"Hush! Stop creating a scene. Aren't you ashamed, being pregnant at your age?", Rosa scolded in a series of harsh whispers as she hurried along beside the gurney on which Mara was being rushed off to the delivery room. But instead of keeping quiet, the girl only kept screaming in pain.
On a normal day, such a scolding from her stepmother was enough to silence her, but this time, she couldn't help it. She was in serious pain and her stepmother had kept her too long at home when it all started, more concerned with dumping curses on her than anything else. It was only when she found that the baby could actually be on its way that she called her husband who angrily instructed her to call an ambulance immediately. Being childless and with absolutely no experience of pregnancy or childbirth, she had gone on to make things even more inconvenient for the 19-year old Mara. But now that they were here, she was relieved that it was out of her hands. Yet, her biggest worry was not for the girl's safe delivery but rather, the fear that her cries might attract everyone's attention to the "scandalous" situation."Please ma'am, you'll have to wait here," one of the nurses said to her, shutting her out as her colleagues rushed off with the still screaming Mara.Rosa ground her teeth and clenched her fists in impotent rage, wishing she could strangle that little brat just to keep her quiet, but the girl was far away from her reach now, so she simply contented herself with sitting down in the waiting room, but not before scanning around with her eyes to see if anyone was staring at her. She didn't want to be seen as the mother of a pregnant teenager. Luckily, no one seemed to take the slightest notice of her, so she sat down with a sigh and brought out her phone to listen to some music.She was in this position, enjoying herself with her earbuds in both ears blaring out her favorite music, when she suddenly heard a man burst into the waiting room, his booming voice filling the area. "Mara Johnson! Is she here? Where are the damn nurses?!"Rosa immediately recognized her husband's voice and she quickly hid her phone with the speed of light and donned a mask of sadness and anxiety on her face."Oh honey, thank God you're here!", she wailed, tears in her eyes as she rushed up to meet her husband with wide open arms. But the burly man pushed her aside and then turned to face her again. "Where is she? Is she being attended to? Why did you have to call me first before bringing her to the hospital, eh?! Answer me!", he roared, drawing the attention of everyone in the waiting area.Left with no other resort, his wife promptly burst into tears. "Y... you don't know what I've been through for that girl since the moment we found out that she's pregnant," she sobbed, letting the tears fall freely. But her husband was not at all moved. "Oh please, spare me your theatrics. Just tell me where the hell she is!", he barked at her, eyeing her with unspeakable disgust.Still sobbing and sniffing loudly as if her heart was about to break, Rosa pointed wordlessly at the closed door. He got the message instantly and marched towards the door, ready to break it down if necessary. But he was stopped in his tracks by one of the nurses suddenly rushing out of the theater."How's she? Where is she? Is everything alright?", he blasted out the questions, grabbing the nurse by the arm as if he would lift her up and fling her away if she didn't give him the answer he wanted."Calm down, sir. Who...""Her father... I'm her father. Just tell me, how's she doing?""Take it easy, sir. Please let go of my arm. The baby's fine an...""Oh hang the baby," he cursed angrily. "Just fucking tell me about my daughter!""She needs blood and...""Well, here's mine. I'm her father. What are you waiting for?", he fumed, already rolling up his sleeve in record time."Then come with me."Even before the nurse had finished the statement, he was already rushing off ahead of her.*****
Rosa kept very quiet as she watched her husband keep up a steady but feverish marching pace right in front of her. Once in a while, he'd mutter threats and shake his fist at her with clenched teeth, promising to wring her neck if anything happened to his daughter. Rosa couldn't help but shudder. She didn't dare try to calm him down or he might just not bother waiting for any bad news before keeping his promise about wringing her neck.
