Fractured

Chapter 52

Chapter 52

"I... suppose I should start from the beginning," Steven sighed, his eyes lingering in mine.  It was like he owed me this.  Like it was now his job to tell me because I deserved to know.  That was partially true.  He needed to tell us.  I was ready to bitch slap it out of him, I was so anxious to know.

I nodded and the doctor... just sat there for a long moment.  His eyes never left mine; he just stared at me and down into my depths with those endless dark pools.  Eyebrows curved down in distress, he spoke directly to me.  And he told me everything I wanted to know to make this trip here... very much worth it.

"Your mother came to me when she got pregnant at 17 with... your sister.  You were just a little one, I remember," he said to me, offering me the ghost of a smile but it was gone fast....  And with it, came my own reaction.  Christ he was just starting, and my heart was already beating faster than I thought possible after only a minute of this.

When he spoke of my sister, of Emily, I felt my heart drop out from my chest first of all.  My breath picked up with a hitch. I mean, I knew that it was coming; there were documents starting that much.  It was still almost like a shock though when he said it.  Confirming she existed, that I wasn't crazy, that it meant that a body also existed in the backyard.

"Do you know who the father was?" Luke spoke up after Steven here paused before going on, as if sorting out his thoughts when his eyes fell to the floor.  Almost in reluctance.  I couldn't blame him really.  But upon hearing Luke's question, he glanced up and met his eyes.  He gave a sincere and sorry answer. 

"No," he shook his head and said quietly.  "She wouldn't tell me.  Clare did tell me though that he was gone and she never really would speak anymore of him.  If I personally had to guess, it was probably some guy that went to school with her and knocked her up," he sighed honestly, cringling slightly at the though.  I would have had a good quip for that one if my mind wasn't already spinning.   

After he answered Luke, his eyes went back to me where I was sitting on the edge of the couch and straining my attention immensely, wanting to memorize every word this guy was telling us.  My elbows on my knees as I sat, Steven looked just as on edge.  Of course, it was most likely out of nervousness and being shook up from telling us this. 

"I was... 29 at the time," he continued and looked slightly pained.  "It wasn't the first time I took on a pregnant teenager.  It was the first time though that I actually started to feel a connection though.  She was so... broken it seemed.  And helpless; I wanted to help her so bad.  She was living on her own with you and nobody to help her.  So... I helped her through her pregnancy not just as her doctor, but as a friend."

I scoffed and said under my breath in a murmur, "You should have realized there was a reason she had no other friends," I said when I looked down before back up to him.  His lips were pursed and eyes... almost begging in mine. 

"I felt sorry for her," doc continued as he explained to me.  "She... isolated herself during her pregnancy and would never go out in public.  She was depressed and I helped her through it.  I even recall needing to make a number of house calls because she didn't want to come into my doctrors office and have me check on the baby."

"Maybe she just didn't care," I pointed out after he said the reason could be because she was depressed.  "Maybe because it was too late for her to get an abortion and--" my voice started to rise at him as I could feel my nerves stick on end.  However, I felt a strong pressure coming from my arm on my side that made me cut my words off.  When I glanced over to find Luke's hand squeezing my arm in warning, I met his warning eyes that told me I needed to calm down.  That I couldn't flip out on this guy no matter how bad it gets.  I reminded myself of that as I shook off his grip and sighed, looking back to the doctor who looked even more tense.  His eyes never left mine.