Chapter 90: Chapter 90

CHRISTIAN

Christian was done with everything.

His bags and luggages were already packed and ready to move. A small sad smile creeping up his lips, his feelings further intensified when he felt the gentle fragile hands of his mother sneaking up his shoulders, as she squeezed lightly.

“Don’t you think you are in a haste son? Have you thoroughly thought about everything?”

She asked softly.

Christian knew she meant no harm with her words, but her words reminded him so much of Sara and quickly he went off.

Like a spark lighting up in his head, he blurted out angrily shrugging her hands off his shoulders, “Mother, if this is about Sara, you can just dead the topic. I don’t want to talk about her.”

An awkward silence brewing, and the atmosphere becoming tense Mrs Smith finally broke it off, clearing her throat and chuckling almost inaudibly.

“Son! I didn’t even want to talk about her? I was just asking some important questions but now that you say it…” She paused obviously gathering what to say next, “How about her? Have you talked to her? Have you showed her the pictures? Is there any explanation for that irresponsible act?”

“I’ve not talked to her, and honestly I don’t care. She can go rot in hell for all I care.”

“Christian, you have to be careful and think this through. I don’t support what she did, and I’m still saying it again for the umpteenth time Sara is not one to engage in such immoral act. I’ve told you so many times. There must be a miss up somewhere. Call her and let…”

“What freaking miss up mother? Can you explain why she has not come to see me ever since that carnival party night? Can you explain the tone she used to reply me the last time we spoke, over the phone? Okay, her cell is ringing and she’s not picking up, explain this. No one is calling to tell me anything. No calls from her friend, Daniel has no idea what’s going on since he’s not here, and what happens… I’m being sent photos of her in bed with another man. What do you want me to do mother?”

“Calm down Christian.”

“I’m tired of being calm. You want me to go the shelter like a lovesick fool, and confront her? You want me to break in front of her, and tell her to explain things clearly to me? When I have the answer right here?” He half yelled, pointing at his bedside drawer where the blasted envelope was.

“Okay mother…” He said calmly, placing his hands on her shoulders and then he began to ask again, “Explain to me, why she was so aversed on following me to Seattle. She never wanted to come with me. She always had excuses, and even after everything I did for her on her birthday, giving her the surprise tickets what had she done? Yelled at me, saying I was trying to control her life and stomping angrily. I still had to beg to get in her good graces. So tell me mother, do I deserve all this?” At his last question, Mrs Smith went silent, and there he had it.

The answer was staring straight at him.

“I’m not a fool mother. I have pride, and an ego too. I won’t stoop so low to go to her, when she should be the one doing that. I’m done with Sara, and that’s… and that’s final…” He stammered at the end, his voice breaking as tears burned at the back of his eyes.

The grip he had on the cloth in his hands tightened, and his heart squeezed painfully. This time when his mother placed her hands on his shoulders squeezing softly, he didn’t shrug it off instead he let her comfort him as she was all he had now.

“I understand you son, I really do. Everything will be fine I promise.” She mumbled, caressing his hair and he just nodded numb.

The shrill sound of his cell phone ringing broke the brewing silence in the room, and picking up the device Christian saw that it was a call from Daniel.

“I’ll leave you to answer your call. I need to prepare too.” Mrs Smith said and leaning down softly she placed a kiss on his forehead, rubbing his cheeks gently before finally leaving the room.

Smiling wryly, Christian dragged his focus back to his cell, and swiping the answer button he quickly placed the phone on his ear.

“What’s up man.”

“What’s up Christian. What’s wrong with your cell, I’ve been trying to reach you, Ariel has also been trying to reach you for days but you were not pulling through.”

“Huh?” Christian huffed, his brows furrowed as he mulled over what Daniel had just said. The signal strength in his home was very strong, so this was kind of strange.

Nevertheless he was not going to dwell to much on that thought.

“Probably signal. Why are you calling though? Are you back from the short errand?” Christian asked, and replying him Daniel proceeded to tell him a little bit about his hectic work before finally saying, “Have you talked to Sara all this while?”

At first he felt like saying nothing, or waving of the question but then something, a small part of him desperately wanted to know how she was faring and what she was up to.

He was done with her, and she didn’t affect him anymore… He was trying so hard to convince himself of this facts, but at the mere mention of her name he was becoming soft all over and… No!

“And what about her?” He deadpanned, trying to sound unaffected whatsoever.

“She’s in a critical condition apparently, I’m surprised you don’t know and Ariel said she’s been trying to get across to you.”

“What?” Christian questioned, getting up from his bed, an unexplainable pain shooting through his chest.