He'd been restless and continually marching from one end of the room to the other since he returned minutes ago from donating the blood that Mara badly needed. All of a sudden, a nurse rushed out of the theater and hurried past him. Without thinking twice, he took off after her."Sir!"He stopped and turned around to see who was calling. It was the doctor. With a muttered oath, he ran back again and nearly knocked down the doctor."H... how is she?", he demanded breathlessly."Take it easy, sir. Calm down. We have requested for blood and...""You need more blood? I'm ready." He was already rolling up his other sleeve when the doctor stopped him."Not yours, sir. I'm sorry, but yours was not a match."Colin was thunderstruck. But he recovered himself immediately."What rubbish are you saying? But I'm her father!""I'm sorry, but you're not," the doctor replied calmly, even as Colin's hand began to tighten on his collar."Wait, wait... tell me something," Colin murmured, his shaking hand now tightly holding on to a handful of the doctor's coat. "Are you... are you talking about my blood or yours?""Calm down, sir...""Don't fucking tell me to calm down!", Colin roared, his entire frame shaking as he breathed like an injured bull, sweat pouring down his forehead and temples. But he hurriedly wiped the perspiration off his face and pulled the doctor closer. "Whose blood did you say was not a match, eh?""Yours, sir," the doctor answered calmly. He thought the man was going to faint or something worse, but instead, Colin slowly let go of his coat and looked wildly around him. Rosa flinched as her husband's roving eyes lighted on her. She'd seen him angry before, so many times, but she'd never seen him look like he looked now: like a trapped beast. She was already prepared to jump up and run for her dear life, but instead of coming at her, he simply dashed past and made for the exit like a man possessed by demons."Whew!", Rosa breathed in obvious relief. Her heart was still pounding, but she was glad and grateful to still be in one piece. As she worked on calming down her heart rate, her eyes encountered the doctor's and it quickly came into her mind to act her part. Immediately, she jumped up and rushed over to him with tears in her eyes."Doctor, please tell me. What's the problem with my darling? Is she okay? Why did my husband rush out so quickly? What happened? Please tell me, please!""You know what happened, madam," the doctor calmly replied and turned around and walked off, thinking he had just shamed the mother of the girl. If only he had turned around, he would have seen the smile that was slowly spreading over the face of Rosa!Mara woke up to the sound of a gentle humming. She lay on her back on a soft bed, quite unlike the one she was used to sleeping on at home. She lay still for almost a minute, staring at the white ceiling as her current situation slowly dawned on her. She was in the hospital. She had gone through a lot in the delivery of her child and had passed out in the process. That was the most she could remember. Her first thought was the child and she quickly turned to see if it was beside her. But unfortunately, that was the wrong direction. Instead it was her stepmother she saw.Mara's heart skipped a beat, knowing what that woman was capable of. Certainly, she would soon receive an earful of verbal abuse, so she tried to pretend as if she was still unconscious, but ooops! Rosa chose just that moment to glance at the bed."Oh! So you're awake, bitch? How do you feel now, eh? Don't bother to answer that. I have only two things to tell you. One, the piece of trash you gave birth to is on the ot
"I was attracted by your cry. I'd thought you were in danger," the man soliloquized as he drove, occasionally glancing at the mother and child beside him.The car was now as warm as it could be. The baby was now sleeping peacefully and the mother had stopped shivering. He wondered how she had come there, where she came from, if she had expected to meet someone or if she was lost. But how would he find out all these since she was deaf and dumb? He'd have to take her to the police station by morning. Hopefully, they'd be able to get useful information from her."I wonder how you ended up in such a situation though," he murmured beneath his breath. "Glad I came just in...""Thank you," Mara murmured softly and the man's eyebrows shot up in surprise."Y... you can hear me? I thought... Well, how did you end up in that place in this crazy weather? Where are you from?"Mara tried to speak, but she couldn't place the questions in the right order in her mind. Her senses were only just beginni
Throughout the rest of the day, Mara lived in suspense. Whenever she heard any footsteps, she started in fear, thinking it was Leo's wife come to throw her out of the house or Leo himself coming to ask her to leave. Earlier in the morning, after fixing her with her worst withering glare, Leo's wife had left her alone and she had not seen her since. She knew she was somewhere in the house. God knows the house was large enough for many people to live in it and still not come in regular contact with one another. But she had seen Leo and despite trying so hard to see if his manner towards her had changed, she could not find any proof of it. Instead, he had eagerly asked about her health and went on to play with the baby after she had repeatedly assured him that she did not need to see a doctor. He seemed happy to have her in the house and he and little Leo (she had decided to keep it as the baby's name) were strongly attached to each other. This made Mara wonder when or if his wife woul
