Chapter 3

NILA

Beep… Beep… Beep…

The sound penetrated my foggy mind as I lazily opened my eyes, momentarily.

"Oh! She is awake." I heard as I flicked my eyes open.

The light was too bright, and I shut my eyes, trying to sort out the throbbing in my head.

Slowly, I reopened my eyes again and winced, finding it a bit easier this time as compared to how it had been at first. I tried to look around to find out where I was, but it was hard to do that. My neck felt suddenly stiff.

"Mrs. Hayes." I heard the voice again.

"Uhn?" I tried to speak, but my throat felt tight and dry.

I didn't know where I was, but I felt relieved that the person knew who I was.

The owner of the voice came into focus and I frowned as I stared at the white dress and the worried look in her eyes. I couldn't possibly be in heaven right now, could I?

Oh, come off it, Nila. I scolded myself. I wasn't dramatic.

The sharp scent of antiseptic filled the air and I sighed as the pieces fell in place and I realized where I was. She wasn't an angel but a nurse. I wasn't in heaven; I was in a hospital.

Then it hit me–the accident. I jumped as I remembered everything that happened yesterday.

"Amira!" I gasped as I looked around the room, but couldn't find her.

"Are you looking for something?" The nurse asked, looking worried. "Don't twist your neck too much, it's been stiff for a long time. We still have to run some tests on you once the doctor gets here."

"Amira," I confessed, looking at the nurse. "My sister. The lady I was brought in with yesterday."

"You weren't brought here yesterday, Mrs. Hayes." The nurse replied.

I frowned as I realized the implications of her words. "How long have I been here?" I asked, afraid of the answer.

"Three months." She replied, looking at me with pity.

"Three months?" I gasped, almost screaming. The words tasted awful in my mouth.

"Yes." She nodded.

"Okay." I sighed. "Where is my sister?"

"She's fine. She was discharged two days after the accident. You've been in a coma for the past three months."

I wondered why Amira wasn't here. If the roles were reversed, and she had been the one in a coma, I would have wanted to be present when she finally woke up. I wouldn't have left her alone. I felt hurt that I woke up alone, with only a stranger to see me.

I wondered where Silas was as well and felt hurt hurling through my insides.

I remembered my wedding day and consoled myself, reminding myself of how Amira was. She could have been here all night with me before taking a break. It wasn't like she knew I was going to wake up now. I couldn't blame her for not being with me at the moment.

It was also possible Silas had rushed out to attend an important meeting. I knew how hardworking he was. He probably didn't intend to leave me.

I felt better thinking of it that way.

"Do you know when she left? I mean Amira. Could you please get someone to tell her that I'm awake? She could still be in the hospital," I said.

The nurse's eyes were sad when she looked at me. "I don’t know how to say this, Mrs Hayes, but no one has been here to visit you in months."

She had to be kidding. I almost laughed out loud if not that my throat was hurting. "Are you sure you are talking about another patient? My sister and my husband would have been here every day."

"I know you are married, but no one has been here to visit you, Mrs. Hayes. Would you like to see the visitors' log?"

I shook my head. My gut told me that I was going to get more heartbroken. I admitted to myself that indeed she was calling me Mrs. Hayes, so she knew I was married.

"Don't bother." I couldn't recognize my voice when I spoke.

She sensed that I had a lot to deal with and sighed, giving me a pat on the shoulder. "I should leave you to rest. The doctor will be around soon to check up on you and decide when you can be discharged."

When I woke up, a doctor and two nurses were hovering in my room.

He smiled at me once he noticed that I was conscious. "Good morning, Mrs. Hayes."

I glanced at the window, frowning at the bright morning sun. I found it hard to believe I had slept all through till the next day. I narrowed my eyes at the doctor, glaring at him as if he was responsible for that.

He chuckled at the expression on my face, raising his hamd up in surrender. "You don't have to look scared, Mrs. Hayes. We aren't going to hurt you. Now, let's check your vitals." He said calmly as if he was talking to a caged animal.

I snorted. "Don't patronize me, doctor. Let's just get this over with."

He smiled as he flashed his torch into my eyes. He asked me a series of questions which I answered, and he nodded as he moved back, seeming satisfied with my responses.

"I think you are good, Mrs. Hayes, but we will watch you for one more day before you are discharged."

"Thank you." I breathed. I couldn't wait to see Silas again. I was hurt that none of my family was here again to see me.

I looked up at the doctor. "Have you informed my family that I'm awake?"

