“Dee, what are your thoughts on the reports of a…” he looks down at his notepad, “… Miss Jessi Bradbrooke carrying Colter’s love child? Is that why you broke up?”
I stumble.
Am I falling?
The whole world is caving in on me.
I’m being buried alive in a ton of misinformation.
But it feels so authentically real right now that I can’t help but take the information in and try to process it.
Jessi’s pregnant?
To Colt?
Oh fuck!
I can’t breathe.
Am I losing my mind?
The tears stream as everything spins. The flashes are a constant barrage of bright lights and uncertainty.
Just in time, before I hit the floor, a pair of familiar arms wrap around me.
“Leave her alone! Get off my property.Now!You’re trespassing! If any of you come back, I’ll have you charged. Nowpiss offthe lot of you.” I hear Joseph yell, then the front door slam.
And everything fades to black.
***
“Dee… Dee… for God’s sake, Dee, will you wake up?” I hear, then feel soft slapping on my cheek. My eyes flash wide open. Joseph’s holding me while Danny is fanning me with a magazine.
“There’s my girl. Are you with me?” Joseph asks.
A hollow ache swells inside me, filling the void with sharp, stabbing pain. Tears spill freely as I curl into myself, my arms wrapping tight around my body. My fingers twist into my hair, gripping hard as I rock back and forth, trying to hold myself together—trying to breathe through the fucking wreckage of my life.
“How couldhe?” I yell at no one in particular.
If Jessi’s pregnant,hemust have been sleeping with her when we were together.You can’t have sex and find out five days later that you’re pregnant.
It only confirms thathewas cheating on me the whole time.
“Fuuuck,”I scream at the top of my lungs.
I cry so hard my stomach heaves.
I can’t see.
I can’t hear.
I can’t feel.
I’m vaguely aware of being carried and gently placed on the cold tile floor of my ensuite, just in time to lurch forward over the bowl. My stomach heaves violently, constricting so tightly I can barely breathe. The relentless waves of nausea leave me gasping, my body wracked with shudders. It’s brutal.
“Jesus, Dee.” I barely hear Joseph as he holds my hair for me. “Danny,” he calls out.
My stomach hurts.
