Can I Get a Witness?

by ReShonda Tate Billingsley

  He got up and walked distractedly to the fireplace. He often had stood there while they talked after a day at work. Vanessa wondered if he noticed that all of the pictures of him were gone. If he did, he didn’t say anything. He kept talking. “When I confronted her, at first she said the test was wrong. Then she admitted that she was pregnant when she met me.”

  Vanessa couldn’t believe Thomas would be so dumb as to fall for the oldest trick in the book. “Did you do the math at all?”

  “I did, but she started talking about women are actually ten months pregnant. I looked it up online and it said the same thing.” Thomas took a deep breath and plopped back down on the sofa. “I don’t know. I was just blinded by the fact that I was going to be a father.”

  At that moment Vanessa saw her husband in a different light. She saw how much being a father meant to him. Before, she always blew him off whenever he talked about children, but the anguish in his face told her just how devastated he really was. She thought about the time she’d spent with Shelly. It had brought her great joy, and Shelly wasn’t even her child. She briefly imagined what happiness their own child could’ve brought.

  Vanessa shook off the thought as she took in the distressed look on Thomas’s face. She knew what she was about to say would only add to his pain, but she had to tell him. She sat on the sofa beside him. “Thomas, not only was Alana already pregnant when she met you, but her getting you into her bed was all planned.”

  Vanessa then spent the next twenty minutes once again telling the story of Alana’s parents.

  Thomas sobered up as he listened to the plan of revenge. “You mean her ruining my life was all a setup?”

  Vanessa nodded somberly, surprised that she was resisting the urge to go off on him. “Yeah, she planned it all. But the fact remains, you slept with her,” she couldn’t help adding.

  Thomas’s tears turned to anger. “I can’t believe she played me like this.” He kicked over the coffee table, sending its magazines sliding along the floor.

  Vanessa folded her arms and glared at him. “Look, I understand you’re upset and all, but you need to go back to your own home if you’re going to tear stuff up.”

  Thomas glanced down at the overturned table. “I’m sorry.” He sat the table upright, then gathered up the magazines and rearranged them in piles.

  They momentarily stared at each other before Thomas said, “Can I stay here tonight?”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Are you high in addition to being drunk?”

  “Please. I’m exhausted. I don’t even know how I made it here. I’m too tired, angry, and drunk to get behind the wheel of a car. And if I see Alana again tonight…there’s no telling what I might do,” he added in a menacing growl.

  Vanessa felt a chill run through her body. Her husband had never said anything like that before. “Fine, Thomas,” she said evenly. “You can sleep on the sofa. But tomorrow I want you gone. You made your bed, so go lie in it.”

  She turned and headed back to her room, ignoring the warm feeling creeping up inside her about having Thomas back in the house.

  Chapter 43

  Vanessa absolutely, positively could not believe what she had just done. She must have stone cold lost her mind.

  She looked over at Thomas’s naked body sprawled out across their bed. No, make that her bed. She’d kicked him out. She was about to divorce him. After everything she’d done to get Judge Jarrett to grant the divorce, he’d signed everything and they just had to wait the customary thirty days before it became official. So there was no way she wasn’t going through with it.

  Thomas stretched, opened his eyes, and smiled lazily when he saw her staring at him. “Good morning.”

  Vanessa pulled the covers over her naked body as she climbed up close to the headboard. She tried to remember what had happened. She’d gone to bed leaving Thomas on the sofa. Then, right before daylight, he had crawled in bed next to her. She remembered initially feeling tense, but as he slowly began massaging her shoulders, she’d relaxed. It had felt so good having him next to her. The next thing she knew, she was waking up naked.

  Thomas laughed. “What are you doing with that?” He motioned to the bedspread she had shielding her body. “It’s not like I haven’t seen all of that before.”

  “Thomas, th-this was a mistake.” Vanessa was flustered. She was usually so in control. She could not believe that she had allowed herself to succumb to a moment of weakness.

