Chapter 19
“Oh,
Taylor, you’re home!” Jackie gushed, throwing her arms around her
daughter. Jaime had just dropped her
off moments earlier and headed for home.
Taylor
hugged her mother back, realizing how relieved she was to finally be home.
“How
was your trip?” Jackie asked. “You only
called once.” She glared accusingly at
Taylor for a moment, then smiled, letting Taylor know she was only teasing her.
“It
was great,” Taylor said. “We did so much
stuff, there was barely time to call.”
“And
how was your cousin?”
“Kev
was fine,” Taylor said. “His roommates
were really nice too.”
Jackie
nodded. “That’s good,” she said. “How was the trip back home? Your Dad and I were so worried you’d get lost
or have car trouble or something.”
Taylor
laughed nervously, quickly making her mind up not to tell her parents about
their little “detour”. They would only
get upset, and she didn’t want that.
“Nope,
it went fine,” Taylor lied.
“That’s
great. Well, come on inside. Dad can’t wait to see you either,” Jackie
said, putting her arm around Taylor’s shoulders and leading her into the house.
***
That
night, after Harold and Jackie were in bed, Taylor crept downstairs into the
living room and took out the big black photo album. She flipped it open to the page that was now
familiar to her, the page with that picture of her family with Brian. As she stared at him, she knew the
truth. He was the same little boy as
the one in the picture at Brent’s house.
And that meant Brent was really Brian.
***
“Coopersville
General Hospital.”
“Um…
hi. I was wondering if I could speak
with one of your patients?” Taylor asked over the phone. She wasn’t sure what else to say; she had
never called a hospital before. And now
she had, the hospital in Coopersville, Georgia, where she knew Brent had been
taken. Calling was taking a big chance. It was long distance, first of all, and
also, she wasn’t even sure if Brent would still be there.
“What’s
the patient’s name?” the woman on the phone asked.
“Brent
Cooper,” Taylor said, wanting to say what she believed his real name to be,
Brian Littrell.
There
was a silence, and then the woman said, “Okay, I’ll see if he’s available to
talk. Can I get your name please,
dear?”
“Taylor
Littrell,” she said, hoping Brent would talk to her, even if he didn’t know her
well at all.
“Okay,
Mr. Cooper is available. I’ll connect
you to his line,” the lady said.
“Thank
you,” Taylor replied. There was a
pause, then a click, and then a male voice came on the line.
“Taylor?”
“Brent,”
Taylor said. “Hi.”
“Hey,”
he said. “I can’t believe you called
here. What’s up?”
“Not
much. I was just, uh, wondering how you
were doing,” Taylor replied.
“Aw,
that’s real sweet of you,” said Brent.
Taylor realized he did not answer her question.
“So,
how are you? Is everything okay?” she
persisted. There was a long
silence. “Brent?” she asked again, her
heart pounding loudly in her ears.
“They
want me to have heart surgery,” he said finally.
Taylor
gasped. “Oh, Brent. I’m so sorry,” she said, biting her
lip. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Supposedly,
there’s a hole in my heart that’s been there all my life. The doctor said it’s gotten bigger and made
my heart swell up. They said if they
had operated a year ago or so, it wouldn’t be life threatening, but it is
now. If I don’t have an operation to
fix it soon, I’ll die.”
The
blood drained from Taylor’s face. In an
instant, she became absolutely certain this was her brother. She remember the story that Kevin had told
her, the story of what had happened to Brian when he was five. They had found a hole in his heart, a hole
that had been there all his life.
“Brent,”
Taylor started shakily. “There’s
something I need to talk to you about.”
“What?”
“Were
you adopted?” she asked.
“Adopted? No,” he said.
“Are
you sure?” Taylor asked. “The woman you
call Mom is actually your birth mother?”
“I…
I think so,” Brent said, but he suddenly sounded unsure. “Why do you care? What’s this all about?”
“What’s
your first memory of being with the Coopers?” Taylor asked.
“Well…”
Brent thought for a moment. “Five, I
think. But see, I had an accident
before that. I hit my head and had
amnesia, so I don’t remember nothin’ before that. But if I was adopted, wouldn’t they tell
me?”
“Maybe
not,” Taylor said. “Especially if they
didn’t adopt you, if they kidnapped you instead.” The words were out of her mouth before she
could stop them, and she felt bad. How
could she accuse the only parents Brent had ever known as kidnappers?
“What
are you talkin’ about?” Brent asked.
“Brent,
this is gonna sound really weird to you, but I think it’s the truth. Your name isn’t really Brent Cooper; it’s
Brian Littrell, and you are my older brother,” Taylor burst out.
Silence
again.
“Taylor…
how could that be? How do you know
that?” Brent demanded, sounding confused and lost.
“It
all adds up,” Taylor said. “I saw the
pictures hanging on the wall by the stairs at your house. There were baby pictures of all the kids
except you. The first picture of you
was when you were older, seven or so.
Why are there no baby pictures?
You know why? It’s cause you
weren’t adopted, or kidnapped, by them until you were five. And another thing, you don’t look like any
of the other kids. You do, however,
look like the picture I have of my brother, when he was about five. And you know what? My brother Brian had a hole in his heart
too.”
“Oh
my God,” Brent whispered, after another long pause. “I… I don’t know what to say. What you say does add up, I guess, but I
just can’t believe it.”
“Believe
it, Brian,” Taylor whispered back, enunciating her brother’s name, her eyes
brimming with tears. “I think it’s
true.”
***
