016

Sophie

“I need to know you’re okay with this,” Dominic said after he pulled the door open. He stared at me, searching for an answer.

“I am,” I nodded.

He nodded in return before he stepped aside. I climbed down then took a few steps forward. 

When I heard the door shut, I took in a breath. 

“This way,” he ordered as he headed towards the front doors and I followed. I looked around the hospital, although I had seen it many times. 

I forced a smile at the nurse that waved in my direction. I wasn’t sure if the wave was directed at me or Dominic. 

I shifted my gaze to Dominic. He didn’t glance at the nurses or patients. He kept his head high as he took a turn. 

I followed, my attention now on him till we arrived at his office. He pushed the door open and walked in. 

“Give me a minute,” he said as he made his way to his chair. Everything in his office was placed neatly. There was no speck of dust and I was sure whoever cleaned it kept the placement of everything by memory. 

He stretched his arms forward, one reaching for the sleeve of the other and pulling down. He repeated this on the other then slipped out of the jacket. 

He threw it over the chair then picked up a clipboard that sat in the middle of the table. It had a few things I couldn’t make out written on it. 

Had he gotten all this prepared before telling me? 

How was he sure I would even agree to this?

Before I could let other questions fill my mind, he walked out of the room and I followed. He shut the door then we made our way to the examination room. 

“Take a seat,” he offered and I walked to the examination table. I climbed and sat on it, my hands on my lips and fingers clasped as I watched him.

He moved quickly. 

“Open your mouth,” he ordered as he made his way to me. 

I did. 

He placed a digital thermometer beneath my tongue. 

“Temperature normal”.

Then he wrapped a blood pressure cuff around my arm. He nodded right after then ripped it off. 

He walked to another area of the room then returned with a needle. 

I took in a breath and looked up.

I felt a pinch.

I didn’t look down.

Another pinch. 

Minutes passed and I had counted the tiles in the ceiling. 

“All done. I’ll be back,” he informed me before he slipped out of the room. 

I took in a breath, filling my cheeks with air. 

I pressed down on the cotton in the area where I felt the pinch. I counted to 3 before taking it out. 

There was a dot of blood on it before I threw it into the dustbin.

I released a breath. 

It took a while before Dominic returned but not too long to make me worry.

He pulled out the results from the folder. 

His expression morphs into something strange. He didn’t have a poker face for the first time ever. It confused me, which made me confused too.

He doesn’t say a thing. He just stares at the results. 

I became restless. 

“Is anything going wrong?” I asked. 

No response. 

“Are my pills no longer working? Is my health deteriorating faster than I thought?” I added. 

No response. 

I tilted to the side to get a glance of his face. 

He caught my gaze then shook his head.

He dropped his hands and held the test result by his side. “Return to the hospital after a week. The final test result for the Aplastic Anemia would be out by then”.

“Okay, I will,” I agreed. 

I jumped down from the chair and left. 

Unexpectedly, as soon as I left the doors of the hospital, a flash blinded my view. Then another and another till I squinted my eyes. Journalists with microphones held in her face and cameras pointed directly at her. They followed her every step. She wasn’t sure what path to follow.

“When did you get married to Hayes?”

“Why was it a secret? Did Hayes not love you enough? Did he think you wouldn’t be able to handle the spotlight?”

What kind of questions were these? 

Why now? 

I looked around but every time I found an exit, a flash blinded me. I would stumble, gain my balance then search around. 

“Did you cheat on Hayes?” One asked. 

My heart raced. 

What should I do? What should I say?

I haven’t been in a spotlight like this before?

Do I —

No. I can’t just run.

That way, Hayes would win in front of everybody. 

I held my head high. 

“The people want to know,” the journalist added. 

“I’m divorcing Hayes not—”

“That has to be a lie. I wouldn’t have believed Hayes married a liar,” someone in the crowd yelled. 

“He just admitted to everyone in a public interview that he was the one divorcing you, and you purposely leaked the news about your marriage to cling onto him”.

My eyebrows furrowed. 

What?

“He said that?” I thought aloud. 

“What do you have to say about this?” A journalist asked. 

“What do you have to say to Hayes and the public?” Another reporter added. 

They all calmed as they waited patiently for my response. 

“Get in the car,” I heard a familiar voice and my eyes lit up. 

I looked up and searched. 

There Cesca was. He stood next to the car, holding the car door open. 

“No comment,” I replied before I pushed forward.

“Miss Sophie,” they called but I managed to slip my way through avoiding any more microphones. I shielded my face with my hands as I rushed to Francesca’s car. 

The door slammed behind me. 

I stared at the journalist that headed to the car.

With my eyes on them, I reached forward and tapped repeatedly on Cesca’s shoulder. “Move move move,” I ordered repeatedly. 

We sped off. 

Sigh.