Chapter 58

JAYDEN
"Carla!" I called terrified as I got into the ward. She is gasping for breath and the doctor is trying to revive her.
"Mr Romans, kindly excuse us so we can.."
"Shut the fuck up! Can't you see you're not helping her?" I yelled at him.
I rushed to the bed and carried Carla in my hands, her eyes are open looking at me.
"Darling please try, don't give up now. Please calm down. I'm here, I won't leave you. Stay with me Carla, stay with me." I said to her.
"Jay...den." She called, then she started calming down. I sighed in relief, so did the doctor and nurse.
"That's it, good girl." I commended her.
The doctor checked her heartbeat and adjusted the drip. She rested her head on my shoulder.
"What happened to her? Why did you let her get an attack again?" I scolded them.
"No Jayden, don't blame them. It's not their fault, I got too excited." Carla stopped me weakly.
"I am very sorry for this Mr Romans, be rest assured this would not happen again. I will ensure that." The doctor apologized.
"Thanks." I replied him, perhaps I was too harsh on him because I got scared for Carla's life.
He nodded, "I'll excuse you now. Come with me, you need to give her a prescription so she can rest."
"Yes doctor," the nurse said and followed him out. Once they got out of the ward, I gently laid Carla down still sitting down beside her.
What could have triggered this issue? By any chance does this have anything to do with Jerry? He better not have anything to do with this or I will make him regret the day he was born. Why did he even come here? He can't stay away from Carla when he's asked to, I will force him the hard way soon enough.
"I'm sorry I wasn't here to help you on time. Forgive me Carla, this is partly my fault." I apologized to her.
"No Jayden, this is no one's fault. I am meant go be like this anyway. I did not treat myself on time, so I became worse to the point of not being able to take any news" She replied.
'Tell me Carla, does this have anything to do with Jerry?" I asked her.
She nodded, I clenched my fists in anger. I should have broken his face when I saw him. Well it's not too late, if he is still outside.
"Don't worry about that Jayden. He has already laid for his sins enough, I'd rather not care about that. That's not my main concern now." She stopped me from moving, already noticing my mood.
Joyce walked in just then, she rushed towards Carla on the bed with tears in her eyes.
"You silly girl, how can you scare me that way. Don't ever do that or I'm going to come with you! Let's go together." She threatened Carla.
"I am sorry beautiful Joyce, I promise I'll get better so I don't have to scare you any more. You look like a baby right now." Carla replied with a smile, Joyce frowned the moment she mentioned baby.
"You!... Anyway, I made you dinner. Have some already." Joyce ordered her.
I helped her sit up, she ate the food Joyce made for her even though she didn't take much of the food. Joyce then took the rest away, she excused us to be outside a bit. Carla is still mad at me, but she talked to me at least. I still want to know what the bastard Jerry did to her, but I can't ask her due to what happened before.
She might not be able to take it again. I'd rather ask her when she is much better. She fell asleep after she was given an injection by the nurse. I went back to check on Samantha. This time I let mom stay with her, and I stayed with Carla. Joyce did not want to leave her friends but I convinced her to. She should have some rest since she has only been going up and down all day, she would be very tired.
Carla slept without turning all night, I could hear her breath so I know she is doing fine.
•••••
Today's the day. This is going to determined by the surgery, I know things will turn out well. Samantha is having her surgery ahead of Carla, I stayed with her before they will commence.
"Jayden, mom, I'm scared of how things might turn out. I want to go so I will stop being a coward. I want to live with you guys, I want to be happy too." Samantha said sadly.
"Don't be Samantha. You should know mom and I will always be there for you, we will protect you from all harm. Stay strong and don't lose hope. Please." I encouraged her.
Mom did a good job hiding her sadness. I told her before not to let Samantha see how worried she is. It could affect her greatly.
"Darling, it's just a matter of time. Things will go back to normal. It won't hurt you, I promise. You have to be strong for us, that's the only way we can go through this." Mom said, her voice getting shaky.
This is not necessarily a good thing. She's just going for a surgery she has done before. It's not like something is going to go wrong, these women seriously can't take things easy.
"Alright. That's enough, let the doctor do his job. We don't have time to waste, come on doctor." I urged the doctor, Samantha waved at mom and I as they took her away.
I waved back at her. Mom broke down the moment she was out of sight, I hugged her.
"It's fine mom, she's going to make it. You should think positively." I consoled her.
