Chapter 24

My vision gets a little blurry. I can kind of see curly hair. I stare again and try to focus. Brown eyes this time. What? I feel a hand touch my face. I shake my head and try to move away. I don't know who's touching me. "Ssshhh, Lena calm down." His voice. I stop thrashing around. "It's okay..." he says. I sit up and wrap my arms around him. I smell his cologne. "Bruno.." I murmur in his shirt. I have to make sure it's him. "I'm right here." he says in my hair. I let my body melt into him, out of relief. I look around. We’re in his room. "Babe are you okay?" he asks, holding me tight. "I thou--He was-- It wasn't you and---" I stutter and stammer. "Oh Lena..." he says and kisses my head. "Just water or juice for you from now on." he says. I agree. My mouth starts to water and I let him go to run to the bathroom. I puke up everything I drank tonight. I can't take it anymore. I lay on the floor, crying like a baby. What's wrong with me? I feel Bruno’s hands. He carries me to the bed and holds me in his arms. My shivering stops after I feel his warmth. "I'm sorry." I whisper. He strokes my hair. "What on Earth do you have to be sorry for?" he asks. I bury my face deeper in his chest. "For crying and throwing up all the time, and for ruining your happy moment." I say. He sighs. "Lena, shut up." is all he says. I smile a little. He strokes my cheek with his thumb until I feel myself drift off to sleep again.

* * * *

When I wake up, Bruno's not next to me. I hear noise and talking in the kitchen. I get up and make my way there. The sight I see makes me bust out laughing, despite the pounding headache I have. "Bro! How do you burn eggs?!" Eric yells. "Grab the pan! Grab the pan!" Bruno throws the pan at Phred. Phred jumps back and burnt scrambled eggs are all over the floor. The flame to the stove is still on. "Ah my hair!" Phred yells and grabs the end of one of his dreads, putting out the mini fire in his hair. I watch them for awhile, just to see how much damage they can do. When the toast come's out black and the smoke in the apartment is so thick we can't see, I think it's time to step in. I throw the toast away, open all the windows to air the kitchen out, clean up the eggs from the floor and have the burned pan in the sink in no time. "What are you doing?" I ask Bruno, with an amused smile on my face. He raises his eyebrows, looking around. "E said it would be a good idea to make you breakfast..." Eric's eyes widen. "You filthy liar!" he says. Phred busts out laughing. "You shut up! Who gets their hair caught on fire?!" Bruno says to him. Phred's face instantly turns serious and he holds up one of his dreads. "I!...Almost sacrificed a lock of my precious hair trying to help you!" he says, pretending to look hurt. I touch Bruno's face. "Honey you know you have no business in the kitchen unless it's to make a bowl of cereal." I tell him. I can hear Eric and Phred snickering. He kisses my hand. "It was a nice thought, but I don't really have an appetite." I tell him. His eyebrows go down. "Lena, you haven't really eaten in 2 days. I think it's time to go to the doctor." he says. I make a face. I hate the doctor. I won't go unless I'm dying. "I'm fine." I tell him for the thousandth time. "Get dressed, let's go." he bosses me. I glare at him. He comes towards me and I run. "Okay!" I yell, very unhappily. "And don't make me wait!" he yells in a deep voice. I turn around in time to see him smirk and look at Eric and Phred. I smack his arm and he jumps back in surprise. "Babe, I'm sorry, I was just playing" he says, quickly. Phred shakes his head. Eric walks away to the living room, in mock disappointment.

* * * *

There's a lady sitting across from me. She keeps coughing and gagging. She spits into a napkin and I wince and look away. My mouth waters and it takes all I have in me to not throw up. The t.v. on the wall is playing a soap opera with no sound. Bruno is stretched out on the two-seater couch, with his hat over his face, arms crossed. I curl my legs up and lean my head on my knees. I hate hospitals. A curly haired, young girl comes out from the door with a clipboard in her hand. "Alena Osvala?" she says, in a soft voice. I slowly lower my legs and get up. Bruno doesn't move. I hit his belly and he jumps up, the hat falling off. His eyes are puffy and I know he was sleeping. We walk back and she tells me to step on the scale. "114 pounds" she says out loud." My eyes bug out. I lost 9 pounds. She writes it down on the clipboard, looking a little concerned. She takes us to the room and tells me the doctor will be in shortly. Bruno starts playing with the things in the drawers. He puts one of the gloves on and tells me "I'm Doctor Mars. Bend over and touch your toes." I try to smack him and he laughs, backing away right into the real doctor. My face gets red. "Oh hello Doctor." He says and sticks out his hand, the one with the glove still on it. He lets out a chuckle and shakes it. He sits down and goes down a list of questions. I answer 'No' to every single one. He slides his chair over and gets out a little plastic cup. He holds it up. "I need you to pee in this. There's a bathroom down the hall." I take the cup and slowly walk out, looking back at Bruno. I know what this is for. My heart drops and my nausea gets worse than ever.

