Fractured Heart

Five

Andre and Marci are walking in downtown New York, it's is almost New Years and there are golden lights hanging around shops and homes. Marci has her arm intertwined through Andre's and her hand threaded through his.

"Any plans to bring in the New Year" Marci asks?

"I doubt my family will have any big plans especially with all the drama right now" Andre says.

"Oh I'm I've been meaning to ask you something. But I don't want you to seem like I'm prying or am being nosey" she says.

"Just ask it" he says as they stop in front of a water fountain in a park.

Marci steps in front of Andre and looks him up in his face, she squeezes his hand and smiles.

"How does it feel when you have a bipolar episode? I mean when you are off your meds" she asks?

Andre slips his hand out of hers and walks over to stand directly in the fountain as it pours down beautifully. She slowly steps up behind him and wraps her arms around his waist, she presses her cheek against his back and inhales his scent.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. It's just sometimes I see you staring off ahead in space" she whispers.

"I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder my sophomore year of college around Christmas time. When Rhonda died I stop taking my meds and...and I moved into my brothers Jamal home with him" he says and she hears his voice tense up as tears start to spill.

Marci slips around so she is standing in front of him and her arms are around his back while her head is pressed against his chest, she feels something wet hit her cheek and knows that Andre is crying. She tightens her grip around him, so he knows that he isn't alone.

"I just lost so much within a year. My son and then  my college sweetheart, I can't lose anything else" he whispers.

"You may lost a lot but you also gained a friend in me. We only known each other a few weeks but you will always have me Andre, you will never be alone in this" she says.

"You have no idea how it feels to be the outcast in your family" he states firmly and pushes her arms from around him and steps closer to the fountain with his back to her.

"At sixteen years old I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression, I always felt like my life was pointless but I always maintained a smile. Whenever I was happy, I would feel the world crash down on my shoulders. I remember the one time I was truly happy was when I was twenty-five and I was married to this wonderful man, and twenty eight weeks pregnant" she states and Andre turns around at that and looks at her.

Marci's hands subconsciously drops down to her stomach and she rubs it.

"We were coming home from a dinner and a movie date, we stopped at a red light and it turned green so Nick started to drive again when a semi truck came out of nowhere and crashed right into our car. I was knocked unconscious instantly because it came on my side, I remember being told that our car has flipped over three times" she states as tears fill her eyes.

"Hey its ok" Andre says not wanting to force her to feel like she has to tell him anything.

"No I need to get this out. I held it in for six years now. I came to in the hospital after bing in a coma for two weeks, my stomach flat and my head wrapped in bandages and my arm in a cast. I was told that Nick had died on impact after the car flipped over the first time, his neck broken and his ribs have pierced a lung killing him. My baby...my daughter...her name was going to be Charlee. She was a stillborn" she whispers.

Andre wraps his arms around her tightly as they both mourn for the families that they have lost and their abnormal mental patterns.

"I am so sorry" he whispers.

"I have her her picture in my apartment along with her footprints on my chest and the day she passed. I was so happy to be a mom" she whispers clinging to Andre.

"We'll get through this together" Andre says.

-X-
    Marci wakes up in a warm, tight embrace; she opens her eyes to see Andre sleeping soundly beside her with his arms around her back. She glances behind his bare shoulder to see it's only five am, she hasn't slept like this in six years since Nick's death. Taking this to her advantage she snuggles closer to him, not releasing that there is a presence lurking outside her window in the shadows.