"I know son. I just can't help being sad whenever I remember how your father should have been here her. Samantha always had this from birth and we took care of her together. We promised we would watch her grow up so she can have this surgery. He also promised he would be here on this day and..."
"Mom..."
I stopped her at the sight of someone shocking, is this who I think it is? It's not possible! Mom also looked in that direction. Her pupils dilated in shock, her jaw dropped.
"Matt? Matt... You came?" Mom asked in shock. Her hands are shaky as more tears fell from her eyes, my blood became hot. The person who came with him is Jerry, how dare he show his face with my useless father?
"Katherine... Jayden..." He called us, I frowned trying to move forward but my mother stopped me
"You are not here for us, what do you want?" My mom's shaky voice suddenly turned cold. I stared at her in shock, mom does know how to change emotions very quick.
"I came here for you, I heard Samantha was having surgery today so I wanted to give you my support." He replied, his voice sounds weak and he is not standing well. Could it be they he's still sick like Jerry told me the other day?
"I don't need you Matt. You already lost the right to my kids and I when you abandoned us years ago. There's no need to show up now, it's irrelevant. Go back to your wife." Mom answered him.
I scoffed, "You should not even be showing your face. You are only going to make things worse for Samantha, I don't want to see you. You are dead to me, and I don't want you going close to Samantha or I'm going to be forced to kill you."
"Jayden, I know you are mad at me now. I have done nothing to deserve being called your father too. But I have reflected on my actions for all these years and I regret everything I have done for you. I only ask for your forgiveness, so I can have a peaceful death." He lamented.
I shook my head, does he think his pathetic story about dying is going to help me forgive him in any way? I don't care if he dies, I already buried him the moment he abandoned my mother. Did I forget he took Madeline to live with him for years, she was brought back after much maltreatment from Jerry's mother.
It's his fault Madeline turned out to be a spoilt brat. She shouldn't have lived with toxic people like Jerry and his mother. Now she became worse than a snake because of that, she had ambitions she'd not supposed to have instead of working hard for her own wealth.
"Don't try to make my son guilty Matt. By the way, what's wrong with you?" Mom asked him.
"I am very ill, my heart is weak. I don't have much time left to live, I want to use the rest of my life to make up for my mistakes. I am not saying this so you can have pity on me, I'll work for your forgiveness."
Okay now I feel guilty, I don't know what to say but I feel bad. Why is everyone around me having a heart disease, what is all this? Competition of the strongest heart? This is unacceptable, I shut my eyes and opened them back.
"It's a pity you have that illness. You and I have nothing to settle or forgive, you can ask your children to forgive you. I have nothing against you, but then you have to let Samantha get better before coming to see her." Mom announced.
I can tell mom is trying hard to hide her true feelings. I placed my hand on her shoulder, my eyes drifted to Jerry. He just stood with his hands crossed with no expression on his face, for the first time I don't want to punch his face.
"Mom, I have to check on my girlfriend." I announced, I don't want to stay here and listen to my father talk.
I may not be able to control my anger anymore, it's best I leave. Mom can take care of herself, I'll be back when they must have gone.
"You can go, I'll be waiting here. She needs you more." She smiled at me, I took one look at my father and walked away.
I got to Carla's ward where she is also prepared to have surgery. She seems to be more relaxed than Samantha, she's having a great time laughing with her friend. Here I am worried about her while she is busy laughing happily. It doesn't seem fair at all.
"Jayden." She called when I entered the ward, I smiled at her.
"Darling." She frowned, "I see you're having a good time. To think I'm worried to death while you're laughing here, it's not fair."
"Huh? Am I supposed to cry? You jerk. What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with Samantha now?" She scolded me.
Joyce got up, "I'll be outside." She glared at me, giving me a warning look before going out. That girl can be scary sometimes.
"My father came." I told her.
She gasped, "Really? And what did he say?"
"He wants to make up for his part mistakes. He wants my mother's forgiveness, and ours. He's dying, his heart is weak." I uttered.
She shook her head, "Oh dear. That's not a good sign, but it's good he wants to change for you. You should forgive him."
I stared at her in disbelief, did she just ask me to forgive my father? Haven't I told her about him before?
"Don't look at me like that Jayden, you need to forgive your father now. You may never get a chance to do it again, believe me you will regret it for the rest of your life. You're lucky you have your parents alive, I never got the chance to meet mine." She added.
"Then can you forgive me too?" I asked her, she fell silent.