I hand him the cup. "Alrighty." He takes it, along with the clipboard and stands up. "We'll give you a call in a couple days with the results." he says, and walks out. I stare at the door as it closes. Bruno doesn't say anything. After what seems like years, I feel myself being lifted. "Come on Lena..." he says. His voice sounds monotone. We walk out in silence. I'm afraid to say anything. Why? I don't know. When we get in Phred's car that he not so willingly borrowed to Bruno, I say to him. "I drank last night." My eyes start to water. His hands are gripped tightly on the steering wheel. He stares off into the parking lot. His phone rings but he doesn't move. After a while, he starts the car and drives off. He kinda scares me. I can't tell if he's mad, or in shock. I don't know what he's thinking. His phone keeps ringing. He grabs it. "I'm on my way!" he yells. I jump. Phred and Eric are waiting outside the apartment when he pulls up. He leans against the window and sighs. I slowly get out. I want to ask him where he's going, but I'm afraid to. Eric looks at me, than at Bruno. 'What happened?' he mouths. I just shake my head. He touches my shoulder, than gets in the car. Bruno pulls off so fast, he burns rubber and dust comes up from the tires. I go upstairs. I walk into an empty apartment. I curl in a ball on the couch and cry. I can't be pregnant. I start shaking and I can't catch my breath. I try to calm down, but it's not working. All of a sudden the door busts open. I don't have to turn around to know who it is. I can smell his cologne from here. He kneels down in front of me. "Lena...Breathe.....Breathe....there you go...calm down." I breath in and out slowly. He grabs my face. I start hiccuping from getting so worked up. "What-hiccup- are you-hiccup-doing-hiccup-back here-hiccup" I say. He strokes my cheek with his thumb. "I couldn't just leave you here by yourself thinking that I was mad at you. Cause I know that's what you were thinking." He says, looking in my eyes. He's right about that. "I'm not mad, I don't know what I am. Shock maybe." He shakes his head. "When I figure it out, I'll let you know." He says with a little smirk. "We don't even know if I'm pregnant." I say. He looks like I slapped him in the face when he hears that word. "I could just have the stomach flu." I say, hopefully. He stares at me, with one eyebrow raised. My face falls. He grabs my hair and kisses me again. "I love you. When I get home, we'll talk more." he says. "Where you going?" I ask, holding his arm. "Meeting with Mr. Gordy. You know, all that signing paperwork and stuff." He says. "Oh...okay." I say. He glances down and I realize I'm still gripping his arm. I let it go quickly. I'm not clingy and I'm not going to start now. He ruffles my hair, and than out the door he goes. I look around the apartment. It's so quiet without the 3 loud gorillas here. I turn the t.v. on and try to watch it but my mind keeps wandering. I miss Ahmity. I wish I could talk to her. It feels like years since I've seen her. A knock at the door interrupts my thoughts and kind of startles me. Nobody ever knocks on his door. I walk up to it. "Who is it?" I ask. No response. I listen for a minute, than decide just to open it. Maybe it's one of his neighbors or something. My blood freezes. We stare at each other for awhile, not saying anything. He looks the same as when I left, but something about him is off. His green eyes looked crazed and I want to run away. "What are you doing here?" I finally ask. "What am I doing here? What are YOU doing here?!" He yells. He walks towards me, but I back away from him. He stops. "You don't even wanna come by your boyfriend anymore?" He looks hurt. Than he changes back to looking crazy. He comes towards me again and I back away from him until he's inside the apartment. Great. Good one Lena. "I should've never let you out of the house. I should've locked your ass inside a room so you could never leave me." He says. He sounds belligerent. My heart races. He shuts the door and locks it. "Brendan, I'm sorry for lying to you. But--" "SHUT THE FUCK UP LENA I DON'T WANNA HEAR THAT BULLSHIT!" Before I have time to react, he lifts his hand and slaps me across the face. He hits me so hard, I fall to the ground. I curl myself up in a ball as his fists beat down on me. There's nothing else I can do but lay there. He grabs me by my hair and shoves me against the wall. I wince in pain, but don't utter a sound. He grabs my