They bust in through the hospital doors, Brandon on a stretcher with Beth on one side of him and Brian on the other side. Doctors and nurses rushed around him and Brian's quick steps slowed, but Beth refused to be pried away. Halting only when a firm hand grabbed her arm, she let out a panicking mewl, her eyes desperately following the moving stretcher. The further he got, the more she struggled for freedom. Someone was barking out orders. More people in white ran towards him. Patients looked on with worry. Anxiety blanketed the air."What is happening to that young man, Beatrice?" An old man on a wheelchair croaked out, looking up at his caretaker.A cry left Beth's mouth. She had to get to Brandon. She needed to get to Brandon. In the ambulance, he had mumbled one word over and over again. Her name. Recalling how he'd sounded weaker and weaker each time, her franticness renewed with a vigor. She trembled badly. So much blood. There was so much blood. She watched his bed disappear be
Beth stood in the middle of the road, frozen. Apprehension slowly dripped down her spine like a melting icicle. Pain was an ever present companion, licking at the bottom of her belly. A wind blew, bringing with it something that scared her more than everything else... The chilling sense of acceptance. Acceptance of the horror that was to come. The truck was approaching quickly, dragging behind it the awful chugs of a shrilling wind. A zing assaulted her eardrums.The skies greyed. Storms billowed. At the center of it all was Elizabeth, completely and utterly frozen. She was the brutally tortured character, sentenced to live through a misery spun, sadness inspired tale. She could see it all... Hear it all, feel it all... But she remained unable to react. Her mother's horrified face flashed before her eyes then. Pleading. Then came the terrified face of her father. He shook his head. She smiled wearily. It was for the best. He opened his mouth."ELIZABETH!" He yelled, but it was
Seeing his body littered with bruises and looking so pale and delicate, with different machines and tubes connected to him, all beeping and puffing, her tears couldn't be stopped then. A leg was suspended up in the air with a bandage wrapped around his ankle, almost all the visible parts of him bore scrapes and wounds, some more colourful than others, and his face carried ugly purple and pink bruises, all which stood out again his pale pallor. Just before the nurse could leave, Beth turned and asked,"What's the extent of the damage?""He has two broken ribs, one fractured rib, thankfully none punctured a lung, a fractured ankle and mild bruising on his temple. The rest are just scrapes, cuts and light bruises, nothing to worry about.""And his heart?" "Has been stabilized and is responding well," the nurse answered with a nod."How about the puncture in his side? What was it from? Do you know?""A large glass shard had embedded itself in his side, missing any major organ by mere ce
As soon the car screeched to a halt, Beth undid her seatbelt and got out. In front of her was an old tall, brown and empty looking brick building. She turned when she heard Alexander, Frederico and Sherlie exit the car, and waited for the men to precede her. Walking to the door in silence, Frederico reached out to a rather hidden panel that Beth and Sherlie were only then seeing, and punched in a password. A double beep came, followed by a click. Alexander pushed the doors open and in they strode. Down a long hall and into an elevator, they arrived a short while later on a floor that swarmed with so many people dressed casually, men and women alike. Beth and Sherlie gaped with surprise. Based off the outward appearance of the building, no one would have ever expected it to be packed and be in such busy and pristine condition."What is this place?" Beth whispered, sweeping her eyes over every nook and cranny of the large room."A hidden headquarters.""Of what? Wade industries?""You
Hours turned to yet another day...Days melted into a week...Still, Brandon remained in a coma. Dealing with her nightmares became harder with passing each day. Everyday, bright and early, she would turn up at the hospital, only to be forced to return home at the end of the day, forlorn and downcast. On some days, when the hospital took pity on her, they let her stay, but even on those days, the familiar ache in her chest worsened. Pure sorrow. She sat on the chair beside his bed, staring at Brandon's face. For days, she had mulled over it... For days she had questioned it. For days she had wept over it. For days, it had tormented her. She knew she had to do it, she knew it, but how? How? Pulling herself up, she let her gaze drop to the floor and headed out the room. Her body cried with exhaustion. Her head ached. Her shoulders had a permanent slouch with the weight of the choice she had no choice but to make, and all of the pain, all of the weariness, all of the torment, she let
With her mind travelling a mile a minute and her sight obscured by all the tears, coupled with the burning sensation in her heart, Beth didn't know where she was going. Turning down numerous corners and evading everything that moved, she came to a white door and barged in. Catching herself late, she winced, scolded herself under her breath and turned to apologize to the occupant of the room when she saw the mysterious old man who had spoken to her in the hall. Turning to see who had entered his room, he looked her over... And smiled warmly."I am so sorry," she rushed out. "I didn't mean to come in like that--""What's the matter?" His head tilted to the side.Beth paused, blinked and turned away. "I'll just go. I'm sorry.""Where?"She froze then. Where? Her erect shoulders quivered. Slowly, she shook her head."Stay. I insist. Come sit here."Biting her lower lip in contemplation, she threw her head back and let out a groan, then turned."Come," he beckoned, his smile ever present.
