The Black Marriage – Episode 19

 

THE BLACK MARRIAGE – EPISODE 19

 

Andy had never been more grateful to God that he had listened to his father and hired some bodyguards. He only used them at work because having bodyguards seemed more of a burden to him and made him look older than he actually was, but as he stormed the hospital, he was so grateful for their help. Journalists were all over the hospital, trying to

 

 

get what was going on. The three bodyguards warded them off, allowing him to have easy passage into the hospital. It was during times like this that he wished that he wasn’t as famous as he was; the fame always drew unnecessary attention.

 

Andy only dwelt on this for what seemed like a second and then his thoughts were switched back to Jessica, making him quicken his steps. He was inside the hospital after what seemed like an eternity to him, whereas, it was only seconds and immediately he entered the hospital, the nurses seemed to stand at attention. They looked uncomfortable and shy as they took in his imposing and exceptionally intriguing body but Andy did not even notice. He towered over them, his eyes penetrating their senses.

 

“Where is my wife?” He growled; his intense fear showing vividly despite his attempt to cover it and be brave.

 

“Calm down Andy” Tunji admonished, placing a hand on Andy’s shoulder but Andy was not ready to be in a calm mood and Tunji knew that Andy would not be until Jessica was certified hale and hearty.

 

The nurses did not need to ask who his wife was; they had identified him immediately he entered. “She is in the A and E department sir, some doctors are attending to her” One of the nurses replied shakily.

 

“I want to see her now” Andy was glaring now, looking like he would not mind tearing the nurse apart if she denied him. The nurse squirmed. A much older nurse, seeing what was going on quickly went to salvage the situation.

 

“I am sorry sir, you can’t see her now. Her condition is critical and she is being attended to by our best specialists. Interfering and disturbing the doctors can put your wife at more risk. Please, I advise you to be calm sir, if you could wait in the waiting room over there” she pointed in a direction, “The doctor would see you immediately he gets out.”

 

Andy clenched his jaw painfully and folded his palms into fists until his knuckles were as white as his spotless teeth.

 

 

The thought of putting Jessica in danger by his actions was more than enough to make him back down. His arrogance oozed off a bit, making his fear more evident. He marched to the waiting room and Tunji followed closely behind murmuring something that Andy could not hear. His mind was far away. His mind was in the emergency room with Jessica. Andy roamed the waiting room aimlessly, unable to settle down. Tunji’s desperate attempts to make him calm down became futile and Tunji also became almost as agitated as Andy.

 

Back at the hospital’s reception, one nurse that joined at the middle of the scene stared at the closed door of the waiting room and fanned herself with her fingers. “Jeez, that guy is smoking hot. Who is he?”

 

The other nurses stared at her like she was an alien from another planet. “You don’t know Andy Williams?”

 

Her eyes widened. “That is the Andy? The owner of… Oh My God! He is as hot as they say he is, with a good looking bank account too, I bet; in fact, an overflowing account to

 

be precise”

 

The older nurse turned irritated eyes at the lady. “I bet you also heard that he is married” she hissed. “Put your cards together and stop eyeing another woman’s husband”

 

The younger nurse frowned and turned away, chastised. The door of the waiting room burst open and Lizzy and Paulina bounced in with teary faces. “Where is Jessie? Oh my God!” Paulina gasped out and seeing Andy, looking like a shadow of himself, made her know that the accident was real. Lizzy was just standing motionless at the entrance of the waiting room, staring into space as tears fell freely. Seeing the women in tears made Andy much more frightened. It was like Jessica was already… already… ‘NO’. He refused to think about it. ‘My Jessica would not leave me’ he told himself repeatedly. He ran his hands through his hair and decided it best to comfort the women; that would at least get his mind off this waiting.