face and makes me look at him. His green eyes that at one point I loved, disgust me. He tries to kiss me but I turn my head. He grabs my neck and squeezes. I start thrashing and kicking and my eyes start to roll back. He lets go right when it starts going black. I drop to the floor, coughing and trying to take deep breaths at the same time. He picks me up by the arm. "Did you fuck him too?!" He yells. He shakes me and I cry out in pain. "Answer me Lena!!" "YEAH I FUCKED HIM!" I scream at him. I spit in his face. He turns his head and doesn't move for a minute. He wipes the spit off and smirks. He picks me up and throws me on the couch. I try to get up and run away, but he holds me down. He kisses my neck and pulls my pants down. I try to kick him, but I'm no match for his 5'11 frame. "No.." I can feel the tears running down my cheeks. "Shhhh." He says in my ear. I start sobbing when I feel him inside of me. He grinds his hips fast and hard. It didn't last long, but to me it felt like hours. When he's finished, he pulls his pants up and kisses me. He has a huge smile on his face. "Awe, Lena don't cry." He says, and tries to wipe my face. I jerk away from him and he laughs. "Now that business is take care of, go get your stuff so we can go home." "It'll be a cold day in hell when I go home with you." I say, glaring at him. He throws his head back and laughs. I stare at him, revolted. He fooled me good back in Miami. He picks me up and punches me in the stomach. I fall to the ground again, with my hands over my belly. "GO GET YOUR SHIT NOW!" "NO!!" I scream at him. "This fuckin bitch..." He says under his breath. He grabs me by my hair and pulls. I scream out in pain. "I'm not gonna tell you again Lena..." He says. I knee him in his stuff and he lets go and doubles over. Now's my chance. I run as fast as I can to the door. Right when my hand touches the knob, I feel him pull me back. Dammit! He has experience with this kind of shit. "I never had one that fights back before, I kind of like it. It turns me on." He says. My lip curls and I try to punch him. He laughs and shoves me towards the room. I refuse to do anything he tells me. He rolls his eyes and starts shoving my clothes in my suitcase. He touches my chin. I turn my head. "Don't look so mad, you're too pretty to look so mad Lena." My heart drops and tears come to my eyes. The day we met on the plane flashes through my head. I never thought this was the kinda person he would turn out to be. He grabs my arm, with my suitcase in his other hand and starts walking towards the front door. I pull back and try to squirm away, but he has a vice-like grip. We get downstairs and he shoves me in the car. I open the door and run out, but he grabs me and shoves me back in. "Now Lena, let's not make a scene." He says. I spit in his face again. He takes me out of the front seat and throws me in the back. I try to open the door. Fuck! Childproof locks. He drives off. I stare at the back of his curly head in disgust. "Aren't you excited to come home?" He asks me cheerily. I turn my whole body around so I'm facing the back window of the car. The drive takes forever. When we pull up to the airport, he turns around. "I'm telling you right now Lena, if you try anything, or say anything, I will beat the shit out of you!" "Fuck you..." I say, not looking at him. He gets out and opens my door. I get out and look around, trying to find a place where I can run to. He sees what I'm doing and grabs my arm. He gets my suitcase and moves his hand and intertwines our fingers. The fucking bastard. He still has a hold of me, but to everybody else it looks like were just holding hands. I keep looking at all the people, hoping one of them will subconsciously know that I need help. "Don't look at anybody, don't talk to anybody." He says. The lady at the ramp takes our tickets and says. "Have a nice flight." "He's scared of flying." I tell her with a smile. He squeezes my fingers and I hold back my scream. She chuckles a little and he walks down the ramp, dragging me. "You're asking for it Lena." "Apparently I don't have to ask, you just force it upon people." I spit back. He punches me in the stomach again. I double over, but he forces me to stand and keep walking. He throws me in my seat on the plane and sits next to me. He leans back and stretches out. I stare out of the window. Bruno. My eyes get watery but I hold back the tears. "You remember when we met on the plane?" Brendan asks