New York traffic was no joke. In Beth's opinion, conquering it deserved a medal. As they cruised through it, proving right the term 'slow and steady wins the race,' the tension reduced and reduced until it finally died. A few minutes later, Beth chuckled. Byron sent her a glance."Your left and right hooks are pretty mean."He smirked then. "One of the essentials to being on the football team."She just laughed and shook her head and he sported a smile of his own. As they pushed through the traffic, Byron kept glancing at her."Are you okay?" He finally asked.The atmosphere was easy and light. She pulled in a deep breath, peeked at him and let it out. "I'm okay.""I understand why you're leaving."Her easy smile fell. "What?""I understand why--""You didn't say why I want to leave."He shook his head."Why?""I know you don't want to leave.""I'm only doing this because--""The pattern. I know, sweetheart." He reached out and took her hand. "I know."She stared at him a while longe
Stepping out of the room and beginning the journey down the halls, the first person Beth bumped into, literally, was Mia, and not too far behind her was a little boy. From the look of things, they were playing tag. "Sorry!"She was going to go past Beth when Beth grabbed her shoulders."Mia."Her little head shot up and almost immediately, excitement entered her eyes."Aunty Beth!" She threw herself at Beth, climbing her when Beth's hands went under her arms. Chuckling, Beth hugged the little girl to herself, patting her back and watching the little boy come to a halt before them and scan her inquisitively. She scanned him right back. Something about the boy looked jarringly familiar, but before Beth could place it, Mia pulled back and exploded into a rant. "Aunty, I have been looking for you. We checked the toilet, the roof--""The roof?!"Mia nodded enthusiastically, a small, emphatic frown on her face. "Yuh-huh. We even went to the reecpon. You were nowhere. Where did you go?
EPILOGUE One year later Brandon had travelled exactly six months after the birth of his daughter, needing to complete the project in Australia and then another in Africa. They had made a habit of speaking over video calls every day, and while it was not what Brandon wanted, he still got to watch his daughter grow. He got to hear her say her first words and was even lucky enough to see her take her first steps. Bernice was one of those kids who maintained their hair and eye colors from birth and she was absolutely gorgeous. Every time he looked at his daughter and woman, he couldn’t help but feel so thankful and protective. What would he do when she was grown enough to start going out with boys? It rose his blood pressure just thinking about it. Beth was just happy she had had Brandon for the early stages because heaven knew that it hadn’t been easy. Bernice had turned one just two days ago and was already walking, howbeit unsteadily, pronouncing a few words, had a small set o
Brandon left a week later.Not being able to accompany him because her doctor had advised against it, and being fully aware that it was a five months long trip, Beth had spent numerous nights lying in tears and even more nights lying awake. Even though they spoke as much as they could over the phone and she fell asleep to the sound of his voice a lot of the time, it still wasn’t enough. Nothing beat his physical presence. At her eighth month, Jasmine and Byron had appeared at the house and bundled her and Lola away, much to Micah’s delight. Comforting herself with the fact that she was now an aunt, Beth took to caring for her new nephew, Malachi, Sherlie as much as she could. It was a welcome distraction herself from her loneliness, too. “Beth?” She had just put the sleeping Malachi in his crib. She turned and watched Sherlie enter.“There you are. He’s asleep?”She nodded, smiling.Sherlie had her hand and was pulling her out the next second. Beth rolled her eyes an
Dedicating a whole five minutes one morning to begging her not to do anything she shouldn’t and then going ahead to prepare her a healthy breakfast of steak and vegetables because she just absolutely loved her meat, Brandon finally went and got ready for work, then devoted another five minutes into pleading with her to eat and rest. As a plus, he had somehow gotten the eight months pregnant Sherlie to leave work and come spend time with her. That afternoon, she ended up fussing over Sherlie and lulling her to sleep. Sherlie’s pregnancy wasn’t a walk in the park either and as she neared her due date, extra care had to be taken. Though, how she escaped the horrible nausea and got to go to work and do whatever she wanted, Beth didn’t know. Lucky.Rebalancing on the feet, Beth heaved and planted her hands on her waist. Looking up, she licked her dry lips and sighed. It was further than it looked. Pulling in a deep breath, she pushed up on her tiptoes again and stretched up as far as she c
After throwing up that morning and sending Brandon a small, pleading smile, they relaxed together a bit and then went for the party. No sooner than her feet touched the ground of Brian and Sherlie’s home did a wave of dizziness, so strong and overwhelming, hit her. Somehow, she was able to strengthen her grip on the car door and avoid falling to the ground. Brandon was out of the car and beside her in no time.“Beth—”“I’m okay. I promise.” She took his hand and squeezed lightly. “I’m fine,” she reaffirmed, pleading with her eyes.He was going to haul her away and apologize later when Brian and Sherlie showed up.“Beth!”She turned and went to embrace her best friend and Brandon watched her go, glaring at her back. Smiling at the hugging women, Brian approached and extended a hand to Brandon. Brandon clasped it and pulled him in for a brotherly hug.“What’s wrong, man?”Brandon glanced at the women who were now making their way into the house practically glued at the hips and said, “S