 

Tunji moved forward and held Paulina in his arms and she

 

 

cried the more. Andy saw Lizzy standing stupefied at the entrance and instantly knew what she was thinking about. He hurriedly went to her. He touched her hand and she seemed to suddenly realize where she was. She raised teary eyes to Andy and Andy felt like his world had shattered. There was something about women’s tears which always seemed to make situations much worse. Seeing the very strong Lizzy crying scared him more than anything. Seeing Jessica cry during the disastrous party that led to her disappearance had been more than he could bear. He had felt stabbed, devastated and shaken but seeing Lizzy’s tears felt totally different. In that instant, he was transported back

 

in time to the time he lost his fiancée. Lizzy’s face

 

reminded him of the faces of the people he saw, crying

 

after his fiancée died. Cold dread seeped up Andy’s spine and

 

he wanted to flee the waiting room. Everything around him

 

was pointing at a frightening end and he could not bear it. At the same time, he could not leave; not without knowing if his Jessica was alright.

 

“I called her Andy” Lizzy gasped. “She could have stayed at home”

 

“No Lizzy, don’t talk like that. This is not your fault. She would be fine. She has to be” He said sharply, both to himself and to Lizzy.

 

She nodded, trying to accept what Andy said. She leaned against him and he held her but he was detached from his environment. ‘I should have insisted that she use the driver’ he told himself for the umpteenth time. ‘I should have’. He gritted his teeth as tears threatened strongly and he forced them back forcefully. He has to be strong. Be strong for Jessica. The waiting room door opened and Andy turned, releasing Lizzy but his eyes collided with the dark intense gaze of his father.

 

Sonia sat in the bus, feeling all sorts of emotions: self-loath, anger, agitation but fear was the most evident of all. She could not believe that her life had turned into a

 

 

nightmare within the space of three weeks. She sat in the bus with dark specks covering her eyes. She mopped tears as they seeped out from under the glasses.

 

Listening to her mother had become the worst thing she had ever done. Ever since Jessica had gotten married to Andy, her mother hadn’t stopped poisoning her mind. Her mother had complained endlessly on why Sonia had been contented with being the bride’s maid of honour instead of being the bride.

 

“You sat down behind your friend, fanning her and mopping her face; why were you not the bride? As far as I am concerned, you are much more good looking. You are just too dull. If you had been smarter, you would be married to that money-bag and we would be swimming in money by now” Sonia’s mother had said.

 

Sonia shook her head. She should not have listened to her mother’s continuous talks. She hadn’t at first but then, her mother never stopped. She continuously poisoned her mind until she found herself becoming Jealous of Jessica. They say blood is thicker than water but now, she preferred water to blood.

 

Hearing that Jessica had been involved in an accident was more shattering than anything she had experienced. It had taken just the news alone to bring her to her senses. She could not bear to think that Jessica might die; if that happened, she would probably die of guilt and bitterness. She wanted forgiveness but she did not know if what she had done could be forgiven. She knew she would not forgive if she were in Jessica’s shoes but she still had to try. But what if…

 

‘No’ she said internally as more tears trickled down her

 

face. ‘She must not die… Please God… If you never hear me, please hear me today… Jessica can’t die’

 

Andy’s dad had done all he could to see Andy and seek his forgiveness but all his attempts had been truncated by Andy, one way or the other. Even going to Andy’s office and

 

threatening his staff hadn’t worked because Andy had left

 

strict instructions with his staff to never allow his father

 

into his office. Mr. Williams had sent messages but Andy had

 

replied none.

 

“What do you want dad? Have you not done enough havoc?” Andy said quietly, too quietly.

 

“I am sorry Andy. I have been saying this for the past two weeks. I made a silly mistake but I was only thinking of your welfare”

 

“My welfare” Andy repeated. The fact that his dad had done what he did because of him did not make Andy happy at all. “My welfare? At what expense? You almost ruined Jessica’s life dad. You almost ruined my life. Jessica is my life, my everything; and you deliberately hurt her like that?” Andy shook his head. He was not ready for this conversation now, he had more than enough on his plate already.

 

“I never knew Andy. How would I have known? I only know what I heard on the…” he looked round the waiting room and saw that some strangers were looking at them. He moved closer to Andy, talking for his ears alone. “On the tape” he continued. “I never knew that you both had developed feelings for each other, if I had, I would never have done what I did. I know my move to put it all on her was very wrong and I regret it but I only thought of it at that time in order to protect you” Mr. Williams murmured quietly, his eyes showing signs of remorse.

