COMPLICATED – Episode 15

COMPLICATED

Written by Princess Juliet

Episode 15

His painful memories

There was so much confusion, as the whole place was in an uproar. Everyone was running helter-skelter, screaming and getting into each other way as they made for the exit door.

What was happening? They couldn’t tell, they just saw him fall to the floor.
It happened so fast that they barely could understand what was going on.

‘Is he dead or just unconscious?’The reporters resumed clicking their cameras, flashing bright lights directly on Jayden’s pale face, much to Greg’s dismay and utter despair.

He bit his lip hard and held Jayden’s limp body close to him like a child, “Someone please call for an ambulance, please,” His desperate cry for help brought Atarah close to panic and with her hands shaking, she frantically threw her purse open, searching for her phone.

“There is no need for that, an ambulance is already on its way.” A deep voice spoke from behind her and she paused and slowly turned around, a man who appeared to be in his late forties, dressed in a charcoal grey suit with a white shirt and dark tie was staring down at Jayden with sad eyes filled with tears.

‘Is he his father?’ She stood there in silent wonder.
Her eyes slowly moved to the woman standing beside him and she blinked, bewildered. The woman looked so familiar and she could swear that she’d seen her before. But where? She racked her brain trying to think but got even more confused instead.

The woman’s gaze met hers for a split second as she raced over to Jayden, panting and trembling really hard. “What the h*ll happened to my son?” She screamed piercingly, drawing attention to herself and a soft murmur ran through the crowd that had gathered around them. Her bottom lip trembled, and tears welled up in her eyes, “What happened to him, please?”She stared down at Jayden for a moment then began to weep softly.

“That is enough, wifey,” Trent cooed, sadly.
He put his arm around her, trying to comfort her and she melted into his embrace and continued to cry in muffled sobs against his chest.

Somewhere in the distance an ambulance suddenly hooted and a wave of relief flooded through the hall.

“Clear the way, please!” Two male nurses in plain blue uniforms rushed in rolling a stretcher and Greg helped in lifting Jayden off the ground and placing him gently on the stretcher and strapping the belt around him.

“I will go with them, dad,” He told his father but Trent would hear nothing of it.

He shook his head slightly, “You should stay with your fiancee,” He whispered and only then did Greg notice Nancy was standing among the crowd.

“Holy sh*t!” He swore under his breath, ‘Who invited the b*tch here? I bet Jayden did.’He clenched his fist tightly as he released his anger. At this point, he had no other choice but to watch helplessly as the nurses and his father stretchered off a pale-looking Jayden out of the hall and down the long hallway.

“Hi Greg,” Nancy chose at that moment to approach him and he scoffed at her. “What do you want, Nancy?”He made no attempt to hide the disgust in his eyes and she flinched hearing the anger in his voice.

“I want to…” She stopped, unable to remember what it was she was trying to say. The coldness in his eyes was intimidating and she looked away from him, her head bobbing uneasily on her neck, “I…I…just want to………”

“Relax son,” Mary came to her rescue, “Your fiancee just want to say hello to you, is it that bad?”The way she sounded made Greg even angrier and he brushed Nancy aside roughly and stormed out of the hall.

Atarah watched all of these with an expressionless, blank stare and a confused state of mind. Unable to take it anymore, she dashed out of the hall and ran after Greg, screaming the name ‘Gwapo.’

“What is it, miss?” Greg asked as he got to his car.

“I want to go with you to the hospital,” was Atarah’s response to his question and he scoffed aloud.

“This has nothing to do with you, it’s a family thing,” He was trying to tell her to get the f**k off but Atarah wasn’t ready to do that.

She made a face and looked at him with those cute puppy dog eyes. “I just want to make sure he is alright, please.”She begged

For a moment Greg said nothing. He just stared deeply into her pleading eyes, noticing for the first time a flicker of familiar warmth in her dark brown eyes.

“Fine!” He reluctantly agreed and Atarah almost cried out in relief. “Thanks, thanks so much,” She ran around the car and hurriedly climbed into the passenger seat, fearing that he would change his mind.

Greg looked to be lost in thought as he got into the seat beside her. ‘Does she truly know me?’ He slammed the door shut in an absentminded way and started the car, slowly driving down a one-way street.

