SILENT DESIRES

She turned back to him, sadness so deep in her gaze that it hurt him to look at her.

“Don’t you see, Matt? It can never work for us. You don’t trust me. Your family and friends hate me. What kind of life will that be for me? I deserve more than that. It’s taken me long enough to figure that out. I settled again, when I swore I’d never do it. I agreed to marry you. Again. Because I was so in love with you and I believed that we could move forward. But I was a fool. Some obstacles are insurmountable.”

She closed her eyes as another spasm of pain crossed her face. And she swayed, her hand flying out to brace herself against the dresser.

“Savvie, what’s wrong?” he demanded.

She rubbed her hand across her brow and opened her eyes, but her stare was unfocused. “My head.” She said, A sound like a whimper escaped her and he knew that something was wrong. Something beyond the emotional distress she was experiencing.

Her face took on a gray pallor that alarmed him. Panic flared in her eyes and just for a moment she looked to him for help.

Before he could react, her knees buckled and she slid soundlessly to the floor.

———————–

“Savvie!”

Matt dropped to the floor. His immediate reaction was to gather her in his arms, but she was rigid, her body convulsed and her jaw was tight. Frantically he reached for his phone and clumsily punched 911.

“I need an ambulance,” he said tersely. “My fiancée. She fainted. I don’t know what’s wrong with her. I think she’s having some kind of seizure.” He knew he didn’t make sense. His heart and mind were screaming even as he tried to stay calm. The 911 operator asked questions and he answered them mechanically as he leaned over Savannah, desperate to help her.

After a moment her body went slack and her head lolled to the side. He put his fingers to her neck, praying that he’d find a pulse. He laid his head over her chest, listening and feeling for air exchange.

“Don’t leave me, Savvie, baby” he whispered desperately. “Please hang on. I love you so damn much.”

He lifted her limp hand, the one that bore his ring and pressed her palm to his cheek. He kissed the skin, his breaths coming in ragged, silent sobs. He’d never been more scared in his life.

The minutes dragged to eternity. The operator continued to ask him questions and offered him encouragement. But Savannah remained unconscious and the longer she lay there, still, on the floor, the more his panic and sense of helplessness grew.

After what seemed an interminable wait, he heard the EMS crew call out from the door.

“In here!” he called hoarsely.

They hurried in, motioning him away from Savannah as they began to administer care. Through it all, Matt stood there numbly, watching as they lifted her onto a stretcher and hurried toward the elevator.

He followed behind, whispered prayers falling from his lips. They loaded her onto the waiting ambulance and he climbed in behind her.

Halfway to the hospital, he pulled out his phone but then stared blankly down at it. Who would he call? There was no one. Cold fury iced his veins. The very people he’d trusted-especially his brother- had acted unforgivably. Until now he’d never really experienced true hatred.

He buried his face in his hands and willed himself not to lose his composure. Not now. Savannah needed him. He hadn’t been there for her before. He’d already made the mistake of abandoning her when she’d needed him the absolute most.

Now he’d die before he ever allowed her to think she wasn’t the most important thing in the world to him.

———————–

“It looks like your marriage to my brother is having a very good effect on you,” Elena teased Tess the evening following their dinner with Dash’s friends. The dinner hadn’t gone so well and they had all left immediately after Matt went after Savannah. Tess had felt so sorry for Savannah. She didn’t know exactly what had gone wrong and so she wanted to mind her business, but a part of understood Savannah. She knew what it felt like to feel so alone, even when surrounded by people.

“You are positively luminescent with joy.” Elena continued.

Tess grinned at her new sister-in-law. “I’m happy.” she said.

Elena laughed, the sound echoing in the cavernous game room. “You two were made for each other.”Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

Tess was beginning to believe that was true both ways and the sense of elation she felt at finally finding her place in the heart of another person knew no bounds. “He’s a really incredible guy.” She replied.

Elena rolled her eyes. “To each her own, but I think you are biased. Dash is no better. He couldn’t keep his eyes off you all through dinner last night. Mamma already has visions of babies dancing through her head. I can tell.”

Tess placed her hand over her stomach. It had only been two weeks, but she couldn’t help thinking that with all the physical attention she received from Dash, the odds of pregnancy were good.

But she shrugged, refusing to expose her hidden hopes in case they proved futile. “Who knows?” she said.

Her phone rang and she saw that it was her father.

Elena laid down her cue stick. “I’ll go get dressed for dinner.” She said.

Tess picked up the phone. “Hello, dad.”

He returned her greeting and asked about the honeymoon. She told him about their visit to Pompeii and a garden she had found enchanting. They had been talking for about ten minutes when he asked, “Are you happy then, little Tess?”

“Fizzing with it,” she admitted without hesitation.

“That’s good to know,” he replied.

His concern had come late in life, but it still felt nice. “Thank you.”

“I finally managed to give you something you really wanted.” He cleared his throat in a familiar way that made her realize she missed him even if he hadn’t been a big part of her daily life when she was growing up. “I knew what you did with the coat I gave you and my housekeeper told me the car stayed in the garage.”

“I never got around to learning to drive,” she said somewhat sheepishly.

He chuckled. “So, that was it.” The line went silent for a second. “I don’t know you very well.”