Falling for a Bridgerton : a Bridgerton fanfic

chapter 20 : a very sad, unexpected development

Anthony stumbled out of the club, his breath reeking of whiskey while his hands were stained with ash. He spent the last few days practically sleeping at the club, the difference between day and night blurring as he downed a drink, one after another. He found solace over there. It was the one place where he could get away from the whispers, where the never-ending trail of gossip didn't seem to follow.

    He pushed out the wooden door, his eyes suddenly blinded by the sun.
It's already noon? He thought. He didn't even know what day it was.

He began walking towards his apartment when he suddenly stopped in his tracks. Down the road was a young girl walking and laughing with her mother as her father planted kisses on her forehead. The view left Anthony feeling uneasy. He couldn't tell if it was guilt or the effect of dozens of shots of whiskey. Not wanting to think about the answer too much, he turned around and decided to walk the other way.

    He was going home. He'd been purposely staying away, not wanting his siblings to see him like this. He knew too well how smart they were: they would see through him like glass. But seeing that young girl and her doting family, he knew had to go home.

Anthony never really liked the feeling of guilt.

He walked through the front foyer, and the feeling in his chest became slightly uncomfortable. He knew every inch and crevice of the house but he felt as though he was walking through it for the first time. As he made his way towards the stairs, he took all of the sights in, not wanting to forget a single detail of the house he grew up in.

He was heading towards the stairs when he noticed an unsightly view in the drawing-room. It was his siblings. Gregory, Francesca & Hyacinth all sat quietly with their hands on their lap. Based on their nervous faces, Anthony peered into the room as if to see if there was a ghost lingering.

"Brother!" Gregory piped up. He didn't seem excited to see his brother, just relieved. He ran up to Anthony and hugged him tightly, scrunching his nose as he pulled away, smelling the whiskey and cigarettes on him.

"What's going on?" Anthony asked, startled at his brother's reaction. He stared at Francesca for an answer but she only opened her mouth just to close it and looked down at her hands again.

The sound of rushed footsteps interrupted their moment as Mrs.Wilson ran down the stairs.

"Viscount," she warned, panting. "There's a problem....,"  she blurted with wide eyes as she glanced upstairs.

Anthony didn't need to hear another word as he ran up the stairs, two at a time following the sounds of whispers until he found himself in his mother's room.

She lay there, her eyes cold, her face sullen. A nurse was tending to her as the doctor was writing his notes at the back of the room. Benedict, Colin & Eloise sat in a row alongside the bed. His brothers looked up at him with blank stares as they gestured to their mother with their eyes. Eloise glared at him as if Anthony had single-handedly caused this situation.

"What happened??" Anthony cried as he entered the room, running up to his mother's side.

The doctor made his way toward Anthony, his glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose. She fainted last night. I took some tests and..." the doctor abruptly stopped when he noticed Eloise, her eyes brimming with tears that threatened to fall any second.

The doctor led Anthony to the side of the room, out of earshot of his siblings. "We've taken some tests and done whatever we can at the moment." He looked at Anthony with a face that read "I don't want to give you the worst news of your life right now"