THE UNFAITHFUL HUSBAND ππ
Written by Henry Zibima
Episode 38
After an hour plus of waiting, a man dressed in surgical greens came out of the ward. I supposed him to be the doctor, he signalled at me to meet him at the corner of the room.
“Good day sir”
“Good day” I replied.
“Sir I called you because you are younger and the older woman there is at a higher risk of a heart attack. I have both good news and bad news sir”
“Ok go on” I said.
“The good news is that she is alive…”
“And the bad news?”
“We lost the pregnancy”
“Did you just say you lost the pregnancy??”
“Sir we are very sorry about that, we did all our best but it wasn’t sufficient”
I became entirely speechless because the good news was actually the bad news and the bad news; the good news.
“Are you serious?” I shouted joyfully so much that I dragged Sonia’s mum’s attention.
“Yes sir” the doctor said looking surprised that I was unperturbed.
“Woohoo!” I screamed for joy, I began running and jumping around the room. The kind of happiness that took over me was titanic, with the way I celebrated one would even think I was mad.
“Sir, I don’t know if you heard me clearly, I said we LOST the pregnancy”
“Lost which pregnancy?” Sonia’s mum screamed.
“Ma, I’m very sorry. I never intended for you to find out like this” the doctor said.
“Chai! Sonia has finished me. So the child is gone?”
“Yes” I answered with a wide smile.
“Ewoo! All the money, the houses I planned to build, the cars I desired to own. Cheiii! How could she do this to me, how could she lose the pregnancy”
“She suffered a miscarriage due to the impact of the fall, she must have fell face down to the ground; hitting her stomach heavily in the process” the doctor said trying to calm her down.
“I’m very sorry ma” I said mockingly.
“Please accept my condolences” I said with a smirk. I was on top of the world, chilling out at the VIP table in wonderland.
Wow! Is this how things turn around? I asked myself, God sure works in mysterious ways. In the twinkle of an eye, the table was turned in my favour. The pregnancy Sonia and her mum wanted to tie me down with was gone.
“Please take heart; all will be well. In some minutes time, you’ll be allowed to see the patient.”
“Alright” I replied smiling. I couldn’t wait to see the look on Sonia’s face.
*****
Just as the doctor said, after a while we were allowed to see Sonia. Her mum quickly rushed in while I followed calmly. Sonia lay on the bed, connected to a drip, I could see little bandages on her body. She wasn’t looking good at all.
A bright spot lightened up her eyes as we walked in.
“How are you my daughter?” Sonia’s mum hurried down and sat beside her.
“They said I lost the pregnancy, is that true?” She asked feebly.
“Yes my daughter” she cried out in agony.
“I’m really sorry Femi, for all I have caused you and your family. Please find a place in your heart to forgive me” she said soberly.
“I’m I dreaming??” I asked myself, was Sonia really begging me to forgive her.
“Femi please don’t count any grudges against me. I know what I did was wrong, I shouldn’t have tried to come in between you and your family.”
“I don’t even know what to say right now, honestly speaking; I am speechless.” I said.
“You know; it’s hard to forgive what you’ve done just like that. You and your mother almost shattered my home, I mean; what if you didn’t lose this pregnancy? You wouldn’t have being apologizing right now”
“Femi, I never thought that I would even be capable of doing all this. I never planned it, my mum forced me into it”
“It’s okay, I am also sorry” Her mum said reluctantly.
“I am sorry too, I never should have forced myself on you in the first place. If I had not conditioned you to have sΔx with me, none of these would have even happened. We all are at at fault”
“Yeah…so does that mean I am forgiven?” Sonia asked weakly.
“Sonia I’ve realized I’m not even worthy to hold any grievance against you. I have to forgive your wrongdoings so that even I will be forgiven.”
“Thank you so much” Sonia said.
“You don’t have to thank me, we all are guilty.” I was taught a great lesson from the best teacher – experience. And from that day onwards, I decided to share my story with whomever cared to listen just as I am doing with you right now.
“But how did you even lose the pregnancy?” Her mum asked.
“It was that bastΔrd- Tony, he beat me up when he learnt I was pregnant for Femi, he battered me until he hurt my pregnancy”
“I taught you fell” I asked
“That’s what everyone thinks”
“That boy…” her mother cut in.
“I always warned you to stay away from that Tony”
“He didn’t do it intentionally”
“Sure, you always take sides with him” her mum said.
****
I couldn’t wait to share the good news with my wife. I picked up my phone and excused myself from the ward.
“Hello honey”
“Hello” she replied a bit coldly.
“I have great news for you”
“What’s the ‘great news’ all about” she asked.
“Sonia’s pregnancy has finally been gotten rid of”
“What do you mean? Don’t tell me you still went on with the abortion”
“Not at all. She had a miscarriage”
“Miscarriage? How come?”
“They said it was that her boyfriend, he found out about the pregnancy and beat her till she started bleeding” I said laughing hysterically.
“Are you serious??” My wife asked, happiness visible in her tone.
“Yes”
“I know I shouldn’t say this; the life of an innocent child was lost but I actually feel very excited”
“Yes oo, you need to see the way I was jubilating. That isn’t all, to crown things up, Sonia and her mother apologized for all they had done”
“Wow!”
“My dear, that isn’t all; even the guy responsible for my kidnap has been arrested”
I heard my wife shouting joyously, it seemed she was even happier than I was.
“The good news never stops coming” she said.
“God is faithful”
“Indeed, I am astonished” Jennifer said.
“I’ll soon be coming home, we’ll talk more when I come”
Jennifer’s POV
I had already called my elder sister and informed her about her daughter’s coming. I told her my husband no longer approved her stay in my house. My sis didn’t take the it nicely; she was utterly disappointed and devastated. Things were very hard for them that period, so sending Esther back felt like a great burden was placed upon them. Still what could she say? she could not object, she had no choice than to appreciate me for the ones I had done.
Esther was to leave that day, her bags and everything were all set. I didn’t bother to inform Femi because he was the main reason behind her going back, I felt very bad; for not keeping to my promise and mainly for giving my sister and her family false hope. But I didn’t allow it hinder me, at that moment, the goal was to preserve my home and I felt I was doing the right thing.
Esther’s POV
Living with my aunt was kind of like a sweet-and-sour experience. I recalled the good times I had, likewise the bad times. And I had to leave everything behind; for peace to reign. My uncle- Femi was not around; to me I felt he caused everything, still I was to suffer. He ate the sour grape but my teeth was set on edge.
Everyone was aware that I would be going aside Femi. I would miss the luxury, the good food, comfort and the good life at my aunt’s house. I didn’t want to start thinking about all that, because I didn’t want to shed any more tears.
My aunt opened her car’s trunk, while I placed my bags inside. She was going to drive me to the motor park and keep me company till I board a bus to the village. She reassured me that it wasn’t the end for me and there was definitely going to be another way. She was already on the driver’s seat, I opened the door, looked up to Frank’s window. I could see him standing there, he smiled and waved me goodbye.
TBC
