019 - GET RID OF IT

019

GET RID OF IT

JAYDEN

"Listen to her, man. She's right," Harry says. "Aurora is right, Jay. Think about it. You go after him now, you're doing exactly what he wants. You're giving him the power to ruin you, too."

"He's right, Jayden," Mason mutters. "We've got your back, but you have to stay smart. For Celina."

The fight slowly drains from my limbs, replaced by a crushing, hollow weight. My chest heaves as I look down at Aurora. Her hands are still cradling my face, her eyes wide.

Without a word, I lean forward, burying my face into the crook of her neck. Even though she's so much shorter than me, requiring me to bend my frame just to reach her, she doesn't move. She holds her ground, accepting the full weight. I wrap my arms around her, pulling her close, and inhaling.

Her scent fills my senses. I take a deep breath, letting it slow the frantic racing of my heart. Handfuls of that scent slowly washes over the rage in my veins until I can finally think straight again.

I pull back slowly, my hands lingering on her arms. I look down at her. "Thank you."

Aurora smiles. She gives my arm a reassuring squeeze. "Let's go see how she's doing."

We walk back toward the triage and ER hallway, four of us. Before we can even reach the double doors, a middle-aged doctor in green scrubs steps out, holding a medical chart. Her eyes scan the waiting area before landing on us.

"Family of Celina?" she asks.

I step forward immediately. "Yes. I'm her brother."

The doctor looks at me, then down at her clipboard, then back up, assessing me. "Are you her legal guardian?"

"I'm her older brother," I say. "And I'm the only person she has right now. My mother is indisposed, and my father... my father isn't an option. Talk to me."

"Can I see you in private, please? Just you."

I glance back at Aurora. She steps closer, wrapping her fingers around mine, squeezing my hand tightly. I nod once at her, release her hand, and follow the doctor a few paces down the quiet hallway, away from the chatter of the waiting room.

Once we're out of earshot, the doctor turns to face me, resting the clipboard against her chest. "Mr. Vale..."

"Actually it's just Jayden." I tell her.

"Alright, Jayden. I’m going to be direct with you. Your sister looks like she is a victim of severe physical abuse. The bruising on her torso and ribs is consistent with blunt force trauma. However, from the series of tests we ran, including an ultrasound and X-rays of her extremities, it’s safe to say there’s no internal bleeding. Her ribs are badly bruised, but not fractured."

I let out a breath. "Okay. God, okay. Thank you."

"But," the doctor interrupts. "That's not all we found in the routine blood panels and scans. Jayden... she's ten weeks pregnant."

What the fuck?

"I don't understand" I say.

"She's pregnant," the doctor repeats gently, watching my reaction closely.

"She's... what, she's seventeen?" I stammer, my mind scrambling, trying to force the numbers to make sense. "She’s seventeen years old. She’s a kid. She’s still in high school."

"I know," the doctor says softly. "Unfortunately, we do treat patients younger than Celina, who are pregnant. Right now, she needs support. We will only question her about the circumstances if she wants to talk about it, but given the domestic situation, we need to know how you want to handle this."

"Can I see her?"

"Yes," the doctor says, turning toward a set of double doors. "Follow me. She's in cubicle four."

She leads me down the brightly lit ER corridor. When she pulls back the curtain to cubicle four, my heart breaks all over again. Celina is seated upright on the hospital bed. Her face is pale, a small cut healing on her lip, but her eyes widen the second I step inside.

"Jay?" she whispers.

"Celina..." I step into the room, the doctor hovering quietly by the curtain. I walk over to the side of the bed, looking down at my little sister, my throat tight. "Celina, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I wasn't there."

"It's not your fault," she says quickly, tears immediately welling in her eyes as she reaches out, her fingers twisting into the fabric of my shirt. "Jay, please don't be mad at me. I didn't know where else to go."

I stare at her. I swallow hard, looking from Celina to the doctor, who gives me a cautionary nod.

"You're pregnant," I say flatly.

Celina freezes. Her grip on my shirt loosens, her hands dropping to her lap. She looks stunned... completely stunned... but as I watch her face, I realize there’s no shock. There’s no surprise. She already knew.

I step back, away from the bed. "Do you want to say anything about that?" I demand. "To me? Anything at all?"

When she doesn't answer right away, I go ahead to ask her the questions in my head. "Did he force you?"

"No." She mumbles.

"Oh my God! How old is this guy?"

"18."

Still a fucking kid. "Does he know?"

"Yes. We took a test."

"You took a pregnancy test? The hell do the two of you know about any of this? You're just fucking kids!"

She looks down at her hands as a tear slips down her cheek. "I love him," she whispers.

"What the hell? You love him? The guy who helped cause this? The reason you got attacked?"

"I love him, Jay," she repeats, nodding slowly, looking up at me with a fierce, stubborn desperation that makes me want to scream. "Bryce loves me. It wasn't his fault. He didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"You don't get to say that to me!" I roar, stepping back toward the bed. The doctor steps forward slightly, putting a warning hand up, but I ignore her, keeping my eyes locked on my sister. "You are... you are not going to say that to me ever again, do you understand?!"

Celina flinches, shrinking back into the pillows. She doesn't reply. She just presses her lips together, fresh tears streaming down her face, staring at me with wide, terrified eyes.

Fuck all of this.

I know how anger can get. But this rage I feel now is blinding. It's so absolute. I can't even look at my sister right now. I can't look at how broken she is while she's defending the reason why she's like that. I mean I have to think about how she's doing every damn day and now she wants me to worry about a baby?

My head won't stop spinning. School. Hockey. Our mother. Dad. Bills. A baby. I can't breathe. I can't see a future where any of this ends well. There's no talking this out. She can't seriously think she's having a baby.

There's only one way out of this.

I turn my head, looking directly at the doctor. "How do we get rid of it?"

Celina’s eyes go completely wide. "Jay, no..."

"Jayden," the doctor interrupts, stepping directly between me and the bed. "It's up to Celina. Legally and medically, it is her choice."

"No," I say. "She's a minor. I am not letting my baby sister have a baby while she's still in high school. She has no money, and a father who will kill her if he finds out. Get rid of it."