Sin & Savior

CHAPTER 8, PART 1

"They took him to Mt. Moriah Neurology Institute," she sighed dramatically. "It's a private practice neurology clinic that specializes in critical care neurology. They claim it's one of the best throughout the entire city, but I wouldn't know." Her hair fell over her clasped hands as she leaned forward into the table in her mother's living room.

"They have an intensive care unit, but something's wrong with him mentally—the EMT claimed it was a possible traumatic brain injury. I don't know what to do, Mom..." she said before the tears went from unshed to overflowing near-instantaneously.

"I keep trying to figure out whether or not I did the right thing, but all I keep feeling is like I caused Alex to get hurt," she said through a roiling outpour of mucus and tears.

"Honey..." her mother said, rubbing her back and trying her best to calm her. "There wasn't anything more you could have done, and if that woman threatened you with physical harm, you did the right thing to protect yourself. I saw her brandishing the scissors in the video; you have to be less hard on yourself for something that was entirely outside of your control."

"But I COULD have controlled myself better, Mom!" she cried out through the salty streams. "I could've, and I didn't, and now Alex might never wake up because of me!" she said, sinking lower and lower onto the table, her entire speech unintelligible now.

Her pity party was soon cut short, however, as she felt an eerie vibration against the inside of her right thigh. She pulled out her broken telephone and ran to her bedroom to get her spare. The iMessage was thankfully connected to both devices, and she lurched when she saw who had been reaching out to her. Broderick. He'd called her on FaceTime unexpectedly. She'd had a hard time navigating her emotions in the heat of the moment, but what was a litigious appeal to her own personal sorrows quickly morphed into anger in affect. Ricky had information about what happened that weekend he had yet to share with her, and no longer would she stand around accepting his refusal to speak out on it; she'd been through too much to continue carrying on in this manner any longer.

She stormed back out into the living room and explained to her mother what had transpired between them at his house, minus the inappropriate bits, before landing at the most important nexus of all expressed information: she would never have sex with Broderick when they weren't even officially dating, and she'd made her commitment to her abstinence incredibly clear. So why would he be contacting her and telling her to have a pregnancy test? Rather than continue to ask herself or her mother questions she knew they wouldn't hold the answers to, she decided to call him back and ask the man in question.

She sat next to her mother on the couch, then shushed her mom with her finger, and pressed the FaceTime button.

"Hey," she said. "It's high time you start explaining yourself."

"I..." he stammered, before going entirely silent and looking away from the phone before looking back. "I just thought that since neither of us remember much of that party you should do it just to be safe..."

She sucked in a sharp inhale of air. "I'm a virgin, Broderick. Why in the fuck would I need to take a pregnancy test? How does that suggestion make any sense to you?" she said, allowing the words to slither out of her mouth and into the phone's microphone.

"Look, Sera...I'm sorry I said anything, okay? I was just thinking about taking an STD test myself, and maybe it was my own fearmongering brain—when I end up in any state where I can't remember something very well I start freaking out and conjuring up worst-case scenarios, I've done it since I was little. I'm sorry, Sera! Just ignore me when I get like that, okay?" he begged pleadingly.

"No...no, I will NOT just 'ignore' it, Ricky. I don't think I can do this anymore. Be with you. It's too much uncertainty all the time, and as much as I love you—"

"Just meet with me before you end things, Sera! Meet me somewhere. In person. And I'll explain everything. The right way, properly. PLEASE, Seraphina....I don't want to lose you like this!"

She sucked in a sharp breath and looked over at her mom, who had a compassionate look on her face, feeling the pain in her daughter's voice and seeing the anger in her eyes.

She returned her gaze to the telephone. "Fine, Broderick. But if you plan on keeping secrets, don't make me waste any of my gas." She spat.

"I won't, I promise! I love you, Seraphina," he shouted. "But I'm late for swimming practice; I really HAVE to go now! I love you, and I'll talk to you later!" he screeched before abruptly ending the call.

Seraphina looked over at her mom and sighed. "Ma....I'm so tired of this man. He's good to me and bad for me all at once, and I don't know how much longer I can keep putting myself through the drama of it all. He acts like he wants me one day, then acts like we barely know each other the next, and I just don't see why I care about him as much as I do. Did you and Dad ever go through anything like that?" she asked.

"Before your father passed away, he and I had gotten into an argument that exact night, and I felt the same way. Eighteen years of experience arguing pigheaded points, and feeling dissatisfied left me numb emotionally. Don't allow yourself to fall into the same hole. How you handle conflict is a better predictor of the health of your relationship than how you feel about him when he lights your heart on fire, darling....I stayed with your father because of you, and I was miserable because of it. To be honest, him dying was one of the happiest moments of my life, because it meant both of us would finally have the chance to find ourselves at peace. And I haven't strived to love another man since. I don't want you making the same mistakes as I did," she said, calmly stroking her shoulder and squeezing it in a show of solidarity and support.

"Mom," Seraphina begged, "may I please stay the night with you tonight? I know it's last minute, but I could really use the emotional support right now," she pleaded.

"Oh, honey...of course. This house never stopped being yours as much as it is mine. Anywhere I call home is home to you and Alexander, too. It's why I left Alexander your father's house. Don't ever even feel the need to ask me, dear," she said, wiping away Seraphina's unreleased stream of tears before they came crashing down from her eyes.

"I want to sue the hospital, Mom," she said, resolute and forward. "They hurt Alex, and I'm not going to allow them to get away with beating up my brother and pretending it away when there's camera footage of his healthy entrance. And...Mom? There's one other thing I've been meaning to ask you. Have you ever noticed Alexander acting... 'weird' with me at all?" she mused hesitantly.

"Weird? What do you mean, honey?" her mother asked, confused.

"He...he asked me to... 'help' him. In the car, on the way to the hospital," she told her mother. "I don't want to feel like it was anything other than innocuous and isolated to that moment, but I've never been more uncomfortable in my entire life. I'm used to men trying to come onto me sexually, but it happened there, and then it happened again in the hotel room after he woke up. And I really don't know how to feel about it, other than disgusted."

"Absolutely not, Seraphina!" she screamed, perplexed by the news. "Your brother would NEVER behave like that, unless something were wrong with him. Are you sure what you think happened actually did, and that you aren't just making it up in your mind?" she asked.

"No, Mom...why would I make it up? That doesn't make any sense. I've never blamed Alexander for anything like this before; it really happened!" she said, saddened by the fact that her mother didn't immediately believe her. Considering that fact, she wouldn't bother detailing his physical attack, as she'd only double down on her perspective.

Her mother stared off toward a nearby window and out into the distance. "I'll call our family attorney in the morning to meet with you, and you can tell the young man you're dating to meet you at your place. I don't want him coming over here. He isn't welcome."

"Okay, Mom. Yes, ma'am; I understand. Thank you, Mom," she said, hugging her and wrapping her up in her arms.