Twinsequences (A Twisted Twin Series) (25 page)

The
 next
 few
 hours
 were
 horrible
 for
 me.
 All
 I
 could
 do
 was
 cry
 as
 I
 was
 
strapped
 down
 to
 the
 bed,
 staring
 at
 the
 ceiling.
 I
 couldn’t
 sleep,
 in
 fear
 of
 the
 police
 
coming
 in
 and
 taking
 me
 away.
 
 
It
 seemed
 like
 forever
 had
 passed
 before
 Stosh
 came
 walking
 into
 my
 
hospital
 room.
 He
 had
 a
 bouquet
 of
 fresh
 roses
 and
 had
 changed
 his
 clothes.
 The
 
smile
 on
 his
 face
 let
 me
 know
 that
 everything
 was
 okay.
 He
 leaned
 down
 and
 kissed
 
me.
 “I
 can
 only
 stay
 for
 a
 little
 while.
 The
 attending
 physician
 is
 here
 to
 evaluate
 you.
 
You
 sure
 you
 can
 handle
 this?”
 
I
 nodded.
 “I’m
 sure.
 So,
 how
 was
 it?”
 
“She
 slept,
 up
 until
 I
 got
 her
 in
 the
 house.
 Thank
 God
 we
 used
 those
 zip-‐ties.
 
She
 tried
 to
 free
 herself,
 but
 there
 was
 no
 way
 she
 could
 overpower
 me.
 I
 got
 spit
 on
 
a
 couple
 times
 and
 she
 called
 me
 every
 name
 in
 the
 book,
 not
 that
 I
 haven’t
 heard
 it
 
all
 before.
 She
 threatened
 to
 kill
 me
 a
 few
 times
 and
 that
 she
 was
 going
 to
 skin
 you
 
alive
 and
 make
 me
 watch.
 I
 think
 that
 was
 my
 favorite
 threat.”
 
My
 eyes
 got
 wide.
 “How
 did
 you
 respond?”
 
“I
 told
 her
 that
 making
 love
 to
 you
 was
 the
 best
 thing
 that
 had
 every
 
happened
 to
 me.”
 He
 kissed
 my
 lips.
 “I
 told
 her
 that
 I
 was
 completely
 in
 love
 with
 
you.”
 He
 kissed
 me
 one
 more
 time.
 “I
 told
 her
 that
 I
 never
 loved
 her.”
 
“I’m
 sure
 that
 hit
 a
 nerve.”
 
“She’s
 pissed,
 not
 that
 I
 care.
 I
 actually
 like
 seeing
 her
 suffer.
 She
 deserves
 it.
 
All
 the
 years
 she
 kept
 us
 apart.
 I
 wish
 I
 never
 listened
 to
 her.
 I
 should
 have
 known
 
how
 you
 felt
 the
 whole
 damn
 time.
 I
 should
 have
 just
 asked
 you.”
 
We
 were
 cut
 off
 when
 my
 father
 came
 walking
 into
 the
 room.
 Stosh
 stood
 up
 
and
 faced
 him.
 “When
 did
 you
 get
 here?”
 
“Last
 night.”
 
“Son,
 you
 and
 I
 need
 to
 have
 a
 man
 to
 man.”
 
I
 couldn’t
 see
 their
 faces
 and
 it
 was
 driving
 me
 crazy.
 
“Sir,
 no
 disrespect,
 but
 I
 think
 Ivy
 and
 I
 have
 to
 work
 things
 out
 ourselves.”
 
“And
 what
 about
 Willow?”
 
“That
 was
 a
 mistake.
 She
 acted
 like
 Ivy.
 She
 said
 she
 was
 Ivy.
 It
 happened
 and
 
I’m
 sorry.
 I
 get
 that
 you’ll
 never
 forget
 what
 I’ve
 done
 to
 your
 daughter,
 but
 I
 plan
 on
 
spending
 the
 rest
 of
 my
 life
 making
 things
 right.”
 We’d
 rehearsed
 that
 part
 on
 the
 
way
 there.
 
 It
 was
 all
 part
 of
 the
 plan.
 
My
 dad
 put
 his
 hand
 on
 Stosh’s
 shoulder.
 “I
 hope
 you
 make
 good
 on
 that
 
promise.
 My
 daughter
 loves
 you
 very
 much.
 I
 know
 that
 she
 wants
 nothing
 more
 
than
 to
 work
 things
 out.
 We
 all
 make
 mistakes,
 but
 fixing
 things
 takes
 a
 lot
 of
 guts.”
 
