Heart's Betrayal (15 page)

“That’s my wife in there! Not yours, I just lost my son! This is the second child we’ve lost. Don’t you get that? What kind of doctor are you? Are you telling me to leave my wife when she needs me the most! I want to see her now! Now!” his screaming voice filled the hallway hospital.

“Look, it’s what’s best for her right now, please, go down to the cafeteria, and relax.” the doctor’s voice was harsh.

“What the hell is going on around here? I have rights...she’s my wife! I. Just. Lost. My. Baby!” he roared ferociously.

“Sir, calm down.” someone replied.

“Fuck you! I want to see my wife! Now!” he said blaring. I could hear the anger in his voice and I was afraid for the person he was arguing with.

“Okay sir, okay, please calm down.” the doctor responded calmly.

Michael walked into the room and a nurse grabbed him by the arm.

“Get off me!” He yelled and pushed the nurse away with his hand. The nurse used the phone in the room and called for security. Within seconds, the hospital security guard came into the room and approached Michael.

“Sir, you have to leave now. Please… come with us!” He reached for Michael.

“Get the fuck off of me!” He yelled pushing the guard against his chest sending him leaping across the room into the wall. Michael walked over to me and sat by the bed.

“Michael, I’m scared! Don’t leave me! Don’t leave me!” I said screaming and crying as he held me. He looked over at the nurse and held me tighter.

“I’m here baby, I’m here, and I’m never going to leave you alone again. It’s my fault you lost the baby. Everything is my fault. Margaret, you, the baby, the other baby…everything…I’m being punished Jenesis…I’m a worthless piece of shit. I knew I should’ve stayed away from you. I could only do harm…harm.” He whispered in my ear. He grabbed me tightly around my shoulders and cried into my hair.  The nurse glanced over at the security guard who was dazed, flat on his ass, and leaning against the wall.

“It’s okay. Let him stay. She’s too hysterical to be left alone with me right now.” She said sarcastically and walked out.

   Michael held me tightly and laid on the bed with me. I had my face nestled in his chest. I didn’t want to see or look at anyone. My eyes hurt me so badly and my nose was still dripping blood.
My heart was torn from my body and I wanted to die in his arms. I wanted to throw myself from the roof of the hospital and make sure I felt the pain of my body being cracked in half, and my skull being broken into tiny pieces.
I grabbed Michael tighter as I sobbed hysterically into his chest.

“Baby, please, don’t do this to yourself.” He whispered in my hair.

     I heard the click-clacking of heels walking into the room. I lifted my face slightly from his chest and peeked and saw a woman in a white coat with papers in her hands. I sat up as she approached Michael and me. She had a black skirt suit on and her heels tapped harshly on the cold tiled floor. I squinted through my swollen eyes to see a tall, attractive woman with long blonde wavy hair. I automatically assumed she was the psychiatrist.

“Mrs. Hunter?” she whispered.

“Yes.” I answered sniffling.

“I’m the hospital social worker, Mrs. Gardner.” She said softly. “May I speak with you for a moment?”

“I don’t think she’s in any condition to speak with you right now.” Michael said abrasively.

“I understand, Mrs. Hunter, are you all right?” she asked looking at me concerned.

“No, not at all. I lost my baby…my precious baby.” I choked back my tears. The devastation in my voice was clear.             

“I see, I can come back tomorrow morning, we can talk then, will that be okay?” she asked politely.

“I don’t understand why she needs to speak to a social worker? She’s devastated right now.” Michael said rudely. He was pissed off.

“No worries, it’s just standard procedure, Mr. Hunter. I’ll see you in the morning, Mrs. Hunter, Jenesis, right? Is that with a G?” she asked, smiling, as she scribbled something on her chart.

“No, J…Yes, in the morning, thank you.” I whispered softly.

“Thanks, feel better and rest, good night.” she nodded then turned on her heels and walked out of the room.

