Her Worst Fear

Carla’s POV

My eyes fluttered open to meet with a dim, sterile light. The smell of drugs and antiseptic filled my nostrils, making me slowly become aware of where I was. I was lying on the hospital bed, putting on the usual patient gown and I could feel the weight of the blanket, tucked firmly around me. I looked beside me only to find a beeping monitor and IV line taped to my skin. I managed to get myself to sit up

I felt a slight headache as I tried remembering how I had gotten there. The last thing I could remember was being stood up at the altar by Charles but how I had gotten there was something I had no idea of. I looked around to see if there was someone nearby but there was no one. Just then, Amelia walked in, looking all tired.

“You’re awake? Are you hurting anywhere?” Amelia asked as soon as she walked into the room, with concern etched on her face. She sat on the bed with me, touching the parts of my body she could, to make sure I was okay and free of pain. I smiled as I was thankful for having a friend like her.

“Where is Charles?” that was the question I asked as I looked around the room, ignoring Amelia’s concern. Hearing this, I noticed a change in her mood. The concern which was evident on her face earlier vanished, only to be replaced by annoyance and disgust.

“Are you nuts? Are you sure you are fine? Despite you being in this condition, you are still asking after that idiot? Have you forgotten what he did to you at the altar?” she queried, her voice stern and her eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. It was evident that she was angry at how stupid I was but the love I had for Charles was more than she could understand.

“Amelia, calm down” I said, as I rested my back on the bed, trying to explain things to her.

“I know he left me at the altar but there must be a reason for that. Something urgent must have happened. I think we should listen to his own side of the story before judging him. We can have the wedding another day. We still have enough days ahead of us. Anyways, where is he? Did he go downstairs to get something?” I asked like a fool clouded by love, looking at Amelia for answers. Instead of her to respond, she only burst out laughing.

I was surprised as I didn’t know what had gotten into her. I was forced to ask her, the reason for her laughter.

“Amelia,what’s the problem?” I asked, as I furrowed my face in confusion. Eventually, she stopped laughing.

“Sorry for the laughter” she said as she took a deep breath, trying to steady her breathing before she continued.

“It’s just funny how delusional you are. You have enough days ahead? You can plan another wedding? With whom if I may ask? Huh?” she asked as she smirked and locked her eyes with mine, as if she was daring me to mention his name. At that junction, confusion had begun to wash over me.

“What does she mean with whom? What is going on?” I questioned myself silently, as I looked Amelia in the eye and it seemed as if there was something I was unaware of. Something that made her so confident that I wouldn’t have another chance with Charles again.

“What do you mean by with whom? With Charles of course” I managed to say as I studied her reaction, trying to know what was going on.

“With Charles? As his second wife or what?” she asked, with her words hanging in the air, trying to get a response from me.

“What do you mean by his second wife? It’s not as if he is married to anyone. Stop pulling my legs and tell me where he is” I responded as I chuckled softly, thinking that Amelia was just trying to play me.

“Pulling your legs? No, I am not. Oh, my bad!!!” she said as she got up from the bed, stood a few meters away from me and held her head as if she had remembered something. By this time, her actions had become more confusing and she was beginning to scare me.

Facing me, she finally let out those words. The words that made me finally let go of all the hopes I had of Charles.

“You had blacked out for two days and within those two days, Charles got married. In fact, his wedding was the talk of the town” she said to me, as she smiled sheepishly. The words came out of her mouth so freely, that had I thought she was actually joking.

“I know you do not like Charles but you do not have to tarnish his image to make me hate him. How can he get married? Even if he was to get married, it would be to me or did we get married while I was in coma?” I asked laughing, as I couldn’t make any sense out of what she had said.

She looked at me with pity and instead of her to respond, she shook her head and brought out her phone. After pressing the phone for few seconds, she threw it right in front of me and said “Watch for yourself”.