He
 walked
 over
 to
 me,
 rubbing
 the
 hair
 out
 of
 my
 face.
 “Did
 you
 sleep
 well,
 
sweetie?”
 
I
 missed
 my
 parents
 so
 much
 that
 I
 began
 to
 tear
 up
 and
 eventually
 started
 to
 
sob.
 “I’m
 sorry
 for
 disappointing
 you,
 Daddy.
 Please
 don’t
 be
 mad.”
 It
 was
 how
 Ivy
 
would
 have
 played
 him.
 
“It’s
 going
 to
 be
 alright.
 Your
 mother
 has
 arranged
 for
 her
 friend
 to
 treat
 you
 
for
 your
 depression.
 Now
 that
 Stoshua
 is
 here,
 I’m
 sure
 we
 can
 get
 you
 released
 out
 
of
 here.
 I
 know
 the
 chief
 of
 staff
 and
 he
 owes
 me
 a
 few
 favors.”
 
I
 was
 ecstatic
 that
 I
 could
 get
 out
 of
 the
 hospital
 before
 the
 allotted
 time
 
required.
 Stosh
 threw
 me
 a
 wink.
 “If
 it’s
 alright
 with
 you,
 sir,
 I’d
 like
 to
 take
 her
 
straight
 home.”
 
“I
 don’t
 know…”
 
“Dad,
 please?
 It’s
 what
 I
 want.
 I
 want
 to
 be
 with
 Stosh.
 I
 just
 want
 things
 to
 go
 
back
 to
 normal.”
 
He
 shook
 his
 head.
 “Your
 mother
 is
 going
 to
 be
 upset
 about
 this,
 Ivy.
 You
 
know
 how
 she
 worries
 about
 you.”
 
“I
 know.
 What
 happened
 last
 night
 was
 a
 mistake.
 I
 won’t
 do
 it
 again.
 I
 
promise.
 I
 don’t
 want
 to
 die,
 Daddy.
 I
 just
 want
 to
 be
 happy.
 I
 just
 want
 to
 go
 home.”
 
I
 cried
 even
 more.
 
 
He
 rolled
 his
 eyes,
 but
 walked
 out
 of
 the
 room,
 grabbing
 his
 cell
 phone
 out
 of
 
his
 pocket.
 Stosh
 came
 over
 to
 the
 bed.
 He
 massaged
 my
 wrists.
 “Are
 they
 on
 too
 
tight?”
 
I
 shook
 my
 head.
 “No.
 They
 aren’t
 bad.”
 
“It’s
 a
 good
 thing
 your
 dad
 is
 a
 damn
 doctor.
 I
 don’t
 know
 if
 I
 could
 handle
 
sleeping
 without
 you
 tonight.”
 
“Well,
 you’re
 getting
 pretty
 good
 about
 sneaking
 people
 in
 and
 out
 of
 
hospitals.
 I’m
 sure
 we
 could
 have
 figured
 a
 way
 to
 be
 together.”
 I
 couldn’t
 help
 but
 
feel
 giddy,
 thinking
 about
 being
 with
 Stoshua.
 
 
He
 ran
 his
 fingers
 over
 my
 wrist
 restraints
 and
 removed
 one
 of
 them.
 “Fuck
 
the
 rules!”
 
I
 smiled
 and
 waited
 for
 my
 other
 hand
 to
 be
 free.
 By
 the
 time
 my
 father
 made
 
it
 back
 in
 the
 room,
 Stosh
 was
 sitting
 on
 the
 bed
 hugging
 me.
 My
 father
 looked
 
pleased.
 He
 had
 no
 clue
 that
 I
 wasn’t
 Ivy.
 My
 mother
 would
 be
 the
 one
 to
 convince,
 
but
 since
 she
 hadn’t
 seen
 me
 in
 a
 while,
 and
 my
 father
 had
 seen
 me
 strapped
 to
 the
 
bed,
 I
 didn’t
 think
 she
 would
 question
 it.
 I
 had
 to
 put
 on
 a
 show
 for
 her
 and
 the
 time
 
had
 come.
 She
 came
 in
 carrying
 a
 cup
 of
 coffee.
 She
 was
 wearing
 scrubs,
 and
 I
 
gathered
 that
 she
 must
 be
 performing
 some
 kind
 of
 procedure
 here
 at
 the
 hospital.
 
“Honey,
 I
 just
 got
 out
 of
 surgery.
 How
 are
 you
 feeling?”
 
“I
 didn’t
 get
 much
 sleep.
 My
 stomach
 hurts.”
 
My
 mother
 looked
 at
 Stoshua.
 “You
 did
 this
 to
 her,
 you
 know.
 You
 put
 her
 in
 
this
 hospital
 bed.”
 
