Fruit of Misfortune Read online

  “I’ll be the judge of that,” she told me.

  Galen strutted through the front door, Balthazar and Eryx behind him.

  “Galen, help Balthazar with the luggage,” Nyx ordered, when she saw Balthazar’s knees bending in the foyer.

  “Mother, you know I have severe carpal tunnel syndrome.” Galen raised his hands, turning to Balthazar to inspect them. “I would help you Balthazar, honestly, but the pain is unbearable.”

  Since when did Galen suffer from any type of illness aside from Being-An-Ass Syndrome?

  “It’s gotten worse?” Balthazar let out a huff of relief as he set down the two suitcases and unhitched the three duffle bags hanging from his neck and shoulders.

  Galen rubbed his wrists. “You can’t imagine,” he said with a look of suffering on his face.

  Behind Balthazar, Eryx stood, shaking his head at his brother’s act.

  “Did you have the surgery you were speaking about last time?” Balthazar asked.

  “Yes,” Galen paused, turning in a dramatic gaze to the floor, “I was close to losing complete use of one hand after the surgery. They severed my nerves.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. You shouldn’t strain.” Balthazar lifted a duffle over his shoulder. “I hope you sued that doctor.”

  “No.” Eryx patted Balthazar on the shoulder. “Put that down. We can manage.”

  “You’re unbelievable,” David told Galen.

  “I’m touched that even with my disability, you still look up to me,” Galen said. “You make me feel valued.”

  David furrowed his brow and took the duffels off Balthazar’s hands.

  I watched as Eros walked down the stairs. Galen pretended his wrist hurt and didn’t shake his hand.

  “The only one missing is Alezzander,” Eryx said. “Will he make an appearance this summer, or is he still a committed slave over his work?”

  “The latter, I suspect.” Nyx shrugged. “Perhaps he’ll grace us for a few days.”

  Eryx stepped toward me, placing an arm over my shoulder. “How has our little Isis been behaving in Athens?”

  “Well…” Eros began, “To be honest, she’s charmed me senseless.”

  I felt my heart sink to my stomach, thinking that he would find a way in his next words to incriminate me.

  “Has she?” Galen turned to view Eros with a look that I couldn’t decipher.

  “Oui. In absolute, she has.” Eros nodded once. “The way she ever so delicately regurgitated on my shoes won me over.”

  “She did what?” Eryx laughed.

  Nyx covered her mouth, stifling a laugh, as well.

  Galen walked toward me. To my surprise and out of his usual character, he bent down and kissed my cheek.

  “What was that for?” I said, amazed that Galen had expressed some form of affection.

  “For a job well done.”

  David leaned in close to my ear. “If I’m not mistaken, Galen’s just claimed you as his ally.”

  Before I could question the comment, Camilla walked into the room, wiping her hands on her apron and speaking in Italian at the top of her lungs. She hugged Nyx and the twins and led them to the dining room where the typical Chios banquet had already been served.

  I was thankful when Galen beat Eros to the empty seat next to mine. Since I still had no appetite, I spent the length of the meal picking at my food.

  ***

  After dinner, we sat in the living room. I started to feel lightheaded, and that soon turned into a mild dizzy spell. I needed to lie down.

  “I’m going to bed,” I announced. “Good night.”

  “Sleep well,” I heard Nyx say as I headed toward the stairs.

  David stopped me before I reached the first step. He drew me against his chest. His lips pressed against mine. And even though I wanted to, I couldn’t kiss him back. I felt too ashamed. Too disgusted with myself after having kissed his best friend.

  I stared at the floor, but I could feel his eyes on me.

  “You’re upset?” he asked, and I shook my head. “Then what is it?”

  “I’m just tired.”

  With an unconvinced look, he nodded. “Well, good night, then.”

  I climbed the stairs as fast as I could, my vision beginning to blur. When I reached the bedroom, the bed seemed to be rocking along with the walls. The bathroom door flew open and bounced back, as I stumbled in. I landed on my knees and crawled to the toilet where I lost the few bites I had eaten. I sat back against the wall and watched the room spinning around me. My stomach began to spasm, and I hurled myself over the toilet again, retching a strange brown liquid. Over and over the liquid rose and spewed, until there was nothing left, except for the involuntary dry heaves my body continued to produce.

