Chapter Eight

Denzel tried to resuscitate her, but she didn't respond. He became tensed and confused.  He had never hit a woman in his life. He didn't know what had prompted him to hit her the way he did.

He shook her severally, she didn't respond. She lay there, motionless with blood oozing from her nose. Perhaps she could be dead, he thought to himself. He suddenly began to sweat profusely. He couldn't believe he had just killed someone over what could have been avoided.

He quickly rushed to his room, picking up his phone, and dialed 911

"Hello, please I need an ambulance at 957 Ocean View. My housemaid just fell unconscious". He said as he couldn't find any way to describe the situation.

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A few minutes later, the ambulance arrived at the hospital. Kate was rushed to the emergency room. Denzel trailed behind with fear written all over his face.

"Okay, Mr., You'll have to wait here while we take it up from here". The doctor said, barring Denzel from going any further as Kate was stretched to the emergency room and the door went shut.

Denzel was left there all by himself to pace about and wonder what could be going on beyond the door. He was confused and shaken. He didn't know what had prompted him to raise his hands on her. It was just so foolish of him.

He pulled out his phone and dialed Kim's cell phone number. It rang immediately and she answered like she had been waiting for his call.

"Kim, I need you to meet me at the Arlington memorial hospital right away. There's a problem on the ground. I just did something stupid and I'm damn so confused right now,"

"Oh no!". She gasped "I hope you are okay sir?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I need you here as soon as possible".

"Okay, I’ll be there in fifteen minutes". She said as she hung up the phone.

He paced about restlessly, peeping towards the entrance of the emergency room at intervals to check if any of the doctors could come out and give him an update about what's happening to Kate. What if they walked through that door to tell him that Kate couldn't make it? That would tarnish not just his image but that of his family and that of his company. He would be labeled a murderer.

The board members won't hesitate to vote him out of office if they got to hear about this event. Whether she makes it alive or not wouldn't matter then. They wouldn't want an abusive man/ murderer to be at the helm of the affairs of the company. This wouldn't even go down well with his father. He had been avoiding him ever since he lost the confidence of the board members. His father had worked all his life to set up the company only for him to let it slip off his hands.

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"Mr. Denzel," Kim called out as she saw him sitting at one of the seats just by the door of the emergency room.

"Hey, Kim, thank goodness that you made it."

"What's the problem. I got here as soon as I could."

"Kim, I messed up". He said as he bent his head in shame.

"What happened?"

"Kate... I hit her and she blacked out".

"What the heck? You did what?  How could you? She's just your maid for Christ's sake. All you could have done was just to fire her as you did to others". Kim scolded.

"Damn it, Kim. For a split second, I lost it. She called me an asshole. For f*ck sake she is my maid! I pay for her services."

"You know you could be prosecuted for this. You could go to jail if she decides to press charges against you".

"Kim that's the least of my worries. She can charge me anywhere she wants. I just need her to come out there alive. She totally blacked out when I hit her. I couldn't feel her pulse, Kim. She didn't freaking move a finger. If anything happens to her, then Kim, we're doomed. The board members are already looking out for ways to kick me out of my office as the CEO. This could be their perfect opportunity.

"You've got to calm down sir. I'm pretty sure she's gonna make it out alive. All we've got to do is just to find a way to prevent her from pressing any charges against you".

"And how am I gonna achieve that?"

"Well, you'll need to be a start being nice to her and probably get to convince her to continue working for you. That way, nobody gets to know what happened. Then you'll need to slow down on your anger issues."

"Are you sure it's gonna work out that way? I ain't even sure she'd want to see my face again after what had happened"

"Don't worry, I'll try and talk to her". Kim said as she tried to calm him down.

The door to the emergency room swung open. A doctor made his way out and came towards him. Denzel sprang upon his feet almost immediately

"Hello Doctor Jason, how is she? Could she make it?" He asked as he looked at his name tag to see his name.

"Well, she is alive," the doctor said.

These words brought about relief to him. He took a deep breath and tried relaxing as he breathed out.

"Okay, so how is she now?" Kim asked.

"She had a concussion. Did she hit her head on something? Because I guess the impact was just too heavy for her and she blacked out. We've been able to stabilize her. She may experience a constant headache. It's gonna take awhile before she gets better." Dr. Jason explained.

"Okay, thank you very much". Denzel who had been quiet all this while said.

"Can we see her now?" Kim quizzed.

"You can see her maybe in an hour, she needs to rest now". The doctor said to them and walked away.

Denzel sat back in his seat trying his best to recuperate.

"I told you she's gonna make it". Kim said with a smile as he touched him on the shoulder.

"Kim you've got to do all you can to get her to keep quiet. Whatever she asks, let her have it. I don't want anyone to get to know about this, not even her parents".

"Okay, I'm gonna try my best".

"Please, can you stay back and make sure you talk to her when she wakes up? I need to go home now and get some rest"

"Yeah, don't worry I've got this".

"Thank you, Kim, I definitely owe you one". Denzel said as he left her and headed home.

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He got home and went straight to his wine bar. He instantly poured himself a glass of whiskey which he gulped at a go. He poured another one and gulped it again. He dropped his glass on the glass table heaving a sigh of relief.

He poured himself another glass of whiskey bit this time, he took the glass cup and headed for his sitting room where he sunk into the couch trying as much as he could to relax his mind. He took a deep breath and tried relaxing but what had happened earlier couldn't get him to relax. He looked towards the dining table to was just a few meters adjacent from where he sat. Seeing the pancakes scattered on the floor with plates shattered everywhere, the memories of what had happened earlier came flooding back into his head.

The flashes of him hitting Kate came into his head. He tried getting rid of those memories as he shut his eyes but they just won't go away.

"F*ck!" He let out, frustration washing through him as he gulped down his glass of whiskey.

He quickly went to the kitchen where he got a trash can and got rid of all the debris and cleaned up the place. He didn't want to see anything that would remind him of what had happened earlier.

He was just a few moments away from being a murderer. He could have easily gone to jail; nobody would have been able to save him, not even his father.

He went again to his wine bar and poured himself another glass of whiskey and gulped it down. He poured himself another glass but this time he gradually sipped it as he was getting intoxicated.

"Ding dong," He heard his doorbell ring.

"Who could it be?" He thought. He wasn't expecting anyone. Kim was supposed to call if anything came up at the hospital.

He took another sip, staggering to the door swinging it open only to see Eva standing before the door looking sexy and ready to kill. She beamed him a smile that made all his worries disappear.

"Eva? what are you doing here? I told you that I was gonna call you, didn’t I??" He asked as he leaned by the door. His feeble legs couldn't carry his weight anymore.

She walked up to him, kissing him passionately. Denzel melted. This was what he needed to get his mind off Kate and the ugly experience.

He kissed her back, dragging her by the waist as he shut the door.