STORY: The Black Marriage - Episode 19...

THE BLACK MARRIAGE - EPISODE 19
Andy had never been more grateful to God that he had
listened to his father and hired some bodyguards. He only
used them at work because having bodyguards seemed more
of a burden to him and made him look older than he actually
was, but as he stormed the hospital, he was so grateful for
their help. Journalists were all over the hospital, trying to
get what was going on. The three bodyguards warded them
off, allowing him to have easy passage into the hospital. It
was during times like this that he wished that he wasn’t as
famous as he was; the fame always drew unnecessary
attention.
Andy only dwelt on this for what seemed like a second and
then his thoughts were switched back to Jessica, making
him quicken his steps. He was inside the hospital after
what seemed like an eternity to him, whereas, it was only
seconds and immediately he entered the hospital, the nurses
seemed to stand at attention. They looked uncomfortable
and shy as they took in his imposing and exceptionally
intriguing body but Andy did not even notice. He towered
over them, his eyes penetrating their senses.
“Where is my wife?” He growled; his intense fear showing
vividly despite his attempt to cover it and be brave.
“Calm down Andy” Tunji admonished, placing a hand on
Andy’s shoulder but Andy was not ready to be in a calm
mood and Tunji knew that Andy would not be until Jessica
was certified hale and hearty.
The nurses did not need to ask who his wife was; they had
identified him immediately he entered. “She is in the A and
E department sir, some doctors are attending to her” One of
the nurses replied shakily.
“I want to see her now” Andy was glaring now, looking like
he would not mind tearing the nurse apart if she denied
him. The nurse squirmed. A much older nurse, seeing what
was going on quickly went to salvage the situation.
“I am sorry sir, you can’t see her now. Her condition is
critical and she is being attended to by our best specialists.
Interfering and disturbing the doctors can put your wife at
more risk. Please, I advise you to be calm sir, if you could
wait in the waiting room over there” she pointed in a
direction, “The doctor would see you immediately he gets
out.”
Andy clenched his jaw painfully and folded his palms into
fists until his knuckles were as white as his spotless teeth.
The thought of putting Jessica in danger by his actions was
more than enough to make him back down. His arrogance
oozed off a bit, making his fear more evident. He marched
to the waiting room and Tunji followed closely behind
murmuring something that Andy could not hear. His mind
was far away. His mind was in the emergency room with
Jessica. Andy roamed the waiting room aimlessly, unable to
settle down. Tunji’s desperate attempts to make him calm
down became futile and Tunji also became almost as agitated
as Andy.
Back at the hospital’s reception, one nurse that joined at
the middle of the scene stared at the closed door of the
waiting room and fanned herself with her fingers. “Jeez,
that guy is smoking hot. Who is he?”
The other nurses stared at her like she was an alien from
another planet. “You don’t know Andy Williams?”
Her eyes widened. “That is the Andy? The owner of… Oh My
God! He is as hot as they say he is, with a good looking
bank account too, I bet; in fact, an overflowing account to
be precise”
The older nurse turned irritated eyes at the lady. “I bet you
also heard that he is married” she hissed. “Put your cards
together and stop eyeing another woman’s husband”
The younger nurse frowned and turned away, chastised.
The door of the waiting room burst open and Lizzy and
Paulina bounced in with teary faces. “Where is Jessie? Oh
my God!” Paulina gasped out and seeing Andy, looking like a
shadow of himself, made her know that the accident was
real. Lizzy was just standing motionless at the entrance of
the waiting room, staring into space as tears fell freely.
Seeing the women in tears made Andy much more frightened.
It was like Jessica was already… already… ‘NO’. He refused
to think about it. ‘My Jessica would not leave me’ he told
himself repeatedly. He ran his hands through his hair and
decided it best to comfort the women; that would at least
get his mind off this waiting.
Tunji moved forward and held Paulina in his arms and she
cried the more. Andy saw Lizzy standing stupefied at the
entrance and instantly knew what she was thinking about.
He hurriedly went to her. He touched her hand and she
seemed to suddenly realize where she was. She raised teary
eyes to Andy and Andy felt like his world had shattered.
There was something about women’s tears which always
seemed to make situations much worse. Seeing the very
strong Lizzy crying scared him more than anything. Seeing
Jessica cry during the disastrous party that led to her
disappearance had been more than he could bear. He had felt
stabbed, devastated and shaken but seeing Lizzy’s tears felt
totally different. In that instant, he was transported back
in time to the time he lost his fiancée. Lizzy’s face
reminded him of the faces of the people he saw, crying
after his fiancée died. Cold dread seeped up Andy’s spine and
he wanted to flee the waiting room. Everything around him
was pointing at a frightening end and he could not bear it.
At the same time, he could not leave; not without knowing
if his Jessica was alright.
“I called her Andy” Lizzy gasped. “She could have stayed at
home”
“No Lizzy, don’t talk like that. This is not your fault. She
would be fine. She has to be” He said sharply, both to
himself and to Lizzy.
She nodded, trying to accept what Andy said. She leaned
against him and he held her but he was detached from his
environment. ‘I should have insisted that she use the driver’
he told himself for the umpteenth time. ‘I should have’. He
gritted his teeth as tears threatened strongly and he forced
them back forcefully. He has to be strong. Be strong for
Jessica. The waiting room door opened and Andy turned,
releasing Lizzy but his eyes collided with the dark intense
gaze of his father.