  My breathing became shallow, and a surge of anxiety ran through me. I struggled to move out of the bathroom, but as I crawled, I started crying and screaming at the top of my lungs. I leaned my head against the door and held my arms, digging my nails into them. I curled into a ball, iciness sweeping over me. My pained screams resonated against the concrete walls.

  “Isis!” I heard David’s voice between cries. I pulled at my hair, trying to control the anxiety that was consuming me. But trying to control both the angst and the cold that traveled through my limbs was impossible. I fought hard to suppress the screams.

  “It’s happening again,” I heard Eros say. “Why?”

  “Eros, take Camilla out of here, and lock the door,” Nyx delegated, instead of answering Eros. “And keep her occupied.”

  Eros hesitated, but followed Nyx’s orders and ushered Camilla out of the room. Only, he didn’t leave.

  David knelt beside me. “What is it?”

  I couldn’t answer because I didn’t know. All I knew was that I felt like I was in some sort of psychological war with myself, and my body was turning into an icicle. At last, my cries died down to whimpers.

  “Is she pregnant?” Eryx asked.

  “Of course not,” David replied.

  “Are you sure?” Eryx asked again, and David gave him a cross look as he carried me to the bed.

  Cold as ice, I drew into myself when I felt the bed under me. My jaw shook uncontrollably.

  “You need to lie flat on your back,” Nyx told me.

  “I don’t think there’s time for this,” David said. “Look at her lips. They’re turning blue. We should put her in the bath.”

  “We will, but I can read her better while she’s in this state. I found nothing when I scanned her body earlier, during dinner.”

  Galen forced my folded left arm away from my chest. I pulled away from him. He tried to uncurl my arm again, and again I drew it back. The cold was too much.

  Then, with more pressure than before, Galen gripped my wrist, his fingers making my skin ache and burn. I screamed. As if in slow motion, I saw Galen’s body spring back and ricochet against the wall. He hit the floor with a loud thump.

  “Her arms… It’s escalating too fast.” Nyx ran to the bathroom.

  I studied the blue patches that had formed along the length of my hands to my elbows. Eros, Eryx, David, and Galen looked at me with widened stares. Nyx raced back into the bedroom.

  “Signora?” I heard Camilla’s voice accompanied by loud knocking at the door.

  “Eros, didn’t I tell you to keep Camilla occupied?” Nyx glared at him.

  Eros lingered at the door before he opened it and walked out. Galen turned the lock on the knob.

  Nyx ran into the bathroom again. “Bring her in!”

  Galen took a hesitant step forward. Eryx shook his head at him, and Galen looked at David.

  “David,” Eryx said, but David didn’t move.

  “David.” Galen snapped his fingers at him. “Be quick about it.”

  At last David reacted. He carried me into the bathroom and placed me in the tub still clothed. With effort and after a brief argument in Latin, Nyx pushed David back and out the door and locked us in. She removed my clothes, leavi
ng my undergarments, but only because I protested.

  Nyx poured warm water over my head, slicking my hair back. “Can you straighten your body for two minutes?”

  I tried to nod, but instead, I shivered.

  While Nyx worked, pressing her fingers between my eyes, on my temple and some other areas, I tried as hard as I could to keep myself from curling into a ball.

  Nyx reached my abdomen, applying pressure right below the naval. She said, “My dear, I’m going to ask you a question, and you must be honest.”

  “Okay.”

  “Isis.” Her eyes locked on mine. “Are you pregnant?”

  “No!”

  I didn’t know if I was shaking from the cold I felt still residing in me or from the question that made my heart begin to pump faster. Why did everyone insist on asking me that question?

  “Don’t lie to me.” She sounded as offended as I felt.

  “I’m not pregnant,” I said in an argumentative tone. “Why don’t you believe me?”

  Nyx’s lips were pressed together as she studied me. She rose from her kneeling position and looked at me for a moment longer. From the linens closet, she took a towel and wrapped me in it. Then, she cracked open the bathroom door and said, “David, come in here.”

