Chapter 7: TRICKED

"How are you, my love ?" Mrs. Lucy Blaydes asked as she sat beside Audrey and tucked back her daughter"s beautiful strawberry blonde hair from her sweaty forehead.
"Where is my baby, Mom ? I want to hold my baby in my arms. Please tell the nurse to bring my baby to me. I can't wait to see my little angel," Audrey requested her mother with pleading eyes.
"Here, have some water first, darling, Let me call your dad and the doctor," Mrs. Blaydes replied.
"Mom, hold up," Audrey squeezed her mother"s hand. "Where is my baby ?" she repeated. Sternly this time.
Her mother hesitated for a moment before replying but she was saved from answering to her daughter when the door suddenly flung open and in a harsh voice Mr. Tyler Blaydes announced, "You gave birth to a still born baby ! I told you this was dangerous."
After hearing the cruel words of her fate, Audrey stilled as white shock reigned over her senses. What ?! Still born ?
As her mind finally processed the words, she realized that she had lost something that she had never seen.
Her cheeks started streaming with tears and before she knew it, she was sobbing uncontrollably and bitterly.
"What happened to my baby ? Was there anything that I did to make this happen ?" an inconsolable Audrey asked as waves of intense grief, guilt and sharp pain passed through her heart.
"No ! How can you say that, dear ? You are not at fault," Lucy Blaydes nixed and clasped her daughter"s hands in hers.
"Then why ? Why, mom ?" Audrey sobbed hysterically.
"Control yourself, Audrey ! Control yourself. You didn't do anything wrong," Lucy Blaydes comforted her trembling daughter, shamelessly telling the half truth.
"Then what happened to my baby ? Why did God give me a baby just to take it back to him ?" Audrey asked repeatedly, gripped in the invisible chains of her fresh trauma .
"It is an inevitable part of life—something that virtually all of us go through at some point, my child," her mother consoled.
"Mom, a wife who loses a husband is called a widow. A husband who loses a wife is called a widower. A child who loses his parents is called an orphan. There is no word for a parent who loses a child," Audrey gasped out as she cried bitterly for her dead baby. "That"s how awful this loss is that no one can provide a name to this pain which a parent feels," she cried as it felt unnatural to her, as a parent, to outlive her child.
She reminisced how she had waited for nine long months to hold her baby and start her family with her beloved, Dmitri.
They had even decided the baby names, Melody for their daughter and Marcus if blessed with a son.
She always thought that a baby would make her bond with Dmitri stronger, days shorter, nights longer, home happier, clothes shabbier and the future worth living for.
Getting a confirmation report of her pregnancy and going for monthly scans where she heard the tiny beating heart had made her fall in love with her unborn, unseen child.
The loss of a child is devastating. I've not just lost the baby. I've lost years of promise, hopes and dreams that lay ahead, Audrey thought as the grief she felt was intense.
And indeed, the harsh reality was that the news of her still born child had crushed everything from her dreams to her heart. The bereavement process was harder for her to navigate and the trauma more acute.
Audrey, still under the spell of anesthesia, fell asleep sobbing soon.
"Where is Dmitri, Dad ? Why has he not come to meet me ?" Audrey asked as she woke up from the effect of the medicines. "Dmitri must be grieving at the grave of our baby alone. I need to be with him. He must have been on the same trajectory of grief as me. He has no one except for me in this whole wide world to lean on," she said as she had no recollection of Dmitri being there and tried to get up and put her slippers on.
"Audrey, you have not eaten anything since morning and are just mourning the loss of your baby. Eat something," Lucy Blaydes said with a look of concern on her face.
"At least, have some soup. It will give you energy to recuperate from the surgery," Tyler Blaydes added.
"No dad, don't change the topic. First take me to Dmitri. He needs me," Audrey obstinately nixed her parents" suggestions and tried to get up inspite of her mother trying to help her lay back.
"You won"t like it, princess," Tyler shook his head.
"I don"t care, father ! I need to go !! Please let me go," she pleaded. Dmitri must need her as much as she needed him.
"Then you need to brace yourself to hear the truth, dear. You have to be strong," Tyler said as he feigned sorrow and concocted a false story against the love of her life.
"Please don't talk in riddles, Dad," a weary Audrey requested, her mind already engulfed in pain and grief. "I just want to know where is Dmitri ? Is that question so difficult to answer ?"
"Ok," Tyler huffed with a sense of resignation. "If you are so insistent and ready to face the truth then let me get straight to the point. The shocking reality is that you lost your baby at the hands of Dmitri," the wicked Tyler Blaydes framed the innocent doctor. "He was careless and he cost you your baby. I knew that lowly doctor was no good for you but you never listened !"
"How could this be possible, Dad ? You are either mistaken or are lying to me," a disheartened Audrey said who had more trust in Dmitri than anyone else.
"Dmitri was never in love with you, Audrey," Tyler harshly replied, his temper rising from the fact that his daughter trusted that good-for-nothing man over her own kin and blood. "He wanted to get rid of the baby, so during your surgery god knows how he handled your case and at the end, we had to pay the price of his negligence and lost our precious grandchild," he added heart broken, with fake tears misting his eyes.
Audrey couldn't believe her ears. She was already grieving the loss of her baby and was now, devastated after knowing that she had been deceived by the love of her life.