Sonia sat in the bus, feeling all sorts of emotions: self-
loath, anger, agitation but fear was the most evident of all.
She could not believe that her life had turned into a
nightmare within the space of three weeks. She sat in the
bus with dark specks covering her eyes. She mopped tears as
they seeped out from under the glasses.
Listening to her mother had become the worst thing she
had ever done. Ever since Jessica had gotten married to
Andy, her mother hadn’t stopped poisoning her mind. Her
mother had complained endlessly on why Sonia had been
contented with being the bride’s maid of honour instead of
being the bride.
“You sat down behind your friend, fanning her and mopping
her face; why were you not the bride? As far as I am
concerned, you are much more good looking. You are just too
dull. If you had been smarter, you would be married to that
money-bag and we would be swimming in money by now”
Sonia’s mother had said.
Sonia shook her head. She should not have listened to her
mother’s continuous talks. She hadn’t at first but then, her
mother never stopped. She continuously poisoned her mind
until she found herself becoming Jealous of Jessica. They
say blood is thicker than water but now, she preferred
water to blood.
Hearing that Jessica had been involved in an accident was
more shattering than anything she had experienced. It had
taken just the news alone to bring her to her senses. She
could not bear to think that Jessica might die; if that
happened, she would probably die of guilt and bitterness.
She wanted forgiveness but she did not know if what she
had done could be forgiven. She knew she would not forgive
if she were in Jessica’s shoes but she still had to try. But
what if…
‘No’ she said internally as more tears trickled down her
face. ‘She must not die… Please God… If you never hear me,
please hear me today… Jessica can’t die’

Andy’s dad had done all he could to see Andy and seek his
forgiveness but all his attempts had been truncated by Andy,
one way or the other. Even going to Andy’s office and
threatening his staff hadn’t worked because Andy had left
strict instructions with his staff to never allow his father
into his office. Mr. Williams had sent messages but Andy had
replied none.
“What do you want dad? Have you not done enough havoc?”
Andy said quietly, too quietly.
“I am sorry Andy. I have been saying this for the past two
weeks. I made a silly mistake but I was only thinking of
your welfare”
“My welfare” Andy repeated. The fact that his dad had done
what he did because of him did not make Andy happy at all.
“My welfare? At what expense? You almost ruined Jessica’s
life dad. You almost ruined my life. Jessica is my life, my
everything; and you deliberately hurt her like that?” Andy
shook his head. He was not ready for this conversation now,
he had more than enough on his plate already.
“I never knew Andy. How would I have known? I only know
what I heard on the…” he looked round the waiting room
and saw that some strangers were looking at them. He
moved closer to Andy, talking for his ears alone. “On the
tape” he continued. “I never knew that you both had
developed feelings for each other, if I had, I would never
have done what I did. I know my move to put it all on her
was very wrong and I regret it but I only thought of it at
that time in order to protect you” Mr. Williams murmured
quietly, his eyes showing signs of remorse.
“Why did you make it your business dad? You could have
confronted us or better still, stayed out of it” He was not
as aggressive as before.
“You are my business Andy. You became my business
immediately you were born; your mum would not have it any
other way”. Andy exhaled deeply. He loved his father so
much. His father had taken the responsibility of a father
and a mother, ensuring that he had all the love and
affection he needed. How could he not forgive his dad
anything? Mr. Williams touched Andy’s shoulder in a manly
manner. “I know how much you love her” he whispered. “I
saw how depressed and devastated you were when Jessica
went missing and I almost died of guilt. I am sorry son”
Andy looked at his father, and his arrogance disappeared,
leaving the fear very visible. Mr. Williams was taken aback.
He had never seen Andy look so vulnerable and scared, not
even when his fiancée had died. “She would be OK right?
Dad, I don’t know what I would do if she… if she…” Andy
looked twenty again as tears brimmed in his eyes but his
stubbornness would not allow them fall. “I can’t do without
her dad”
Andy’s dad drew him into his arms for an awkward father to
son hug. “We have to keep our faith up Andy. All would be
well”

