Page 85 of The Marriage Agreement (Agreement)

“Go to sleep. We’ll talk in the morning when you look and sound a lot better,” he grumbled.

“Thanks.” I watched him leave. I felt weaker than I let on. Luckily, I have 48 hours before Luke gets home. I should be good by then. I managed to rub my flat belly despite the pain and weakness I felt. I just need to rest, and all would be fine. I told myself that and closed my eyes, just for a minute.

Chapter 56

LUKE

As soon as I closed the major part of the deal, I delegated the rest to Kevin and Carlos to finish up and call me if anything changed. They were surprised when I mentioned I was heading to the airport, but the last five days away from Dele had been torture. We’d talked briefly about her work and school schedule.

I really wished she would come with me, but she had work and school, both of which were important to her. School, I understood, but she doesn’t need to work. I couldn’t tell her that, she’d bite my head off before the words left my lips.

Now, I’m realizing I needed to delegate so I can leave two days sooner and be with my wife. My plane touched down, and I raced to the car, eager to see Dele.

Hopefully, she gets home soon, and I have a surprise for her. Soon as I entered our home, I heard the loud, painful cry of my wife. I dropped my bag and rushed towards our bedroom. Before I could open the door, I heard my brother’s voice.

I paused at the door and listened as they talked. I held in my excitement when I heard about the baby. She can’t leave me if that’s what she's thinking.

Osei stepped out of the room, and I faced him with a frown.

“Before you go all supernova, protective-husband-beast mode, be quiet,” he chided as soon as he saw me.

“Fucking tell me what’s going on,” I sneered at him.

“She was attacked at the hospital today.”

“The fuck?!” I yelled as he shushed me. I let out a low growl. “Fuck,” I cursed under my breath.

“She looks bad, and you need to hold it together when you check on her.”

“Tell me how bad?” I made a low growl at him.

“Bad, but please don’t say anything.” He encouraged me to move gently, and we opened the door. She was asleep. I saw the bruises on her face and turned to my brother, who signaled that I should relax. We stepped outside.

“What the fuck happened?” I yelled as soon as Osei and I closed the door.

“Giant baby attacked her earlier today; she’s concussed and bruised. They had to do an x-ray on her—that’s how they found out she’s pregnant. Thankfully, no broken bones.”

“The baby?” I asked, looking confused. “I overheard you guys, plus you just said she’s pregnant without realizing.”

“My niece or nephew is fine.” I let out a breath of relief. “Now that you're here, we can each take turns checking on her during the night.”

“Okay.” We sat facing each other.

“She’s going to be okay,” Osei said quietly. I nodded, but something inside me didn’t feel right. I went to another bathroom to shower and quietly grabbed a change of clothes from our room. I kissed her forehead as she slept before going to join Osei in the living room. He played a movie, but I wasn’twatching it, just staring at the screen, trying to control my anger at the fact the hospital was negligent in protecting my wife. They were about to face my wrath.

Osei fell asleep, but I went back in to check on Dele. I kiss her forehead again. An hour later, I went in and lay next to her. I feel wetness on the sheet. I pulled the cover away. It’s right there in front of me—blood all over the bed. I lifted her up and noticed her breathing was shallow.

“Osei!” I shouted. I tried to wake Dele; she’s limp in my arms. I shouted again, “Osei!” He came rushing in and saw the blood. I held her close to me. She was barely breathing.

Osei took charge and called an ambulance. He checked her pulse as he talked to the 911 dispatcher, telling them her pulse was faint, and all I could do was hold her as I watched her slowly slipping away from me. The ambulance felt like it took hours. I watched them work on her as I rode in the ambulance with her. Osei followed the ambulance. One of the paramedics confirmed the faint pulse and massive blood loss.

It all felt like déjà vu—the same way I’d watched my mom, bleeding, and I helplessly stayed next to her until the ambulance arrived. I couldn’t think or function; I was gripped by fear of losing her.

As soon as we arrived at the hospital, they rushed her inside. As they worked on her, they came to ask me questions. Osei answered all the questions for me, down to her blood type being O negative. I couldn’t function. My mind was on replay with the phrase “I can’t lose her.”

“We need a next of kin or family to sign for her surgery.” It was like someone woke me up from my daze.

“I’m her husband. I’ll sign for her. And someone is going to answer for my wife’s pain and our loss.”

---