  David stepped in the bathroom and squatted next to the tub, where I sat with goose pimples all over, but no longer shivering. I had yet to recover feeling in my gray hands and feet.

  Nyx placed her hands on her hips, glaring at the both of us. “David, I’m only going to ask this once, and I expect the truth.”

  “Nyx, I swear,” I insisted. “You don’t have to—”

  Nyx raised her hand, shaking her head to stop me from saying more.

  “What’s the question?” David looked confused and curious.

  “Is Isis pregnant?”

  David’s foot slid out from under him and he dropped onto the wet floor. He looked up at his mother with his mouth open.

  “I… we haven’t… No,” he said.

  “Stop lying!” Nyx raised her voice at us, her blue eyes ablaze. “I won’t have you making a fool of me.” She turned her head to the bathroom door and yelled, “Galen and Eryx, step away from the door—and leave the room.”

  I had never seen Nyx so angry. Who knew that little woman could be so scary?

  We heard a door slam, and Nyx turned her attention back to us. “I’ve never been wrong when it comes to this. You’d better tell me what you’ve done and tell me now, or so help me Deus, I will hang you both like wet laundry.”

  “Mother, why would I lie, knowing the danger I would put all of us in?” David reasoned with her.

  Nyx thought for a moment. She turned to view the door. “Galen, didn’t I tell you to leave?”

  “It’s not Galen,” Eryx said from the other side of the door. “Can I see her?”

  Nyx looked over her shoulder at us, and then opened the door for Eryx. He walked to the tub and knelt next to David and me.

  “I need to feel your lower abdomen. I can do this with my eyes closed if you feel uncomfortable. I don’t need to see what I’m doing; I only need to place pressure on key areas.”

  “What are you looking for?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Eryx said. “But I’ll tell you when I find out.”

  “Can you turn around?” I looked at David.

  David nodded and stepped away from the tub.

  “I’ll guide his hands.” Nyx stood behind Eryx with a calmer face.

  David walked toward the door and kept his back to us. Nyx unraveled the towel and placed Eryx’s hands on either side of my hips.

  “Inward.” Eryx instructed Nyx with closed eyes. “Stop.” He applied pressure for a moment and instructed her again. “Inward… stop.” He repeated this action twice more until his hands were side to side and in the center of my abdomen. There, he held his hands longer than he had on the other areas. “Cover her, please.”

  “I can do it,” I said, but Nyx helped me secure the towel over my chest anyway.

  “She’s covered,” Nyx announced.

  “Well?” David raised his brow. “What did you find?”

  “She’s not pregnant,” Eryx said, looking at his mother. “Were you basing your diagnosis on her heightened hCG level?”

  “Yes, and there’s a small mass there,” Nyx argued.

  “What’s hCG?” I interrupted.

  “Pregnancy hormones,” David answered.

  “You were looking for an embryo?” My eyes creased. “You can sense that?”

  Eryx nodded.

  “Then what do you make of the morula?” Nyx asked.

  “Define morula?” I interrupted again.

  “It’s a very early embryonic stage at which cell division occurs,” Nyx explained. “And I’m positive that’s what I sense. It has to be.”

  “It’s not that,” Eryx assured her. “It’s ovules… by the millions. That’s the reason for the cluster.”

  Millions? That couldn’t be right.

  “I’m never wrong.” Nyx clenched her fist. “Never.”

  “Her hCG level is down, by the way,” Eryx said. “It began to drop as I scanned her.”

  Still not convinced with Eryx’s evaluation, Nyx knelt by the tub and placed her hand over the towel.

  “Turn around,” she instructed the boys with a quick glance at them.

  Once again she touched the same midpoint that had initially caused her to suspect I was lying.

  “He’s right,” she said after a moment. “Hormone level is normal.” She lapped the towel over me, her mouth in a tight line. “I’m sorry I doubted you. I panicked. And to be honest, you scared the shit out of me.”

  “Mother!” Eryx suppressed a smile.

