by Linda Verji
“Ma’am, this is Chesley Memorial Hospital,” a female but slightly higher pitched voice interrupted Zain before she could storm full on into her tirade. “We’ve been trying to get in contact with your husband but unfortunately cannot.”
Instantly Zain’s heart began pumping faster. Hospitals never called with good news.
“We have a Sonia Milán here.”
“Huh?” Zain asked.
“Milán. Sonia Milán,” the woman repeated helpfully. “She’s been admitted here and your husband is listed as her next of kin. Can you come to the hospital?”
Huh?
CHAPTER 8
“Zain.” Tasha shook Zain’s shoulder. “What’s the matter? Is it one of the kids?”
Zain didn’t answer. She stared at her phone like it had grown a mouth and started speaking in tongues, trying to wrap her head around the fact that the hospital had called her – her – about Sonia. Was this what walking in twilight felt like?
“Ey!” Chryssa’s slap on the side of her head brought her back into their world fast enough. “What’s the matter?”
“That Sonia girl is in hospital and they want me to go.” Zain answered hardly believing it herself. The room erupted into ‘What?’ ‘Get outta here’ ‘Is she hurt?’ calls as the other two women wore looks just as shocked as Zain’s.
“Wow.” Chryssa shook her head in open mouthed shock as she repeated, “Wow. The trick hath balls. Giving them your number? She hath no fear of death.”
Zain didn’t even make a comment. She simply picked up her bag from the floor beside her seat and stood up, ready to leave.
“Where are you going?” Tasha grabbed her arm. Did she really need to spell it out?
“Ooh Lord! There’s Zainquisha!” Chryssa started laughing. Her chair squealed in protest as she stood up too. “I sense a death scene in a bitch’s future.”
“What?” Tasha asked, still lost but nonetheless holding on to Zain’s wrist. Zain tried to tag her hand away from her firm clasp, in vain. The woman had more strength than they gave her credit for.
“I’m just going to get my bag,” Chryssa threw over her shoulder as she hurriedly headed back into her apartment. “Don’t leave without me.”
“What are you going to do?’ Tasha asked worriedly still holding on to Zain’s wrist.
“Nothing,” Zain lied. To be honest, Zain wasn’t really sure what her plan was. She just knew that it was time to set a few things straight with Sonia. “I’m serious. I’m not going to do anything.”
Tasha gave her a contemplative look before letting her wrist go.
Zain had just sent a text message to Lucky telling him ‘Your whore is at Chesley Memorial’ and was slipping her feet into her thong sandals when Chryssa came out of her room in full battle gear – spiked heels, heavy bag slung on her shoulders bulging with only God knows what, tight jeans and her hair tied into a bun. It was a wonder she’d gone into family law instead of criminal law; she was a walking crime waiting to happen.
“So do you need me to hold down the legs or the arms?” she asked, practically bouncing on her heels from excitement. “I can go any way you want. I brought them good box-cutters too.”
“Chrys, Zain isn’t going to do anything stupid. The girl is pregnant and might have some serious problems. Zain’s not going to make them worse. She’s just going to see the girl like the hospital asked,” Tasha said.
It sounded like a good plan. Unlikely – but a good plan!
Zain was quiet while Chryssa and Tasha argued the pros and cons of ‘snatching the bitch’ the whole ride over. Tasha parked the car in front of the imposing hospital. Its doors opened up to reveal a hallway crammed with gurneys, patients and medics rushing around. Even Chryssa was subdued at the sight of so much sickness.
To Zain however, it was nothing new. She’d been there, done that and developed a tough as nails skin. Instead, she felt nervous butterflies gather at the pit of her belly – not because of the situation with Sonia but rather because the last time she’d walked through these doors it’d been to deliver her resignation.
Was it too much to hope that the staff had forgotten about the promising doctor who’d left three years ago while in her fifth year of residency for life as a stay-at-home mom to kids who weren’t even her own? Obviously!
“Dr. Ford!” one of the nurses manning the reception desk exclaimed. “As I live and breathe.”
“Is it?” The other nurse who was filing the day’s charts paused in her activity. “It’s been such a long time!”
