CHAPTER 70: FLASHBACK
Flashback: The Bar
A smoky haze hung heavy in the air as James slumped into his usual booth at the bar, a stark contrast to the sterile hospital room he'd just left.
He nursed a glass of amber liquid, The familiar sting of whiskey did little to numb the storm raging within him. He reminisced about what happened earlier.
Diana. Pregnant. The words echoed in his mind, a relentless drumbeat. How? When? Everything he thought he knew about himself, his future, shattered.
Diana's pregnancy defied everything he thought he knew, a truth as potent as the whiskey he downed.
Yet, it couldn't stop the onslaught of questions or wrap his head around the fact that his own wife is pregnant. Why now? Was this a cruel joke, a glimmer of hope after years of darkness? What exactly changed in him? Or was she really his redemption.
There was just a lot of unasked questions and unanswered responses that had him feeling overwhelmed.
By the time his friends arrived, James was well into his second bottle. Yet, the liquor seemed to pass through him like water, leaving only a gnawing emptiness. Thanks to his condition, a cruel twist of fate, it allowed him to drink endlessly without intoxication.
Henry cast scathing looks at his friend and rolled his eyes
James looked up to see his friends, their faces, usually etched with a spirit of familiarity and closeness, were now a mask of concern.
Even his brother was not smiling or fawning over him as usual.
He smiled shrewdly to himself and smirked. "Harry spilled the beans, huh?" James forced another smile, the gesture strained and humorless. "So what? Hmm? Come to fight for the princess?"
A tense silence followed, broken only by Jerry's curt reply, "What do you think, James?"
Harry, ever the peacemaker, interjected, "Look, James, we know this is a lot to process. It's a shock for all of us. Hell, i even said you couldn't have a child, but here it is James, what we've all secretly wanted for you, a chance at fatherhood. I just need to run some tests, see what's changed in your system."
A heavy silence descended upon the room. James's hand tightened around the bottle, his knuckles turning white. Then, in a swift, violent movement, he hurled it across the room. It shattered against the far wall, the sound echoing like a gunshot.
The guys jerked and turned to look at the wall then back at James
"Screw your tests, Harry!" he roared, his voice thick with a mix of anger and despair.
"Screw your tests, Harry and fuck you too" James snarled, his voice laced with a dangerous edge.
Harry flinched and swallowed as James continued
"Those damn tests said I was infertile! They condemned me to a life without a family. And now what? Diana's going to have a baby? Explain that, doc."
The question hung heavy in the air, unanswered. James's outburst had left them speechless, the gravity of his pain sinking in. They had known about his infertility, but they hadn't truly grasped the weight he'd carried for so long.