CHAPTER 9

Chapter 9

The air in the hospital was a little bit cool, biting through the thin fabric of Elysia’s chiffon top or it was her helplessness that made her cold.

Plain white walls, monochrome colored furniture and people everywhere, someone was crying in the arms of another. Someone paced the lobby, the smell of antibiotics filled the air as well, Elysia truly felt sick in her stomach suddenly.

”Good evening, sir, good evening, ma'am,” Upon arrival at the hospital, they came across a nurse who welcomed them warmly. Her neatly ironed uniformed and toothy smile told a tale of her loving her job.

“Please what are you here for?” In the most polite way ever, she asked. 

Elysia did not stop moving, and that prompted the nurse to follow her from behind, closely. She noticed Orion's presence and she turned back to him. 

"I think she's unwell but she's refusing to say anything about it. Can you help me find out what's wrong with her?" he paused in his tracks. 

"Sure and you are?" 

"Orion..." he left out his last name, it was a known name, he was no ordinary citizen, he was part of the one percent that controlled the economy and affairs of the nation.

"I mean your relationship with her." 

He paused...what was their relationship?

"Her Ex husband." The nurse was slightly taken aback, Elysia heard it from where she stood and it pricked her heart like a thousand needless. 

“Please, I need to talk to her privately then,” The nurse demanded in a soft tone, and he nodded. 

“Fine.” He had used Ex because he didn’t want to look like a liar if Elysia claimed he wasn't her husband—she wasn't going to be wrong. They were officially divorced though he was yet to get the papers registered in a court but she had rubbed it in his face every single day.

Without sparing him a glance, Elysia walked into a room with the nurse who gently shut the door behind her. 

“Have you visited any hospital before coming here, ma'am?” She demanded in a low tone and Elysia turned slightly to the door. 

“Yes,” she lied. 

“And what was your diagnosis?” Picking up a pen, she asked with a smile, that failed to cheer the former up. 

“Stomach pain and flu, due to eating late at night and other things which I don't want to remember,’’ she waved dismissively, and the nurse penned down every important detail that left the latter's mouth. 

"Ma'am your symptoms are inconsistent. Can I see the doctor's report?" 

"I didn't come along with it, my hus—ex husband forced me down here." The nurse saw the pain flash in her eyes and she suspected Elysia was concealing something. 

"You'd have to see the doctor to run a few tests, first give me a sample of your urine." She handed the test bottle to Elysia and excused herself from the room.

Since Elysia followed the nurse into the room, Orion's butt had not kissed anything, not even the wall, nor a chair in the waiting room. Instead, he just paced around the reception, occasionally running with his fingers through his hair and over his face.

"Please be fine Elysia, I care a lot about you."

It was like the tension slowly built inside him, what could be the reason why she did not tell him about her illness? He looked disorganized, he had barely fastened the buttons of his shirt but he had not talked it in, rather he had rolled up the sleeves.

Racking his brain, his eyes widened, like everything had just started to make sense right before his eyes. Her cold gaze, hirtful words and more, he knew the source. So it was all payback, he concluded. 

He needed no one to tell him, he knew it was because of the name he had mentioned some hours ago? He dismissed the thought, Elysia didn't care about all of that, she had waited for him to set her free all along.

The creaking sound of the door pulled him back to reality and just as he waited for the nurse to get to him, his phone rang. He ignored it.

"How long since your divorce please?" The nurse walked up to Orion.

"3 or 4 days and unsigned papers." She scribbled it down

"I've transferred her to see a doctor. Are you still responsible for her despite your separation?" 

"I am."

"Then I'll need you to sign some documents and the doctor may need to speak with you as well." The nurse sensed the tension between them and hoped Elysia had good news that could cement their relationship, she saw how much Orion cared about Elysia and wondered why they were separated. 

He nodded.

The nurse hd barely left when his phone vibrated again.

He took it out of his pocket and sighed after seeing the name that was boldly inscribed on the screen. 

Seraphina.

He contemplated, then he answered the call.

"Sir, the doctor has asked to see you." He held up a hand to the nurse signaling her to give him a minute. When he dropped the call, he apologized.

"I'm sorry, I have to leave immediately. Please tell her to make every payment from her card, or give her this if she didn't bring it along." He put the card in her hand. "Same pin as hers, she knows this." He cared but he also couldn't ignore a distress call from Seraphina. 

"But Sir, your wife needs you now. She is..." 

"Tell her I'll be back to pick her home please. I need to go now." He left, not letting her finish.

"Pregnant..." she finished her statement but he was no longer in sight.

She stood there, helpless, for a second she understood Elysia's pain, her refusal to inform him of the pregnancy, he cared but not enough to be by her side in times like that, not enough to give up his other engagements to attend to her properly. 

The nurse assumed it was work, she never imagined it was another woman.