Virtually Identical

23. Secrets Revealed

ROSE

I knew mom would be surprised, but I did not expect this reaction from her. She was a successful businesswoman and had many ups and downs in her career but she always sorted them out. I've never seen her so afraid in my entire life. "You think she'll be okay?" Aubrey asked, worried. Ash was quite he did not say anything, "She'll be fine." I assured her. I knew Teresa Maxwell, she was a strong woman, she was just shocked that was it.

It felt like eternity when mom finally woke up. She looked at me, her eyes half open, Aubrey was on the other side of the bed. Ash handed me a glass of water and I held it out to her. She eagerly drank it all. "What happened? I'm so confused. Why there are two of you?" mom asked, I heard Aubrey chuckle before covering it with a cough. She looked at her, "Will anyone tell me what's going on?" she asked, a little desperate now. I could see the frustration in her eyes. I bit my lip, glancing towards the clock. "Mom, why don't you rest for now, we'll talk tomorrow morning. Okay?" I tried to convince her, she needed to rest right now or else she might not be able to understand anything I was going to tell her. There was a lot for her to take in and I just could not bombard her with my past.

"But you..." she protested, "She's right Teresa, for now you should rest. We can talk in the morning." Ash cut in, while Aubrey just nodded. She sighed, "Fine, But I want to know everything. You can stay the night Ashton. It's quite late." She said, massaging her temple, she was probably having a headache. I searched for the medicine kit in the drawer, once I found it, I handed the pain killer to her, while she smiled, "Thanks sweetie." She said before swallowing the tablet.

"I'll sleep in the guest room." Ash announced before leaving. It was me and Aubrey now. "How do you think she'll take it?" she asked. I was worried about that too. "Honestly, I have no idea." I told her. We would just have to wait and watch what happens.

***

The next morning I felt like I was going on a battle. I did not miss the awkward looks Mom was giving to the both of us. She looked like she could not believe what she was seeing, I wouldn't blame her though. After all I kept her in the dark for years. We had breakfast in silence, None of us said a word. After cleaning up we settled in the living room I sat beside mom, while Aubrey sat with Ash. "Mom... There's a lot you need to know. I'm sorry I hid this from you all those years that I have a sister. We... I...I thought she'll be happy without me. I wasn't an ideal person to have around. People hated me; I was always a burden on her..."

"No you weren't, Rose. Don't ever think of yourself like that. And nobody hates you. We love you." Aubrey interrupted me, Ash nodded in agreement, her voice was stern and filled with power, like she was ordering me. Mom looked at her then back at me, "I get that part. Aubrey told me she didn't know you were adopted and she came here to look for you. I want to know what happened in that accident." Mom asked me, silently asking me to continue, I sighed before telling my part of the story.

That day, I left school to go end my life. I was tired of living like this, getting targeted by people around me, everyone hated me, except Mom and Ash....and maybe Aubrey. I have not seen her for years. I wondered how she was doing, if she remembers me or if she was happy. I was going somewhere, not particularly aware of my destination. Lost in thoughts I stood at the edge of the river, watching how fast and gracefully it was flowing. I wished my life was like this river, just flowing without any care, without any obstacle.

Some disturbance and panicked voices brought me back out of my thoughts. I heard people shouting like someone was drowning. Curiosity got the best of me and I headed towards the disturbance. A woman was holding a little girl in her arms, who looked like she just came out of the water but that was not it. That woman was pointing towards something or I thought it was someone. I quickly got to her and that was when I saw the struggling face, about to drown. No....it couldn't be... what was she doing here....? I wondered. "Aubrey!" I shouted before taking off my coat and jumping into the river. Somehow, at that time I did not notice I had dropped my school id card with my coat.