So Becca and Dan came to a sort of truce about their relationship, or more appropriately, their lack of it. In the meantime, they would see what this time off from each other meant for their relationship, after which they would decide where they stood with each other. Becca knew where she stood, or at least, wanted to stand with him. She wanted to continue being friends with benefits, just have amazing sex with him without any strings attached as she had been doing, but that would be a selfish thing to do. They bade themselves subdued goodbyes the next day, each person lost in their thoughts. Dan kissed Emma’s face tenderly, telling the baby how much he was going to miss her as if she understood any of what he was saying. In return, Emma rattled off a lot of things that neither her mother nor Dan understood in baby language, and patted Dan’s cheeks with her strong, but chubby hands.“She’s going to be a very cute talkative, this one,” Dan remarked as he kissed Emma’s forehead and ha
Phone calls from a hospital or even a nursing home, especially ones that came in the wee hours of the night would most often than not, cause panic among the receivers of such calls. Calls like this immediately threw one into a dire state of panic and had a way of causing one’s heart to pound, at least until the cause of the call was ascertained. Ryan for one, with all that he had been through, ever since people around him started dying, starting from his parents, his sister, her husband, and then her two vulnerable babies being hospitalized and at the brink of death, totally hated anything that had to do with hospitals.So when his phone began to ring in the middle of the night, and he saw that the call was coming from the nursing home in which his ex-wife’s aged grandparents lived, his heart started the now familiar pounding that it usually got when he got any calls from a hospital. He had not known Becca’s grandparents for very long, but in the short time that he knew them, they wer
It wasn’t often that anything terrified Becca. In fact, throughout her entire life, she could think of only one time when she had been this terrified and badly shaken up, and that was that awful day when she was nineteen and had come home to find her brother, Toby, unconscious with his legs swollen. That had been the beginning of a nightmare that had led her to Peter, her ex-boyfriend who had ruined her marriage with Ryan in the end, but it had also saved her brother’s life, and for that, she was eternally grateful.So petrified was she that she remained frozen to the spot in which she was standing currently, even though her instinct and everything in her, was urging her to run, run, run and never look back. Now she knew exactly why people who found themselves in dangerous situations froze. Before now, she had found it weird to think that some people, instead of fleeing the second they were threatened by something dangerous, froze instead, but now, she understood perfectly. She willed
Although Ryan tried his best to prolong his stay on the off chance that Becca would come, he had run out of things to say to Mrs. Laura. It probably wasn't a good idea for him to keep talking to her, even though left to her, she would have happily talked until she dropped. It wasn’t as though he didn’t want to talk to her, but she was only just recuperating, and she needed her rest. After some time, he asked her about Becca and if she was coming to see her, but the woman had shaken her head.“No, she hasn’t. I don’t like her traveling all that distance just to see me, you know. She tries to do so very often, but I know how difficult it is, especially with the b...” She trailed off, glancing unsurely at Ryan, and then glancing away guiltily, not finishing her sentence.“Especially with the what, Mrs. Laura?” Ryan asked, sensing that what she had been about to say was serious.“Especially with the busyness of her schedule, of course. You still love her, don’t you, Ryan?”Ryan averted his
A long time passed by before Toby came back, or maybe it just seemed that way to Becca because of the situation. In her irrational mind, she kept imagining Toby appearing with Ryan behind him like a god of war, demanding that she release his daughter to him immediately, and banishing her to a lifetime of not seeing her daughter.“He’s gone,” Toby told her, seating down heavily beside her. He looked very sad, and Becca knew that he felt sorry for Ryan, which would have been strange, but the truth was that she had somehow felt sorry for him too. He had this sad and lonely look about him that seriously contrasted with the powerful and proud Ryan that she used to know. However, she was taking no chances.“Are you sure about that?” She inquired of Toby immediately, staring into his face as though if she stared long enough into it, she would see the answer to all the questions that plagued her. She kept glancing at the corridor, almost half expecting Ryan to step out from behind it.“Yes, I
The day started off very sunny, the bright sunshine lending the atmosphere a happy and alive look that belied the tragedy that would later unfold that day. Noah Hunter did not really like the weather, because it was so hot that it made him very uncomfortable. It seemed the twins didn’t like the hotness of the weather either, because they were really fussy today, and were frustrating the hell out of Noah. He felt guilty thinking of it that way, but it was what it was. His wife had left him in charge of them and had gone to get some groceries. Usually, he enjoyed playing with them and taking care of them on the few occasions that he had to babysit them alone, but today, he had this headache from the pit of hell, so he wasn’t finding their constant fussing funny in the least bit. “Tyler, stop that! Stop pulling your sister’s hair.” He ordered as the mischievous little boy pulled at a lock on his sister’s head, causing her to burst out crying, and increasing Noah’s headache tenfold. “Pap
A few hours later, Ryan arrived in the city in which the twins now lived with their grandparents. He had this really strong urge to see the twins, but he stopped over at his small house first to freshen up and rest a little from the running around that he had done. He called Noah to let him know that he was around and was coming over to the house, but although the phone rang endlessly, Noah did not pick up the phone, something that never ever happened. The man was a sucker for keeping his phone on him at all times and used to get angry with Craig if the latter did not pick up his calls back then when they were in school."You never know when there would be an emergency or something.” Noah always said.Ryan dialed the number over and again, but still got the same thing … endless ringing without Noah picking up the phone. Since he couldn't reach Noah, he dialed Anna’s number. She answered the call on the third ring, sounding breathless.“Hello, Ryan, dear. How are you?”“Good afternoon,
“I’ve really messed up big time. Heaven help me if I get out of this alive.”The room was pitch black since it was night already and there was no source of illumination in it whatsoever. If anything, it was nights like this that she hated the most, even more than her captivity.“Please, God, help me. I promise I’ll never be so stupid again.” Sandra prayed aloud. The last time she had prayed was when she was a kid, but she was willing to do anything right now, cry grovel, roll on the ground if need be, and even sacrifice herself if it meant her son would be free. But no, she had brought them into this mess, and it was looking like there was never going to be a way out for either of them.“Mommy?” Alex whispered in the dark. He had quickly learned that it was safer to whisper, as his father did not like them talking.“Yes, honey?” Sandra whispered back, drawing him closer to her and cradling his head against her chest, her heavy heart aching.“Alex scared.”“I know, honey, but don’t wor