Answers…
“Can we all sit down and have a conversation like humans? Without you barking like a dog you know and throwing tantrums. I thought you were better than that, Silver. I don’t even know how we got here.” Nathan said, sounding really frustrated.
“We can but your lovely girlfriend walked out on you already.” Silver responded but Nathan paid no attention to her.
“Wait here.” He instructed and walked into the bedroom to have a conversation with Demelza.
“Mel please, give me some time to figure it out.” Nathan tried reasoning with her.
“What do you want to figure out, Nathan? I need you to tell me. What exactly?” Her breath labored as the tears flowed freely from her eyes. Nathan had never seen her this broken before, and it hurt his heart badly.
He knew there had to be a way to fix things; especially the issue of Silver staying in the same house. It was something she could never bear, and personally, Silver was a thorn in his flesh.
“She will leave, Mel. I will find a place for her at the outskirts of town, and she would leave really soon.” He tried to find her eyes, but she wasn’t ready to look at him yet.
“Mel?” he called out to her.
She didn’t reply, but he was sure she heard him, so he continued.
“She is never going to come in between us. I promise you.”
He saw her eyes brighten up a little, and he continued, hoping to get his desired effect.
“First, I want to take her to the hospital to confirm her pregnancy. I don’t trust her one bit and for my sake too, I need to prove her wrong.”
“For our sake, I hope she’s wrong too. But I am a woman, and I know the things we lie about. Silver isn’t lying on this one. So if you want to confirm, feel free, but also start thinking of alternatives just in case she’s actually carrying your child.”
She stood up, headed for the closet, and begins to unpack some of her clothes there.
“And what are you doing, Mel?”
“Clearly, I’m preparing myself for the worst, Nat,”
At this point, Nathan knew better than to spend another minute asking further questions. He marched down to the other room and demanded an immediate audience with Silver outside.
“Why? You want to take me somewhere?” She blurted out.Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.
“Silver, I need you to step out with me now. We need to talk, please,” He asked again, a little politely.
“Well, I overheard you and your little girlfriend talking already, and since you want proof, let’s go. Let’s go get you some proof,” She rose from the chair she sat on, and walked past him, flinging her hands wildly in the air.
Nathan could hardly wonder what was getting her so pumped up. Were pregnant women not supposed to be calm, composed and worrying about their unborn child?
By the time he came out, she was flagging down a cab already and since he was not in the mood to stress, he joined her.
Driving himself at this point was not something that anyone would advise him to do; not even himself. So, when the first cab stopped right in front of them, he made his destination known.
“James Towers Medical,”
“Best care for body health,” the driver hollered back immediately he finished.
“What?” he asked, trying to understand.
“Oh, first timers,” the middle aged driver, who looked like he had tons of experience on the road murmured into the back of his palm, “Enter mate. I see you need to get there in record time,”
He wasn’t wrong. Nathan was tired of Silver’s presence already, and if for any reason the test results came out negative, she would be gone that instant.
They entered into the car; Silver first, and then Nathan. The ride started, quietly, with only the sound of the engine, and the driver’s continuous humming.
Then, he turned on the radio, blaring loud sounds of pop music from the car speakers. He immediately reduced the volume when he saw the face of his passengers’ cringe.
Nathan was utterly turned off. For one, he didn’t like pop music, which he felt was a mix of all instruments at their loudest. He sometimes wondered why they had to shout, and how their fans never got deaf.
Today, that was not his problem, but he needed the sound to stop.
“Can you turn it off completely or change it to something else?”
“I will change then.” He complied, taking his eyes from the rear mirror he was watching earlier to the radio set.
The next channel was a news channel, and it served a much better function than the first. Nathan relaxed a little into the seat of the car, and closed his eyes.
Silver was affixed to her phone, turning at intervals to look at Nathan. She must have felt like talking or saying a few words, but she read his mood, and kept to herself instead.
Finally, they arrived the grand hospital building; a white painted edifice that stood taller than the others lined up on that side of the street. Nathan stepped out first as usual, and kept the door open for Silver to alight too.
Nathan paid the fare, adding an extra tip for his driving abilities, or anything else he must have offered. He looked to confirm the name of the place, and he saw it.
James Towers Medical Centre…best care for body health.
He realized why the driver had said what he said. He shrugged his shoulders and walked in, guiding Silver down the hallway to the reception desk.
“Can we see a doctor, please?” Nathan beckoned to the first friendly face he saw.
“Yes, you can, but we need to know, sir. What’s the emergency?”
“Oh no, there’s none. We, she just needs to take a test. That’s all. If you could assist us with the procedure,”
“What test is that sir?” She asked, looking directly at Silver.
“Oh yes, a pregnancy test.”
“Okay. Have this sir,” she handed a form to me, which I took a quick glance at, and handed over to Silver.
“She fills that, and then maximum 10mins she should be seeing the laboratory scientist for a quick test.” She ended, signaling with her eyelids that she was done with us.
We moved back and found a chair to sit. Silver had started filling the blank spaces on the form. She stopped at different points in the form to verify or confirm something she didn’t understand.
Nathan would attend to her on the ones he understood, and overlook the ones he didn’t. When she was done, the form was taken to the nurse who attended to them at first.
“Follow me,” She gestured to Silver, and led the way down the other half of the hallway before turning to the right.
Nathan seemed uncomfortable with the idea of Silver going in alone, so he followed immediately after their bodies had turned. He met the nurse returning, and acted like he needed to make another enquiry.
“Yeah, hello. I just needed to make sure she didn’t need anything else for the procedure.”
“No, it is actually a very simple process. A draw of blood, and she’s free to go. Within ten, fifteen minutes, the result would be out.”
She turned to proceed to wherever she needed to be, and he knew he had to come out plain, “Thing is, she claims she has my baby, and I need to be sure she’s not bluffing and…”
“If what you are implying is a rig action, where she has access to manipulate the result, no. It’s not possible here sir. A machine translates the results and sends it over to the reception desk where we file before handing over to the patient,” She revealed smiling, an indication of how proud she felt about their technology.
Then she continued, “Rest assured, the process is completely transparent,”
“Alright. I will take your word for it. I’ll be waiting over there,” Nathan heaves, trying to convince his guts that she was right.
Silver was out the next minute, holding unto her hands, the area where they probably had drawn blood from. She joined Nathan on the chair with the latter creating enough space for her to sit comfortably.
“Are you okay? He asked.
She wasn’t his enemy and it was appropriate to know.
“I am,” She threw back a cold response.
He turned his face forward, and kept his cool. He was to count ten minutes from now before he would start getting impatient. His foot tapped lightly on the floor, creating a rhythm.
Silver’s eyes darted in his direction, and he stopped, conscious of the sound he was creating.
“Nat Silver?” the voice of the nurse at the reception desk rang out to his ears.
Nat Silver? He turned to Silver. “Really?”
She smiled, grabbed her pouch, and strode out majestically.
“Yes,” She replied, Nathan following directly behind her.
“Your result is ready. Please move over to the counter over there to collect,”
Nathan was first to move. The lady over there was waiting with the folded paper in her hands. Nat grabbed it off her hands, and peeled it open.
“Congratulations, Mr. Nathan. She’s pregnant.”
His ears heard first, and then his eyes confirmed. The results read positive. Silver was not lying after all.
He turned and met her grinning from side to side, obviously overhearing the nurse’s announcement.
Something had to be done about her, and fast.