CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY THREE: NERVOUS

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY THREE: NERVOUS

~Mira’s pov~

My mother was awake. I glared at Grey as he continued buttoning up his shirt without any urgency. The same urgency he lacked when we were having breakfast. My idea of breakfast in bed as gratitude for his continuous support went up in flames once I knew the caller. We had to get to the hospital immediately.

Why was he so calm about it? I slapped his hands off his shirt and finished up the buttons in seconds.

“Can we go now?”

Grey caged me between himself and the wall of the wardrobe. His brows knit and I couldn’t resist the need to smoothen them.

“The doctor told us to come later. Your mum is not stable enough to entertain visitors right now. I want us to be there but we have to wait.”

“That’s bullshit, Grey.”

“It’s not and you know it.” His breath caressed my neck and I grudgingly pushed him back.

Grey said nothing about my attitude but I sobered a bit. “After work, we will go. Okay?”

The determined set of his jaw told me his mind was made up. I hugged myself and frowned. “Fine.”

“Baby, cheer up.”

“How can I cheer up?” I barked.

Eyes locked in a fierce battle with his, my shoulders fell in defeat. I hid my face in my palms, saying nothing as Grey hugged me. My body vibrated against his, I closed my eyes and let his words comfort me.

“I just want her to be okay.”

“She will be. The doctor said she’s fine.”

Though the words might be true, I didn’t believe them. But, I didn’t want to go to the clinic without my husband so I grudgingly agreed. Grey braced me against himself, his fingers ran down my back in short, comforting strokes and I soon calmed down.

“Okay.” I peered at him, comforted by his words and presence. “We will go later but I won’t wait till the end of work before leaving. Got it?”

“Got it,” my husband replied with a smile. “Love you.”

“I love you too.”

Throughout the ride to my office, I was quiet and my husband didn’t let me leave the car after he parked. He held my hand and a wry smile fell to my lips.

“Hey, it will be okay.”

“I hope so.”

Grey puckered his lips. “Come and give me a kiss.”

Because I also wanted a kiss,I crawled over to him and pecked his lips. Grey grunted. It wasn’t a real kiss but I didn’t care. I was out of the car before he could drag me back to his lap. Outside, I blew him a kiss and hurried to the elevator.

While waiting to get to my floor, I rummaged through my bag for my phone. I had to tell Lisa about this. My best friend would love to see my mother. The elevator dinged and I stepped out. My heart didn’t beat as erratically as before but it wasn’t calm. Grey promised my mother would be fine. I had to remember that being negative wouldn’t help.

The walk to my office was brisk. Once I was settled down and my laptop was turned on, I dialled Lisa’s number. The first two times, it rang without a response.

On the fourth ring, Lisa picked. “Hello.”

“Hey,” I replied.

My legs crossed at the ankle and I played with a sticky note on my desk. It had the plans for a project I should be working on.

“How are you? How have you been?”

We hadn’t discussed much or seen since the playstore incident. I wanted to help my best friend but Lisa had insisted she didn’t need any help.

“I’m so fucking tired.” There was shuffling in the background. I heard a muffled voice and Lisa said, “Darren says hi. He’s exhausted.”

I had an inkling what the two might have been doing based on their tiredness.

“Why?”

My friend surprised her by saying, “Work and more work. But there’s a bit of good news.”

“Really?” my ears perked and I sat up.

I could do with some great news right now. I dropped the pen on the table and crossed an arm on my chest.

“What’s the news?”

“Patisa is back in playstore!” There was more noise in the background, then a calm silence

I rolled my eyes. Those two were probably kissing and forgot about me. I coughed to call my best friend’s attention.

“Sorry. This man can’t seem to get enough of me these days.”

Laughter filtered from the phone and I smiled a little. I could relate. With Grey, i could not get enough.

“No problem, bestie.”

“Why did you call?” Lisa asked.

I gripped the phone harder till my hand ached. My mouth dried up and I licked my lips. This was harder than I had thought. It wasn’t for a lack of words I didn’t say anything but for fear of the questions Lisa would ask. Questions I failed to confront.

What about my father? Did he hit my mother?

“Don’t freak out, yeah?” I could imagine the wheels in Lisa’s head spinning. “I.. uh… I saw Mum.”

The silence was deafening. At some point, I had to pull the phone away from my ear to confirm if the call was still on.

