while caressing the back of her right hand.

Tear after tear fell from my eyes as I reminisced on the first day my heart began to stale out. Even more, tears fell when I recalled the first time I felt my heartbeat for someone other than my daughter. I became a weeping mess when the frightening thought that my life would always be destined to fall in love with someone and then lose her before we had a chance to grow old together. Maybe I wasn't meant to be loved by someone. “Is a life of loneliness my destiny?” I asked an unconscious Lily while staring at her. Right after I finished wiping her face my cell phone began to ring.

“How are my daughter and grandchild doing?” A man rushed to say into the phone before I could say hello.

“Who is this?” I asked while gazing over at my Lily lying on the small white hospital bed hooked up to several bulky machines.

“I'm Lily's father, David Carmichael.” The man states then proceeds to ask how Lily is doing again.

“Lily is in a coma but our daughter, Chloe is doing just fine, sir,” I respond while caressing the back of her left hand.

“And how is the other young lady I brought into the hospital with Lily?” He then asked.

“What young lady are you talking about?” I asked confused as hell.

“She's a young, white, teenage girl that was also being held hostage with Lily and an older woman who was already dead when I arrived at the abandoned building where they were being held captive.

A knot formed in my throat and my heart pounded in my chest when I realized that he was referring to Mandy. I immediately stood to my feet and placed Chloe in the hospital bassinet by the bed then walked out of the room.

Three women that looked like identical twins were standing outside Lily's room. They both were holding a rambunctious toddler with dark curly hair in their arms. “Hi I'm Daisy and these are my twin sisters Niya and Tania Carmichael.” The twin closest to me says in a nervous voice.

“The three women talking to you are my daughters and Lily's half-sisters.” The man on the other end of the phone tells me.

“May we go in to see our sister?” The sister the furthest away from me asked while the toddler poked her stubby pointer finger in the dimple on the right side of her face.

“I promise we won't do or say anything to upset her.” The other sister says when I didn't immediately respond to their request. I was a bit uneasy about leaving lily alone with strangers, but I needed to check on Mandy.

“Sure.” I begrudgingly reply before walking up to the receptionist's desk with my phone still perched to the right side of my head.

“Hi, I'm here to check on the well-being of the young lady that was brought into the emergency room with my fiancé Lily Carmichael,” I say to the male attendant sitting behind the desk.

“Do you know what her name is or can you describe what she looks like sir?”

“Her name is Mandy Brolin, she is a tiny teenage girl with blond hair,” I replied.

“Tell them that she came in with a gunshot wound and bruises all over her body.” The man on the other end of the phone says to me.

“Umm, I think that she was admitted with a gunshot wound and several bruises on her body,” I state to the young man as he began to type something on the computer.

“Sir, Dr. Peter Kolkata will be out shortly to talk to you about Ms. Brolin's condition.” The receptionist utters. I sat in the waiting room area nervous as heck because I was afraid of the news I might hear from the doctor about Mandy's problem.

“Are you the party that was concerned with Ms. Brolin's condition?” A middle-aged Hispanic man asked me.

“Yes sir,” I replied while standing from my seat.

“I'm sorry to inform you that Ms. Brolin passed away on the operating table during surgery. She suffered from a condition called pneumothorax which causes low oxygen.” Dr. Kolkata says in a grieved voice. The phone I had to my ear slipped out of my hand and hit the concrete, white floor with a loud stud. Stooping towards the floor I picked up my phone with shaky hands before asking, “may I see her just to make sure that's our Mandy?”

“Sure, follow me.” I felt like I was walking on eggshells as I followed closely behind Dr. Kolkata. What will I tell Lily when she does come out of her coma if she asks me about Mandy? More importantly, will I be able to stand ripping her heart to shreds after telling her about her friend's untimely demise? The question I should have asked myself was: Was I prepared to see the young lady that has been nothing but kind to my daughter and to the woman who was another extension of me lying in a cold, lonely freezer?

“Who could do something so cruel and inhuman to another person?” I blurted out after seeing the grotesque mistreatment of Mandy and Lily's bodies. “I'm so sorry Mandy for what you had to endure. I promise you that I will make this bastard pay dearly for what he or she has done to you and Lily.”

“Son, you won't ever have to worry about him hurting anyone else because I've taken care of him. All you have to do now is take care of my daughter and grandbaby. In a couple of days, you'll receive a note from me that will be addressed to Lily. You may read it if you want. If you think that her hearing what I have to say would be detrimental to her happiness and peace of mind please discard it. To my other three daughters please let them know that I love them and that they two will be getting a letter from me informing them of all the bad choices that I've made thus far.” The voice on the other end of the phone says before ending the call.

I walked back into Lily's room feeling overwhelmed about the tough decisions I will have to make in the upcoming days. “Thank you for letting us spend some time with our big sister.” One of the triplets says after placing Chloe in the crook of my left arm.

“You're all welcome to come and visit her as often as you want,” I say as I look down at Lily and instantly see the striking resemblance the four of them shared.

“In that case, we'll be back sometime tomorrow.” Daisy cheerfully replied then motioned for the other two ladies to follow her out of the room.

“Lily, sweetheart you have to come back. There are so many people waiting to meet you, baby,” I pleaded as I caressed her cheek softly.

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