Page 57 of The Heir
"What?" Melody demands. "What, hang on? What's going on? What aren't you telling me?"
"Answer her!" I snarl.
Rebecca turns to us with wide eyes. "Um, okay. It's fine. Everything is fine. Look here—you see that? That's the heartbeat, right?" She points to another fluttering blob to the left. "And that… is the other heartbeat."
All of the air rushes out of the room. I don't have any oxygen in my lungs. I don't think I have bones in my legs anymore. Collapsing onto the provided chair, I feel my heartbeat race in my neck.
"What do you mean, 'other heartbeat'?" Melody squeaks. "Why does the baby have two hearts? Two? Why? Is it gonna have to have surgery? Rebecca, why the fuck does the baby havetwo hearts?"
Rebecca gives us a pitying smile. "No, no surgery required. There are two hearts because, well, there are two babies."
Twins. I'm suddenly sweaty all over, and I can't quite catch my breath. I can hear my own heart, and that can't be good. The air hasn't returned yet. And the room is so hot—sweltering, really—and I can't think. I can'tbreathe. I can't talk. Twins. Twins. Twins?
Fuck.
Right as I turn to Melody with wide eyes, trying desperately to comfort her, it all goes black.
"Well, don't you look like shit?" Helena's voice floats into my mind. I'm sure I do, but that's no way to speak to her employer.
"Shut up," Melody snaps. "He just got… news."
"News?" I hear the shuffling of fabric against plastic. "What kind of news? Seraph news? GoCon news?"
I manage to wrench my eyes open. "No."
Helena sits in a plastic visitor chair, dressed in a baggy orange T-shirt and loose white shorts. Her strawberry blonde hair is piled in a bun on top of her head, and she watches me with cautious regard. Beside her lies Melnyk in his hospital bed, wrapped almost entirely inwhite bandages. A heart monitor faithfully beeps away next to him.
And at my side, thankfully, is my wife. She reaches out with a shaking, gentle hand, placing it on mine. She takes a deep breath and tips her head toward our comrades.
"Do you want me to tell them, or are you going to faint again?" Her tone is teasing but loving. Thank god.
"I didn'tfaint," I grumble. "Men of my stature do notfaint."
"Sure thing, babe." She turns to Helena and Melnyk. "I'm pregnant."
"Holy shit," Helena gasps. Melnyk doesn't say a word but smiles weakly.
"It gets better." Melody takes a shuddering breath. "There are two of them."
"What?" Helena squawks, and Melnyk's jaw drops. His eyes are bruised and swollen, but I can still see him staring at me in disbelief.
"Twins," I confirm. "There are two very strong heartbeats. I was… overcome with emotion. Melody may describe that as fainting, but I wouldn't."
Helena makes a strangled noise. I refuse to look at her. My eyes are only for my wife—my beautiful, amazing, knocked-up wife. She gazes back at me with a hazy smile, like she can't quite believe it herself. Gone isthe fierceness she used to interrogate Rebecca. The panicked expression melted away to a serene glow.
My god, she's beautiful.
"Congratulations," Melnyk wheezes. His hoarse voice draws me back into the present. He winces and sucks in a breath.
Scurrying from my wheelchair—when did they put me in a wheelchair?—I approach the man, and lay my hand on the plastic side rail of his bed. "No need to speak if it hurts. Thank you. For… well, for everything, Melnyk."
A tear forces its way through the purple, bruised flesh around his eye. He silently nods, and his lips twitch into a pained smile.
"That's quite enough excitement for all of you," Rebecca announces, sweeping into the room. She narrows her eyes at me. "I thought I told you to stay put."
"I don't remember that."
"Right, because you fainted."
