Always and Forever

by Rebeca Aguila

  He then whispered to Rebeca, “Hey, baby, the doctor’s going to take you down for a chest x-ray. OK? I’ll see you in a few.”

  “OK,” she whispered quietly. “I love you.”

  He, then, kissed her forehead and whispered to her, “I love you, too.”

  Looking at the doctor, he said, “Take care of her.”

  “I’ll treat her like one of my own.” he guaranteed Spencer. He, then, wheeled her down to an x-ray room.

  Chapter Nine

  “Hi, honey.” someone said.

  Rebeca opened her eyes only to see she was in a light room and Spencer sitting next to her bed. “Hi, yourself. Aren’t you supposed to be at school?” she wheezed, without any voice left inside her.

  “Shh . . .” he answered, putting his finger to her lips. “Yes, I skipped school. But I had good reason to come,” he whispered.

  “Why is that?” she asked, smile on her face.

  “You.”

  “Me?” she asked, surprised.

  “Yes, you.”

  “Why’d you want to see me?”

  “You’re silly.” he chuckled. “I came because you’re sick.”

  “What happened?”

  “You had a heart attack and had a chest x-ray done.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  “Wow. Anyway, how’s my sister? I haven’t seen her in two weeks.”

  “Oh, she’s good. If you want, I can bring her in.”

  “No, no. I-It’s OK. I need to rest anyway.”

  “OK, no problem. I’ll be home if you need me.” He headed toward the door.

  “Spencer, wait.” He turned around. “Please stay. I need you here. I know that you skipped school to be with me, but I . . .” She couldn’t finish. Her heart rate was speeding toward high.

  Spencer opened the door and called a nurse. “Hey, Karina!!” She turned around and looked toward the doorway.

  “Yes?” she asked. She looked at Rebeca and her heart rate and called Wayne.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  “Look at the heart rate on Rebeca’s monitor,” Spencer answered.

  Looking at her heart rate, he injected a medicine that slowed it down. “This will place her heart rate back to normal.”

  “What happens if it doesn’t go back to normal?” Spencer asked, frightened.

  “Sadly, it means her heart doesn’t function correctly and we’ll have to operate,” Wayne answered sadly.

  “But she’ll be fine,” Karina assured Spencer. “Don’t worry about it too much.”

  “I hope so.” he answered nervously.

  “She’ll be fine,” Wayne reassured Spencer.

  “Well, if you say so.” he answered bluntly.

  “Of course. We’re professionals. You don’t have to worry about anything.” Karina replied confidently.

  “OK, well thanks. She’s a very special woman in my life.”

  “I know,” Wayne remarked.

  “Who is she?” Karina asked.

  “My girlfriend,” Spencer commented.

  “Nice.” she acknowledged. “How long have you known her?”

  “A month.”

  “And you’re already going out?” Wayne asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Well, we should go. We have other patients.” Karina said.

  “OK. Bye.” Rebeca opened her eyes. “Hi.” He smiled at her, kissed her forehead and sat down next to her.

  “What happened?”

  Chapter Ten

  “You . . . kind of had a speeding heart rate. But Wayne put a stop to it by injecting a medicine that would help with it.”

  “What’s wrong with my heart?” she asked, worried.

  “I’m not sure, but he’s going to find out and tell us in a few weeks.”

  “Will that mean that I won’t be able to wear white and walk down the aisle?”

  “To be honest, babe. I think so. You will be able to wear white and walk down the aisle. Why do you ask?”

  “No reason.”

  “Really?” he asked

  “Spencer, really. I’m sure.”

  “OK. If you’re sure, I won’t ask anymore.”

  “Actually, I--” She stopped for a second to think of what to say.

  “Hey, sis. What’s up?” Hannah asked from the doorway.

  Rebeca looked up and smiled. “Hey, yourself. I’m actually fine. Well, until I had that heart rate problem a few minutes ago. I see you’re better and walking.”

  “Yeah. How’d you get that heart problem?”

