End of days

Chapter 33

Chapter 33

An hour later, Leah Rose's husband came out to meet Rayford and Dele at the waiting room and told them what the doctor had said.

"I thought she beat this thing before?" Rayford asked with so much pain in his voice.

"Yeah, but somehow it's back, according to the doctor"

"Can we see her?" Dele asked.

"Yeah but she is sleeping be careful not to wake her, I need to go home and check on Jonathan, his babysitter just called and said he is running temperature"

"Oh God, what is going on?" Rayford asked.

''I have no idea'' Desmond took them to his wife's room and then left to go home and check on his son.

An hour later, Leah Rose woke up to find Rayford sitting on a chair staring at her. Dele had already left to go inform their parents.

"Hey sis, you are awake"

"How long have you been here?'' Leah Rose asked weakly.

"Not for too long, how are you doing?"

"How else will I do? I have to be fine or pretend to be. It's not like I have a choice, I just have to be fine" she said looking sad.

"You don't have to pretend to be okay, we know you are in pains, it's okay to show your pains sis"

"I don't know how I'm going to cope going for chemo a second time, I don't think I can handle it. I'm scared Rayford, I feel so alone"

"No you are not alone, you have me, you have all of us; a family that loves you and most importantly you have your husband. Don't cry" he stood up and wiped her tears.

"I and Desmond are getting divorced" Leah Rose said looking away to avoid Rayford's eyes.

"I don't understand, how do you mean?"

"You heard me correctly, I'm getting a divorce"

"But why? What happened, I thought you guys were doing okay?"

"That's because, I wanted you all to think and believe we were doing okay, but we aren't. Our marriage hit rock bottom a long time ago, and we have just been pretending to be okay, but not any longer. I'm tired of pretending"

"What of your trip to Japan to reconcile things with him? I thought you said you both had worked things out?"

"No we didn't, instead we decided to get a divorce on that trip"

"But why would you lie to me? In fact that doesn't matter, what could have happened between you both that can't be reconciled?"

"He has been cheating on me for a long time now, not just with one woman but different women, I recently found out, one of them is pregnant with his child. There a limit to what I can take"

"That bastard" Rayford tightened his hand into a fist.

" Rayford'' She placed her hand over his, ''I don't want you to go fighting him please, I just want to have seamless divorce for the sake of Jonathan, I don't want anything that will drag for too long"

"Just concentrate on getting better first, we will talk about this when you're done with chemo"

"No, I want it over and done with so I can concentrate on getting better. If not for anything but for my son"

__________

When Jane and Amaka were done cleaning, she decided to call Rayford and find out what the situation of things were at the hospital, but he wasn't picking up. She dialed his number severally but he still didn't pick up.

"I think you should just chill a bit, I'm sure he would call back" Amaka said to Jane who was beginning to get worried.

"I just hope Leah Rose is okay" Jane joined Amaka who was sitting on the couch, watching a comedy skit on her phone.

Few hours later, Jane and Amaka had slept off on the couch. Jane could feel the presence of someone in the living room, she opened her eyes to find two masked persons standing over her and Amaka. And before she could make any sound, the first person covered her nose with an handkerchief, and Jane blacked out. The second person did same for Amaka and they both carried them out of the house.

It was six in the morning, and Rayford was still at the hospital with Leah Rose, he had to spend the night with her as he couldn't bear to leave her alone.

"Please I need you to go to my house and check on Jonathan, I need to be sure he is doing okay" Leah Rose said as Rayford stood up to take his leave.

"Alright I'll do that on my way to work"

"No, please Rayford I need you to go there this morning from here" Leah Rose spoke with panic in her voice.

"Why the panic Leah Rose, is anything the matter?"

"Nothing, I just need you to promise me, you will go check on Jonathan as you leave here"

"Alright I'll do that now" he bent over and kissed her on her forehead "you will be fine while I'm gone yeah?"

"Don't worry I'm a big girl"

"I'm sure mom will be here soon"

''Alright''

When Rayford got into his car, he saw his phone lying on the driver's seat. It must have fallen off while they were rushing to take Leah Rose inside the hospital. And he didn't even notice it wasn't with him all through the night.

He unlocked it and found several missed calls from Jane, his mom, and Ming. Dele must have told his mom and Ming the situation of things, so he decided to call Jane back, first. He called severally but she wasn't picking up. So he assumed she must be busy preparing for work.

When he got to Leah Rose's house, her husband was about to get into his car with their son Jonathan.

The moment Jonathan saw him, he quickly rushed and hugged his legs. "Hey big man, how are you?" Rayford carried him up.

"Fine" the little boy replied. He seemed really quite for his usual self.

"Are you guys going out?" Rayford asked as he walked up to the father who didn't look too happy seeing Rayford.

"Yes, I'm taking him to school" he replied hastily.

"But why is he not on his school uniform?"

"Daddy said we are travelling" the little boy said innocently

"You're traveling?" Rayford asked the father in shock. "Wait, was that a luggage I saw you putting into the car as I drove in?"

Desmond who wasn't in the mood to answer any of Rayford's questions, tried to take Jonathan from his hands, but Rayford held on to him. "Hand the boy over to me, I don't have time for your questions" he stretched out his arms, but this time around Rayford took a step back.

"Are you trying to run away with the boy while his mother is at the hospital?"

"He is my son and I will go wherever I choose with him, I suggest you go think of how to have yours, and stay out of other people's business!"

"He is my nephew remember?"

"And he is my son, now hand him over, now!"

Rayford took a few more steps backwards and dropped the boy on the ground, and when the father tried coming closer, Rayford pushed him back, causing him to stagger.

"Jonathan run to my car, get in, and close the door" Rayford commanded the little boy who immediately obeyed.

"Jonathan come back here!" Desmond screamed but the boy didn't answer him, instead he did exactly what Rayford had told him. "You think you can turn my own son against me? I suggest you hand that boy over to me if you don't want trouble"

"The only reason my fist hasn't made a connection with your nose yet, is because I promised my sister not to. You should be lucky I'm sticking to promise"

Rayford turned to walk to his car, but Desmond quickly rushed to the car before him. Rayford was quick enough to use his remote in locking the doors before Desmond got the chance to open it.

"I guess I don't have to stick to my promise after all" he punched Desmond hard on his nose and as he staggered, Rayford got into his car and quickly drove out of the compound.

"Jonathan, I'm sorry you had to see that, but your daddy did something bad" he turned to look at the boy who sat calmly at the back seat.

"Daddy always fight with mummy like that too" he spoke innocently.

"Your daddy beats your mummy?" Rayford asked with so much shock.

"Hmmmm" the boy nodded.

Rayford saw red, so that bastard not only cheated on his sister, he also beats her up in the presence of their son? How come he never saw any of the signs? That explains why most times Leah Rose avoided seeing him, she always claimed she was busy. Probably she was trying to hide the bruises she sustained from his beating.