“What do you want me to watch? Just tell me where Charles is and stop being ………..” I said as I slowly picked up her phone but what I saw there, made the words stuck in my throat. My hands began to tremble as I watched the video. My lips trembled and I tried forcing out some words out of my mouth, wanting Amelia to assure me that what I had saw wasn’t real, that it was all a prank but the words wouldn’t come out.

There he was!!! The man who had left me at the altar two days ago, getting married to the woman he had told me they were no longer together. The one he had cheated on me with and had a child with. The one he had left me for on our wedding day to go meet.

I saw how he had genuinely smiled at her in the video and it wasn’t evident that he was not forced to marry her, he chose to do so. I watched as they exchanged vows and the promises which he was supposed to make to me two days earlier, were being made to her.

I felt my heart tearing apart. The betrayal hit different. The pain I had felt when I first found out about her and her child’s existence was nothing compared to what I had felt at the hospital that day. Tears began to roll down my cheeks and my heart was beating so fast that I felt it would burst out anytime soon.

“Where did it all go wrong? What did I do to deserve this? He promised me. He promised me to never hurt me or make me shed tears again. He told me I was the only one for him. He told me he would never have anything to do with her again. Was everything he said a lie? Has he been deceiving me all along?” I muttered to myself, as I cried uncontrollably, trying to figure out why he had done that.

Amelia just stood still as she watched me cry. She neither yelled at me nor offered me solace. She left me to cry my heart out and there I sat, as I cried myself to stupor. After hours of crying with numerous thoughts running through my head as to why he had done what he did, I made up my mind to confront him. I needed to know why he did that and so, I picked up my phone to call him.

“What are you doing?” Amelia, who was watching asked, as I held my phone close to my ear.

“I am calling him. I need to hear it directly from him. The reason he left me, he needs to tell me!!!” I yelled, letting out my anger.

“The reason? Does that really matter? Will it change the fact that he left you? Huh?” Amelia asked, looking frustrated.

“It won’t but I still need to know. Maybe I wasn’t good enough for him. Maybe there is something he doesn’t like about me that I need to change. Who knows? He might come back to me if I know what the problem is and I work on myself” I responded, feeling desperate to have him back in my arms but what I didn't know was that, you can never make a man who doesn’t want to be by your side stay, no matter how hard you try.

“Okay, do what suits you” Amelia responded, as she leaned on the wall. It was evident that she was tired of convincing me to accept reality. I dialed his line countless of times but he never picked. It just kept on ringing. When I couldn’t hold it anymore, I decided to head over to his new abode. I removed the IV line which was taped to my skin, got up from bed, put on my slippers, took my phone and headed for the door.

Amelia didn’t say a word. She didn’t ask me where I was heading to. All she did was to watch as I took each step towards the door. Just as I was about exiting the room, my phone rang. My heart beat as I had thought it was Charles who had called back but upon checking the phone screen, I realized the call was from Mia’s school.

Picking the call, I heard the voice of her class teacher.

“Hello, Miss Evans” the caller had said, her voice a mix of sorrow and worry.

“Hello, Miss Anna. How are you doing? Is anything the problem?” I asked, trying to hide my sorrow.

“It’s Mia” she said,taking a long pause as if she didn’t know what to say next. Her silence got me worried and suspicious.

“Mia? What’s the problem with her?” I asked, worry evident in my voice.

“I am sorry to bring forth this news but Mia was involved in a car accident. She has been rushed to the hospital but she is in a critical condition. We are currently at Hope for the Living Hospital. Your attention is needed here” she said as she dropped the bombshell.

“What?” I screamed as my hand began to tremble and my phone slipped off it. It collided with the floor, making a loud noise, which called Amelia’s attention to me. Swiftly moving towards me from where she had leaned, she asked me what the problem was but I couldn’t bring myself to talk. I just stood still dumb, trying to process what I had heard.

When the realization of the matter at hand finally hit me, I took to my heels, rushing to the hospital where Mia had been taken to, with Amelia running after me, calling my name, trying to make me stop but I never did.