He
 put
 his
 head
 down
 and
 I
 wondered
 if
 it
 was
 because
 he
 secretly
 wanted
 to
 
smile.
 “I
 know.
 How
 many
 times
 do
 I
 have
 to
 apologize
 for
 my
 actions?”
 
“Mom,
 stop!
 I
 can’t
 deal
 with
 any
 more
 fighting.
 I
 just
 want
 to
 go
 home
 and
 
work
 things
 out
 with
 my
 husband.”
 Saying
 that
 was
 never
 going
 to
 get
 old.
 
“You’ve
 been
 through
 something
 traumatic.
 I’ve
 cleared
 my
 schedule
 in
 order
 
to
 stay
 home
 and
 care
 for
 you.”
 My
 mother
 was
 adamant.
 
“I
 want
 to
 go
 to
 my
 house.
 Nothing
 is
 going
 to
 be
 solved
 until
 Stosh
 and
 I
 can
 
work
 out
 our
 problems.
 We
 can’t
 do
 that
 if
 I’m
 at
 your
 house.
 I
 appreciate
 the
 
gesture,
 but
 I’m
 going
 to
 be
 fine.”
 
I
 was
 praying
 she
 would
 buy
 it.
 The
 last
 thing
 I
 wanted
 to
 do
 was
 spend
 
several
 days
 under
 the
 care
 of
 my
 doctor
 mother,
 while
 Stoshua
 babysat
 my
 
restrained
 sister.
 
She
 looked
 at
 Stosh.
 “Are
 you
 going
 to
 stand
 by
 my
 daughter
 this
 time,
 or
 run
 
out
 on
 her
 again.”
 The
 question
 seemed
 funny
 to
 me,
 since
 he
 was
 still
 banging
 one
 
of
 her
 daughters.
 Me
 being
 that
 person.
 
“I
 promise.
 She’s
 not
 leaving
 my
 side.”
 
She
 threw
 her
 hands
 up
 in
 the
 air.
 “This
 is
 ridiculous.
 She
 needs
 constant
 
supervision!”
 
“I’m
 not
 a
 baby!”
 
“You
 took
 a
 bottle
 of
 pain
 pills
 and
 drank
 them
 down
 with
 a
 glass
 of
 vodka.
 I
 
hardly
 think
 your
 decision
 making
 can
 be
 factored
 into
 this.”
 
“She’s
 my
 wife.
 With
 all
 due
 respect,
 I’m
 taking
 her
 home.”
 Stosh
 had
 the
 last
 
word.
 My
 mother
 shook
 her
 head
 and
 gave
 up.
 
They
 all
 three
 went
 out
 in
 the
 hallway
 to
 discuss
 my
 release,
 while
 I
 dressed
 
into
 my
 sister’s
 clothes.
 By
 the
 time,
 Stosh
 came
 back
 into
 the
 room,
 my
 parent’s
 had
 
gone
 home.
 He
 smiled
 when
 he
 saw
 me
 dressed
 and
 ready.
 “Your
 dad
 made
 a
 few
 
calls.
 I
 already
 signed
 your
 release
 papers.
 You’re
 free
 to
 go.”
 
I
 didn’t
 waste
 any
 time.
 “Let’s
 get
 out
 of
 here.
 We
 still
 have
 a
 lot
 of
 work
 to
 
do.”
 
He
 stopped
 me
 and
 reached
 for
 my
 hand.
 “This
 should
 have
 been
 on
 your
 
finger
 for
 the
 last
 four
 years.”
 He
 slipped
 Ivy’s
 wedding
 set
 onto
 my
 ring
 finger.
 “It’s
 
official,
 you’re
 my
 wife.”
 
I
 laughed.
 “That’s
 funny,
 I
 don’t
 even
 remember
 our
 wedding.”
 
“Let’s
 get
 out
 of
 here
 and
 talk
 about
 renewing
 those
 vows.
 My
 wife
 needs
 to
 
remember
 important
 moments
 like
 her
 wedding.”
 
Leaving
 the
 hospital
 was
 like
 being
 freed
 from
 a
 life
 time
 sentence
 in
 jail.
 I
 
almost
 ran
 out
 of
 those
 double
 doors.
 The
 nurse
 gave
 me
 dirty
 looks,
 like
 my
 father
 
had
 bent
 the
 rules
 and
 I
 was
 just
 his
 little
 charity
 case
 daughter.
 I
 wanted
 to
 smack
 
them
 all.
 If
 they
 only
 knew
 what
 I’d
 been
 through.