BONUS CHAPTER: STRING
“I said, let go! That’s mine!” I sighed as I looked at my two sons who were now ten years old. They were fighting over a baseball bat that their dad bought a week ago. Brendan and Brandon looked so much like me, and I smiled as I saw how similar they are to me more than their dad. Their features are also more similar to mine than to my husband’s.
I rubbed my temple as the two of them chased each other around the garden. It was a nice day, and I looked up at the clouds that had weird formations. It was a beautiful day, except for the sound of bickering from my twin sons, as well as the loud whispers of my two twin daughters nearby who were both eight years old. Sheniah and Shareena looked more like their dad than me, and my husband always adored that the two were daddy’s little princesses. The two of them were playing with their Legos, and I smiled when I saw that the two of them were just rolling their eyes at their two older brothers.
My four babies were all in front of me, and I had a family that is very different from the one that I grew up in. I looked at the sky and thanked God of the life that I now lived. I closed my eyes and allowed the cold winds to blow my hair and chill my skin. A little girl screamed, and my gaze went straight to where the sound came from. I saw that one of my twin girls was crying. My smile dropped and I quickly checked her face with my gaze and looked at her sister who was beside her.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.
“Mommy!” said Sheniah as she shook her little twin sister who was face down on the ground and not moving. I screamed her name and got up to run towards them. I felt my boys run beside me, and the three of us kneeled in front of my girls as I tried to check on Shareena.
“Shareena! Baby!” I was trembling, but I did my best to calm myself down and focus my mind on what was happening to my other daughter. I inhaled sharply and calmed my racing heart as I tried to check her mouth that was beginning to turn a bit dull and dark. I was panicking, and I felt like all I could hear was my heart and Sheniah’s cries.
I tried my best to check her pulse and heart breathing until I realized that my other daughter was pointing at her sister’s mouth. Without any hesitation, I tried to quickly pry her mouth open as gently as possible, and I froze when I saw something inside of her mouth.
“Shyne!” My husband’s voice broke the silence, and as I thoroughly checked my daughter’s mouth again. I saw that the tip of a Lego block was in her throat. It was a bit large, and by the looks of it, there was more than one piece inside of her mouth at the moment.
“The toy!” I shouted as I tried to pull it with my fingers. I was trembling as I tried to steady my hand and carefully pull out the toy from her mouth.
“Brixton, the Lego!” I said in a panic as I held on to the tip of the toy. The stupid little block was slowly being pulled inside of her mouth and my heart felt like it was going to explode from fear. My daughter was turning a shade darker by the second.
“Gently, hon,” he said beside me as he tried to help me cradle our baby girl, “Boys! Call 911, hurry! Remember what I taught you to say!” He instructed the boys sternly and I saw one of them bolt to reach my bag and took out my phone while the other grabbed his other sister and tried his best to calm her down and shield her eyes from her passed out twin.
“It’s out!” I shrieked as I was able to take out the Lego. Shareena coughed and there was a little blood that came out of her mouth. My own blood froze as I saw blood coming out of my daughter’s mouth.
“It must have punctured something in her throat,” my husband whispered, and prayed to God that it wasn’t too serious.
We tried our best to wipe her mouth with my shirt as my husband picked her up and tried to carry gently and lay her face on the crook of his neck. Her mouth was still bleeding.
In a few minutes, help arrived, and we were able to rush her to the hospital. I was trembling as my husband drove the both of us after I gave instructions to the boys and their nannies. I prayed and prayed that my daughter would be alright.
After she was stable and we got to talk to the doctor, he explained to us that the jagged edge of the Lego that was probably broken was able to slice some of the tissues in her throat and taking it out made the cuts a bit deeper. My tears were falling, and my hands trembled at the thought that I may have possibly caused her to get worse.
“Ma’am, sir, I think it would be best for your daughter to stay here for a few more days just to make sure that she is monitored, and her throat could heal better,” the doctor said as they waited outside of their daughter’s room where was sleeping inside.
“Doctor,” I began, “How come she passed out? Why didn’t we hear her choke or had any signs of struggle, I mean, her twin just screamed, and when I saw her, she was already on the ground, and…and…” I couldn’t finish the sentence, but the doctor just nodded as my husband wrapped his arm around my shoulder to comfort me.
“Well, ma’am, it was possible that she was choking, but her twin didn’t notice it yet, and only noticed when her sister collapsed from lack of oxygen.
We finished talking to the doctor, and as I entered my daughter’s room, my husband told me he’d go back to the house and help prepare all of our daughter’s things as well as my own things that I would need.
“I’ll be right back, okay? Call me if you need anything. I’ll just get the kids settled and talk to them,” he said and gave me a kiss on the forehead before leaving.
I sat beside my daughter’s bed and wiped the stray hair on her face.
“A life for a life…” a voice whispered, and my hair stood. It was that voice. The voice I thought was gone.
“My love…” I screamed as I looked down and beside my daughter, the shadowy figure stood with its eyes glowing red.
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