  “We are technically still husband and wife.” He flashed a sly smile. “We still have twenty-one days.” Thomas got up and slowly walked around to Vanessa’s side of the bed. He sat down and took her hand. “Do you still love me?”

  She snatched her hand away. For someone who just found out he’d been lied to about his supposed child, he sure seemed in a good mood. “Don’t mistake what happened last night as me still loving you.”

  He gave her a shrewd look. “You know what? Your mouth can say anything it wants. But your body is telling the true story. You love me.” He grinned broadly.

  “Whatever, Thomas.” She swung her feet over to get out of the bed, still holding the cover up to her body. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back to him. “Did you forget? You came over here crying because your mistress played you. I just had a moment of temporary insanity,” she said.

  His expression turned sad as he recalled what happened. “I haven’t forgotten. What Alana did will always burn inside of me. But this…being with you again brought me a joy I haven’t had in a long time. Maybe this was a sign,” he finally said. “I prayed for God to find a way for us to get back together. Maybe this is it.”

  Vanessa wasn’t going anywhere near that far. “Yeah, right, Thomas. I told you that’s not gonna happen.”

  He looked up at her and took her hand again. “Vanessa, pray with me.”

  She looked at him like he was crazy. “Pray with you? What, you picked up something at that religious retreat? We haven’t ever prayed together.”

  “Maybe that was our problem.”

  Vanessa was silent. She wanted to snatch her hand away, to tell him where he could go, tell him to go pray with his fake baby mama. But the words wouldn’t come out.

  She yanked her arm away again.

  “Please, I’m begging you,” he said. “You don’t have to say anything. Just kneel with me and I’ll pray for us both.”

  “Well,” she said, finally giving in, “I can’t very well pray naked, can I?” She grabbed her robe off the chaise longue. She took her time putting her robe on.

  Thomas watched her intently. It was almost like he was trying to see inside her soul. It didn’t feel creepy, though. It felt nice. Once she walked back over to him, he took her hand and gently eased her to the floor. For the first time since they’d said “I do,” they prayed together.

  After Thomas finished, Vanessa tried to shake off the conflicting feelings racing through her. She stood up and immediately doubled over in pain.

  “Agggghhhh!” she screamed, clutching her stomach. Her eyes widened in horror as she felt something gushing down her legs.

  “Vanessa! What’s wrong?” His gaze drifted down to the floor where she’d been kneeling. A small puddle of blood was pooling at her feet. “Oh, my God!” Thomas exclaimed. “Wh-what’s happening?”

  Vanessa stood, frozen in shock as blood continued to stream down her leg.

  Thomas sprang into action. He put his arm around her to guide her to the bathroom. On the way, he grabbed the cordless phone with his free hand. After sitting a stunned, very frightened Vanessa on the toilet, he dialed 911.

  “Hello, we need an ambulance! Right away! My wife…she’s bleeding really bad!”

  Thomas gave the 911 operator the address and hung up. Vanessa was hyperventilating as she continued to stare at the blood. “Thomas, what’s happening to me?”

  “I don’t know, baby,” he said with none of his usual calmness. “The paramedics are on their way. They’re going to—”

 
“Aggghhh!” Vanessa’s scream cut him off. She doubled over and clutched her stomach again. “Thomas, help me,” she cried weakly.

  He stared in horror. Vanessa was now sweating profusely.

  “It h-hurts so bad,” she cried.

  “Hang on, baby,” he said, leaning over to hug her. “Help is on the way.”

  Vanessa grabbed his neck. “Please don’t let me die.”

  “You’re not gonna die,” he said unconvincingly. “You’re gonna be fine.”

  Vanessa saw his mouth moving, telling her more words of comfort, but she could no longer make out what he was saying. The next thing she knew, her entire world went black.

  Chapter 44

  Dionne paced back and forth across the room. She glanced over at Thomas, nervously rocking in a chair in the corner of the hospital’s waiting room. Ida sat on the other side of the room, reading a passage from her Bible. Rosolyn had gone down to the chapel.