"Mom, is it true what dad just said ?" Audrey asked, her voice trembling. She felt like a person made of stone having no control over anything around her and her life.
"Yes, it is all true, child ! We wanted to file a police complaint against him but thought otherwise because of your love towards him," Lucy Blaydes dabbed her eyes to wipe her crocodile tears. "If only we had known before," she added, regret lacing her voice.
"We pleaded with Dmitri to wait for you to regain consciousness but he was shameless enough to just flee the scene and hospital for good, leaving you here all alone to bereave,'' the filthy rich diamantaire said in a sympathetic voice.
This heart-rending news was the last straw that broke the camel"s back. And then started the explosive waterworks.
Her dreams shattered and heart broken, she behaved like a benumbed zombie, shuffling to the bathroom, getting soup and going back to bed.
She cried in gasps, wept softly and yelled at the sky and continued to say the word 'no' whenever anyone tried to do something for her.
Seeing Audrey crying uncontrollably with pain in her heart and in her stitches, Lucy Blaydes threw her arms around her and gave her a comforting hug as she rubbed an incision on her stomach.
"I wish we could remove this," she murmured.
"Mom, it is a battle scar of which I'm proud of. It is the testimony of my true love and mark left by my baby for life," Audrey sobbed while reminiscing about the happy moments spent during her pregnancy.
After sedating Audrey to sleep, Lucy Blaydes turned towards her husband as they walked out of her room and said, "A sleepless night and a restless day has done little for Audrey"s disposition. I'm really concerned about my daughter's good."
"Give her some time to imbibe and assimilate what we have just told her about Dmitri and her daughter. We can't rush in matters of the heart," Tyler pacified her.
"Did you check with the hospital director if Dr Dmitri has left the town or not," his wife asked.
"Dmitri dare not go against my command but I will still check with the hospital authorities today itself," he said and instructed Lucy to start preparing for Audrey"s discharge from the hospital in a couple of hours.
"How was your day ?" Lucy asked as Tyler returned home from work.
"It was quite a hectic day as there were some tax related issues to be resolved in office," answered Mr Blaydes.
"Did you check the status of Dmitri ?" Mrs Blaydes asked.
"Dmitri and his daughter have left the town for good, nothing to worry about,"Tyler assured Lucy after checking from his reliable sources.
"Are you sure he will not return to haunt our daughter"s bright future ?" she asked.
"He better dare not ! I'll crush him like a fly, if even thinks of going against me. And he knows this quite well," Tyler gruffly replied.
"It's a good riddance ! That middle class doctor was no match to our beautiful daughter," the proud mother said in disgust.
"I know, he was no match to our reputed family. We got rid of him and the child. Now our daughter can fulfill her long cherished dreams and marry a businessman of our repute," Mr. Blaydes showed his true colors.
"But what will we do if Audrey starts searching for hospital records and starts investigating the matter herself ? How will we stop her ?" Mrs. Blaydes worriedly asked.
"I foresaw this coming so I've arranged for our relocation tomorrow to another city- to our headquarters where no one knows her personally and she won't insist on investigating anything,'' Tyler replied.
"That is a brilliant idea ! No wonder your meticulous planning to the minutest detail makes you one of the best businessmen in the country," Lucy praised.
* * * *
"How do you like the new house, Audrey ?" Lucy asked, stroking her head gently.
"The surroundings are new and beautiful but my internal turmoil stays the same. There is always a guilt about where I went wrong," a disheartened, expressionless Audrey murmured as if stoned again.
"Perhaps ! But mending a broken heart takes self-compassion. So stop blaming yourself ! It can"t be rushed, and it might take some time, but healing is possible, if you allow it to happen," Lucy imparted words of wisdom.
"Learn to stay positive," Tyler grunted, making his wife roll her eyes and intervene to soften the blow.
"You have to rebuild yourself, dear. You can't waste your one precious lifetime in the memories of a person who didn't give a damn about you and your love. You were just an object for passing his time, a worthless arm candy to flaunt in his eyes," her mother added vitriol to the fire.
"Your mother is right. Not everything is lost. No man can define you. Get back on your feet and do something with your life, your career and your dreams," Mr. Blaydes encouraged.
"Yes father. I have to prove my worth to myself and to the world. I have to build back myself and be an example for those out there in society who have been left in a lurch like me," Audrey resolved.
"I expected this only from you, my strong little girl," a relieved Lucy Blaydes said while kissing Audrey"s head.
"I want to start afresh. I'll focus on my career and do some philanthropy work before I close my eyes and leave for my grave," Audrey said with iron will.
"Hush you ! Don't talk about death, my child. May you reach the zenith of your career and live a long, prosperous life," Lucy wished.
"Audrey, you can inspect our private state of the art gym as desired by you," Tyler interjected.
* * * * *
"Your new gym instructor is waiting for you in the lounge," Lucy informed after a few days.
"Dad, could you also please ask your secretary to arrange a meeting with Mr Davis for me," Audrey requested.
"If I remember correctly, Mr Davis is the same person who works with a reputed modeling agency, right ? Wasn"t he the one who contacted you ten months back for a modeling contract, which you denied outright at that time ?" Lucy asked.
"Right. But now things are different and I am ready to take the plunge" Audrey replied coldly.
The world was hers to conquer now. And nobody could stop her. Nobody !