Talania - a Trip Down Memory Lane... (18 page)

As I slowly come to, I immediately feel Tristan’s presence in the room and his grip on my hand. He is talking to my parents. I keep my eyes closed and listen since I am too weak to do much of anything else.

“Alexandra, go ahead and take a seat. I think I would like to hear what Tristan is speaking of.” My father’s tone sends shivers down my spine. He does not seem pleased.

“Oh, did you keep your dear old husband out of the loop Alexandra?” Tristan sounds angry and I wonder what on earth he is trying to say.

“There was no need to let him know what you and Evelyn had done. We had more pressing ordeals to concern ourselves with other than protecting your feelings Tristan.”

This doesn’t sound like my mother; she sounds bitter and hateful. She was never this awful to me.

“I’m asking one more time Alexandra: what did you do this time?” my father spits out.

“Tristan got Evelyn pregnant before we left Laguna, right before she was diagnosed.”

I feel my chest tighten along with Tristan’s grip on my hand. Nothing could stop me from opening my eyes and blurting out, “What?”

The tears prickle my eyes and I look over at Tristan who has his mouth dropped completely open. He squeezes my hand tighter and gulps.

“See, look what you did now,” my mother hisses at Tristan.

“Tristan did nothing mother,” I whisper brokenly.

Tristan moves with the speed of light and climbs into my bed, paying no attention to the monitor wires or the IVs, holding me tightly and thumbing the tears from my eyes.

“I think I would recall my daughter being pregnant Alexandra.”

I close my eyes because of the tone in my father’s voice. You do not want to get my father mad. He is one of the quiet ones until you do something wrong.

“No, no you wouldn’t. Not if Evelyn and I kept it from you.”

I gasp. I have never been pregnant.

“I’ve never been pregnant,” I try to yell but it comes out throaty.

Mother sighs and smirks at me. “Yes, we took care of it; you just can’t remember.”

What? Tristan goes stiff around me. No, no, no.

“You’re telling me that you took our daughter’s memory loss and used it against her?”

“I didn’t do that Tristan; I wouldn’t do that,” I whisper frantically. “I couldn’t give up our baby. I couldn’t just do that.”

Feeling backed into a corner, Mother snarls. “I did no such thing. You are over exaggerating. She was heading into her first surgical procedure and was in chemo Stephan.”

“You’re telling me that not only did you take Evelyn from me, but you also took our child from us too?” Tristan growls with anger.

Father stands up and walks over to mother with a look so evil that I never want to see it again.

“What does Tristan mean when he says we took Evelyn away from him, Alexandra?”

Oh no, this just keeps getting worse.

The all mighty Alexandra looks like she might shrink back at any moment.

“I never called them and let them know after we moved,” she struggles to get out.

“Tell me that I’m hearing you incorrectly, because I could swear that you just told me that you’ve never contacted the Monroe’s. Tell me I did not just hear that from you.” The venom in my father’s voice is menacing. I have never seen him this angry. “Please tell me this isn’t why you suggested that we sell our home and move all the way to Atlanta. Tell me this isn’t why you fought her over going to Talania for school. Tell me I’m hearing you wrong Alexandra.”

My mother begins sobbing. “I’m sorry. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. She didn’t need all of that stress, Stephan. You know she didn’t!” Mother’s breath begins hitching between her sobs.

“No, Alexandra, the doctors did not suggest that precisely and you know it. They wanted her to pull back from trying to remember things. They did not suggest taking people out of her life.”

The room goes completely silent with all the revelations until there is a knock on the doorframe bringing us all back to the present.

I look over and see my doctor. I smile because I have missed him. He was such a constant person in my life for very long period.

“Dr. Zelanburg,” I barely manage to squeak.

I can ask him about the pregnancy. I wipe the tears from my eyes as he makes his way over to me.

Tristan gets up and moves to my other side.

“Well, hello there gorgeous,” he grins.

“Oh stop, you’re old enough to be my grandpa,” I tease back.

He really is too, but that doesn’t stop the teasing from the silver haired man I adore.

“Some go for the older ones dear, or haven’t you heard?” he chuckles.

Tristan looks at Dr. Zelanburg and then at me. He quirks an eyebrow and I pat his hand to reassure him.

“So my dear, you’ve caused a stir, have you not?”

One thing about my doctor is he always tries to make light of the situation.

“I suppose, but before we get into what’s going on with me now, can you fill me in on my pregnancy when I was sixteen please?”

Dr. Zelanburg looks from me to my mother with a frown.

“You never told her, did you?” he asks harshly.

I close my eyes. My mother sure has done it this time.

“No,” she whispers.

Dr. Zelanburg pulls Tristan’s chair closer, sitting and sighing.

“When you were sixteen, we ran a blood test. The results were positive because you were pregnant. Your mother was supposed to remind you of it if or when you got better. I see now she did not. You were aware at the time and fought tooth and nail, but with the strenuous surgery and chemotherapy you were going to have, the outcome of the pregnancy would not have been good. You were around eleven weeks when we decided to terminate the pregnancy.”

This is not what I wanted to hear. I cannot believe that I would choose that.

“I don’t think I would have done that,” I cry out. “Tristan, I swear I didn’t do that. I would never have done that. You know me, right?”