  They’d been holding a vigil for the past two hours, waiting for a doctor to tell them what was wrong with Vanessa.

  Thomas had called Ida from the ambulance on the way to the hospital. She, in turn, had called Dionne and Rosolyn. Now all of them were in the waiting room, trying to keep from going crazy.

  “When are they going to let us know something?” Dionne snapped. She rubbed her own stomach as she felt her baby kick. The stress must have gotten to the baby, because this was the fifth kick she’d felt since she’d gotten the news. She could no longer hide her pregnancy as her little mound had turned into a mountain.

  “Just be patient, baby,” Ida soothingly said. “We have to let the doctors do their job.”

  “Well, we’ve been waiting forever,” she said, pacing back and forth. “This is ridiculous.”

  Everyone turned as a tall, handsome doctor walked into the waiting room. He glanced down at the clipboard he was holding. “Is Thomas Kirk here?”

  Thomas jumped up. “That’s me.”

  The doctor removed his glasses and wiped his brow. “I’m Dr. Roman, Vanessa’s ob-gyn.”

  “Ob-gyn?” Thomas asked.

  Dr. Roman nodded. “Yes, they called me because of the nature of Vanessa’s illness.”

  “What’s wrong?” Thomas asked. He had been wringing his hands for hours, and worry lines filled his forehead.

  Dionne stepped up next to Thomas. The look on the doctor’s face was scaring her. “Yeah, Doc. What’s wrong with my sister?”

  “Well, Mrs. Kirk has severe fibroids, two of them the size of grapefruits, and it appears that one of them has attached itself to her uterus. Also, we cannot stop her vaginal hemorrhaging.”

  All three of them let out collective gasps.

  “I didn’t know fibroids could cause all that,” Rosolyn said, walking into the room.

  Dr. Roman slowly nodded as he turned to her. “It’s rare but they can, and it can be very dangerous.”

  “S-so what does this mean?” Thomas asked. “And what caused it to happen?”

  “We don’t know,” Dr. Roman said, “and that means we have to act fast. She’s already lost a lot of blood.”

  “So does that mean she’s gonna be all right?” Ida said, finally chiming in.

  “We need to perform an emergency hysterectomy or we’re in danger of the blood loss proving fatal.” Dr. Roman looked directly at Thomas. “The problem is, she is sedated and can’t make the decision. It’s going to be up to you.”

  “What?” he asked incredulously.

  “We don’t have much time,” Dr. Roman continued. “We considered embolization, but there is no guarantee with that, and could lead us right back to this point. My professional opinion is that it’s too risky to chance.”

  “Speak English, Doctor,” Dionne said, her voice strained. “What does that mean?”

  “It means if we don’t perform the hysterectomy immediately, your sister could die.”

  “Then you go perform it,” Ida responded forcefully.

  “Wait,” Thomas said. “A hysterectomy. That means she can never have children?”

  Dionne, Ida, and Rosolyn all turned to stare at him.

  “You got your kid, so what do you care?” Dionne snapped.

  “No, it’s not that,” Thomas said defensively. “I just know that Vanessa really wants to have children, just not right now.”

  “If I may be frank, Mr. Kirk,” Dr. Roman began. “If we don’t do this surgery now, your wife might not live to have children.”

  Ida stepped over and gently touched Thomas’s arm. “Baby, I know this is difficult for you, but you have to think about what’s best for Vanessa.”

  “And stop thinking about yourself because at least you have your child,” Dionne cried. “It’s not like you two are gonna stay together anyway.” She was getting irritated. Her sister was lying in there dying, and he was hesitating about granting permission for her lifesaving operation because he wouldn’t get his precious kid.

  “Dionne,” Thomas said, annoyed, “Alana’s daughter is not mine.”

  Dionne looked surprised and her expression softened.