Michael stared at her angrily.

“Yeah, Good night…
bitch
.”

   Michael and I slept together holding each other tightly during the night. He didn’t leave my sight for a moment; not even to use the bathroom. We were constantly interrupted by nurses asking to draw blood, x-ray technicians asking for x-rays of my back, plastic surgeons for my nose, a psychiatrist intern, an obstetrician and tons of nurse’s aides checking my temperature and blood pressure. It was a fucking calamity. We really didn’t sleep at all, but Michael didn’t let me go. He was so supportive and held my hand through every pinch and stick. I loved him so much, but the guilt-ridden Jenesis was getting what she deserved…and then some. My mother was a God-fearing woman and just the thought of having an abortion was a sin
.
I couldn’t live with guilt. I just couldn’t
.
This had to be a punishment.

Michael stood staring aimlessly out of the window sliding his hand through his silky black hair. He turned around, and glanced over at me as he placed his hands in his jean pockets.

“I haven’t seen Dave.” I sniveled.

“He’s been with Steve and the police; they’ll want to get your statement soon; this morning, probably.”

“My God, I don’t understand, who would want to hurt me Michael, who?” I cringed at the thought.

“Jesus, Jenesis, it could be anyone.” He shook his head. “I don’t know, I don’t know. All I know is, no one is ever going to hurt you again. We’re moving upstate away from the city, in a house in the woods where no one can get to you.”

“What? What about my job?” I said positioning myself to sit up straight.

“What about it? You work with Dave, what’s the big deal.” he said firmly, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

“Gee thanks…And you?”

“I’ll commute, but I’ll be home every day.”

    Dave walked in and motioned towards Michael with his hand to walk over to him.

“Speak of the devil, that’s strange, right?” Michael looked over at Dave.

Dave smiled at me and walked out of the room. Michael kissed my forehead and said,

“I’ll be right back, don’t go anywhere.” he winked at me, turned around and left the room.

    The social worker walked in a few minutes later. I was eating a semi-nice breakfast as she grabbed a chair and slid it next to the bed. I suddenly felt anxious.

“Mrs. Hunter?” She said with her pearly whites gleaming.

“Hi.” I wasn’t in the mood to talk to her or anyone else.

“I’d like to speak with you, is that okay?” She tapped her clipboard with her pen.

“Yes.” I mumbled with a piece of toast in my mouth. She sat on the chair, crossed her legs, and put on her glasses and wrote on her clipboard.
Another damn clipboard.

“Mrs. Hunter, were you alone that night this happened to you?” She said glaring at me above the rim of her glasses.

“Yes.” I answered sipping on my coffee cup.

“And your husband, where was he?”

“He was with our friend Dave. His girlfriend Margaret was killed two days ago in a car accident and he had to go to the morgue to identify her body. I picked out her clothing.” I placed the coffee cup on the table, placed my hands over my face and began to cry.

“Mrs. Hunter, Jenesis, May I call you, Jenesis?” she said as she placed her hand on my shoulder.

“Yeah.” I mumbled as I wiped my tears with my napkin.

“I’m sorry about your loss, the baby. You seem to be going through so much right now. Do you have any idea who might have done this to you?” She said regretfully as her eyes welled up. I shook my head.

“How is your relationship with your husband?”

“What are you saying?” I picked up the coffee mug.

“I’m not saying anything. I just want to know how your relationship is with your husband.” She said sarcastically.

“This conversation is over, and by the way, my husband and I are very much in love and he’s an excellent husband, now please leave.” I pointed towards the door.

    She was taken aback, a slight shade of pink resonating over her face. She seemed surprised and angry. She got up, turned around to walk away, then stopped and looked back at me and said,

“You know, about 25% of Emergency room visits are caused by domestic violence. Did you actually see the person who attacked you?”

“No, he was wearing a ski mask. Do you think my husband did this to me?”

She shook her head.