  “What?” She sounded annoyed. “Are your ears bleeding from hearing your mother curse? As if you haven’t heard worse.”

  ***

  At last, my fingers returned to their natural peachy tone. Nyx helped me out of the tub, but ordered me straight into bed. Camilla brought me a clear broth to warm me up. It wasn’t enough, though. I craved a juicy, bloody steak—which was strange, because I liked my steaks well done.

  Camilla lit a candle with the image of a white dove on the label. She crossed herself in front of the candle, and then crossed me before she left. Galen examined the small crack on the wall where his head had hit it earlier. David sat by my side, monitoring my temperature while Nyx and Eryx spoke in hushed voices in a corner. Meanwhile, Eros stood by, watching me from the door.

  “Are you going to tell me what’s causing her illness? And how did she send Galen flying into the wall?” Eros stood stiffly at the foot of the bed, directing his questions at David.

  “I never did that,” I said. “Did I?”

  David looked to his family for support.

  “I tripped,” Galen said.

  “Yes.” Eros glared at Galen. “Of course you did.” He spun on his heel and left.

  “Why’s he so upset?” I asked.

  “He knows we’re keeping him in the dark.” David ran his hand over my arm. “He saw you push Galen against the wall.”

  “When did I do that? There’s no way I could.”

  “You did.” Nyx closed the door to the room. “Which leads to the matter I wanted to discuss earlier. How are we going to keep this from Eros now?”

  “He’ll leave on his own if we ignore him,” Eryx said. “He’ll get the hint.”

  “And if that doesn’t work,” Galen added, “we could kill him.”

  Nyx rolled her eyes. “Oh, shut it, Galen.”

  David’s lips curled. “Mother isn’t in the best of moods, brother.”

  “I’ll say.” Galen raised his brows.

  “She was swearing like a mad, drunken sailor in the bathroom,” Eryx said.

  David covered my ears with his hands. “Oh, the filth that these innocent ears heard.”

  “Was she really swearing?” Galen asked.

  “She said one word,” I to
ld him. “They’re exaggerating.”

  Galen hugged Nyx. “Looks like you are my mother after all.”

  Nyx pushed away from Galen. “Are you all done indulging in this pettiness?” She sounded angrier than she had in the bathroom. “Do you think Isis’ condition is a laughing matter?”

  The boys exchanged glances with each other, and no one said anything for what seemed to be a very long time.

  Finally, David spoke. “Both attacks have taken place at the same time. It may be a pattern.”

  “And the extreme levels of hCG may have been produced by the massive amount of ovules,” Eryx added. “A hormonal imbalance is possible if the ovaries are releasing eggs in great amounts.”

  “But it only lasts for the moment of the attack. Why? And what’s the cause of the panic attacks she experiences?” Nyx creased her brow. “Could it be that the same hormone is causing them?”

  “That’s not possible,” Galen said. “Anxiety is caused by stress, worry, fear.”

  “I have a question,” I said. “Why does everyone keep asking if I’m pregnant? Eros asked the same thing. I’m sure Nyx still suspects that I am.”

  “Your symptoms are the same as other human women who have conceived a child with a deity,” Nyx explained. “They rarely survive the birth.” She paced the room. “I don’t understand… I’ve scanned you over and over again, but your body shows no sign of one single defect.”

  “Do you think it could be psychological?” David asked.

  I turned to look at him. “You think I’m doing this to myself, on purpose?”

  “Not on purpose, but on a subconscious level. Emotional traumas can project physically.” David touched my cheek. “You’ve been going through a lot of stress.”

  “You’re all dissecting the problem, instead of viewing it as a whole.” Galen poured a glass of water and handed it to me. “Hypothermia causes dehydration. Drink.”

  “Thanks.” I took the glass.

  “I have a hypothesis,” Galen said, opening the balcony doors. “Do we have acquaintances in Athens with access to a magnetic resonance imaging scanner?”

  “What part of me do you want to scan?” I asked.

  “Your head.”

  “And why, exactly, do we want to see her brain?” David asked.

  We listened for Galen’s answer, but Nyx was the one who said what I dreaded to hear.