“Look at you.” Another nurse joined the two. “You look amazing! Being Lucky Ford’s wife really agrees with you.”
Zain was soon surrounded by a gaggle of nurses. Tasha, who didn’t like crowds, and Chryssa, who didn’t like…well…people, both moved away to stand by the walls as Zain tried to referee the crowd and answer all the questions being volleyed at her. It got uncomfortable when after exhausting the questions on her well being, the conversation inevitably switched to Lucky. No one was tactless enough to ask about Sonia but they wanted to squeeze every morsel out of her about him and his game.
But it was when the doctor’s joined in that things got really uncomfortable.
“You know without your help I doubt I could have made it into Cardio,” Karina Cassius, one of Zain’s former interns gushed as she hugged her enthusiastically. “So what are you doing these days?”
“Oh, you know…” Zain shifted on her feet uncomfortably. “…taking care of the kids and stuff.”
Teresa Durant, a fellow ex-resident now in Pediatrics, and Roger Carr, the guy who’d failed their licensing exam the first time but was now a proud member of Oncology, exchanged looks before Roger condescendingly said, “Sounds very interesting.”
“Almost as interesting as saving lives,” Teresa added with a small chuckle that didn’t reach her eyes.
They obviously thought her choices were stupid even though they knew nothing about her situation. When the kids had come to hers and Lucky’s life they were in a desperate situation. Maari needed special attention because he’d gotten so used to the rough life that at six he’d already developed a stealing and hoarding habit. At two Iris would cry whenever anyone touched her and Lily was the quietest child she’d ever met.
They needed a fulltime parent and with Lucky’s season about to start, it had to be her. The last three years had been worth every minute she’d missed a day in the operating room for. If these two thought they could act as her judge and jury, then they were up for an ass whooping. Luckily, Zain was interrupted before she could deliver it.
“Please tell me you’ve all stopped working because one of you has suddenly found a cure for all sickness,” a carefully modulated yet familiar voice cut into the questioning. Immediately the nurses and doctors who’d been milling around Zain dispersed.
Zain turned to meet the one person she was glad to see. She smiled, “Eli.”
“Well, well, well…” Dr. Eli Stone met her smile with an equally large one. “…if it isn’t Minnie.”
Compared to him she was definitely a Minnie. He wasn’t quite as tall as Lucky but he had six foot something on him. With the strong African features tempered by caramel skin that came from his mixed heritage it was no wonder that Zain had once had a crush on him.
“What did I tell you about calling me Minnie?” Zain faked a pout but didn’t complain when he engulfed her in a hug.
They’d met when Zain was eighteen and just starting her undergrad degree back in Baltimore. Back then Eli was the visiting neurosurgeon from New York that everyone thought was just another shy student till he began to talk. Then it wasn’t hard to understand why he was the youngest neurosurgeon in the US at the time. He was intelligent, charming and extremely passionate about medicine.
When he’d announced his search for a research assistant for the semester everyone had applied – everyone but Zain because she was sure he wouldn’t pick her. Surprisingly he’d called her after class and calmly informed her tha
t she was his new RA.
Over the semester, their relationship had progressed from mentorship to friendship. Sure she had a teeny weensy crush on him, but he was married and not searching. They’d kept in contact after he left and after Med School, when Zain needed to join Lucky in New York, he’d hooked her up with a residency at Chesley.
“You didn’t even tell me you were leaving.” Eli complained.
“That’s because you decided to jet yourself off to Africa,” Zain returned. After his divorce six months before Zain quit medicine, Eli had joined Doctors Without Borders. “When did you get back?”
“About a year ago,” Eli replied. “Nothing like the Congo jungles to teach you that demons are everywhere.”
“Please don’t tell me you kidnapped Renée and left her down there,” Zain said in reference to his ex-wife.
“The thought did cross my mind,” Eli confirmed. “How is your hus-”
Eli’s words trailed off as his gaze fixed on a spot behind her. Zain turned coming face to face with Tasha and Chryssa. She had been so focused on the conversation with Eli, she hadn’t even heard them come up behind her.
