Layover (32 page)

“Hello,” I answered anxiously.

“Ny, it’s Allen. Are you busy?”

“No, not at all.”

I was a little let down, but I was still glad to talk to Allen.

“What’s wrong, Ny? You don’t sound so good?”

Allen was very attentive to me feelings and I was amazed that he always knew when something was wrong.

“I’m not feeling well,” I told him.

“I there anything I can do?”

“Just hearing your voice is comforting,” I assured him.

“If you need me, Ny, I’m there. You know that, right?”

“I know.”

“Ny, why do I feel like I’m losing you?”

 “What do you mean, Allen?”

“Ny, come on. We have always been connected. Now that works both ways. I know everything good that’s going on with you and I know everything not so good that’s going on with you. I know when something is not right.”

“We’re going through some things right now, Allen. It’s normal. We can get through this.”

Deep down, I didn’t know if I really felt that way. I was just saying what I knew would pacify him. But Allen knew me. He knew when I was being genuine and he knew when I was being phony. There was no fooling him.

“Alright. If you say so.”

“Listen, Allen. I have to go right now. I’m starting to feel worse.”

“Ny, if you get worse, you need to go to the hospital. Promise me you will do it.”

“If I get worse, I promise to go to the hospital.”

“Alright, I love you Ny. With everything in me, Nya, I love you”

“I love you, too Allen.”

I hung up the phone and clutched at my side. The pain was killing me now and it was now on both sides and in my abdomen. My back was still aching and I could hardly stand up. I knew I was going to have to go to the hospital but I didn’t want the ambulance all up here embarrassing me in my neighborhood. There was no way I could drive, so I call Kita. This was almost as embarrassing as calling the ambulance, because I was going to have to tell her everything.

“Kita, I need your help. I have to go to the hospital.”

“I’ll be right over Ny.”

She was a true friend. She didn’t waste a lot of time asking me what’s the matter and all of that crap. She just said she would be right over, no questions asked.

I sat up as best I could until she arrived 15 minutes later. When I heard her car pull up, I tried to stand up to get the door. I made it to the front door to let her in. she threw my arm over her shoulder and helped me to the car.

“What happened, Ny,” she asked me as we pulled off.

“Kita, I promise when I’m feeling better I will tell you everything. I just can’t right now.”

“Don’t worry about it. I can wait, but I’m dying to know.”

“I need you to call someone for me when we get there,” I instructed her.

 “Not a problem.”

When we arrived at the hospital, Kita brought me into the emergency room entrance. I filled out the form and gave them my insurance information. I was immediately taken to a room. I gave Kita the number to call Allen.

“Nya, I’m not trying to get in your business, but why do you want me to call your brother-in-law in Colorado?”

“Kita, remember, when I’m better, I will tell you. Just do it.”

She left and the doctor came in. After several tests and ultrasounds, the doctor reluctantly informed me,

“Mrs. Reilly, there is no fetal heartbeat. I’m sorry. You have experienced a miscarriage.”

I was devastated. I felt terrible, like I done something to deserve it.

“What did I do? Did I cause it?”

“No, not at all. You see, many times women have miscarriages and not even know it. Sometimes it is like having a period. Especially when they are very early along like you were. If you hadn’t found out about your pregnancy so soon, you may have miscarried and simply thought you were having heavy bleeding from your period. That’s not uncommon and it’s not bad, either. You see, your body will get rid of anything that’s not good. It will simply reject it. But, since you are here, we would like to perform a procedure called D&C. Basically instead of waiting for your body to get rid of the fetal tissue, which it would eventually do, this procedure will allow us to do it right away. You will need to be under anesthesia.”

“That’s fine.”

When Kita came back in, I told her I was going to be here for a while. I told her I would call her when she could come back and get me. I didn’t want her sitting there for hours.

The nurses prepped me for my procedure, and took me in. The last thing I remember was the IV going into my arm.

I woke up several hours later to a skinny, White doctor telling me that my husband was waiting outside. I was ready to kill Kita. I know she didn’t call Kenny and tell him I was here.

“Mrs. Reilly, is it alright if Mr. Reilly comes back now?”

I guess damn so.

“That will be fine.”

“Ny, I got here as soon as I could,” Allen told me.

My face lit up like a porch light. I couldn’t believe it. Allen flew all the way here to be by my side. I realized at that moment that he was definitely the one for me. There I was calling John all day, and never reached him. Yet Allen drops everything at a moment’s notice to fly several hundred miles to be by my side. That was the measurement of a man - what he would go through for you. I finally realized why I really left John. He was never there when I needed him, and he never would be. He thought he could make up for time absent with gifts and money. I didn’t want any of that. All I wanted was this man who would do anything for my happiness.

“What happened, Ny?”

I explained to Allen about the baby and the miscarriage. He was very sad and disappointed.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant, Ny?”

“We got into that argument about Kenny, and weren’t talking for a while. I was waiting for a good time to tell you.”

“Nya, I am so sorry about that argument. You know I love you and trust you. And I know that you love me too. I never meant to make you feel that I doubted your love for me.”

“I’m sorry I hung up the phone on you. I’m sorry about everything, Allen.”

“So the baby was mine, not Kenny’s?”

“Of course it was,” I told him, not seeing any reason to cast doubt.

“Well, don’t worry. There will be more to come. I want five boys!”

“And let’s name them all Allen!” I suggested, jokingly.

Chapter Six

“So, Nya, where are you all registered?” Denise asked me when Allen and I got to Oxford for the Christmas holiday.

I told her the places we registered for our wedding. Allen and I had planned a beautiful spring wedding everyone was excited. We were sitting around drinking egg nog when we heard a car pulling into the carport. Kenny got out of his car and opened the passenger door for a ten-year-old girl. They walked into the house.

“Everyone, this is Kimberly,” he announced.

She was gorgeous. She had the same pretty eyebrows that most of the members of Kenny’s family had.

“She is going back to Birmingham with me while her mother goes to real estate school,” Kenny told us.

Akina was finally going to get out of that rut and do something with her life. I like to think I influenced that in some way.

“Are you ready for that kind of responsibility?” his mother asked him.

“I don’t know, but I feel that God has put it on my heart to do this. It’s my chance to learn how to treat a lady. What better way than to start with my own daughter?”

Kenny seemed happy. I was happy for him. Maybe if he did well with Kimberly, God would bless him to find a kind and loving wife. I wanted only good things for him.