 

“Why did you make it your business dad? You could have confronted us or better still, stayed out of it” He was not as aggressive as before.

 

“You are my business Andy. You became my business immediately you were born; your mum would not have it any other way”. Andy exhaled deeply. He loved his father so much. His father had taken the responsibility of a father and a mother, ensuring that he had all the love and affection he needed. How could he not forgive his dad anything? Mr. Williams touched Andy’s shoulder in a manly manner. “I know how much you love her” he whispered. “I

 

 

saw how depressed and devastated you were when Jessica went missing and I almost died of guilt. I am sorry son” Andy looked at his father, and his arrogance disappeared, leaving the fear very visible. Mr. Williams was taken aback. He had never seen Andy look so vulnerable and scared, not even when his fiancée had died. “She would be OK right? Dad, I don’t know what I would do if she… if she…” Andy looked twenty again as tears brimmed in his eyes but his stubbornness would not allow them fall. “I can’t do without her dad”

 

Andy’s dad drew him into his arms for an awkward father to son hug. “We have to keep our faith up Andy. All would be well”

 

Doctor Bright worked endlessly with two other doctors and two nurses. Immediately he saw the patient, he identified her instantly. Who would not know the outstandingly beautiful wife of the richest bachelor in Nigeria? Immediately he saw her, he had known two things: that she had lost so much blood and that she was his ticket to stardom.

 

There had been some problem with regards to the patient’s marriage but it was also obvious that her husband was not ready to leave her alone. After the scandal about the patient’s intentions for marrying the famous Andy Williams and her disappearance, he had seen pictures of the couple, having good times at various places and he could tell that the couple were very much in love. It would be disastrous if he could not salvage this situation and would be a dream come true if he did.

 

As he worked with the other doctors with his entire body covered, he soon forgot about gains or losses, all he could think of was saving her life. It was a good thing that the car had an airbag which must have obviously prevented the patient from bumping her head. With what he saw, the car must have been hit pretty hard. Some of the broken glasses, perhaps from the windscreen had pierced her body, making

 

 

her lose a lot of blood. They had seen to the wounds after removing the glasses from her skin but the problem was that the patient was not holding on. She had lost so much blood and they were currently transfusing some blood into her but the patient was not holding on to life and that was dangerous. He had seen this happen so many times. When a patient was not willing to live, there is a limit to what a doctor can do.

 

“Her heart is failing doctor” one of the other doctors declared in alarm and Doctor Bright checked the monitor, confirming his fears.

 

it was like Andy was in for so many unpleasant surprises. Everyone stared in one direction, gazing at the newest addition to the people in the waiting room. Sonia stood there in tears as a thousand eyes bore into her but Andy’s was what frightened her the most. His gaze shot fire and she wanted to flee but her legs would not agree. She had come here to do something and she intended on pulling it through.

 

“Get out of here” Andy’s voice was quiet, too quiet and it frightened her more; she wished he had shouted.

 

She went on her kneels instantly. “Please Andy, forgive me. I am sorry”

 

Andy was quiet, looking at her without betraying any form of emotion.

 

Paulina turned smoking eyes at Sonia. “You better listen to him o, because if I pounce on you… ehn… if I pounce on you, I would beat you black and blue. You know I have not attacked you, if I do, you would have marks.” Paulina was vibrating and Tunji held her to prevent her from doing something stupid. Lizzy did not even have the time to confront Sonia, she was busy praying for her friend.

 

Andy stared at Sonia but he did not have the strength to deal with her.

 

“I am sorry. I was misled. I… I am just so sorry” Sonia wept.

 

 

Andy’s father had gone out earlier to make some calls. Andy took out his phone and punched a number. Within seconds, two hefty men arrived. “Take her out of here” he murmured and the men turned to face Sonia instantly.

 

“No, please Andy. I am sorry. Please forgive me” “Please move ma’am”

 

A door opened and automatically, everyone jerked in that direction. Andy saw the doctor and his blood froze as he marched like someone going to war, followed closely by everyone concerned.

 

Doctor Bright stared at Andy and swallowed hard. He was seeing him live for the first time in an unpalatable situation.

 

“How is my wife doctor?”