Lisa cleared her throat, her voice came out squeaky when she asked, “Mum? Your mum?”

“Yeah,” I replied.

I filled the silence with everything that happened until last night.

“I’m nervous.”

“I understand,” my friend said. “I would love to come with you today but I have a lot of stuff lined up to do…”

“No. Don’t worry, Grey is going with me.”

Lisa made a sound that caused me to laugh. I doodled with my left hand on the sticky note.

“Tomorrow, I promise. I’ll be there. Send me the address or let me know when you are leaving. I’ll be there.”

The call ended and I tossed my phone to the table. My head fell back. I could see my mum. Ask her questions, get answers.

Aware Grey had been holding on from calling the police because of me, I could only pray whatever information we got from my mother had nothing to do with my great father.

My father wasn’t violent. He was a sweet man who sleepwalked sometimes. I smiled thinking about it. About the numerous times I had found him in the kitchen and had to shake him awake. Most times, he didn’t recollect how he got there and we would laugh about it.

The rest of my day went by in a blur. I completed the projects and scripts I missed out in my short absence. Lunch time went by and I didn’t notice. Drowning in the pile of work left for me to tackle, I forgot about food.

Hours later, someone knocked twice. If it was Grey, he would knock and enter. I placed my pen between the notepad I had been writing on.

“Yes? Who is there?” There was a response I didn’t catch and I didn’t want to ask them to repeat themselves. Kicking off my shoes, I said, “Come in.”

Grey’s head poked inside. I rolled my eyes but got up to welcome him. He kissed me firmly on the lips, sat on the edge of my desk with a flask beside him.

“You missed lunch,” he stated.

My hand went over my mouth. He had warned me countless times about skipping meals.

Grey cocked his head and I batted my lashes.“Sorry. I was so busy.”

His head bobbed as his fingers ran over the notes on my table. He picked a note, looked it over and nodded.

“Anyway, I brought you food. After eating, we can leave to see your mum.” my cheeks hurt from smiling too much and Grey laughed. “I called the hospital to know if we could be there earlier and the doctor said yes.”

I jumped into his arms, almost pushing both of us off the table. “If you don’t eat, we won’t go.”

“What?” I plonked into my seat and opened the flask.

The delicious aroma rose to my nose and I picked up the cutlery wrapped in tissue paper. “See, I’m already eating. I’ll finish eating and we will leave.”

Grey watched me eat. And I made sure to clear everything in the flask. When it came to food, I knew better than to waste it. Grey would be pissed and I couldn’t afford his annoyance especially when I needed his support, morally and emotionally.

The food finished in a few more minutes. It wasn’t so hard to finish it because I had not eaten anything except breakfast. I showed Grey the inside of the flask and he gave me a thumbs up.

Smiling, I cleared my desk, arranged my stuff and stood up. “Shall we?” I asked.

Grey was on his feet. He collected my handbag from me and replied, “We shall.”

On the way to the clinic, my nerves returned. Even Grey couldn’t comfort me. Once we were in the clinic, I bolted out of the car. My husband was beside me in a moment. I fell quiet as the doctor approached us. He did the questioning while I stood there in a haze of uncertainty and fear. My vision cleared when Grey nudged me. The doctor was gone. His smile made me half-hopeful.

“It’s okay, Mira. The doctor said she’s fine.”

On cue, I turned to call the doctor but he was out of sight. I wanted to hear it from him, a medical professional not Grey.

“We can go in.”

I swallowed. “Really?”

“Really, baby. Now, stop worrying. I don’t like it.”

My response came in the form of dry laughter. I slid my hand into the crook of Grey’s elbow and he guided me into my mother’s room. I hesitated only a bit before rushing to my mother’s bedside.

Mrs Evans’s eyes were closed but it didn’t deter her. I grasped my mother’s hand between mine and tears welled up my eyes. The marks had faded, thank God. A tear dropped on my mother’s arm and her eyes opened before I could wipe it off.

Honey eyes stared at me in confusion and I hurriedly wiped the tears lining my eyes. My mother was awake, hale and hearty. This was a cause to celebrate, not cry.

My mother’s mouth opened and I offered her the bottle of water by her bed. I helped her into a better position, watching my mother drink slowly.

“Thanks,” my mother muttered in a croaky voice that made me almost laugh.

My mother pulled her hand away from my grasp. “I’m sorry, who are you?”