Sunday, August 8, 2010 Chapter 8

Hilda accompanied them for the cab ride back to the restaurant. She sat on the front seat next to the driver consistently nagging and questioning about whatever came to mind. Michelle sat with Nicholas at the back amused by Hilda’s inability to stop talking. Although highly irritated by a certain little girls’ presence, Nicholas kept quiet when he saw that Michelle seemed to be enjoying herself. After a long taxi ride back to town they finally got off in front of the restaurant, and when Nicholas turned around, Hilda had disappeared. He smiled, “Finally,” he thought.

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“Papa, I don’t like it here,” She complained quietly on a public telephone.
“You have to stay there for a little while longer; it’s not safe for you to be with me right now,”
“But papa…” She continued, “Can’t I live with my brother,”
“NO!” He replied, “Absolutely not,”
“Why? He doesn’t seem like a bad person…”
“You mean you have talked to him?” He raged, “After I told you specifically not to?”
“I don’t care Papa, I’m not listening to you. You leave me here with no money, I don’t even get food. What kind of papa are you? I see all those kids from school they’re mummy and daddies buy them ice cream and other stuff, they go to school. You never let me go to school.”
“Now now, you know your papa loves you enough for both mummy and daddy…”
“NO YOU DON’T!” And with that she slammed the phone and ran back to her hideout.

The man on the other end of the line sighed. He walked to his room and got out his passport and stared at it for a moment. “I’ve got to stop her from having anything to do with that family,” He thought while staring at his name on the passport. It read ‘Zachary Grey’, a name he had come to hate so much. He fell back on his bed and closed his eyes.

He hadn’t gotten a chance to do something other than the regular for what seemed decades, yet he was here, with the woman he loved so much, driving home in a beautiful black Mercedes that blended in with the night. It had been an amazing day. He had decided to take a holiday with his wife and travel to Malaysia, a country known for quiet and beautiful sceneries, wonderful theme parks, and remarkable food and culture. They talked about everything; they talked about the future, and the future of their child. She was a bit more than 8 months pregnant. He smiled to himself as she kept on talking about the baby, the things they still needed to buy, the possible names and that’s when he heard her scream which brought his attention back to the road. A car was headed straight for them; it was a one way road. He swerved off the road in an attempt to avoid the oncoming car but he was too late. The other car collided with his on an angle which sent the Mercedes spinning out of control as it rolled down a small hill. This whole time he could hear her scream. When the car came to rest he struggled to stay conscious, he saw his own blood on his hand but ignored it. She had stopped screaming. She lay there, still, not making a sound. He panicked and tried to get out of the car. The door was jammed. He threw himself against the door over and over in an attempt to break the lock. When he finally succeeded he took her into his arms and dragged her over the 2 seats and onto the wet grass of the hills. “Honey, wake up!” He said, shaking her a little. He couldn’t help it, tears flowing down his face, he screamed for help and eventually fell unconscious.

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He woke up in a hospital shortly after, his eyes wandered around for a bit until he remembered what had happened. He jumped up off his bed and a nurse ran in and told him to take a seat. “Where is she?!” He screamed.
“She’s unconscious at the moment,” She said trying to calm him down.
“I want to see her,” He demanded.
“Of course,” She said, “But there is something you need to know beforehand,” She paused for a bit, “We’ve had to perform and emergency caesarean.”
His heart sank. “The baby is in a critical situation, we’re not sure if we’ll be able to save her,”
“It- It’s a girl?” He barely whispered. The nurse nodded sadly and led him to where his wife lay on her bed. “She’ll be ok, won’t she?”
“Yes, she should be fine,” The nurse replied.
“Would you like to see your daughter?” The nurse asked after a short moment.
“No,” He replied and with that the nurse left the room.