(Sybil’s POV)I started feeling nauseous after leaving the dining room, so I ran straight to the bathroom. I dry heaved for a few minutes, then rinsed my mouth and splashed cold water on my face. Afterwards, I stared at myself in the mirror, wondering why I felt so bad.I knew that there was no way I could be pregnant. John and I were always careful, every single time.Well, not the last time, I remembered. That was just a few days ago, though. I wouldn’t be experiencing symptoms this early. He was away for a month before that. It could have happened before he left. I racked my brain, trying to remember the last time we had sex before his business trip. It was possible, I mused, especially if his mother had already started poking holes in the condoms. When did the doctor start talking about a bone marrow transplant? I couldn’t remember, but I could find out. Maybe just slip the subject casually into a conversation with John’s parents. They didn’t really like me, but I knew that they
(Sybil’s POV)I let out an exasperated sigh when I opened the door to find my husband and his cousin on the floor, beating each other up. I could see that John had a gash on his jaw, as well as a few bruises. It looked as though Alex had punched him.Alex didn’t look much better. He had a black eye.“I can’t believe this!” I shook my head at the sight of two grown men behaving that way. “Honestly, you guys can be such children sometimes!”John glanced up at me. “Well, he started it!”“Did not!” Alex protested.“Did too!” John grabbed Alex by the collar.I rolled my eyes. They had fought like this all the time in high school. I could see that even though they were older now - chronologically, anyway - nothing had changed.John was two grades higher than me and Alex, but you wouldn’t know it from the way he’d behaved back then. Or even now, come to think of it.I’d actually had a bit of a crush on John in high school. I’d found him much more attractive than boys my own age. Two years ca
(Sybil’s POV)Bewildered by the sudden change in John’s personality, I struggled to find the right words to say to him. “Why won’t you sign the papers?” I finally managed to ask.He looked at me. “Come here,” he said, pulling me down onto his lap. Then he held me close and tried to kiss me.I pulled away from him, grabbing his injured jaw and squeezing it. He winced, but didn’t let go of me. “Is that your answer to everything these days? Sex? Can’t you be a little less obvious?” I sighed. “Look, I know how much you love your little sister. I love her, too.”He gave me a confused look at the mention of Amelia. Had Willa been giving him acting lessons? “What does Amelia have to do with this?” He was very convincing. You’d think that he really had no idea!I went on. “I know what you’re trying to do, and I completely understand why you think this is a good idea. I just don’t feel right about bringing a life into this world just to…”John cut me off. “What are you talking about?”“Just
(Sybil’s POV)As John led me out to the car, I could see that almost everybody was leaving the house and getting into their own cars. I felt like laughing at the image of an entire convoy following the ambulance to the hospital. All of this for Willa. If I were the one in that ambulance, would the whole family insist on going to the hospital to support me? I seriously doubted it.I glanced over at John, who looked tense. He didn’t seem to want to say anything, but that was fine with me. I didn’t even want to be with him at the moment.I understood why he would want to be there for Willa. She was his fiancée. I still wasn’t sure if her baby was definitely his. Either way, he would be the father in every way that mattered.What I didn’t understand was what I was doing there. John had insisted on my going with him, but why? It certainly wasn’t for Willa’s benefit. He knew that Willa and I hated each other. He’d known that since our school days.There was one way that I could be useful i
(Sybil’s POV) I didn’t see the point in staying with the others. Unlike the rest of them, I couldn’t care less about how Willa was doing. I snuck away when I was sure that nobody was looking.I decided instead to take advantage of the fact that I was at the hospital, and go visit my brother. Charlie was one of the few people who were always happy to see me. When I got to his room, I saw that he was asleep. I didn’t want to disturb him, so I tiptoed into the room as quietly as I could and sat down in the chair next to his bed. Just being close to him was enough to make me feel a bit better. While sitting there, I noticed how thin and frail he looked. He also sounded like he was having trouble breathing. I hated what his disease was doing to him. I couldn’t help it, and I started crying. I tried my best to not make a sound.Charlie opened his eyes and looked at me. “Hey there, princess. What are you doing here at this time of night?” He was slurring his words. With visible effort, he
(Sybil’s POV)Mr. Worthington smiled at me and Charlie, although I noticed that he and his wife both looked overwhelmed. “Hi, Sybil. We thought we might find you here.” He turned to Charlie. “How are you doing, Charlie?”“Oh, I’m as good as I could be right now,” Charlie replied.I stood and walked over to them. “How’s Willa?” I didn’t really care, but I just felt that it was polite to ask.“She’s fine,” Mrs. Worthington said, “and the baby seems to be healthy.” She and her husband glanced at each other, confusion evident on both of their faces.I felt so bad for both of them. They had to find out about their daughter’s engagement on the news, then they probably just now learned about her pregnancy by talking to the doctor. They both looked so bewildered, all because Willa had kept such important information from them. If they were my parents, I wouldn’t shut them out of my life. They would hear about every significant aspect of my life from me, nobody else. How could Willa do this t
(John’s POV)Sybil walked over to where I was standing in the doorway. She seemed annoyed to see me. Exchanging a brief glance with her brother, she led me out of the room and closed the door. Crossing her arms, she looked up at me. “What do you want?”“Is that any way to greet your husband?” I took her hand and tried to pull her in the direction of the elevator. “Come with me.”“Where are you taking me, to see Willa?” She dug her feet into the floor, refusing to move. “I still don’t understand why you wanted me to come here. You know that Willa and I don’t get along.”“We’re going home,” I said, struggling to get her to move. She had the nerve to roll her eyes at me! “Excuse me, but I was in the middle of a conversation with my brother. I’d like to go back to him. You can go home if you want to, unless Willa needs you to stay with her.” She pulled her hand away. “When I’m ready to leave, I’ll go back to my apartment.”I didn’t even have time to respond before she went back into the
(Sybil’s POV)After spending a few more minutes with Charlie, I could see that his eyelids were starting to droop. “You should get some rest,” I said. “I’ll get going now, so you can sleep.”He nodded, yawning. “It was great to see you, though, Sybil. You’ll come back soon, won’t you?”“Of course.” I fluffed his pillow and helped him get comfortable, kissing him on the forehead before I left.When I got out to the parking lot, I took out my phone and was just about to call an Uber, when I heard Alex call out my name.“Over here, Sybil!” Alex waved to me, standing next to his car. “Want a lift?”I smiled and walked over to him. “Have you been out here this whole time? You really didn’t have to wait for me.” I hadn’t seen him inside the hospital when we all arrived, but that was normal. He had even less reason to be there than I did.“Willa has outdone herself once again!” Alex shook his head in amazement as we got into the car. “Anything to get attention.”“Do you really think that her