  “Um, I’m not sure. I was just talking to Spencer and it just happened.”

  “Oh. Anyway, I have great news.”

  “Shoot. We can’t wait to hear it.” Spencer said.

  “I’m engaged!!!”

  “Engaged?” Rebeca asked. “You’re only 17.”

  “So? I love Edward.”

  “But does he love you?” her sister asked Hannah

  “If he didn’t love me, would he have given me an engagement ring?”

  “Hey, babe. What’s up?” a voice asked. It was Edward. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck.

  “Hey, Edward. Quick question.” Spencer asked.

  “Sure. What is it?” Edward asked, looking up at him.

  Chapter Eleven

  “I need to talk with Lilly about Jacob but I can’t with him watching my every move,” Rebeca replied.

  “OK, and?” Edward answered, wondering.

  “She needs to get in there and, since we’re bionic, we can help protect her from him. Would you do that?” Spencer answered.

  “Sure, but . . . he’s a vampire. We can’t beat him.”

  “Of course, we can. Why can’t we?”

  “Well, because he’s stronger than us, and if we beat him, he’ll beat us for sure.”

  “We can beat him. We’re two against one.”

  “Well, yeah. But he has super strength, and we have super speed.”

  “That’s not true. Wait,” He looked toward Rebeca. “Can you find out his weakness?”

  “Sure thing.” But she couldn’t find it. “I-I can’t find it.”

  “Why? It’s always been there. What happened?”

  “I deleted it.” someone said. It was Jacob.

  “Jacob? What are you doing here?” Rebeca asked.

  “To take back what’s rightfully mine. You.”

  “Why do you want me?”

  “Because I love you.”

  “How do you know that? You broke up with her.” Spencer said.

  “Really? Because I love Spencer. Not you.”

  “That’s not what you told me,” Spencer whispered into her ear.

  “Now you bring it up?” she whispered back.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Edward asked. “She doesn’t love you. OK?”

  “Actually, I do. It’s just that he did very bad stuff to me and it’s been haunting me.”

  “Well, you could’ve told me instead,” Hannah said. “Why didn’t you?”

  “I didn’t want to be the center of attention,” she told her sister. “But I didn’t want to hurt Lilly. She’s my best friend. Why can’t we just be friends?” she asked Jacob.

  “I don’t want to be just friends, OK? I love you. That’s it.”

  “Why can’t you accept that? I mean, OK, fine. I love you. But I love Spencer more.”

  “Well, I think there’s a way you can have both,” Hannah answered. She winked toward her sister.

  “Oh, no. No, no, no. I know that look. I’m not going to clone myself.”

  “Why not? It won’t be painful. I promise.” She looked at her with puppy dog eyes.

  “OK. Fine. I’ll do it.” she answered angrily. “Anything else you want?” she asked Jacob.

  “Well, no.”

  “Wait, I just found it,” Edward answered.

  “Found what?” Jacob asked.

  “You’re weakness.”

  “What is i
t?” Spencer asked.

  “Fire.”

  “Well, I have lasers in my eyes. That’ll work.”

  “What are you guys talking about?” He chuckled. “That’s not really my weakness.”

  “Well, what is?” Rebeca asked, terrified.

  “I don’t have one. I’m immortal.”

  “Oh.” she answered.

  “So, will you just do this little tiny favor for me?”

  “Why should I? You did horrible things to me back in 8th grade.”

  “Like what?” Edward asked.

  “Well, for instance, he cheated on me when we were going out. He, also, raped me.”

  “Ooh,” he answered, disgusted. “Why would you do such a thing, Jacob?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I just wanted her so much that my conscious took over.”

  “Why would you do that? You could’ve just broken up with Lilly and gone out with me instead.”

  “Well, I didn’t love you back then. I loved Lilly.”

  “Well, that’s irrelevant.”

  “Why do you say that, babe?” Spencer asked, still standing next to her bed.

  “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I want you, Rebeca,” Jacob answered to Rebeca.

  “You’re not going to get her, Jacob.”