“Sorry you guys! I even forgot you,” Zain said. “Eli, these are my friends, Tasha and-”
“Chryssa,” Eli finished. Gone was the warmth in his tone. Instead his body, like his voice, had gone stiff and the way his jaw was ticking was enough of a clue to tell anyone he wasn’t happy to see her.
“Hello Eli,” Chryssa said with one of those sultry tones and smug smiles she reserved for men she’d screwed over.
“Do you two know each other?” Zain asked.
“Yes,” Chryssa said.
“No,” Eli denied as they stared each other down. Talk about awkward.
“Whatever!” Chryssa said after a moment. Flicking her arm in a gesture that said she was over that particular conversation, she turned to Zain with a questioning look and patted her bag deliberately. “Weren’t we here to see someone? Box-cutters ain’t got all day.”
At the memory of Sonia any warmth Zain had felt at seeing Eli dissolved. After saying a quick good-bye and promising to see him before leaving the hospital, she asked to see Sonia.
“What relation are you?” the nurse asked.
How was Zain supposed to answer that question? I’m the wife of the man who got her pregnant. Instead she said, “I was told to see a Dr. Franklin when I got here.”
The nurse opened her mouth to speak but it seemed to click in her mind who Sonia was at just that moment. Her questioning look turned into pitying as she said, “Please take a seat while I get him for you.”
“I’ll stand,” Chryssa said while pacing the floor.
“Sit down!” Tasha ordered. Throwing her a petulant look, Chryssa sat next to Zain.
It didn’t take long for Dr. Franklin to turn up. He was a thin, balding man whose lab coat seemed to wear him. The moment Chryssa spotted him, she stood up again and started with the questions, “Is she dead yet?”
“I’m sorry.” He frowned up at her as he adjusted the spectacles framing his pale face. “Are you Mrs. Ford?”
“That’s me.” Zain stood up from her seat. He inched away from Chryssa looking relieved that he didn’t have to deal with the angry black woman. He shouldn’t have been, because Zain was just as angry. She asked, “Well? Is she dead?”
“No.” Dr. Franklin chuckled uncomfortably. “She just had some minor bleeding as a result of the beating.”
“Beating?” All three women asked.
“Yes. From what we know, the hotel staff found her in the elevator unconscious. No one saw who did it but…” While Dr. Franklin gave Zain his update on Sonia’s condition - which wasn’t too bad considering someone had stomped her ass - Chryssa and Tasha whispered behind her.
“Do you think she did it?” Chryssa whispered.
“Of course she didn’t!” Tasha protested, “She’s been with is the whole day.”
“She could’ve paid someone,” Chryssa said. “I’m more the ‘snatch a bitch myself’ type but I can appreciate a good hit-man.”
“You’re so ridiculous sometimes,” Tasha said in response. “Not everyone is a thug like you.”
“Heffa, don’t call me a thug...”
Zain tuned them out just in time to catch Dr. Franklin’s last words, “…we needed someone here to sign for the bill since Miss Milán has no insurance.”
Excuse me? That’s what they’d called her here for? To pay the bill? The whole world was seemingly on a mission to get her to commit murder. Internally steaming but maintaining the façade of politeness on the outside, Zain smiled at Dr. Franklin. “Can I see her?”
“Umm…” He must have seen the angry glint in her eye because the nod of approval came reluctantly. “…the room at the end of the hall. Bed Twelve.”
“Thanks,” Zain said already walking down the hall. ‘Family only’ Dr. Franklin said behind her to Tasha’s protest and Chryssa’s vow that she’d find out where he lived. Zain didn’t stop to look behind. Her feet had a mind of their own and their aim was Bed Twelve.
Sonia was asleep when Zain came in. She’d curled in fetal position with her back turned to the door, but it was a fitful sleep. The long tresses of her ink black hair rippled as she tossed her body until she was lying on her back. Her new position gave Zain a first glimpse of her face.
It was horrible. Her attacker had done a bang up job. A bandage covered the right side of her face, its white edges licking the dark purple circle around her right eye. There was a nasty gush on her lower lip where he’d busted her lip.
