Even with all of these steps, Imani was still stressed as it was stemming from her husband’s neglect. They no longer had their usual late night rendezvous for fear that it would bring undue stress to the baby and even though he began sleeping with her in the same bed, he barely spoke to her.
In the afternoons she was left to her own devices and having not much to do she was very bored. The only reprieve she got was when Lauren came to spend time with her.
“You know, I think you should confront Andre for what he did. That wasn’t right and I still think your cousin was in on it as well,” reasoned Lauren as they lounged on the pool chairs on the outside patio.
“I agree that what he did was wrong but I just don’t have the energy to confront him, I am still trying to fix my marriage. I realize that he probably did it out of spite and maybe you’re right, maybe Andrea was involved but those two aren’t important to me,” she affirmed. “My focus now has to be on getting my husband to understand that I love him and that I truly didn’t set out to use him.”
When Lauren left that day, Imani made up in her mind to give it another go and express to her husband how she really felt about him.
“Hi,” she greeted her husband when he came through their bedroom door. He stared at her warily as if trying to find out what she was up to.
“Hi,” he answered cautiously. Not deterred by his skepticism she pushed herself off the tufted bench at the foot of the bed to stand in front of him helping to remove his tie. His hands stopped in mid-air as he looked at her through questioning eyes.
“How was your day?” she asked as if they were having a normal conversation as husband and wife.
“It was Ok,” he answered slowly still trying to determine what she was doing.
“Is there something you need?” now impatient to find out why she was behaving the way she was.
“No, not really,” she said as she smiled sweetly up at him confusing him even more as he wasn’t being overly nice to her.
Sighing, he asked again. “What do you want Imani?” his frustration came through his voice this time causing her to look up into his eyes.
“I need my husband Michael, the one I fell in love with seven months ago. I miss him,” she answered truthfully in a voice that bordered on her pleading with him.
“You love me?” he asked in an amusing tone.
“Yes, I love you Michael,” she affirmed. At this he let out a raucous laugh as if what she had just revealed was hilarious.
“Why are you laughing?” she asked. Instead of answering, he pointed at her while shaking his head and then letting out another bout of boisterous laughter.
Imani felt the hot sting of her tears as his rejection of her revelation jarred her. With tears in her eyes, she ran from the room but instead of taking the elevator, she decided to run down the stairs.
“Imani wait,” she heard Michael say but could not will her feet to stop her fleeing. Suddenly she felt a sharp pain that radiated throughout her belly and her lower back. Automatically she reached her hands to her belly but as she tried to halt her movements the sudden pain caused her to lose her step and she went tumbling down the stairs.
“Baby stay with me, please,” was all she remembered as Michael held her against his chest with tears streaming down his face before she blacked out.
The next time she woke up she was in a plain hospital room hooked up to an IV machine. Her head pounded as she tried to remember the details that put her there.
“You’re awake,” came the familiar relieved voice of her husband. Craning her neck in the direction of the voice; he sat on a chair beside his her bed with blood shot eyes.
“Why am I here?” she asked still not recalling what happened.
“You had an accident,” he answered carefully. “You fell down the stairs.” Immediately the events of her accident came rushing back and instinctively her hands went to her stomach.
“My baby,” she cried in agony when she felt the flatness of her stomach. Tears began streaming down her face as her mind envisioned the worse.
“Don’t worry the baby’s fine. He’s in the ICU.” Her hands went to her mouth when she realized that her baby wasn’t dead.
“Is he Ok?” she asked through her hiccups.
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“Yeah,” said Michael smiling. “He’s a little underweight but he’s Ok. He’s breathing on his own and has some very strong lungs.” He reached for her hand that was now by her side. “He’s a fighter like his mother,” he said staring at her with admiration. She averted her eyes not trusting his words as she remembered the reason she ended up having her accident.
Rising from his position he came to sit on the bed and turned her head to face him. As if willing her to believe his words he stared unblinkingly into her eyes as he expressed himself.
“I’m sorry Imani for the way I’ve treated you. I should have tried to work it out before it got to this.”
“Then why did you do it?” she asked, interrupting him as her honey brown eyes became fiery balls of accusation. “I told you I loved you and you laughed in my face. I was hurt, hurting actually from your rejection but no matter how I tried to fix it, to fix us you shut me out. Why Michael?” she screamed as she beat his chest in frustration. He hung his head in shame as her tears fell.
When he finally looked at her his eyes were red and glistened with unshed tears.