“Yes Christian, as I’m speaking to you now, she’s admitted in the hospital. I tried to ask Ariel what’s going, any clue on what the doctor said but she refused to say anything. I…”

‘Sara in a critical condition.’ ‘Sara in the hospital.’

He was beginning to get worried, a chill running down his spine.

He was was about to ask where she was, wanting to know the name of the hospital where she was supposedly admitted when the image of her on bed with another man flashed through his eyes. Like a cold bucket of water pouring over him, every trace of worry and pity Christian was starting to feel vanished almost instantly.

He couldn’t even believe the next thing he said, but it came out from his lips freely, “Sara has you, and she has Ariel, she will be fine. You both can take care of her right? I have a ticket to attend to.”

“Christian what are you saying? What is happening?” Daniel asked, already noticing how aloof he was and Christian just sighed.

He didn’t want to tell Daniel about the nude pictures, but now he was left with no option than to explain why he was behaving this way.

“You want to know what’s happening right?”

Christian asked and as Daniel muttered a yes, he plopped his ass back on the bed, grabbing a spare cloth on the bed and began to toy with the hem.

He was doing that to keep himself distracted, and he began to talk to Daniel, although he left out very important details.

He was only giving him hints, hoping he would be able to put two and two together. Christian wished…

…….

SARA

“What am I doing here?”

Those were the first words that left Sara’s lips, the second she opened her eyes to blinding white lights, and the pinger smell of drugs yet again.

Already hysteric, she had ranted, yelling at the nurses wanting to be discharged almost immediately, but then Ariel had arrived calming her down, and explaining everything that had happened the past few days she had been unconscious.

She couldn’t believe it. She had been waving in and out of consciousness, for the past three days and as she listened to her best friend talk, Sara was outrightly convinced that Ariel was joking but she was not.

She had no idea that her unconscious state was just one of the many shocks she was going to get today, and now staring at Ariel, eyes bulging, her right hand clutching her waist tightly Sara was dumbfounded.

To say she was shocked was putting it lightly, and she didn’t even know when she started to shed tears.

Her face was neutral, the tears streaming down her face, the only response she was giving to the news Ariel had just told her.

“Are you okay Sara? Did you get what I just said?” Ariel asked, gently squeezing her freed left hand softly.

“You mean… you mean I’m…” Sara stuttered, unable to complete her sentence because she was still in shock.

“I’m so sorry Sara, but that’s what the doctor said. He apologized for not discovering about the pregnancy, when you were brought some days back, due to the carnival incident.”

“Oh my goodness Ariel. Do you even know what this means?” She muttered shakily, her whole body trembling as she tried to piece every single thing together.

She had been getting these symptoms, but she had ignored them at every turn. Dizziness, high fever that came and went, lack of appetite and her freaking mood swings. Those days when she snapped at Ariel and even Christian, she had no idea that she could be pregnant. Her hormones were just all over the place. Even her monthly period had been blotchy and strange but she didn’t want to think to much about it, and now… She was 2 months and a weeks pregnant.

“I don’t even know what to say Sara. I’m shocked as you are.” Ariel mumbled, her lashes blinking as she continued on and on about what this meant for the both of them.

Sara was already lost in her own thoughts. She was just 17 and pregnant already.

What would the shelter do? What would happen to her now? What would she do? Worse of how would Christian take the news?

He loved kids, and she knew without doubt that he would support her. He would be with her through it all, but where was he? She hadn’t seen or heard from him since that carnival festival event, and he was supposed to be by her bedside now of course, but he was nowhere.

“Where’s Christian?” Sara half yelled, “He’s supposed to be here. I need to tell him that I might be carrying his child. I need to…” She was screaming now, crying profusely and alerting the attention of nurses nearby but she just didn’t care.

She wanted to get out of here… She wanted to see Christian. She wanted to hide in his arms, feel his hands caressing her hair and listen to his soothing voice, telling her that everything would be alright. She wanted to…

“Sara, Sara calm down.” Ariel warned, holding her shoulders still as she continued to pull and pull the drips attached to her arm.

“You have to calm down Ma’am. You need to rest.” Sara could hear the nurses saying, but she was immune to their pleas.

Instead she continued to thrash around them, trying to leave the bed, but her efforts proved abortive because she felt the tip of a needle on her skin, and then becoming drowsy she closed her eyes to another rather troubled unconsciousness.

The nurses had injected something in her obviously, and helpless she couldn’t do anything at all.

Before she closed her eyes finally though, she heard the nurses saying something about discharging her the next day, and Ariel whispering words of apology to her softly.

A tear escaped her closed eyes, and even in her sleep Sara continued to sob profusely.

Her world was slowly falling apart, even before she knew anything.