He nodded. "I was told your husband is on a trip at the moment. We couldn't reach him, but we got that from his secretary."

I nodded, fighting off a weak smile. I knew it. I knew Silas wouldn't have deserted me without a reason.

"What of my sister?"

"We couldn't reach her. We will keep trying, though we left her a message that you are awake. Hopefully, she will be here before you get discharged tomorrow."

"Thank you, doctor."

He nodded and turned to walk away with the nurses before he suddenly gasped and turned towards me again. "I almost forgot." He said, handing an envelope to me. "This came for you last month. Your husband asked us to give this to you when you woke up."

Once I was alone, I eagerly snapped open the envelope, curious to know what the contents were. I hoped it was a compilation of love letters from Silas telling me how much he loved and missed me and how horrible he felt while I was lying there unconscious and fighting to come alive.

I held back a cry, muffling my screams as I shoved my hand in my mouth and cried. I felt numb as I cried, staring at the contents of the letter in my hand as if it were a bomb. In a way, it was. My world as I knew it had just come to an end.

I couldn’t believe it. Silas—how could he do this to me? I read the letter again, hoping I had misunderstood, but the words remained the same.

I sighed as reality sank in. They weren't love letters telling me how much he missed me or pleas begging me to come back to him. They were divorce papers.

Divorce papers? Confusion and anger overwhelmed me. I wanted to ask what happened for him to want a divorce from me. I thought that everything was going well with our marriage.

I felt more furious than heartbroken at that moment and dashed off the bed, running out through the door as I flung it open.

I couldn't believe he was a callous human being. How could he send me divorce papers while I was still in a coma?

He owes me a lot of explanations. I doubted that he was actually on a trip. He could have told his secretary to lie that he was. He couldn't have sent me the papers if he wasn't in the country.

"Mrs. Hayes, where are you going?" I heard a nurse shout after me when she saw me running out of the hospital, but I was too far gone to care.

I stopped a cab and slid into it though I had no idea how I was going to pay him. I gave him the address of our home and leaned back on the chair, fighting back my tears.

The cab stopped directly in front of the house and I frowned as I saw guards at the entrance. Since when did we start paying for security?

"Wait here, please. I will bring some cash for you." I said to the driver. I had some cash in the drawer in my bedroom.

"Don't worry about that." He shook his head.

"Thank you," I muttered as I stepped out of the car, wondering why he was nice to me. It wasn't until I got to the mirrored wall by the roadside that I found out why.

I looked disheveled like I hadn't had a bath in weeks, which was right. My hair looked rough, begging to have a comb run through it. I was dressed in a hospital outfit that was hanging on my body frame. I seemed more slender than I had ever been. I couldn't blame the cab driver for thinking I was homeless and probably psychotic. I wondered why he drove me here though, if he thought that low of me.

I shrugged off the thought, reminding myself that I had more pressing issues at hand. I walked towards the house, ignoring the guards who looked stern and intimidating as though they chewed live elephants as snacks.

They frowned at me, raising their hands in the air to block my path. "Who are you?"

I arched my eyebrows at them. "I should be asking you that. Why are you standing guard around my house?"

They didn't react even though I emphasized that this was my home. "You can't be here unless the madam says so."

I had to be delusional. The madam? I couldn’t help but let out a scoff. "I'm the madam, this is my house." Has Silas gotten a new wife? Was that the reason for the sudden divorce?

They ignored me and pushed me away. I winced as I fell on my behind, bruising my elbows while I tried to stop my fall. I got up and rushed towards the entrance, trying to get past them. I was stopped and flung away like a useless cockroach.

"Behave yourself, Miss."

"Miss?" I shouted, getting worked up with anger. "I'm the wife of the owner of this house!!!" I yelled.

"What is going on here?"

I stilled and breathed as I heard Amira's voice and felt relief pouring through my heart. I didn't know she was around, I would have asked for her.

She must have gotten the message from the hospital and came to get me clothes I would wear after discharge.

"Amira," I called out to her. Finally, someone to quench this madness.

She ignored me and turned to the guards. "What is going on here? Didn't I tell you not to let anyone in?"

Wait. What? She did. I wondered if she was referring to the new wife Silas got. I knew Amira was feisty and smiled at the thought that she was defending me and protecting my home in my absence.

“It isn’t our fault, ma’am. She wouldn’t listen, even when we told her she needed your approval before entering.”

I felt the earth shift beneath me and didn’t register the pain when I hit the ground, my legs giving way like jelly. This had to be a nightmare.

Amira was the madam?