I'm Not the Only One

The Waiting Room

Maks walked through the hallways of the hospital by himself.

Head hung low, he thought of the past events that had taken place just a few hours ago.

"MerBer, I love you so much" Maks whispered to Meryl as they wheeled her away into emergency surgery.

"Maks, I love you too" Meryl whispered faintly, as she was losing consciousness from the anesthesia the doctor had injected into her.

Finally Maks found his way back to the waiting room.

Alex, Teddy, Nicole and Serge all stood, eyes red and brimmed with tears.

"So... what's the diagnoses?" Asked Teddy, whose lip quivered at the word "diagnoses".

"She...she can never have children of her own" Maks said quietly as he slid into one of the waiting room chairs.

"Wait...what?!" Teddy cried. "What do you mean she can never have children of her own?!" .

"He...he shot her in her uterus. Every child she becomes pregnant with will be a miscarriage" Maks said, his words turning into sobs.

"I...I don't-" Alex was cut off by a nurse walking in.

"Is there any family out here for a Valentin Chmer-Chmer..." the nurse couldn't pronounce the last name.

"Chmerkovskiy. And yes, we are here for him too" said Nicole.

"Ok then," said the nurse, "he...he won't calm down enough for the doctor to look at his nose...he keeps muttering and sobbing "oh dear lord what have I done?!I hurt her!It's all my fault!"...will one of you go back with me to calm him down?" Asked the nurse.

"I'll go" said Alex. Alex always had a way of calming people down in the worst of times.

"Ok, great!" Said the nurse, who sounded relieved.

"Please text me if you find out anything about Meryl" Alex said over his shoulder as he walked to where Val was.

"Why...why did it have to be her?!Why couldn't I have shot Alex instead?!Or Teddy, or even Serge?!" Val muttered. He didn't notice Alex walking through the door.

"He's right there as you can see" the nurse said to Alex. "Please try to calm him down" the nurse said to Alex as she walked out of the room.

"I heard that!" Alex said to Val once the nurse left.

"Alex...don't...don't even look at me!I don't deserve to be here!I deserve to be in jail!" Val sobbed, turning his head away from his best friend.

"Hey, look. Meryl is in surgery right now. It's not all your fault, Val. I should never have brought the gun in the first place, especially if I knew there was going to be alcohol at the party" Alex said as he slowly lowered himself onto the bed beside Val, grimacing in pain. His ribs were bruised from when Val kicked him.

"Why are you here? I don't deserve to see anyone!" Val wailed.

"Look, you're my best friend. We're all gonna get through this, ok? We all know you didn't mean to shoot Meryl, Val. One of the things Meryl told Maks before she went into surgery was that it's not your fault. She forgives you, Val" Alex said, all while draping his arm across Val's shoulders.

"She...she said that?" Val said, suddenly looking at Alex.

"Yes, and you know she doesn't say stuff she doesn't mean" Alex reassured him.

"Ok, but what's the diagnoses?How bad?" Val asked, voice full of concern.

"She...the bullet...I'm just gonna say it flat out Val. She can never have children of her own. The bullet went into her uterus" Alex replied hesitantly.

Val fell back onto the bed.

"I've destroyed my brother's hopes and dreams" Val said dazed.

"Now Val, don't talk like that. It was an accident" Alex said warily.

"An ACCIDENT?!An ACCIDENT?!" Val yelled. "You think this is an ACCIDENT?!" Val then proceeded to jump out of his hospital bed a sprint down the hall, with Alex chasing after him.

He nearly ran into his brother, who had taken a walk to try and clear his mind.

"Valentin..." Maks said, lifting his glossy big brown eyes from the floor. They were rimmed with tears.

-To Be Continued-