Past, Present, and Future.

Chapter 19

When she woke again, Victoria and Ricky were the only ones in the room. Her brother, being himself, made himself right at home. He had already stolen the only comfortable thing in the room to sit on, and had turned on the T.V. to a sports channel. Victoria watched with boredom for a few moments as the men on the screen chased each other around the green diamond in attempts to get an out and win the games. She got bored with trying to actually understand the game, and decided to look at all the guy's butts as they ran to and from.

"Are you watching their butts again?" Her brother's voice ran out loud enough so she could hear it over the sound of the game.

She looked over at him, his eyes had not left the tiny screen. "As a matter of fact, I was. What else am I supposed to do? You took over my T.V." He just laughed as he watched the men in tight white pants run after one of the white balls, trying to catch it as it soared through the air. "Where's Dallas and Chad?"

Her brother's facial expression changed briefly, and then turned into an unreadable mask. "Dallas left right after you passed out again. And Chad just went to the cafeteria for some food." He turned to face her then. "I don't like Dallas, Victoria. He's trouble, and I wish you could see that for yourself."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" She asked after a moment of silence. Her and Ricky's eye contact never broke. There was something behind his eyes that she couldn't quite determine. But before she got the chance to look more deeper it disappeared.

"Because its true." He said as he turned back to the small black box with the flashing picture. That was his way of saying that the conversation was over, and there was no more to be said about anything on the subject.

She became annoyed at the sudden disclosure on the subject. Who was her brother to tell her something like that about her boyfriend, and then not give her an actual reason behind the said something? She too turned her attention back to the T.V. only to watch with a scowl. She can't even enjoy the perfectly toned butts in tight pants now. Question after question started to run through her mind, as she looked at the screen but didn't really see anything that was on it.

How does her brother know about Dallas? Did Chad say something to Ricky after Dallas left? Why would no one tell her what was up with this whole situation?

At that moment the big heavy door to her room inched its way open. On the other side stood Chad, juggling a tray of food in one hand, and some bags of chips in the other. Once he saw that Victoria was awake, his face lit up as he smiled at her.

"Hey" he breathed as he sat the tray of food on the bedside table thing. He handed her a bag of Lay's chips, and gave Ricky a cheeseburger in a plastic container.

She smiled as a response as he sat down in the blue plastic chair on the opposite side of her bed than Ricky, who was already eating his hamburger like it was the last thing he will eat on Earth.

"How do you feel?" Chad asked her gently as he opened his own cheeseburger and started to squeeze ketchup on it.

She shrugged. "How are you supposed to feel when you lose a baby because you were stupid enough to fall down some stairs?" She sat her unopened bag of chips beside his plate. Suddenly she wasn't in the mood to eat anything.

A look came over Chad, but it was quickly gone. He reached over and grabbed her hand. "You can not blame yourself for this. It isn't your fault. Something tells me that you didn't fall down those stairs. Its too much of an every day coincidence, if you ask me."

She searched his eyes, expecting to see that certain light that gave away his lying, but she found nothing of the sort. She gave him a confused look, but decided not to say anything. She knew she wouldn't get the answers she wanted, so why ask them?

Victoria looked down at her now flattened stomach, and felt a sense of something missing. She felt lost, like the one good thing that had been in her life had been taken from her. She looked at Chad then, who's attention was now on the baseball game. He was eating one handedly, while keeping a grip on her hand with the other.

She then looked at Ricky, who had finished his burger, and had moved on to a bag of chips. Crumbs covered his shirt, and he had a spot of ketchup on his cheek, but he seemed not to care. "Ricky" she spoke up, breaking the comfortable silence except for the game announcers.

He muttered some form of response, but didn't tear his eyes away from the television. "Will you leave the room for a minute? I need to talk to Chad... alone." She could feel Chad's eyes on her as she spoke, but she kept her eyes on her older brother.

Ricky ran a hand through his short brown hair, and got up with an effort. "Yeah... I guess." He said as he moved closer to her and kissed her head, and sent Chad a warning glare, then left the room.

She took a chance and turned to Chad. His expression of confusion was to be expected. "I... I think we should name the baby." She told him as she looked down to avoid his eye contact. The room settled into an uncomfortable silence, except for that stupid announcer's voice. She grabbed the remote and turned the damn thing off, filling the room with complete silence.

"Say something!" Victoria finally demanded after minutes of silence. She looked at Chad then and wished she hadn't Pain was everywhere in his features, and he looked as if he was going to either cry or punch the shit out of something. She moved over in her bed and patted the  space she had just made for him.

Chad got up and laid beside her. She instantly curled up on his side like she had many times before when they were dating. She felt his hand run up and down the length of her back soothingly. They sat like this for a few moments till he finally spoke. "I think... that's a good idea."

She turned her head and looked up at him. "I like the name Alex." He nodded in approval. It was set.

Their unborn baby's name shall be Alex.