Moments That Change Lives

Chapter 8

Henry’s heart was thumping so loudly in his chest that he thought it would go out in any moment. Drops of sweat slid down his neck as he clutched the cell phone closer to his ear eagerly waiting for the investigator’s answer. “Speak! What did April do?”

“There wasn’t any illness, sir. At all…”

“Wh-What do you mean? But the hospital and…” Henry was impatient.

“She faked it all. The diagnosis, the doctors… They were all her men. And… All the money you paid for treatments and the supposed operation went in the well. Gone, sir. She robbed you flat!”

“No… I… I… How could I be so stupid? Damn! Damn that woman!” Henry hit the steering wheel of the jeep notably upset. “One hundred thousand dollars. Huh… I handed her the money on a silver platter. Okay Mr. Michaels I…”

The investigator interrupted him from the other side. “Wait, sir. That’s not the worst. She went to some storage today and met with a guy there. He handed her a bottle of some sorts. You know, I pressed him to a wall afterwards and he admitted it was some sort of… They called it ‘baby poison’. She wanted to…”

“Mira!” Henry shouted hanging up. He threw the phone aside and quickly drove down the mountain. “God! Please keep them safe! Don’t let that woman ruin my life! Please don’t take Mira and our son away from me!” He repeated as the jeep flew down on the streets. He had to get to April before she unleashed Hell in his house.

*****

Breathe in. Breathe out. It was what Mira Glass knew how to do best. Her whole life she had been calming herself down after something. All her life breathing and going forward. So why should that day be an exception?

However, now as much as she tried, her body just couldn’t relax. She left Henry’s office wiping her tears and slowly went downstairs to the kitchen. Alicia was not there so she had to serve herself alone. Her huge belly was giving her immense difficulty to bend and take a glass from the drawers but she somehow managed.

“There there, my little boy. Calm down. Leave mommy at peace for a while.” She drank from the water spilling a few drops on her face to freshen up. Her brown skin just wouldn’t stop burning.

What if she did all of it wrong? What if she got swayed by jealousy too much and destroyed everything? Her mind was buzzing and buzzing. Racing with all events and possibilities that tortured her all those hours.

“Mira? Are you alright?” Alicia eventually appeared from upstairs. She and Mira crossed paths in the living room.

“Fine, fine, Al! At least I try to be,” Mira said sitting on the sofa.

“What happened? Were you having a fight with Mr. Masters?” The maid curiously asked joining her. She was holding a glass of milk in her hands.

“Nothing significant.” Mira lied. She was simply not ready to share the problem with anyone yet. Not even her daily companion in that house and her friend. “Forgive me… I’m not ready…”

“I understand.” Alicia patted Mira’s shoulder in support and nodded. She couldn’t imagine how grateful Mira was for her presence. Her boy kicked again and she slightly jumped from the seat.

“Mira?”

“It’s okay… Okay… I don’t know what’s going on with him today. He’s impatiently moving all the time.” Mira sighed covering her big bump with her hands.

“He must feel your nervousness, dear. Please calm down. For his sake if nothing else,” Alicia said.

Sighing Mira’s eyes fell on the glass in the maid’s hands. “What’s that?”

“Oh, I found it in your room and I thought to bring it to you. You must’ve forgotten it in all of the mess.” Alicia looked down at the glass in her lap.

“I don’t remember making milk today let alone taking it to my room. How strange…” Mira rubbed her temples in attempt to remember but to no avail.

“It doesn’t matter. Maybe I have left it there earlier or Mr. Masters. I saw him going to your room a few hours ago. Drink it. It’ll help you…” Alicia handed her the glass and Mira took it still doubtful. A little milk never hurt nobody, she thought lifting it to her mouth. Closing her eyes she let the smell engulf her while resting the rim against her lips. Ah. She needed that drink.

Suddenly, a sharp pain cut through her making her whole body shoot up. The glass fell on the marble floor shattering in million pieces with the milk dripping all over. But that was the least of her problems. She sensed wetness between her legs and her pupils spread in utmost shock.

“My water broke. Alicia! I… The baby’s coming!” She screamed as the pain in her stomach was getting bigger and bigger.

From that moment on, everything was a haze in her mind. Alicia had called the ambulance, staying by her side and cooling her all the time with water. Then the emergency siren deafening to her ears, the bumpy trip in the ambulance car, up until the hospital room and the pain that by now had reached sky-high levels.

“Doctor, please… Save the baby!” She shouted to the doctor who constantly consoled her pinning needles in her veins. The first few times they had been painful but then she didn’t even feel the needle anymore. Her boy’s desperate attempts to get out washing her over with unbearable hurt and sweat.

“Henry? Where’s my Henry?” At last her mind found something to hold on to and focus elsewhere for a few moments between the pain that kicked in in different intervals. She wanted to see Henry, to hold his hand and hear his soothing words. After all he had promised her. In one of those classes for birth preparation they had visited together he had told her that no matter if the world tumbled down he would be there with her in those moments. “Where are you, honey?” She gritted her teeth as another batch of continuous pains in her stomach arrived.

But this time when she opened her eyes instead of the comforting face of the doctor or the nurses she spotted the sun of her life. The love of her life.

“I’m here, sweetheart. I’m here… Breathe… Just like we practiced! In and out! In and out!” Henry’s face was all sweaty, too, and he motioned in and out movements with his hands. He seemed more scared than herself, but there nonetheless. There by her side. Just as he had promised.

Like his presence gave her all the strength she needed, she yelled as loud as her throat could handle feeling her legs getting even wider apart. Grabbing Henry’s hand fiercely she dug her nails in his skin and the both of them, head to head bared the pain together.

They welcomed their baby into the world together.

*****

After an hour inside the operation room, Henry Masters could finally say that he had understood the purpose of life. Witnessing the moment when a part of himself slid down into the doctor’s hands and cried aloud was something that one could only experience. There were no words that could possibly contain the whirl of feelings roaring in him. And when they had given him that small brown body which had slightly wiggled in his arms and then had peacefully fallen asleep, his woman’s wide smile at the same time, accompanied by a river of tears and his own shaky hands and teary face. It was a moment he would never forget his whole life.

He couldn’t compose himself even when the doctor sent him off into the corridor. Waiting among those walls there were still tears on his cheeks and thrill in his voice. “I’m a father!” He said loudly. “I have a son!”

“Congratulations!” One of the nurses got out of the operation room approaching him. “Everything went perfectly well. You can see your wife in a few minutes!”