Jason..
I was overjoyed. It was really surprising. I don’t know anything about pregnancy but I did suspect that Eve might be pregnant.
After all, I came in her twice.
I’m gonna be a father!
I’m so happy.
“The bad news is..” the doctor’s voice jolted me from my reverie.
“We don’t know when she’ll wake up and we don’t know how bad it will be when she wakes up.” The doctor dropped the bomb.
“What do you mean by you don’t know when she’ll wake up?” I asked, confused.
“The patient, your wife, is in a coma.” The doctor said and my face fell.
“No, that’s not true right doc?” I said with a broken voice.
“I mean people only fall into a coma when they’ve been hit by trucks or when they get into serious accidents.”
“She fell down the stairs.” I said quietly.
“What matters is not the manner at which she got injured, what matters is the impact of the fall.” The doctor explained quietly.
“She could wake up in months, weeks or even a few days.” The doctor said but I felt even worse.
“But will she wake up?” I asked in concern.
“That too is undetermined.” The doctor said making me furrow my brows.
“What do you mean by undetermined?” I asked in a slightly raised voice.
“We are not sure if she’ll wake up.”
“It depends on the patient.” The doctor said,
“You said if she wakes up, you also don’t know what it’s gonna be like.” I reminded him of his second statement.
“Yeah, she might experience amnesia when she wakes up.” The doctor said dropping another bomb and it felt like I was poured cold water.
“What do you mean experience amnesia?” I snapped, not understanding anything anymore.
“It was just a small fall, how can all these be happening?” I asked rhetorically.
“Sir, I understand that you might be confused but if you look at the screen, you’ll see what I’m talking about.” He gestured to the computer in front of him which he turned to face me.
“Now, the impact of the fall affected this side of her brain which is the side responsible for memories.”
“This means that there’s every possibility that when she finally regains consciousness, she might not remember anything at all, she might remember a few things or she might have distorted memories.” The doctor explained.
While he explained, I already stopped listening the moment he said that she might experience amnesia.
“What about the baby?” I managed to ask.
“The baby is in good condition.” The doctor said,
“How will they eat?” I asked.
“We’ll pass drips that will benefit both the mother and the child, everything will be alright.” The doctor said,
Everything will be alright?, What a joke!
Does this look alright to you?
I wanted to yell and scream but it’s not his fault, is it?.
I sighed heavily as I was lost in thoughts.
Eve might never wake up?
Even if she does, she might have amnesia?
All this was too hard to take in.
I was given one piece of good news and it was taken away from me as soon as it was given.
How can I survive without Eve?
When she wasn’t in my life, it was fine but now that she’s here, I don’t want her to ever leave.
“Sir, might I remind you that all these are simply speculations and assertions.” The doctor said but that didn’t make me feel any better.
They weren’t facts but at least he had evidence to back up his assertions.
I don’t know much about the human body so I wouldn’t know if he was lying to me or not. But this was definitely not a matter of pranks.
“Can I ask you something else doctor?” I asked and he nodded in response. I sighed heavily as I took my time to form the words.
“If Eve never wakes up and the baby keeps growing, what’s going to happen?” I asked and he furrowed his brows.
“I don’t understand.” He mumbled.
“I’m saying if my wife doesn’t wake up in the next few months and it’s time for delivery, what’s going to happen?” I asked in a whisper because I felt if I said the words out loud, it might come to pass.
“Let’s hope that never happens.” The doctor said with a stoic expression.
“And if it does?” I mumbled.
“Then…” He said and explained to me. I tried to hold back my tears the moment I heard his explanation.
We shared a brief moment of silence before I asked to leave.
“Can I go now?” I asked in a broken voice.
“Yeah, I’ll fill you in on more details if we detect anything unusual.” The doctor said and I nodded and walked towards the door.
“Doctor.” I turned to face him and called him. He looked up from the computer and raised his brows.
“I would like you to keep it a secret that my wife is pregnant.” I said quietly.
“Even from your family?” He asked and I nodded in response.
“I want you to assign your most trusted staff to watch her and attend to her, no one must know that she’s pregnant.” I said quietly and sternly.
“Can I ask why?” The doctor asked in a curious tone.
“Just do as I say.” I said coldly.
I thanked him and left the office.
As I walked back to the ward where Eve was, my shoulders were sunken and I couldn’t barely think.
As I said before, our love just started and we’re already facing so many complications.
Why? Don’t I deserve to be happy?
Why does everything I love always get taken from me?
As I got to the ward, I could feel everybody’s eyes on me.
They were all waiting expectantly.
They were curious to know what the doctor said to me.
“What did he say?” Mom was the first person to ask seeing as no one was ready to ask me anything.
“Tell us Jason, what did the doctor say?” Grandma Nini asked.
“She’s…” I tried to talk but I didn’t even know how to start.
I should have watched over her. When she said she was feeling dizzy, I should have taken her to the hospital immediately, that way, she would have known that she was pregnant and she would be careful about it.
There was no use of crying over spilled milk now. She fell down the stairs and she’s in a coma which she might never wake up from.
“Jason, what did the doctor say?” Max asked with red eyes and snotty nose.
“She’s in a coma.” I breathe out the words.
Their eyes fell and they all kept mute. That hallway was suddenly as quiet as a graveyard. The only thing I could hear was my hard breathing.
I was the one who broke the silence because I started sobbing hard.
“Oh Jason.” My mother said as she pulled me into her embrace.
“It’s all my fault.”
“I should have watched her.”
“I couldn’t even protect her, Ma” I sobbed harder and louder.
I don’t remember the last time I cried like this.
I didn’t even have the time to cry when my father died.
Right now, all the pent up frustration over all the years was what I was releasing now.
I cried until I was weak and my knees buckled. I cried until there were no more tears in my eyes.