The suicide

****

"This is a hospital, not your personal stage for drama. Leave now," Jasmine commanded, her tone sharp with authority, knowing Layla's intentions to unsettle her mother.

"Jas, why are you wrapped up in that heavy shrug?" she asked, her skepticism evident. "It's not exactly chilly out, so forgive me for wondering what's really going on."

"It's none of your business!" she snapped, her tone sharp and uncompromising.

"Heidi witnessed you speaking with the gynaecologist at the hospital. So she tried to find out what happened with you from the gynaecologist, but she refused to tell her, and she had seen you wearing a shrug that day," Layla's interrogation crackled with intrigue, her eyes drilling into Jasmine with relentless curiosity. "Come on now, spill the beans! What's the big secret you're holding onto?"

"Jas, what happened to you? Why are you attending a gynaecologist? How come you have not brought it up to me?" Jasmine's mother spoke in a worried tone.

"Mom, it's nothing serious, just a routine check-up," Jasmine replied, trying to ease her mother's worries. "I didn't mention it because I didn't want you to worry unnecessarily. Everything's fine, really."

"Out, both of you," she commanded, her tone laced with a frostiness that matched the frigid expression on her face. "If you've got something to discuss, do it outside. Chaos has no place in this room." Jasmine coldly said, her hands balling into fists intermittently as waves of pain surged through her body.

"You're pregnant, aren't you?" Layla's accusation boomed through the room like thunder, stunning everyone in its wake.

"How dare you, Layla!" Jasmine's mother's response was a searing retort, dripping with indignation and fury.

In the midst of Layla's accusation, Jasmine's stomach clenched with agonizing pain, forcing her hand to instinctively press against her abdomen, simultaneously making her swollen belly appear in front of them. The room fell silent, the tension thick enough to suffocate, as the truth unfolded before them all.

"Well, well, well! Look what we have here—Miss Jasmine's got a bun in the oven!" Her tone dripped with mockery. "And you, Paul," she turned to him with a smirk, "all that worrying for nothing! Your assumptions couldn't have been more off the mark!" Layla's laughter erupted like a burst of fireworks,

"Bitch, for all of this, you were out of our sight for so long; what can I say about you? You have gone further than I ever imagined. I detest the idea that you were on my mind constantly. Now, I have chosen to engage with Layla. I have neglected a diamond all this while because of a bit of dirt," Paul furiously said Jasmine, gazing into her weeping eyes, which were saying more than Paul could comprehend.

Layla was dumbfounded, her eyes widening in awe, but she masked her emotions with practiced control, "Your mother used to beam with pride because of you. I wonder if she still does." Her words dripped with subtle mockery,

As Jasmine glanced towards her mother, she was met with a sight that shattered her heart.

"Mom, I just want to tell!"

"Get out!" Jasmine's mother's voice rang out sharply, her eyes filled with betrayal and hurt. "Is this all because of my cancer? You lied to me about having a job! I've been nothing but a fool!" Her words were laced with the pain of realization, accusing Jasmine of deception.

"Mom!" Jasmine pleaded, desperate to make her mother understand, but her words fell on deaf ears. Her mother was in no condition to listen to anything.

Recognizing that her mother wouldn't believe her no matter what she said, Jasmine quietly turned and left. She understood that staying could worsen her mother's fragile health, so she made the tough choice to leave immediately.

Layla and Paul trailed behind Jasmine, with Layla eager to inflict more insults upon her.

"Jasmine, wait, please stop running!" Layla pleaded, causing Jasmine to halt abruptly. "One day, your life will be far worse than mine!" Jasmine spat out bitterly, her tears continuing to stream down her cheeks.

"If I don't stoop to your level and engage in dirty deeds, how could my life be ruined?" Layla retorted defiantly. "No, I'll find happiness for the rest of my days, especially with Paul by my side," she declared, seizing Paul's hand.

Paul huffed disgustingly at Jasmine before planting a kiss on Layla's lips.

Jasmine's fist clenched, her words on the tip of her tongue, but before she could speak, a woman's piercing shout echoed from the room where Jasmine's mother was. Startled, everyone bolted back to the same room, urgency propelling their footsteps.

They found the nurse standing by the window, her screams filling the room, while Jasmine's mother was nowhere to be found.

"Where is my mother?" Jasmine's voice rang out, filled with fear and desperation.

The nurse turned to them, her voice trembling with disbelief. "The patient has jumped from the window!"

A bolt of shock shot through Jasmine, her knees buckling as she struggled to process the horrifying news. In the midst of her overwhelming fear and anguish, her water broke, and she collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

Paul's terror gripped him, and he moved to assist Jasmine, but Layla swiftly intervened, pulling him back.

"We need to leave immediately," Layla insisted urgently. "The police could arrive at any moment, and we'll be dragged into this mess for no reason. Besides, Jasmine is in good hands here at the hospital. The doctors and nurses will take care of her."

Layla tugged on Paul's arm, leading him away from the ward as Jasmine was whisked off to the emergency ward for delivery.

Jasmine awoke in the middle of the night, only to find herself in a dark room with a little light on. It took her some time to acclimate, but suddenly she remembered her mother: "Mom, Mom!" Her tears started streaming down. Just as she was going to get out of bed, someone put a hand over her lips and murmured, "Shhh! Do not speak!" The voice belonged to a lady.

Jasmine nodded slightly in response and the person let go of her mouth, as a result, she could see it was a nurse.

"I want to go to my mother!" Jasmine said in tears.

"No, you can't. She is no more," the nurse said with a sad expression.

"No... No... Please... Please!" Jasmine began wiping heartbrokenly, making the woman feel pain, so she hugged Ana in her embrace saying, "You cannot change anything, sweet girl. I know it is a hard time, but your future life will be beautiful."

"No, my mom is my everything. I caused her death," Jasmine said in between her wail.

"Maybe, but you give her many more days she would not have had if it were not for you," the nurse said.

"I cannot live without my mother!" Jasmine wept harder

"Who said you have no reason to live!" the nurse said, as she withdrew herself from the hug before going over to a cradle a little distance from the bed where Jasmine was sitting.

And she brought a little bun to Jasmine, and said, "This is your daughter! Look how gorgeous she is!"

Jasmine was shocked momentarily before hurriedly looking at her belly and recalling her water broke and she fell to the ground.

"Hold her!" The nurse said.

Jasmine's hands trembled as she clutched the baby close to her bosom, her eyes welling up with emotion, but then she realized, "They will take her away from me!"

"No, they won't because you gave birth to twins. They have taken the boy and I brought her here. They were told the other child did not make it!"

Jasmine shockingly glanced at the nurse, and questioned, "Twins!"

"Yes, they never told you!" the nurse said, "I was the one monitoring you all these months and I know everything!"

Jasmine felt herself more vulnerable as she cried further. In response, the nurse said, " This is not the time to shed tears. You have to run away with your daughter far. I believe you will raise her better than them!"

Jasmine looked at the pink baby in her arms and kissed her on the forehead.

"But why are you doing all of this for me? You don't even know me well!" Jasmine questioned.

"If we meet face to face in the future, I will definitely answer this question of yours. For now, you have to run somewhere far away. I hope you have money," the nurse asked and Jasmine nodded in response.

"Raise your daughter as your mom raised you. And do not look back or cry for your mother since the future is waiting to be nurtured!" the nurse said, staring at the baby in Jasmine's arm.

"Thank you!"