  “Who said that?” Jacob asked.

  “Your wife.” Jacob turned around. “Did you forget that I have bionic hearing? I heard you. And what do I hear? You love her, don’t you?”

  Jacob couldn’t answer. Rebeca responded, “Actually, he does. He, also, did horrible things to me back in eighth grade, before he met you.” Lilly was speechless. She turned toward Jacob.

  “Is that true, Jacob?”

  He breathed in deeply to keep from yelling at her. “Yes. But I--”

  “You what?” She turned toward Rebeca. “I have to go.” She, then, left, tears in her eyes, without any explanation.

  “What just happened?” Edward and Hannah asked.

  “I-I have to fix this.” Jacob stammered, walking toward the door. He slipped through the exit and raced toward her sister-in-law for help.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Katherine!!!” Jacob called. Lilly was with her and Alex. Lilly was holding the baby. When she saw Jacob walking toward them, she left with the baby. What does he want?, she asked herself. She told Catalina to take the baby and hide her from Jacob.

  “I need to get out of here and away from Jacob, but I don’t want to hurt the baby. Take care of her.” She had tears in her eyes, ready to flee.

  “Where are you going?” Catalina asked. “Alex told me everything.”

  “Hey, beautiful. How are you?” Robert asked.

  She turned around and smiled at him. “I’m good. How are you?” She turned toward Lilly and introduced Robert. “Lilly, this is my husband, Robert.”

  “Nice.” she acknowledged. “How long have you guys been married?”

  “2 years,” Robert answered.

  “That’s nice.” She sniffed back tears. “Um, hey. This is Hadassah’s feeding schedule.”

  “How long will you be gone?” Catalina asked.

  “As long as it takes. I just want you and Robert to take care of my daughter.”

  “Lilly?” someone asked. She got goose bumps thinking it was Jacob.

  “Go away, Jacob,” she answered, angry, not looking at him.

  “It’s not Jacob. It’s Rebeca.”

  She turned around. “Oh, hey.” She dried up her tears. “Where’s Hannah?”

  “She left with Edward and Spencer.”

  “Oh, OK.”

  “Listen, I know that we’ve been friends for a long time. So, I’m just going to come out and say it. Jacob loves me and I love him.”

  “Well, why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

  “I didn’t want to ruin your marriage. Besides, I also love Spencer.”

  “Well, don’t worry about it. I’m not mad you. I’m mad at Jacob, so I’m running away.”

  “Why? You’re leaving your most prized possession.”

  “Yes, I know. But I have no choice.”

  “Well, how about you stay with Spencer and me? You don’t have to run away. Running away never solves anything.”

  “I don’t want him to find me.”

  “You know, I have an invisibility cloak Spencer’s dad gave me. You can use that.”

  “Where is it?”

  “I’ll show you. It’s downstairs in the lab.”

  “You have a lab? How?”

  “It was Spencer’s father, since Spencer’s bionic.”

  “Wow!! He’s like me and my sister.”

  “So? Then, are you going to stay?? Please say yes. I can’t stand to see you leave without your daughter.”

  She breathed in deeply and answered. “Yes. I’ll stay. I guess running away is a bad idea. But I don’t want Hadassah with me in case he finds me. He’ll take her away and have me locked up.”

  “Deal,” Rebeca answered. “You know I’ve always wanted a daughter named Hadassah. What does it mean?”

  “It means Myrtle.”

  “Like a flower, right?”

  “Yeah, so if you think about it, she is a flower.”

  “Yes, she is. A very beautiful flower. Can I go see her? I never had the chance to meet her.

  “Sure.” She turned toward Catalina, who was talking to her husband. “Hey, Cat. Can you take us to see my daughter? Rebeca wants to meet her.”

  “Sure thing, Lilly.” She turned toward Robert. “Hey, babe. Where’s Pediatrics?”

  “I’ll take you.” He looked at the women. “Who are you girls going to see?”

  “My daughter,” Lilly answered.

