CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT.
The moment Jamal and his driver arrived at the hospital, almost every hospital staff came to attend to him. Adele was immediately taken into the emergency ward while he walked helter-shelter around the corridor, tears flowing down his eyes like a waterfall.
His hands and t-shirt were completely stained with blood, but that was the least of his problems at that moment. Adele was in a critical condition. Both her life and that of their baby’s was in grave danger.
He tried to recall what could have made her fall and then it finally occurred to him what had made her fall. The time he seized his hand from her hold and pushed her away to get out of the room. That’s when she fell to the ground but he didn’t realize because he walked out of the bedroom and closed the door behind him, not even sparing her a glance.
“Oh my God!” Jamal cried as he slumped to the floor, his heart almost ripping his chest with its powerful beats. The guards standing around were confused, but none of them had the courage to approach him to ask what was going on. They only made sure no one used that side of the hospital or took pictures.
As Jamal sat on the cold floor, he raised both legs and supported his right hand on his right leg while his left hand was on his forehead. He was weeping in agony.
He had put both the life of his wife and their unborn child in danger. If anything bad happened to any of them, it would be on no one else but him.
Regret and guilt stabbed his heart like a million daggers. If only he could turn back the hands of time, he would ditch the meeting and stay with Adele. If he had done just that, she would not be in the emergency ward and he would not be sitting on the floor in the hospital, bawling his eyes out and hating himself as much as he did at the moment.
Hating his father and Danielle even more.
The pain was too much for him to bear and he needed someone to share it with, the only person who came to his mind was his grandma. He quickly took out his phone from his trouser pocket and dialed his grandma’s number and she picked on the second ring.
“Didn’t I tell you not to call me unless you decided to change your ways toward your wife?” Grandma asked with an irritated tone over the phone and Jamal immediately burst into tears.
“Grandma” he called in a crying voice and grandma got alarmed.
“Jamal, what’s going on? Why are you in tears?”
“I failed. Grandma, I failed.” He lamented and that got his grandmother even more confused.
“What are you talking about?”
“I pushed Adele, it was not intentional. I pushed her to the ground and right now she’s in the emergency ward.” Jamal spoke the truth and grandma went silent for ten good seconds.
Jamal heard her exhale from the other end of the phone before asking:
“Which hospital?”
“Harmony.” Then the line went dead. Jamal quickly set aside the phone and wrapped his arm around his knees, pulling them up to his chin and then covered his face on them before bursting into tears. “I’ve failed.” He repeated countless times to himself as he kept crying.
He still couldn’t believe he had committed such an atrocious act against his own wife. The woman he loved and the mother of his unborn child.
Twenty minutes later, grandma arrived and she had the most worried look on. She walked over to Jamal and the moment she saw him, he lifted his head up from his knees and sat upright. His eyes were as red as beetroot and his face drenched with tears, his hair totally disheveled. There was blood over his t-shirt and hands. That was the first time in her life to see Jamal in such a haggard state and her heart immediately began to race.
Adele was indeed in grave danger.
“Jamal, what did you do?” Grandma asked almost in a whisper as she approached Jamal.
“We… we…” He stammered. “We had a fight when I was just about to leave the house. She got mad and tried to stop me by holding my hand. In an attempt to get out of her hold, I forcefully jerked my hand from hers and pushed her away, only slightly. I swear grandma it wasn’t…” sniffles tears. “It wasn’t intentional. She fell to the ground and I didn’t even know that’s what had happened because I didn’t look back when I pushed her. When I got back home from the meeting hours later, that’s when I saw her lying in a pool of her own blood. Grandma… I …” he stammered. ” I don’t even know what to think right now.” As he explained, the emergency door opened up and a doctor walked towards them. Jamal quickly rose to his feet when he saw the doctor, praying in his heart he had come to deliver good news.
“Doctor, how is my wife doing?” Jamal asked, frightened.
“Your wife is in a critical condition, Mr Jamal King.”
“What… what do you mean by that?” Jamal whispered weakly.
“I’m sorry but there was nothing we could do to save the fœtus . You brought her in when she had already lost it. She would have lost her life as well if you had delayed even a bit longer. Right now, we need to do a D and C to take out the remains of the fœtus that could harm her.” The doctor explained, looking from Jamal to grandma.
Jamal, who had nothing else to say, calmly walked away, while grandma stayed to talk with the doctor.
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Adele’s eyes opened up and she was surprised to see grandma seated by her side. She was lying in a hospital bed with a drip connected to her hand. Her head was throbbing hard and she felt very weak and tired.
Memories of what happened between her and Jamal a few hours ago flooded her mind and that’s when it occurred to her why she was lying in a hospital bed. Jamal had pushed her to the ground and left the bedroom, caring less about the fact that she had fallen and was screaming in pain.
“Adele.” grandma finally called as tears trickled down her eyes.
“I have lost my baby, haven’t I?” She asks calmly and grandma was too hurt to respond to her. She just kept looking at her as more tears spilled down her cheeks.
Adele calmly placed her hand on her stomach and when she felt no bulge, a huge gasp escaped her lips as she fought her urge to scream out loud. The tears in her eyes broke loose. They spilled down uncontrollably and she pressed her palm over her mouth, trying hard to suppress the scream in her throat.
She was in pain.
The only thing she felt for Jamal at that moment was hatred and she was grateful that he had not shown his face to her.
“Grandma, he killed our baby. Jamal killed our baby.” She cried out and Grandma Devon sat on the bed and took her into her arms to comfort her.
Grandma wanted to make Adele understand that what Jamal did wasn’t intentional. That he hated himself more for making her lose their baby. She wanted to tell Adele how sorry he was for his actions, but she chose to stay quiet and not sound like she was trying to justify Jamal’s actions.
“Jamal did a lot of things to hurt me, but I kept myself from hating him. I managed to convince myself everyday that he was going to change, but that did not happen. Even so, I did not give up. But this is just the height of it. Jamal made me lose our seven month old pregnancy and I will never forgive him for that. Grandma please tell me tell him I never want to see his face again, because if I do, I will kill him!” Adele bitterly swore and grandma was shaken to the core.
She had never seen Adele in such an enraged state and at that moment, she was scared of what Adele was capable of doing to herself and to Jamal out of anger.
“Tell him I hate him very much and I never want to see his face again.”