Chapter 6

Now, have you ever walked into a room only to be suddenly hit by a wall of pure emotion? And you knew, you just knew, that it wasn't good. Well, that's exactly what happened to Moira when she walked back into the surgical waiting room. She simply walked into what felt like a wall of emotions, all aimed at her.

And not much of it was good.

She was glad to see her daughter still smiling and sitting in Mrs. Cambridge's lap. But that was about all.

Ian sat in a corner chair of the waiting room looking, for all intents and purposes as if he simply wanted to explode into violence at the recent arrivals sitting across from her new "mother-in-law". When he noticed Moira's return he glared at her with even more anger. So much in fact that she almost took a couple of steps back in fear. Steeling herself against that fear she met his eyes dead on and held them with defiance. She was particularly surprised, and glad, when he looked away first. Turning to the newcomers she almost took those steps back in fear anyways.

Sitting there were two girls, one white and one black, and between them sat the largest black man she had ever seen! He appeared huge with muscles on top of muscles. His bald head and rakish goatee almost made him appear to be one of those gangsters from a bad inner city movie. But despite all that when he turned to look at her his face showed only concern and embarrassment of all things.

No, Moira decided she wasn't afraid of the huge guy, she was afraid of the two young ladies sitting to either side.

Although both were extremely pretty, they were also very different. The black woman seemed short, even while seated, but her hips flared out slightly, letting Moira know she spent a lot of time sitting on her butt. Her face was well rounded and soft, but attractive, with full lips, a straight nose, and a pair of very blue eyes. But her most striking feature was her breasts. They had to be in the d-cup range, if not larger, and on her small frame they seemed positively huge! But they were still obviously perky with no noticeable sag. Almost like they were defying the laws of gravity itself.

The other woman was just as pretty as her companion. She was probably about Moira's own height of around 5' 7", she thought. She was very athletic looking with obvious muscle tone visible even under her clothes. Her breasts were smallish, maybe a b-cup and her hips were trim and slim, like an athletes. But it was the face that struck Moira the most. She was certainly related to Phillip and his mother. They were simply too much alike in the facial features for her not to be related. She possessed those same well chiseled features, and that same perfectly aligned nose and high cheekbones. She even had Phillip's chestnut colored hair and sharp grey eyes. As a matter of fact, she looked so much like Phillip she could have been a very feminine version of him. It was almost scary.

But above all these things she noticed about the young women, the one thing that stood out the most. The one thing that marred their incredible beauty. The one thing that actually made her afraid ... was the look of pure hatred that shone brightly from their faces. A hatred that was very pointedly aimed at Moira herself. And the longer they looked at her, the more intense that hatred became.

Unsure what to make of their feelings, Moira chose to ignore them for the moment and instead turned to Mrs. Cambridge. "Ma'am, if you want to go spend some time with Phillip, now's your chance. He woke up briefly but the nurse gave him something for the pain that wiped him out again. She said they'll be moving him to a normal room shortly."

Glancing uneasily at her daughter and friends, Elizabeth stood and handed Kathleen off to Moira as the young lady sat in the chair next to her own. Not wanting to wait anymore to see Phillip, she never the less made the introductions. "Moira, this is Mandy, Phillip's twin sister, and their best friends Oscar and Lana. Also coincidently twins."

"Oh, twins." replied a surprised Moira. "Well that explains why Mandy looks so very much like her handsome brother."

At the mention of the fact that she found Phillip handsome, the girls got an even more angry look on their faces. Seeing the look of anger increase yet again on the girls faces, Elizabeth questioned herself on whether or not it would be ok to leave them here alone. In the end she had no choice but to leave them because she desperately wanted to see her son. Fearing she may come back to a murder scene, Elizabeth turned and left the waiting area.

Moira watched as Mrs. Cambridge left with a mixture of fear and concern. She did not want to face the young women across from her without the older woman's clamming influence. A tense and awkward silence grew between the five until Moira just could not take it anymore. Turning to face Mandy square on, she said, "It's a pleasure to meet you Mandy. I must say you look remarkably like your brother, even for twins."

"That some kinda' put down?" asked an angry Mandy.

"No not at all. Your brother is an extremely handsome man. It's quite clear that two of you share some very attractive features."

"You accusing me of looking like a man?"

"Absolutely not. I just meant that you are as attractive as your brother."

"You keep saying how attractive my brother is. You got some kinda' designs on him or something." By this point Mandy's voice had dropped to an almost growl. But Moira refused to let it intimidate her.

Unfortunately she didn't get a chance to respond to that question, as Ian took it upon himself to answer for her. "Of course my sister doesn't have designs on that kid! She's a grown woman with a child of her own. She's not gonna get involved with some stupid high school kid."