  “Cool.” He, then, took them down to Pediatrics, but Hadassah wasn’t in her room.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Where is she? She was right here when I brought her.” Catalina started to get a vision and gasped. “Oh no,” she said, holding on to Robert.

  “What is it?” Lilly asked.

  “She-” She couldn’t finish. She was too depressed from what she saw.

  “What is it? Tell me. I can handle it.” she answered, tears in her eyes.

  “She’s dead,” Catalina whispered to herself.

  “Wait, what? She’s dead??” Lilly quavered. Her mouth spat out the words like foam.

  “Yes. She is. But how?”

  “Jacob,” Rebeca whispered. She left and ran to Edward’s house. She barged inside, scared.

  “Hey, sis,” Hannah said, surprised. Rebeca looked like she was going to throw up. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Rebeca threw up in a nearby garbage can. Edward and Hannah came over to help her.

  “Hey, hey, hey, what’s wrong?” Edward asked, panicked.

  “It’s Hadassah, Lilly’s daughter,” Rebeca answered.

  “What happened to her?” Hannah asked.

  “She’s dead.”

  “Wait, then, why didn’t you tell us in the first place?” Edward asked.

  “She starts throwing up when she’s scared,” Hannah explained.

  “Well, then, that’s not good. Who killed her?”

  “Jacob Dallas. Lilly’s husband.” Rebeca answered.

  “Whoa. I didn’t see that coming.” Hannah and Edward replied.

  “Me neither. He seemed so nice, until that ‘incident’ that happened.”

  “Oh right,” Hannah answered, scared of Jacob all of a sudden.

  Edward felt Hannah tense up and he wrapped his arms around her.

  “Hey, but if you guys came home together, then where’s Spencer?”

  “He’s not here. We haven’t seen him since we came home.”

  “I’m going to call him.” She dialed Spencer’s number and someone answered it. “Hello?” she asked.

  “Hello, sweetie,” Jacob answered.

  “What do you want?”

  “You.”

  “Again with me? What’s wrong with you?”

  “You.”

&nbs
p; “What do I have to do with you? What did I ever do to you?”

  "Nothing, really."

  "So?"

  “So if you ever want to see your boyfriend again, you have to do something for me.”

  Scared of Spencer getting killing, she quickly answered, “Sure, what do you want from me?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “To have a child.”

  “So you killed your daughter to get to me just so you can have a child with me?”

  “Yeah. But so what?”

  Hannah grabbed the phone from her sister. “She’s not going to do that.”

  “OK, you asked for it.” They heard a gunshot from the other end of the phone and Rebeca’s eyes started watering, making her cry.

  “Great. Thanks a lot, Hannah. Now my boyfriend’s dead.”

  “Hey, what’d you want me to do? Let you go through with it?”

  “Yes. I’m never going to see Spencer again, thanks to you.”

  “Sure you are.”

  “How? He’s dead.”

  “There are some things that you don’t know about me.”

  “You’re my sister for God’s sake.”

  “Yeah, but I’m also a human-vampire.”

  “How? We’ve been sisters forever and never seen you act like a vampire. Besides, vampires are a myth.”

  “No, they’re not. Here I’ll show you.”

  “OK.” Hannah, suddenly, ran from where she was standing to the backyard and back again.

  “How’d do that?” she asked amazed.

  “Super speed. Something vampires and bionic people are able to do.”

  “Well, Spencer was bionic.”

  “Oh, one more thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “He’s not dead.”

  “Spencer’s not dead? That’s crazy. I heard a gunshot.”

  “Yeah, but the gun wasn’t pointed at Spencer.”

  “Then, why didn’t I hear anything?”

  “We, as vampires, have a distinct ear, compared to humans.”

  “But you’re a human-vampire. You can’t have every ability.”

  “Yeah, I can. Human-vampires are also referred to as bionic, like someone you know.” Spencer came out from behind Rebeca.

  “Spencer?” she asked, surprised. She looked back at her sister and Edward. “But I heard a gunshot. And I didn’t see him anywhere around the house.”