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Madison

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

One month later

"Madison?"

"Zeus, what’s happened?"

"Your sister woke up."

"What?"

"I think you'd better come and meet me at the hospital."

"You’re there already?"

"Yes, I came to visit her."

"I will get there as quickly as possible." As I turn off the online class that I was watching, I wonder what I should do first—change my clothes or call my mother?

I decide to get dressed, and in record time, I put on jeans, sneakers, and a light coat.

My heart skips a beat as I run down the steps of our new house.

I open the door and greet the bodyguards. "I need you to take me to the hospital. My sister woke up!" I say, and they immediately spring into action.

There's no way I'm going to wait for Larry to arrive, since he must be with Zeus at the hospital. My husband gave me a car, but I don't know how to drive, so for now I need a driver.

I get into the back seat while the bodyguards position themselves in the front seats.

Even after the death of Emerson Gordon, Zeus doesn't neglect my safety. Even more so now that he, his brothers, and his cousins are determined to clear up the story of the attack that almost killed my sister.

Before I can call Mom, my phone rings.

It's Doctor Athanasios. "Madison, I broke my promise." He seems unusually anxious for someone who is always so cool and calm, even with the latent interest he has in Brooklyn.

"What are you talking about, doctor?"

"I said you would be the first to know when your sister woke up, but your husband was already here when it happened. In fact, she woke up while he was visiting her."

Only now do I remember that Zeus told me he was already in the hospital. "Why is he there? Was Brooklyn in need of something?"

"He comes at least once a week and talks to her."

"What?"

"I asked him why, and he told me that he wanted his family to be complete."

"Thanks for letting me know," I say and hang up. I start to cry because I have always been sensitive and this is a lot of emotion to deal with. My sister finally comes back to us and I find out that Zeus, that powerful man that the whole country reveres, goes to the hospital once a week, without telling me anything, to sit with Brooklyn.

The bodyguard sitting in the passenger seat offers me a tissue.

"Thanks." I dry my eyes and focus on what I need to do. I pick up my phone. "Mother? Brooklyn's awake,” I say bluntly when she answers.

"Oh my God! I'll just give the nannies instructions and then meet you at the hospital. You're going there, right?"

"Yes, almost there, actually."

I don't even know what happens when I get out of the car or how I get to the floor where Brooklyn is. I speak to the hospital receptionist and enter the elevator.

When the doors open and I step into the hallway, I see Zeus walking towards me.

"How is she?"

"She opened her eyes. Called her children's names. She's speaking with difficulty, but I think she remembers everything."

"I wanna see her."

"And you will, but Doctor Athanasios is with her right now. They're examining her, so I think it will be at least an hour before they let you in. Have you eaten?"

"I was about to have a snack when you called me."

"Let's go to the cafeteria. Our girls must be hungry."

Last week we found out that we are going to be parents of two little girls, and Zeus was over the moon. He's been more careful with me than ever since then.

He's already leading me to the elevator when I stop him.

"Wait," I ask, holding his arm. "The doctor told me that you have been coming to talk to her every week. I just wanted to say that when I think I can't love you more than I already do, you prove me wrong."

"Brooklyn is your sister, Madison. Which means she's my family too. You are all mine."

My mother arrived about half an hour ago, and now we are finally allowed to enter the room one at a time.

In that way of his—a little cold, a little silent—Doctor Athanasios seemed optimistic to me.

Mom said I could go first, and as I slowly open the door, I try to remember what the doctor instructed: Don't force memories. Try to control your emotions. Don't cry.

I'm very tense because telling a pregnant woman to control her emotions is the same as telling a cow to fly. Impossible.

When I step into her line of sight, however, it's Brooklyn who cries. "Madison."

"Do you remember me?"

"I remember everything. Thank you for taking care of my children."

"How do you know I’ve been doing that?"

"I listened to you all these months." She speaks slowly, the words seeming to scratch her throat. "I know you're pregnant with twins and got married."

I stand by the bed, dying to hug her but thinking about what the doctor said.

"Come here." She raises her skinny hand.

"They don't want me to make you emotional."

"The doctor, right?"

"Yes, he is Greek like my Zeus. Bossy by nature."

"That's because until now they didn't know the Foster girls."

I wipe away a tear and finally hug her. "Yes, Brooklyn. They didn't know the Foster girls. We are unbreakable."

A month and a half later

“I can't wait for her to come home,” I say.

"According to Athanasios, perhaps in two weeks she can be discharged, even if she'll have to continue with her treatment."

A week after she woke up, we took the twins to see her. I practiced with them all day, showing them photos and videos of Brooklyn, but although at home they said “mommy”, when they came face-to-face with her, they didn't.

Soraya was friendlier than Silas, but I think it's normal to be weirded out, and my sister didn't seem upset.

She's already speaking a little better, but she still has to continue seeing a speech therapist, as well as a physiotherapist. She can take short walks, but she lost a lot of muscle mass, so she still spends more time lying down or sitting than standing up.

Strangely, since she woke up, the person she talks to the least is the doctor, who watches her like a hawk, even though he tries to hide it.

I think it's too soon, after the hell she's been through, for her to even think about being interested in someone. She is confused and, to my sadness, very scared. She wanted to know details of what happened to the men who killed the father of her children and shot her. I told them what I knew: that at least the shooters had been arrested. Zeus told me that he continues to investigate, but to be honest, I just want to forget that nightmare, and I hope that one day my sister can overcome the past too.

"Want a massage?" my husband asks, taking my legs and placing them on his lap, as he knows that my feet are increasingly swollen.

"Always. Spoil me as much as you want. It makes me want to be pregnant all the time just to be treated like a queen."

"You are my queen, whether you are pregnant or not." He pulls me onto his lap, even though I'm sitting on my side, and bites my earlobe. "But if you want to get pregnant twice in a row, I can arrange that, Mrs. Kostanidis.”