Savory Deceits (17 page)

“Okay, Mr. Skye, will do.” The nurse replied taking the piece of paper. I may have been the reason Nena was lying in that hospital bed, but I will be damned, if I was going to let Chris play the hero in all this. His ass was not getting past those doors, and in to see
my
wife. As far as I was concerned, we still had unfinished business to settle. The thought of Chris holding Nena’s hand, professing his love for her, and promising to take care of her, made me want to kill him. Who in the hell do he think he is? Shaking the disturbing thoughts from my head, I made my way back to Nena’s room, and went in.

17

~NAIMA~

“So, what do you want to do tonight?” Starr asked, looking over her breakfast bar at me. Curled up on the plush leather sofa, in my best friend’s living room, I rummaged through my purse in search of my cell phone.

“I don’t know. I’m a little jetlagged, so I kind of want to stay in tonight.” I said, yawning.

“Okay. Cool. Want some ice?” Starr asked, pouring a pitcher of water into two glasses.

“No, thank you.” I said, finally retrieving my cell from the bottom of my purse. When I turned it on, I saw that I had 17 missed calls, and 15 unheard messages. Then, I rolled my eyes, when I saw that all 17 calls were from Chris.

“Bastard,” I said to aloud.

“Who’s the bastard?” Starr asked when she came over to hand me a glass of water. Before I could answer, she went back into the kitchen, to retrieve a tray of chocolate chip cookies.

“So what’s up? What’s going on? And who’s the bastard?” She asked again, joining me on the sofa. I took a deep breath and exhaled.

“Girl, I don’t even know where to begin. So much has happened.” I replied, reaching for a cookie, and then breaking it in half.

“Yeah, I figured as much when you called talking about you wanted to kill them. Who are ‘them,’ and what happened with Chris? Did you two break up again?” She asked me. When I called Starr, I was very vague about why I was returning home. I did not want to go into details over the phone, and Starr accepted that. Having foolishly sold my apartment here, during my brief stay with Chris in Virginia, Starr was kind enough to offer up her spare room to me, with no questions asked, until now.

“Yes, we did break up, and this time it’s for good.” I replied, eyes filling with angry tears. I hated myself for crying over that cheating bastard.

“Oh honey, what happened?” Starr asked, rubbing my back.

“Everything is such a mess, Starr. I mean, I could kill Chris for what he did to me!” I managed to say through sobs.

“Did he cheat on you or something?” She asked, handing me a box of tissues.

“I wish it were only that,” I replied, reaching for a tissue to blow my nose. Starr took a sip of her water, and watchfully waited, for me to continue.

“Oh, he cheated on me all right… with Nena.” I finally said. Starr gasped, and nearly choked on her drink.

“No!” She said, in disbelief. Then, I turned to her, with tear-filled eyes.

“Yes,” I confirmed, “I wish it weren’t true, but it is.” Then, Starr’s jaw dropped.

“What!” She exclaimed. “I don’t believe this! How did this happen? How could Nena do such a thing? I’m so sorry hon,” she said, with her own tears forming. I pulled more tissues from the end table beside her couch, and blew my nose. Then, I shook my head, still unable to fathom how my sister could do this inconceivable, deception to me.

“I’ve asked myself that, over and over, and still don’t understand why. She is my fucking blood! I would have walked through fire for her! And that’s why this hurts so much!” I screamed, letting out my discontentment.

“I know it does sweetie. How did you find out?” Starr asked, shaking her head.

“She told me.” I answered, remembering the other night. “I got to hand it to her, Starr,” I continued, shaking my head again. “She got guts. If she wasn’t pregnant, I would have mopped the floor with her ass!”

“She’s pregnant?” Starr gasped.

“Yeah, and get this… it could be Chris’ baby.” I said, raising my glass in a mock toast.

“Get the fuck out of here! You cannot be serious!” Starr said, surprised. Her eyes bugged at that piece of information, and I nodded. “This shit is crazy! I cannot believe Nena! What the hell was she thinking?” Starr exclaimed.