Doctor Bright worked endlessly with two other doctors and
two nurses. Immediately he saw the patient, he identified
her instantly. Who would not know the outstandingly
beautiful wife of the richest bachelor in Nigeria?
Immediately he saw her, he had known two things: that she
had lost so much blood and that she was his ticket to
stardom.
There had been some problem with regards to the patient’s
marriage but it was also obvious that her husband was not
ready to leave her alone. After the scandal about the
patient’s intentions for marrying the famous Andy Williams
and her disappearance, he had seen pictures of the couple,
having good times at various places and he could tell that
the couple were very much in love. It would be disastrous if
he could not salvage this situation and would be a dream
come true if he did.
As he worked with the other doctors with his entire body
covered, he soon forgot about gains or losses, all he could
think of was saving her life. It was a good thing that the
car had an airbag which must have obviously prevented the
patient from bumping her head. With what he saw, the car
must have been hit pretty hard. Some of the broken glasses,
perhaps from the windscreen had pierced her body, making
her lose a lot of blood. They had seen to the wounds after
removing the glasses from her skin but the problem was
that the patient was not holding on. She had lost so much
blood and they were currently transfusing some blood into
her but the patient was not holding on to life and that was
dangerous. He had seen this happen so many times. When a
patient was not willing to live, there is a limit to what a
doctor can do.
“Her heart is failing doctor” one of the other doctors
declared in alarm and Doctor Bright checked the monitor,
confirming his fears.

it was like Andy was in for so many unpleasant surprises.
Everyone stared in one direction, gazing at the newest
addition to the people in the waiting room. Sonia stood
there in tears as a thousand eyes bore into her but Andy’s
was what frightened her the most. His gaze shot fire and
she wanted to flee but her legs would not agree. She had
come here to do something and she intended on pulling it
through.
“Get out of here” Andy’s voice was quiet, too quiet and it
frightened her more; she wished he had shouted.
She went on her kneels instantly. “Please Andy, forgive me. I
am sorry”
Andy was quiet, looking at her without betraying any form
of emotion.
Paulina turned smoking eyes at Sonia. “You better listen to
him o, because if I pounce on you… ehn… if I pounce on
you, I would beat you black and blue. You know I have not
attacked you, if I do, you would have marks.” Paulina was
vibrating and Tunji held her to prevent her from doing
something stupid. Lizzy did not even have the time to
confront Sonia, she was busy praying for her friend.
Andy stared at Sonia but he did not have the strength to
deal with her.
“I am sorry. I was misled. I… I am just so sorry” Sonia
wept.
Andy’s father had gone out earlier to make some calls. Andy
took out his phone and punched a number. Within seconds,
two hefty men arrived. “Take her out of here” he murmured
and the men turned to face Sonia instantly.
“No, please Andy. I am sorry. Please forgive me”
“Please move ma’am”
A door opened and automatically, everyone jerked in that
direction. Andy saw the doctor and his blood froze as he
marched like someone going to war, followed closely by
everyone concerned.
Doctor Bright stared at Andy and swallowed hard. He was
seeing him live for the first time in an unpalatable
situation.
“How is my wife doctor?”

THE BLACK MARRIAGE – EPISODE 20 COMING SOON…