  “And just so you know,” he continued, “yes, I want a child, but I want Vanessa more. I just know my wife. She’s going to be furious at me for making such a decision without her input.”

  “Well, she can’t give her input,” Rosolyn interjected.

  Dr. Roman cleared his throat. “Time is of the essence. We don’t have any options. I assure you, if there were another way, I would do it.” He handed the clipboard in his hand to Thomas. “These are the consent papers. I will give you a few minutes. But as I said, we need to act fast. I’ll send the nurse back in and you can let her know what you all decide.”

  He hurried out of the waiting room.

  Ida turned her attention back to Thomas. “We don’t have a choice.”

  “I know,” Thomas said as a tear rolled down his cheek. “I just hope she forgives me. For everything.”

  Chapter 45

  Vanessa’s eyes fluttered open as she tried to focus on where she was. Gradually, it became clear that she wasn’t home. It looked like she was in a hospital.

  “Well, hello there,” Ida said, closing her Bible. “We were wondering when you were gonna wake up.”

  Vanessa tried to sit up, but a piercing pain shot through her abdomen. “Owww.” She lay back against a stack of starched pillows.

  Thomas jumped up, alarmed. “How are you feeling?”

  “Oh, man, I’m hurting.” She groaned.

  “Can I get you anything?” he said.

  The anger she wanted to feel toward him wouldn’t form. She felt utterly exhausted, yet grateful that he had been with her when she passed out. “No, I’m fine. What happened?”

  A guilty look passed over his face. “Your fibroids created some serious problems,” Thomas said.

  “Wow,” Vanessa replied. “I didn’t know they were that bad.”

  Ida walked around to the other side of the bed. “I wish you’d told me about them. Your mother and your grandmother had them.” Ida shook her head. “But for some reason we just don’t talk about our medical history. Maybe if we had, you could’ve been better prepared for this.”

  Vanessa was shocked and not because she had no idea fibroids ran in her family: she had never seen her aunt beat herself up about anything.

  “How bad were they? And did they remove them?” Vanessa asked, looking around. “Can I get something to drink?” Her throat was parched and she desperately needed some water.

  Ida walked over to the tray on the back wall and poured some water from the small brown pitcher. “Thomas, I’ll take some coffee from the coffee shop downstairs. Can you run get me some?” she said, handing Vanessa the water.

  Thomas hesitated but then nodded. “Okay, I’ll be right back.”

  As soon as he left the room, Vanessa struggled to sit up. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Ida asked, fluffing her pillow.

  “Can you just please tell me what happened? Where’s the doctor? And
how did I end up in the hospital?”

  “You passed out from the shock and pain.” Ida repeated everything Dr. Roman had told her.

  Vanessa sat stunned. “How could I not know how bad things were? I mean, I was in so much pain. I should’ve had it checked out sooner.”

  “No sense talkin’ about what you should’ve done,” Ida said firmly. “The good thing is you’re goin’ to be fine, except…”

  Vanessa could tell from the look on her face there was something important her aunt wasn’t telling her. “Except what?”

  Ida inhaled deeply. “Except they had to perform an emergency hysterectomy.”

  Vanessa was startled. “What are you talking about?”

  Ida looked very uncomfortable. “Baby, there is no easy way to tell you this, so I’m just gonna spit it out. You were hemorrhaging and they couldn’t stop it, so they had to perform the hysterectomy.”

  “What?”

  Ida sadly nodded. “Yes, there was no other way.”

  The reality of what her aunt was saying slowly sank in. “You mean, they took out my uterus?”

  Ida squeezed Vanessa’s hand gently.

  “No!” Vanessa jerked her hand away. “They can’t just do that without my permission, can they?” she asked, becoming frantic.

  “They had permission.”

  “From who?” Vanessa demanded. “The only person that could authorize something like that is me or Thomas.” She stopped and stared at her aunt in disbelief. “Thomas told them they could give me a hysterectomy?”

  “Sweetie, you have to understand, he didn’t have a choice.”