“I didn’t have time to ask that question. Starr, I was so angry that I had to leave, because if I didn’t, I would have killed her. She’s my baby sister, and if someone else had told me about this, I wouldn’t have believed it.” I said shaking my head again.

“How pregnant is she?” Starr asked me.

“About six months or so, probably more, I don’t know. I can care less right about now. I’m done with her.” I said, placing the other half of the cookie back on the plate.

“What do you mean?” Starr asked me.

“I mean that’s it. She’s dead to me now. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t have a sister.” I explained, still pissed.

“Nai, c’mon. I know you’re hurt, and what Nena did is unforgiveable, but you cannot mean that. She’s your sister.” Starr said trying to reason with me. Then, I remembered that family meant everything to Starr, especially after having lost her only sister at the tender age of nine. Therefore, I started to feel bad, for my choice of words.

“I’m sorry Starr. I did not mean to say it like that. I know how much you miss Serena.” I said, regretfully. Starr blinked back her tears.

“Yes, I do so very much. That is why it hurts me to hear you talk like this about Nena. I know she hurt you, and you have every right to be angry, but do not shut her out. You don’t know how lucky you are, to still have her in your life. I would give anything to have Serena back. You and Nena still have each other. Please don’t throw that away.” She said. I felt her pain, and I knew she understood mine.

“Okay. I’ll try.” I said, and hugged her.

18

~NENA~

I slowly opened my eyes, then shut, and then opened them again. Everything was a blur at first, but soon became clearer. The light above my bed was dim, and my body ached.

“Ugh,” I groaned, at the migraine I felt coming on.

“Hey, sleepy head. It’s about time you opened those pretty brown eyes of yours.” I turned my head, to see Tony smiling down at me. Confused at how nice he was being to me, for a moment, I thought I had died.

“Tony? What…what happened?” I asked in a haze. Before he could answer, I felt a sharp pain in my stomach, and cried out in agony. The spasm was so intolerable that it made me dizzy. Then, I closed my eyes tightly, and willed the pain away, but it was too great. “Ugh! Ow!” I cried again, as the pain worsened.

“Oh no!” Tony said, and then ran out of the room.

Seconds later, he returned with a doctor, and several nurses in tow. They all hovered over me.

“Mrs. Skye I’m going to need you to breathe okay.” One of the nurses said.

“I can’t! This hurts! Oh, it hurts! Please make it stop!” I cried clutching my stomach. It felt like something was tearing inside me, from one end of my abdomen, to the other. One of the nurses tried to soothe me, by rubbing my shoulder, as the doctor examined me.

“Prep her for an emergency C-section!” He ordered. He then turned to Tony, and said, “Her condition is critical, so we’re going to have to deliver the baby.” I saw Tony’s eyes fill with what looked to be horror. Then, the doctor continued, “I’m sorry Mr. Skye, but we can’t hold off any longer. Her life is at risk.” He explained.

“I understand.” Tony replied.

“Follow Nurse Tina, and she’ll get you prep for the operating room as well.” That was the last thing I heard the doctor say, when another sharp pain caught me by surprise, and I screamed in agony again. Incognizant, I drifted in and out of consciousness, as several people rushed around me. They swiftly wheeled my bed down the hospital corridor, and into another room. Two nurses helped me sit up, hunched over, and then I felt a needle go into the lower part of my back. Moments later, I felt nothing at all, from the waist down. Then, they lowered me back onto the bed, and covered the top half of my body. Afterwards, Tony suddenly appeared next to me, dressed in hospital scrubs, and a mask. Then, he took my hand, and gave me an encouraging smile, as the nurses draped what seemed like a sheet over me, blocking the view of my protruding belly. I felt a lot of rocking and tugging, at my lower half, but could not see anything. After what seemed like a long time, Tony glanced up, and his eyes quickly filled with tears.