He looks like I just broke him. His eyes are holding unshed tears as he lets go of my hand, running his own through his hair and letting out a shuddering breath.

“Evelyn dear, you signed the paperwork the day before your surgery.”

I look over and shake my head at my doctor. I would have never done that. I would have given birth to my child and then worried about myself. “No, no. I would never agree to something so horrible!” I yell, sitting up.

“Jesus Evelyn, stop! Lay back down.” Tristan guides me back down to the bed.

“Mom, please, tell me you didn’t. Tell me you didn’t forge my name on the papers.” I wipe my tears and swallow. “Tell me you didn’t take my memory loss and do something so cruel,” I choke out the words between sobs. I cannot believe this. I grab my chest in pain and the monitors start beeping.

“Evelyn you need to calm down. You need to lower your heart rate dear.” Dr. Zelanburg pats my arm.

Calm down? I can’t calm down. How could my mom think that my child's life was less important than my own? I want her gone. I want her out of here.

“Get her out now!” I whisper, covering my face with my hands. I can’t bear to see her, to look at her. No one moves and I start to feel my patience running thin.

“I said get her the hell out of my room, now!”

“You don’t mean that baby girl. You need me,” she croaks.

My blood starts to boil. Not only did she take the love of my life away from me, she took our child. She couldn’t be more wrong about what I need.

“I don’t need you. You think you know what is best for me. You took Tristan, Drake and the Monroes from me. You took my child from me. You have no idea what you have done. Do you not recall the chances of me having a child after chemo and radiation mother? Do you not recall the damn odds? It is almost impossible. In fact, you know my eggs are fried. I don’t need you anymore, but you need to get out before I call security,” I spit out through clenched teeth.

I am shaking so bad that it catches Tristan’s attention.

“She’s shaking. You need to go now,” Tristan says as he scowls at my mother.

“This is the Tristan from your teenage years, Evelyn?”

I turn my attention to my doctor and nod.

“Alexandra, go back to the hotel. I’ll deal with you later,” my father says, his voice laced with hate.

She grabs her purse, sobbing the entire way out of my room.

“Evelyn, I know you don’t want to hear this right now, but now that I know those papers were forged I have to report it to the hospital. Would you like to file a claim as well?”

I bite my lip and turn towards Tristan. He climbs back into bed to comfort me, this time maneuvering around the wires and IV’s.

“What do you think Tristan? It wasn’t just my baby,” I whisper.

He runs his fingers through my hair before kissing my forehead.

“I think what’s done is done. The hospital will give us enough justice,” he whispers back.

This is all too much to take in. I still don’t know what I am gonna hear from my test results.

“How long before her test results come back?” my father asks as if reading my mind.

Dr. Zelanburg looks at his watch, and then says to my father, “We should hear something in about another hour or so.”

My father stretches his arms and what he says next shocks me. “Tristan, do your parents still live in the same house?”

Tristan looks from me to my father. “Yeah. My parents built that house. They’ll never leave it.”

My father nods his head in understanding.

“Evelyn, if you don’t mind, I’m going to apologize to the Monroes and bring them up here to see you. If you need me for the test results though, I can wait.”

I can’t believe that my father didn’t know. I love how he is giving me a choice. It is obvious that mother never did.

“Tristan and the rest of my friends are here, and I would love to meet the Monroes again. Whatever the result of the tests, Tristan is here so I’ll be okay, I promise.” I try to assure my father.

My father walks over and squeezes me tightly. “I’m asking one more time baby girl. Are you sure it’s fine? You know I’ll wait.”

I laugh. He is treating me like a grown up for the first time and he is being hesitant about it.

“I’ll be fine Dad, I promise,” I grin.

“Mr. Beaumont, here’s my phone.” Tristan hands his phone over. “Program your number in, and if you want, I can call you as soon as we know.”

Dad takes Tristan’s phone with a nod, programs his number in, and then mumbles thanks. After that, Dad walks out of the room. I know that wasn’t an easy thing for him to do. I assume he is trying to make amends for all of mom’s evil doings.

Adella quickly moves towards me and I smile. She bursts into tears. “I’ve known you for a few days, but it feels like so much longer,” she cries and hugs me at the same time.

“I know,” I whisper into her hair.

She pulls away, wiping her tears as I notice the blonde streaks in her hair.

“You changed your streaks,” I gesture to her hair.

“Of course, only you would be waiting on test results and think about my hair,” she laughs.

This is why I already love this girl.

“Sunshine, you scared the shit out of me,” Drake whispers.

I look from Adella to him and hold open my arms. “I’m so sorry.”

He comes rushing over to give me a hug and damn if he doesn’t squeeze the hell out of me.

“Drake and Kyle were there when the ambulance was taking off with you. I’m not even going to get into the fact that you told me you were fine.” Tristan scolds me.

“I left you a note.” I say simply as Drake pulls away.

Tristan frowns and shakes his head. “You left me a note?”

I don’t want him mad so I look around and notice that Kyle and Shawn have left. I use that to change the subject. “Where did Shawn and Kyle go?”

Tristan quirks his eyebrow at me. Apparently, he already knows this antic well too.