Heart Attack

21

Lennox

I came out of the shower with only his shirt on. He gave me the lopsided smile I loved so much before he slipped into the bathroom. I smiled as I saw a new charger on the nightstand on my side. Not that I have a side, I thought immediately. But it was just where I conveniently slept the other night. A water bottle was on it too, next to a box of my favourite cookies. I never told him about my favourite cookies. So, either it was a lucky guess, he asked Bryn or Jake, or he was paying more attention than I realised. I crawled into bed feeling satisfied, the feeling of his hand, his fingers still echoed in my mind. The way he kissed me or wrapped his lips around my nipples. I glanced over to his nightstand, trying to keep my mind from going there. His phone was charging on top of a book. My book. I noticed the bookmark between the pages. He was already halfway through the book. My eyes widened.

"What's wrong?" He asked worried.

I looked to Jesse who had come out of the bathroom. A towel hung low on his waist, showing off his happy trail and hipbones. Fuck! I was wet again. He was rubbing a towel over his wet hair. It should be illegal to look like that.

"You're reading it."

"Of course, I am." He cocked his head a little, like I was insane for thinking he wouldn't.

"But I only gave it to you last night. And you're already..."

He shot me a smile. "It's a good book. And classes were boring, your book isn't."

"Oh." I said quietly. I watched as he took lose boxers from his dresser and put them on under his towel. Ever so modest. I almost laughed. "If you are already over halfway then you should know the title by now."

"I do." He said, slipping into bed with me. He turned to the side, resting his head in his hands as he looked at me. "But I want to finish the book before I get all too distracted from finally finding you on Instagram."

"There isn't much to see, really. I doubt you find anything on there that is interesting."

He played with a strand of my hair. "Everything about you is interesting, love. I would get distracted no matter what." I scooted closer to him and kissed him softly on the cheek. "Ah, back to kissing the cheek." He teased.

"Got to keep some anticipation in this, right." I chuckled and put my head on his shoulder. He pulled me close, interlocking our legs together and his arms curled around me.

"Can I ask you something?"

"I want to tell you something."

We both said at the same time. He kissed the tip of my nose and said. "You first."

"I want to tell you about my mum. How she – how we lost her." He held me closer. His hand moving slowly over my back. "Right after Bryn and I turned three years old, we found out mum was pregnant again. A boy. Bryn and I argued for months how to call him, not that our parents asked. But we finally settled on Othello. My parents instantly liked the name. Mum didn't have any difficulty with her first pregnancy. Usually, twins are harder on the body and more likely to deliver early or with a c-section. But she carried us until thirty-eight weeks, had a normal and rather fluent birth. And except for heartburn, she didn't have any troubles. The pregnancy itself with Othello went well. She was due in early August and when she started getting contractions, they went to the hospital. But something went wrong during the delivery. Othello got stuck and had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. He died before being fully born." He caressed my cheek softly. He didn't interrupt, he just wiped the tears away that rolled down my cheeks. "As the doctors tried to get the baby out, something ruptured. Mum bled out in just a few minutes. She had me and Bryn without any trouble. She should have survived. Othello should have survived."