Two years later…Brandon watched his sleeping wife with a worried look on his face.She had returned from work earlier looking rather pale and drained. When he had asked her what was wrong, she had given him a weak smile and waved him off. Mere minutes later, he’d found her asleep on the couch with her laptop open in front of her. His worry had begun when he had carried Beth, the usually light sleeper, up to the room and she hadn’t budge. Not once. Less than forty minutes later, Micah had called to ask how she was. Apparently, she had been sick in the office earlier, after which she passed out. After assuring Micah, Brandon sat, lost. Why hadn’t she told him? What was wrong with her?By the time she awoke three hours later, he already had dinner ready and waiting. Pulling her down on his lap at the dining table, he held her there and just watched her eat. Beth turned after a while and finally asked,“What’s up?” His silence was unusual. After observing her for a while, he sigh
Elizabeth pulled in a deep, sharp breath and froze as pain like no other whipped and tore through her. Her body revolted instantly and wanted the intruder out with a desperation that threatened to drive her mad. She wasn’t aware of the tears that had built up and were flowing down her cheeks until she felt a gentle thumb brush against it and cup it. Then, Brandon’s ragged breaths reached her ears.Brandon was beside himself with ardent shock and raw bliss. His strength had never been put to the test like it was then. He had thought the initial opening was tight, but then…“Fuck.”His jaw was clamped shut. His body trembled. She was so tight, it was almost painful. Everything within him roared so harshly, he had trouble breathing. Yet, he remained still, stretching the quickly thinning walls of his self-control. She clung on to him like a second skin, squeezing for all she was worth. He couldn’t tell where he ended and where she begun.So tight.So very tight.“Fucking hell.” Fighting
When Brandon woke up, the sun was on its way to setting and beautiful hues of pink, light brown and the palest purple decorated the sky, giving it an eye capturing glow. The light of the sky danced into the room through the open slide doors, accompanied by the gentle evening breeze, bathing the room in gentle lights even as the breeze lifted the transparent curtains, giving the room an ethereal, peaceful feel. It was a story book sight. One a photographer would love to capture. Absolutely gorgeous, yet, as extraordinary as it was, Brandon found himself sneered and captured by the nymph partially atop him. She moved in her sleep, grazing his sleep hardened manhood with her thigh, and he closed his eyes and let out a groan.“Sorry,” she mumbled.He opened his eyes and looked down at her. At the same time, she rose sleep softened eyes up at him and smiled.“Hey.”He returned her smile. “Hey.”“Did you sleep well?”She dragged her thigh over his bulge as he went to respond and watched hi
Looking at the door, she bit her lip in contemplation and, finally making up her mind, pushed the door open. The sound of water pelting the floor reached her ears and she paused, staring at the closed shower glass. He was taking a bath? Not knowing whether to stay or go, in the next few seconds, Beth just stood there and twiddled her thumbs in thought, deciding to be brave at the last second. Creeping to the closed shower doors, she glanced behind her once to check that the door was still open just in case she needed to bolt, then rose a small fist and knocked the glass. “Brandon?” Water kept pouring. Being able to make out his blurry form through the thick, wet glass, she waited and watched, squinting her eyes to catch a reaction. Resisting the urge to press her face against the glass, she relieved her eyes of the strain and settled for waiting. No response. Pulling and biting on her cheek wall, she glanced around and knocked again. “Brandon?” She counted down the seconds, but
The next day was claimed by work, bright and early. While that was a damper, Beth took it all in good stride. After all, she was a firm believer in doing anything to get what you want.While Brandon sat at his desk in his newly incorporated home office receiving calls, sorting faxed files and taping away at his laptop, Beth was with him every step of the way, being the perfect distraction. When she wasn’t helping him sort through his papers, she was playing with Lola, bending over, taking off items of clothing—because of the terrible heat—whispering in his ear what she could just say out loud, laughing softly, or just plain staring, and whenever he caught her, she would hold his gaze, smile and turn away.2 p.m. rolled around and deciding that he needed to see some people in person and get other things sorted, Brandon announced that he was making a quick trip to the office. Now, what kind of a wife would Beth be if she didn’t tag along? After ensuring that Lola had enough food and wat