“What is it?” I quickly asked him. There was something about the way he looked back at me, that told me that something was wrong. Trepidation ran through me, as I feared the worse. “Where’s my baby? Why isn’t he crying?” I asked frantically. Then, a nurse rushed over to me, when I noticed the doctor across the room, trying to revive what I now realized was my baby. I watched intensely as he tried to pump air into my lifeless baby’s little body. Then, I felt my heart drop, when after several more attempts; he looked at the nurse standing next to him, and shook his head. “No! God please, no! Not my baby! No!” I screamed.

“I’m sorry,” The Doctor said once he came over. “I did everything I could.” He said sadly. Tony continued to cry, and I lost it.

“My baby! No! Please No!” I screamed, repeatedly, until my voice got lost in my sea of pain.

~CHRIS~

I dialed Naima’s number for the ninth time in a row.

“C’mon Nai, pick up.” I said aloud. This time, to my surprise, the phone only rang twice, when someone answered.

“Hello?” She said.

“Nai?” I said, relieved that she did not send me to voicemail again.

“No. It’s Starr. Nai’s in the shower.” She told me.

“Oh, hey Starr. How you doing?” I asked, not caring about how she was.

“I’m doing all right. How about yourself?” She asked, with the same lack of enthusiasm.

“Great. I don’t mean to be rude, but I really need to talk to Nai. It’s important.” I said.

“Okay. I’ll let her know you called, but to be honest, I don’t think she wants to talk to you.” Starr said to me, clearly failing to realize, that I did not ask for her goddamn opinion!

“Look,” I said, and then paused, because what I really wanted to say was, ‘look bitch.’ “This isn’t about me. It’s about Nena, and I’m not getting off the phone, until you put her on.” I said sternly.

“I will have her call you when she’s up to it.” Starr said, disobliging.

“What are you, her secretary?” I asked, becoming even more indignant.

“Who is that?” I heard Naima ask in the background.

“Can you put her on the phone please?” I asked, ready to call Starr all types of names, if she refused again. I then heard Starr mumble something in Spanish, which sounded very disrespectful. “Yeah, same to you too bitch.” I replied, hoping she heard me. Then, there was silence on the other end.

“Who is it?” I heard Naima say again in the background, lowering her voice this time.

“The bastard,” I heard Starr say.

There was more silence, and I waited.

“What?” Naima finally said on the line.

“Why haven’t you been returning my calls?” I demanded.

“What do you want, Chris?” She charged back, ignoring my question. Slowly, I took a breath, to calm myself down. I was already feeling agitated over calling her phone several hundred times, and not getting an answer. In addition, I was becoming angrier by the fact that I could no longer see Nena at the hospital. Now, dealing with Naima’s attitude, along with her dumbass sidekick, was pushing it, because I was trying hard not to blow up on her over the phone. “Why the hell do you keep calling me, Chris? What can you possibly have to say to me right now?” Naima said, sounding angry.

“Nena’s in the hospital. That’s why I’ve been calling you.” I told her.

“Is she okay?” Naima asked, quickly changing her tone.

“Well, right now, I don’t know. Last, I checked, she was in a lot of pain. Her condition was life threatening.” I explained.

“Wait, what? Condition? Life threatening? What happened?” She started to ask all at once.

“Look Nai, I don’t really have time to explain, because I’m at work. At this point, all I know is that she has been in the hospital for about a week now. When they brought her in, it did not look good at all, but I have no idea how she is doing right now though. I just thought you’d want to know.” I said, and then ended the call.

~NAIMA~

I sat there in silence trying not to cry, but was too scared for Nena, to hold it in. Chris said she was in the hospital, and that her condition could be life threatening. I looked down at my hands, and they were trembling. Just the thought of Nena lying in a hospital bed was disturbing enough. As angry as I was with her, I would never wish any harm upon my only sister. The idea of not having her in my life was unfathomable, just the mere thought, made my stomach do flip-flops. Fear began to set in, and suddenly, I felt like I was going to be sick.