However, Sonia’s exotic beauty was still under there and Zain couldn’t help but wonder if that was what Lucky had seen in her. Or was it her large breasts now covered by the light blue gown? Was it the big butt that Zain could never have or was Sonia just better in bed? Was it because she was younger or because she was fertile? Any way Zain looked at it she came up short. Sonia was everything she wasn’t.
Zain had no idea how long she stood by the bed watching Sonia sleep. The next thing she became aware of was a flurry in the ward as Nadifa burst in with Lucky on her heels.
“Is my grandbaby alright? Is my grandbaby alright?” Nadifa asked panic on her face and in her fast footsteps as she made her way to the bed. She practically shoved Zain out of the way in a bid to get closer to Sonia.
The commotion was enough to awaken Sonia from her fitful sleep, her swollen eye opening up in a thin slit. She stared at Nadifa in confusion as she fussed, “Are you alright honey? I’m Halake’s mother, Nadifa. But you can call me Mama.”
Zain watched in shocked fascination as Nadifa transformed before her eyes from the bitter, vile-tongued viper that she knew into a caring motherly woman. She straightened Sonia’s blankets over her shoulders, asked if the doctors were treating her well, stroked her forehead…Zain was so shocked she didn’t even pull away when Lucky slung an arm around her shoulder.
“What did the Doctor say about the baby?” Nadifa asked Zain. Zain kept quiet. She snapped, “Are you deaf? I asked you a question.”
“You can shove your question-”
“Hey, hey!” Lucky cut off her words and blocked her view of Nadifa by standing in front of her. “Come on let’s go outside.”
Reluctantly Zain let him lead her out of the ward until they stood at the corner of the hall where there was relative privacy. Her first question to him was, “You brought your mother?”
“She was still at the house when I got your text,” he defended himself, “and you know how she can be.”
Zain did know how Nadifa could be. She had been interfering in their lives from the moment she’d met her. But Lucky still had a few things to answer to. She asked, “How did she even get my number?”
“I don’t know.” He leant against the wall while she faced him. “I gave her my phone so I could contact her. I guess she got your number from there before she sold it off.”
“Are you stupid or something?” Zain smacked him on the a
rm. “Giving your phone to some hooker you met-”
“I know Zain. You don’t need to tell me.” His head dropped into a tired bow. Sighing heavily he asked, “So what happened to her?”
“Do I look like her doctor?” she retorted. When he gave her a pleading look, she said grudgingly. “Someone attacked her or something but the baby’s okay.”
“Are you okay?” Lucky asked.
“Halake!” Nadifa called out from the doorway of the ward interrupting the couple’s conversation. They both turned as she came towards them. “Can you believe the poor girl was attacked by reporters while she was on her way to her room? No wonder she almost lost my grandchild. I think she should move into your house.”
Zain almost screamed.
Nadifa had to be boiling her weed these days instead of smoking it if she thought that Zain was going to let that tramp move into her house.
CHAPTER 9
“That’s not going to happen,” Lucky said shortly.
“Why not?” Nadifa asked, her face remained perfectly content as if she weren’t making the most ridiculous demand possible. Lucky didn’t respond. He looked around the crowded reception area to check if anyone was listening to this ridiculous conversation instead. They’d been relegated to wait while Dr. Franklin gave Sonia another check up. No one listened in.
“I’m not bringing another woman into my wife’s house,” Lucky protested. Zain would kill him. She’d even told him so right before she’d stormed out of the hospital after declaring that she had better things to do – things better than watching his mistress.
“Mm hmm,” Nadifa harrumphed. “It’s your duty to protect the mother of my grandson.”
“Ma, you don’t even know if it’s a boy.” Let alone if the child was even his.
“Don’t try to change the subject,” Nadifa reprimanded. “That girl is moving into your pool house as soon as she is released from hospital.”
The tone of her words let him know that argument was futile and Sonia would move into the house whether he liked it or not. He probably would’ve argued his case further but Lucky didn’t like to go against his mother. She’d sacrificed everything to get him where he was, and Lucky could never forget it.