THE STORMS WITHIN

Three of one heart...

There is a difference between being surprised and being blindsided. A surprise, however unprepared for, provides a momentary pause in the reality people are used to living in. But being blindsided cuts the legs off from underneath the person. It cuts off the air supply, and oftentimes results in a change of life so profound that it makes one wonder if it is possible to go on with life.

Can sat in the hospital hallway but could not calm down. His brother Emre sat beside him, along with Nihat and Mevkibe, Sanem's parents. The only sound registering in his mind was the footsteps of Sanem and Leyla as they paced back and forth. He looked up at them and could not help but wonder again how much life had changed in just one short year. Both sisters were entering their third trimester, both about to become mothers, and both glowing from within with the special glow pregnant women have.

Sitting still was never his thing. Feeling restless, he stood up and walked to the door of the room where Aziz and Mihriban were being treated. They had collapsed not long before Can docked the boat on Mihriban's land. He felt an odd sensation in his gut. What if he and Sanem had left the Galapagos Islands one day sooner? Could he have prevented his father's or Mihriban's collapse? Or what if they had stayed one day longer and had not left from Galapagos when they did? Would they have been able to reach Istanbul in time the way they did?

He stood by the door to their room, laid his hand on the knob, then stopped. He let his hand fall by his side, closed his eyes, took a breath, straightened his shoulders, and looked back at those around him. He did not want to speak to anyone, he just wanted to look at them. Was this how they looked when he himself was laying in the hospital after his and Sanem's accident? Did they worry about him as much as they did now about Aziz and Mihriban? He realized his question was completely unnecessary. Of course, they did.

They had become a real family, one he always yearned for. They shared days that shattered their hearts, but they all grew stronger and closer from it. He fought back tears because he did not want to show anyone how much all of this affected him. He had always felt alone. All alone. He had his father, but had still felt all alone growing up.

But now? He was surrounded by those who really cared about him, about his father and about Mihriban. His heart felt so grateful knowing he no longer had to go through life alone. Added to this was the reality that he would soon become a father himself. He would create a family with the woman he loved above all else in the world. Her love healed him in ways he never thought possible. In a real sense, they healed each other. Can knew he and Sanem were stronger together because they built each other up from the bare ground. What they went through had made them stronger because of the deep love they shared.

Can walked over to the window. The moonstones in his hand offered no support now, but yet somehow they appeared even more symbolic than ever. He looked at his hand holding the stones. Two stones. There were two stones. He never questioned why there were two. Why he was gifted two. What about the fact that there were more moonstones in the world?

His heart burned inside his chest from the knowledge that now it appeared there were three Divit brothers. Three of one heart. He now had a half-brother. Bulut. Bulut? If anyone could have turned out to be his half-brother, he was glad it was Bulut. Can had always felt an unspoken connection with him, from the first day they met. He wondered if his father ever knew he had another son. How was it possible for him not to know? If he did know, how on earth was it possible not to tell them?

Can paused in his thinking. If Aziz was Bulut's father, then Mihriban must be his mother. How was it possible for her to go through life never mentioning Bulut was her son? Not ever caring about him in that way? Was she that similar to Huma? This last question was an obvious one to answer, easier than the others that troubled Can. Mihriban was nothing like Huma. There must have been more to that story.