"High school?" asked a surprised Moira. "Surely you're joking right? I mean there is just no way that Phillip is a high schooler. He's ... He's ... Well he's just so grown-up looking. I thought he was older then I am!"

"Nope sis," answered a smug Ian. "Your precious savior is just an eighteen year old child."

At that Lana jumped to her feet in anger. "He is not a child! He's more man then you're ever likely to even hope to be."

"That's right." agreed Mandy.

"ENOUGH!!!" Moira's shout was effective enough to end the growing argument. While still shocked that Phillip was still a young man in school, her heart did not care. He was her one and only, and his age simply did NOT matter. If he had been twelve or sixty it wouldn't have mattered. He was her destiny. Turning her own now angry glare on both Ian and the girls, she kept her voice low but menacing. "I will NOT allow these arguments to take place here. It is neither the time nor the place."

Turning to look full on at Ian she tore into him with both barrels. "Ian me brother, you should be thanking all the saints above that Phillip has entered our lives. If not for him I'd be dead and you'd be trying to figure out how to get Kathleen back from the 6th Street Reapers." Ian was shocked by Moira's uncharacteristic outburst but still had enough wits about him to realize that she was right. He owed the young man a debt he wasn't sure he could ever repay.

Noting the chastised expression on his face and feeling that she had gotten through to him, Moira then turned her glare on Mandy and Lana. "And you two. I know not what makes you so very angry with me, but Phillip saved my life today and most likely Kathleen's. He was a true hero in every sense of the word. When we have time to sit and talk, just the three of us, then we may be able to sort out your anger. Until then, Phillip will need our support and by the Holy Virgin Mary herself, you WILL behave when you finally get to see him."

To say that they were shocked by her outburst would be an understatement. Mandy in particular was shocked, shocked and even angrier. No floozy was gonna talk to her like that! Clenching her hands into fists, she stood up next to Lana and slowly took in a large breath, getting herself worked up to tear into Moira.

Surprisingly, before she could even open her mouth she felt a restraining hand on her arm. Turning she saw Lana had hung her head in shame. "She's right Mandy." replied Lana. "We need to calm down and try to relax."

"Relax!" shouted an incredulous Mandy.

"Yes relax. We need to be calm and relaxed when we get to see Phillip. He's just been through a very trying ordeal. If we're all tense and angry, Phillip will know something is wrong and try to do something about it. He can't afford to waste his energy like that. He needs to heal."

Mandy was surprised by her friend's calm answer. She wanted to scratch this Irish slut's eyes out. But deep down, she also realized that Lana was right. She needed to calm down, for Phillip's sake. Taking a few deep calming breaths it was nearly a minute before she could bring herself to speak.

"You're right Lana. It's what's best for Phillip." Looking over to Moira she added, "But you best believe we're gonna have a major talk about this when things are calmer."

A nod of the head was Moira's only response. She turned slightly to look at Oscar and was shocked to see a smile on his large dark face. Curious, she asked, "Are you not upset with me too?"

"No," he answered with a shake of his head. "You nailed the situation dead on baby girl. I couldn't have put it better myself."

"Thank you"

"Oh, don't thank me yet," he replied while starting to laugh. "You were absolutely right, but you didn't end this little confrontation, just delayed it."

"I don't understand." By now Moira was a little confused by Oscar's behavior.

"Baby girl, you're pretending to be his wife, and unless my senses are lying to me, you wouldn't mind making it real. I'm afraid that is what's gonna cause the problem. You see, these two here are just as much in love with the big lug." by this point Oscar simply could not control himself and broke out into a full-fledged belly laugh.

Both Mandy and Lana turned to look at Oscar with murder in their eyes. They didn't know how he found out about their feelings for Phillip, but he didn't have to make them public knowledge. It was a monumental effort but eventually the girls managed to calm themselves and return to their seats.

Unable to stop herself Mandy had to ask, "How could you tell Oscar?"

"All anyone has to do is watch how you two act around him. Fuck, you two practically do everything but worship at his feet."

"Well my sister isn't in love with this kid, so don't lump her in with those two little demons." said a slightly nervous Ian.

"Oh yes she is little man, just look at her." replied Oscar.

Ian turned to look at Moira and wished he hadn't. One look in his sister's eyes and he knew that Oscar was right. How could his little sister have fallen in love so quickly, he wondered?

Moira was confused by the whole conversation by this point, but one little fact did manage to make itself heard. Without thinking she turned to Mandy and in a barely audible voice asked, "You're in love with your brother?"