“No. Jenesis, thank you for speaking to me, and again, I’m not the enemy, I’m just doing my job. I’m here if you need someone to talk to, even when you leave the hospital. You’re not alone.” She left the room.

As she exited the room, a group of doctors walked in.

“Good morning, Mrs. Hunter, how are you feeling?” A tall, tanned-skinned, handsome doctor walked in with his flock of interns following.

“Better, thank you.”

“How’s your nose?” He said as he motioned for one of the interns to take a look at it.

“It hurts.”

“It’s supposed to. We’ll take care of that in a few minutes. It’s not broken though, that’s the good news. Guess what? There’s no bad news.” He placed his hands on his knees as if he were talking to a child. “We will be discharging you this evening once your blood work comes back from the lab. Lunch is even better than that breakfast. Enjoy!”

   He smiled as the rest of his entourage waved goodbye at me and walked out of the room.  I was glad my nose wasn’t broken, but, there was bad news…I lost my baby…
my baby was gone, again.
Michael and Dave walked in with a police officer.

“Hey, sweetheart, are you feeling better?” Michael asked, slipping his arm around my shoulder.

“Much better. Hi Dave.” I whispered, giving Dave little eye contact.

“Hi Jen, I’ve been with Steve most of the night. I can’t believe this madness. I felt so sorry for him, he said he had no choice but to stab the guy. I mean, if it were me, I would’ve slit his goddamn throat.” Dave said with a smirk on his face. I looked at Dave seriously for a moment, then I focused on the officer.

“Mrs. Hunter, I’m Officer Delgado, can you tell me what happened that night?” He was a very handsome man, with hazel eyes and olive skin. He eyed me intensely, studying my face and looking into my swollen eyes and at my nose.

“I can’t believe Steve stabbed him. Oh my God. He must feel terrible. I’m sorry officer, I just can’t believe it. I noticed when I entered the apartment building and walked up the stairs that my hallway light was out. I also stepped on some glass that I assumed was the broken light bulb. I entered my apartment, then I took a shower and…”

“I don’t mean to interrupt, but did you call anyone?”

“Yes, I called Michael to call Victor to fix the light in the hallway.”

“And at what time was that? Victor…who’s Victor?” he asked cautiously.

“Around 7 PM. He’s the guy who fixes things in the building. You know, like the super.” Michael interrupted.

“Thanks.” Officer Delgado glanced at Michael then back at me.

“I called Michael then took a shower. I was thinking about Margaret and I began to panic, so I got up and started walking around my room, then I heard a banging on the door. I walked over to the door and asked who it was two times, and then I said, “Victor? “And he said “yeah,” so I opened the door and I soon as I opened the door he punched me in the face. I thought he broke my nose.” I began to cry. “He stomped on my back, he tried to kill me, and ifit weren’t for Steve h
e
would’v
e
killed me.” I wiped my tears with the blanket. My hands were shaking. Just the memory of that bastard trying to stomp on my belly was enough to push me into insanity. Michael placed his hand on my shoulder.

“Did you see his face?”

“No, he was wearing a black ski mask.”

“Do you remember what he was wearing? His clothing.”

“No.”

“Do you remember anything that he might have said to you?”

“I remember him calling me a bitch.”

“Anything else?” Officer Delgado pressed me for more information.

“I remember crawling to the bedroom and dialing 911. That’s it.” I shrugged my shoulders as my sobs grew louder. I had nothing else to give him. It was a nightmare.

“I’m so sorry this happened to you. I’m sorry about the baby. If we find him…he’ll probably be charged with the murder of your baby. I mean, technically, I don’t know how that works, but he should pay. Steve is a hero, and we are very grateful he stepped in, but that was a dangerous move on his part. We will do everything in our power to catch this guy…I promise. Dave and I will work together. Thank you for your statement.” He shook Michael’s hand and asked to speak to Dave outside.

“Is Steve here?” I asked the officer.