“So,” He cleared his throat nervously and glanced at Atarah, “what were you saying back then in the hall?” He was curious to know

Atarah looked at him, and then at his birthmark. She was so sure that he was the one.
“I’m Joanna,” She spoke in such a low voice that Greg had to strain his ears to catch her whispers. “Do you remember me now?” She kept her gaze on him without blinking.

“Joanna?” Greg lifted his brow and stared straight ahead in silent wonder. The only Joanna he knew would’ve been long dead by now, she was so sick then, so fragile and so weak………’

“Do you remember?”Atarah asked again, interrupting his thoughts and he forced himself to look at her. “I’m that little sick friend who you always confide in, the sick girl who always confides in you…..”Her large eyes seemed to see right through him and he looked away immediately and gripped the steering wheel more tightly.

“I’m Joanna Jones, the maid’s daughter.”

‘Holy sh*t!” Greg cursed under his breath, What was wrong with him? He couldn’t tell. His emotions were raw and his heart was beating like a wild animal trying to escape his chest.
‘She is Joanna? Joanna is alive? But how is that possible?’ He was confused as she was in a critical condition the last time he’d seen her and that was twelve years ago when his mother stopped him from talking to her, ‘d**n that woman!’

A bit disoriented, he stomped his boot on the accelerator increasing his speed, and to Atarah’s dismay, began to overtake vehicles. He was impatient to reach his destination.

~~~

He wasted no time getting to the hospital and Atarah let out her breath in a long sigh of relief, “Thank goodness.” But when she alighted from the car, she gulped down hard, nearly choking on her saliva.

About three dozen reporters and photographers were camping outside the huge building, not minding the fully armed police officers serving as bodyguards, standing at the entrance.

‘Wow!’ She exclaimed breathlessly at the sight before her, “How on earth are we going to get in?”

Greg looked towards the building and chuckled lightly when he saw the armed policemen. His dad was at it again, always drawing unnecessary attention to himself. “We’re just gonna wait out here,” He told Atarah as he leaned against his car.

“But I want to see, Dr Jayden.”She argued, pouting her lips like a child.

“Jayden will be fine,” Greg assured her, “He is a fighter, he is not a weakling……..”His voice trailed off into a silence that lasted solidly for many minutes when his eyes caught sight of an elderly woman in the crowd fighting with one of the armed men. “Let me in punk, I want to see Jayden.” The desperation in her voice made Greg puzzled and he walked towards her and stopped when there was just two steps distance between them.

“What’s going on here?” He demanded and they paused, the elderly woman and the police officer and stared at him.

“I want to see Jayden,” The elderly woman replied and Greg smiled at her boldness.

“May I please know who you are?” He asked politely

“His nanny.”

His what? Greg opened his eyes wide in surprise. He wanted to tell her to leave, but then he saw the deep pain in her eyes and this made him a little confused
Does she love him this much? If yes, why then did she abandon him? This was the story Jayden had told him, that she left when he needed her the most.
Closing his eyes for a brief moment, He let an exasperated sigh escape his lips and then said to the police officer, “Let her go in.”

“Thanks so much, thanks so much, son.” The elderly woman shot him a grateful look and made her way into the hospital reception, all the while she was wondering who he was.

As for Greg, he just stood there watching everyone, watching Atarah with a blank and strange expression.

~~~~~~~~~~~Inside the hospital~~~~~~~~~~~

Too restless to sit, Trent paced up and down a couple of times and then stepped into the ward room when his patience had worn thin.

“How is he, Sam?”He asked the doctor who was attaching an intravenous drip to Jayden’s arm, pumping him full of antibiotics and the doctor, Sam scoffed at him

“You should stay outside, Trent.”

“No, I can’t do that,” Trent argued with him. “My son is in a critical condition and………..”

“It’s all thanks to you,” Sam drawled sarcastically and Trent just stared at him, shocked by his words.

“Or wait! Do you want to deny it?” Sam couldn’t contain himself any longer and gave vent to his annoyance. “You are the cause of your son’s predicament Trent, you are the cause of every single thing happening to him. Tell me, how could you give out his blood to that sick girl just because you wanted to save your face?”

“He made the decision himself,” Trent stated his reason. He knew it was a stupid one, but he had to say something, anything to cover up his mistakes. “He insisted on me saving the child.”

“But he was only ten years old then.”Sam felt disgusted and sickened. ‘Gosh! why didn’t I stop him from the crazy act?’ He asked himself a question that he already had an answer to. Trent was so desperate for fame, he wanted to be a famous doctor and his son was like his scapegoat, a stepping stone to his success. “He was just a little kid. A little ten years old boy who didn’t understand the difference between right and wrong, a little boy who had just lost his…….”He stopped in mid-sentence, biting his lips furiously and Trent could only stare at him blankly.