"Sh... should I take this one back to them?", the new secretarial assistant stuttered in confusion.Leo said nothing; he simply turned to her with an "are you okay" look on his face. This was the office and the familiarity between them was for the house alone."Sorry. I'm sorry, sir," she apologized, gathering the papers with trembling hands and dropping them on the floor in the process. It was her first day on the job - her first job ever - and she was so nervous."Will you pack this stuff and take your clumsy ass out of here!", Marks roared, startling her and nearly making her trip. But Leo raised his hand immediately to quiet his friend.One fuming and the other patient, they both watched as the trembling Mara struggled to gather the sheets of paper on the ground. When she was done, she held them to her chest and bolted from the office as fast as her legs could carry her.Marks exhaled deeply as soon as she'd left the office. He had been holding onto his temper all the time she had
Leo hummed a tune as he brushed his teeth vigorously. He was late for work and he was so much in a hurry. Being late was not his usual MO but somehow, he had overslept last night. So much that Dalia who usually went to work after he did had already left before he woke up."Hmm," he sniffed as the bell on the front door rang for the second time. Wouldn't someone go answer whoever the hell was ringing??He continued brushing until... the third ring of the bell. This time, it was long and obviously anger-driven. Furious at the inefficiency of the domestic staff, Leo slammed his brush on the sink and hurriedly washed his mouth before rushing over to the front door. He expected to see one of the staff also rushing to open the door, but none of them were in sight! What mad inefficiency and stupidity! He would give them a piece of his mind before leaving for work this morning."Yes?", Leo questioned almost angrily as he pulled open the door to find a young man in a ironed white shirt standin
Leo made himself comfortable, or at least he tried to. To avoid suspicion, he ordered a cheap drink with a part of the money he had on him - currently the only thing he had in the world. Even though he shifted anxiously in his seat just outside the coffee shop, he was determined to wait patiently till he achieved his goal. He tried not to think of his current predicament; it was a conspiracy or maybe just a huge misunderstanding. Maybe his friend, Marks, had not seen him and was mocking someone else. No matter which it was, it would be fixed. He was sure of that.Even when he had finished his coffee, Leo kept sipping at the empty cup to give him enough excuse to remain in the shop. He certainly would not dare to buy another cup of coffee, not till he was sure of his future. Hour after hour passed. He had no watch, but the clock in the shop served him well and when noon struck, he kept all his attention on the building - his building.The staff filed out in pairs and trios, to enjoy th
He was deep in thought as he climbed off the taxi, planning and arranging his next line of action. He knew that his enemies were determined to put him down and keep him there. With all that had happened, it was clear that this was no warning or a dry run either. Whew! What a tough life.Absentmindedly, he pushed the gate so he could get in, but to his surprise it didn't budge. Woah. He didn't remember locking it, so what was the problem? With a quick sweep of the eye, he found what the problem was: he had been evicted."Huh?", Leo gasped as he went closer to read the notice pasted on the gate. What on Earth was all this? Surely, this had to be against some laws? He had rights, didn't he??He looked around to see if he could find anybody who could give the slightest clue as to who had pasted the notice and locked the gate, but the entire place was quiet. Christ! This was the biggest blow yet. Where would he live? From a billionaire to a homeless beggar, in less than 24 hours?Confused,
"Please make yourself comfortable, sir," Mara said, showing Leo to a sofa as they stepped into the house he had given her back when they first met."Thank you," Leo nodded with a smile and he couldn't help but sigh in tiredness as he slumped on the soft piece of furniture. That walk from his house to the coffee shop was a long and tedious one under the hot sun. He could use some cool water now, but he felt it would be disrespectful to ask for it so soon."Here, sir," Mara said, bringing him a glass of cold water in anticipation of his need.Leo didn't even remember to say 'thank you' before he grabbed the glass and downed its contents in a few gulps. He was that thirsty! When he was done drinking, he looked up to find that Mara was holding out a jug, offering to refill the glass."Thank you," he rasped as he held out the glass to her and she filled it for him. Whew. His wife never did this for him. He wondered where Mara had learned to be so nice and attentive. He never really did get