me, with a smile on his face. "Yeah, I shoulda never told you what time it was." I say. He glares at me. The whole plane ride, he doesn't let me get up. I have to pull teeth to use the bathroom and even than, he stood outside the door. "Where the hell am I gonna go this high up in the sky Brendan?" I say to him. He tells me to shut up and sit down. I feel dirty, and I want to take a shower. It burned when I peed, and I was bleeding. I hate him. He touches my leg. "You okay?" He asks. He really is crazy. "Don't touch me." I say. He rubs his hand up and down. "Don't be like that Lena.. You know I love you right?" He says, looking at me with a hopeful expression. I don't answer him. The plane ride takes too long. But what am I in a rush to land for? When it finally does, he looks at me excitedly. "Are you happy to be home?!" I smile a fake smile. "Overjoyed." I say sarcastically. He gets my suitcase and drags me to his car. "Ahmity's gonna be so excited to see you." He says. Ahmity. My heart skips a beat. I feel a small twinge of happiness. She'll help me. I know she will. He drives off and the familiar scenery of Miami lifts my spirits a little. Despite Brendan, I did miss it here. When he pulls up to the house, I get out of the car and run in. "Mama's!" I yell and my voice echoes through the whole house. I breathe deep and smell it's familar scent. "Lena?" Ahmity comes from the living room. She's taking small little baby steps, but she's walking and talking from what I just heard. I run up to her and squeeze her. She doesn't hug me back. I let go and stare at her. She's looking at me, horrified. "What's the matter, aren't you happy to see me?" I ask. "What--happened to your--face?" She still struggles to get the words out, but they come out perfectly. I touch my face, forgetting what Brendan did for a second. "Um, Nothing. I was messing around and I fell, you know clumsy me." I tell her. She laughs. She sounds just like Mami when she laughs. I hold back the urge to cry. Brendan walks in. "I knew you'd feel better once you saw your sister." He says, smiling. He puts his arm around Ahmity's shoulder and she playfully pushes him. Just like I thought. She has no idea. "Where's Adrian?" I ask. Brendan scowls. "He's--at-work." Ahmity tells me. Great. "Here Lena! Go unpack." Brendan shoves the suitcase at me. I let it fall to my feet. "Come on Ahm." He says, and guides my sister back to the living room. I reluctantly pick it up and head upstairs. I search frantically search through all my clothes in the suitcase for my phone, and when I can't find it, I realize with dismay that Brendan has it. "UGh!!" I throw myself on the bed. I have to get out of here. I lay there, thinking of ways to escape, when my door opens. I crawl to the corner of my bed and curl into a ball. "Lena, don't be afraid of me." He says. I glare up at him. You make that kind of difficult. I think to myself. He lays down next to me. I don't move. He pulls me by him and puts his arms around me. I stiffen up. He breathes in my hair. "I missed you." He says. When I don't say anything, he squeezes me around my waist so hard, I can't breathe. "I missed you too." I spurt out. He loosens his grip. I can't hold it in anymore, I start to cry. He holds me closer to him. "It's okay Lena..I'm here." His voice is in no way comforting or making me feel better. It makes me want to throw up. He falls asleep after awhile. I'm scared to move. I slowly lift his arm. He twitches a little, but doesn't wake up. I carefully lift myself up and crawl lightly to the edge of the bed. I step down, never taking my eyes off his revolting, sickening presence. I get as far as the door, when I see his eyes fly open. Dammit! He hops off the bed and grabs my hair. "Where the fuck are you going?" "Ahh! To see my sister!" I scream. "You don't go anywhere unless I say you can, Do you hear me?!" He throws me on the floor and kicks me. I whimper and crawl away from him. He walks out of the room. This isn't home. I need to get out of here. I need to find a way. Oh god, what must Bruno be thinking? He's going to think it's his fault. He's going to think that I left because of the way he reacted to me possibly being pregnant. I hug my knees. Pregnant. The word spins around in my head. If I'm pregnant, what is Brendan gonna do? If I am, I fear for my unborn baby's life. I rack my brain trying to find a way to get a hold of Bruno, when it hits me. Kenji! Now, to find a way out of here..............