Chapter 64 #64
Chapter 64
~Shailyn~
I woke up slowly, my head feeling heavy and foggy. The first thing I noticed was the steady beep of monitors. The second was voices, two of them, both familiar, both tense.
"Why is my wife in the hospital? Why didn't you call me immediately instead of sending a fucking text?"
Dante's voice. Angry. Furious.
Lower your voice. She's sleeping.
Dwayne's voice. Calm. Controlled.
"Don't tell me what to do! What happened to her? What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything. She collapsed in the garden. I called an ambulance. I saved her life."
I tried to open my eyes, tried to speak, but my body felt so heavy. Like I was underwater, trying to swim to the surface.
"Bullshit..."
"Dwayne?" The word slipped out before I could stop it, my voice weak and confused.
Both of them froze. I could feel their attention shift to me immediately.
I forced my eyes open, blinking against the harsh hospital lights. Two figures stood beside my bed, and I turned toward the one on my right.
"Dwayne?" I repeated, my vision still blurry. "What... what happened?"
"Baby, it's me. It's Dante."
I blinked again, my vision clearing slightly. Dante's face came into focus, his expression shifting from rage to confusion.
"Dwayne," I murmured again, reaching out weakly toward him. My brain felt scrambled, like all the wires were crossed. "I don't... I can't..."
The room tilted.
And everything went dark again.
\---
When I woke the second time, the confusion had cleared somewhat, but the heaviness remained.
The bomb then came in.
"Yes babies. The babies are stable," he said gently.
I stared at him. "What?"
"Babies. Plural." Dr. Harrison's expression softened. "Mrs. Belmar, you're carrying twins."
The words hung in the air, not quite making sense.
"Twins?" I whispered.
"Yes. The ultrasound revealed two distinct heartbeats. Both are healthy and developing normally despite the complications."
Twins.
Not one baby. Two babies.
Two little beans.
The emotional dam broke completely. Tears streamed down my face, sobs wracking my body so hard I could barely breathe. I couldn't stop them, couldn't control the overwhelming wave of joy and terror and complete disbelief crashing over me.
"Baby, hey, it's okay," Dante said, immediately sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling me into his arms. "It's okay. This is good news. Amazing news."
"I know," I sobbed against his chest, clutching his shirt. "I know, I just... I can't believe it. Two babies, Dante. We're having twins."
"We are," he said, and I could hear the emotion thick in his voice. "We're going to have two perfect little babies. Two perfect little versions of us."
I clung to him, letting his warmth anchor me as my mind spun with the impossibility of it all. His hand stroked my hair, his other arm wrapped protectively around me.
But even as Dante held me, even as his familiar scent and touch surrounded me, something else surfaced in my consciousness.
A memory that wasn't quite a memory.
Fragments of words spoken in a deep, gentle voice while I'd been unconscious.
"I'm here. I'm right here. And I'm not going anywhere."
"We're going to figure this out. I don't know how yet, but we will."
“Daddy's here. And I'm going to protect you. Both of you."
The words felt warm against my mind. Safe. Like a promise wrapped in absolute certainty.
I didn't know where they'd come from. Had I dreamed about them? Had someone actually spoken to them while I was under?
I pulled back from Dante slightly, wiping my eyes with shaking hands. My gaze found Dwayne, who was standing near the window now, his back partially turned, his shoulders rigid with tension.
"Dwayne," I said softly.
He turned immediately, his expression carefully guarded. "Yeah?"
"Thank you," I said, my voice still thick with tears. "For bringing me here. For staying with me."
Something flickered across his face, emotion too complex to name. "Of course. I wasn't going to leave you."
Dante's arm tightened around me possessively. "She has me now. You can go."
"Dante," I said quietly, warning in my voice.
"What? I'm just saying he doesn't need to hang around anymore. You're awake. You're fine. I can take care of you from here."
"He saved my life," I pointed out, pulling away from Dante slightly.
"I would have done the same thing if I'd been there," Dante countered.
"But you weren't there," Dwayne said, his voice carefully neutral but with an edge underneath. "I was."
The tension in the room thickened until I could barely breathe through it.
"Can you both please stop?" I asked, exhaustion creeping back in heavy and overwhelming. "I'm tired. I just found out I'm having twins. Can we not do this right now?"
Dr. Harrison cleared his throat diplomatically. "Mrs. Belmar needs rest. I'd recommend keeping visitors to a minimum for now."
"I'm her husband," Dante said immediately, his tone leaving no room for argument. "I'm staying."
"Of course," Dr. Harrison agreed smoothly. "But everyone else should give her space to recover."
Dwayne met my eyes one more time. Something passed between us in that moment, understanding, maybe. Concern. Something I couldn't quite name but felt all the way to my bones.
Then he nodded slowly. "Feel better, Shailyn."
"Thank you," I said again, meaning it more than he probably knew.
He left without another word, the door clicking shut softly behind him.
\---
By evening, Dr. Harrison cleared me for discharge with strict instructions.
"Rest is crucial," he emphasized, his expression serious. "Plenty of fluids, proper nutrition."
I know I just recently took an injection, could it be the cause of what's going on?
But surely that couldn't be what made me sick? He'd said it was completely safe for the baby. For the babies.
\---
That night, lying in bed beside Dante while he slept, I made a decision.
I was going to uncover the truth. About everything.
About Jack and whatever he was doing with Cynthia. About the strange phone calls and cryptic messages.
I've taken my mind off the injection, it couldn't possibly be.
I needed to know what was really happening in this family I'd apparently been part of for five years but couldn't remember.
I pulled out my phone, my fingers hovering over the screen.
I needed help. Someone I could trust. Someone who wouldn't judge me for what I was about to do.
I typed out a message carefully:
"I need your help. Can we talk tomorrow? There are things I need to figure out and I can't do it alone."
I stared at the message for a long moment, my thumb hovering over send.
Then I hit it before I could second-guess myself.
The message went through with a soft whoosh.
A response followed immediately. “I'll be glad to. I'll text you where we can meet.”
Great!