“And what did you do to correct all of these?”He continued, his voice firm and cold, “What did you do after he woke up from that miserable coma that had almost cost his life?”Nothing Trent, you did nothing but inject him with metyrapone–a drug meant to erase his memories.

“I did that to protect him,” Trent defended himself.

“Oh right!” Sam retorted mockingly. “At the expense of his health, right? But before Trent could respond, the door creaked slightly and they both looked up, startled.

“Evie?”Trent was surprised to see the short chubby woman standing close to the doorway, “What are you doing here?” He frowned at her anxiously.

“I want to see Jayden, please,” The woman begged. “Please let me see him for…one… one last…time.”Her voice broke and a tear slid down her face.

“Who is she?” Sam natural curiosity prompted him to ask and Trent whispered in a sepulchral tone, “His Nanny!”

“Oh!” Sam nodded his head slowly, finally recognising her. She was that same woman who never left Jayden’s bed side twelve years ago, the same woman Trent drove out of his son’s life fearing that she would remind him of the memories that he wanted to be forgotten. D**n! He put his hand on Trent shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You should let her see him.” He said softly and Trent looked at him sharply.

“What if she spills out the truth about… his …about her?” His eyes were troubled and filled with fear.

“Jayden needs to know the truth, man,” Was what Sam said as he left the room.

Stunned, Trent was speechless for a long moment. He walked out of the wardroom without saying a word, leaving a still-unconscious Jayden alone with his nanny.

With tears rolling down her eyes, Nanny Evie walked slowly to him and sat down on the chair beside his bed. “I’m sorry, big boy, “She called him by the pet name she gave to him, “so sorry for everything that you’ve been through.” When she touched his face with trembling fingers, He sneezed twice and slowly started blinking his eyes in an effort to open them.
“Where am I?’The stark smell of bleach was overwhelming and made him want to puke.

“Are you alright, child?” A soft voice echoed in his head and he cringed inwardly. He tried to raise his left hand to rub the sleep from his eyes but realised he couldn’t move it. He was wound up on an Iv drip.
‘What the f**k!’ He groaned out in pain as he felt a hand on him.

“Don’t stress yourself, child.” The soft voice came again and he blinked and vaguely saw a familiar face staring down at him with eyes filled with love.

“Mum,” He muttered, not entirely sure of himself and Nanny Evie smiled through her tears

“It is Nanny, Jayden. Your Nanny.”

My Nanny? Something loud clicked inside his head and he sat up in a huff, not minding the throbbing in his head and the slight pain in his left hand.

He wanted to hug her and tell her how much he’d missed her but the sharp stabbing pain in his chest stopped him, ‘How dare she show her face here after abandoning me?’ He tried to harden his heart in advance but knew it was just a front.

“Why are you here?” He snatched his arm out of her grasp and glared at her, “Why are you the one sitting beside me? Where is everyone? Dad, Greg and my mum?”He rushed his questions and Nanny Evie took this as an opportunity to tell him the truth.

”Your mum is dead.” Her voice turned to a whisper and she looked at him, conflicted.

“What?” Jayden’s face turned pale on hearing that, “You mean to tell me that my mum is dead?” He didn’t want to believe the sh*t, “No f**king way!”

“I’m talking about your real mum, Matilda.” Hearing the name “Matilda” made him pause and a thousand jumbled-up memory began running through his head, they were so clear that it made him so scared.

It was just as if he fell into a trance, a deep one at that. He saw his younger self talking to a pregnant woman whom he called mum, she was so young and beautiful and had the same eye colour as him.

Then he found himself standing in front of a large hospital ward
“We lost both of them,” His dad’s voice was so clear and real that it shook him. He saw himself walking into a smaller ward and that was where he found her, looking so pale and laying helplessly on the hospital bed

“Gwapo!” She had called out to him and even though she had mistaken him for someone else, he was still drawn to her. He wanted her to live, he never wanted her to end up like his mother so he, a little child of ten offered to donate his blood but what did he gain from it? Nothing, she died just like his mother.

“Mother,” He suddenly gasped, startling his nanny and fell back on the bed, exhausted. His memories were back and fresh in his mind.

TBC