The Secrets That Ruin Them

Chapter 8 – Little JackieJ

She was exhausted from the lessons she had during the morning, however Nakisha was glad that University was over for the day. It was after lunch, she felt like she could sleep, she felt her stomach tighten in hunger, but she did not go back to her new home after classes. First, she had to get a study book, so she went to the campus library to find what she needed, paying for it from her hard earned money. Then she dialled the driver, who she was stuck with thanks to this new husband of hers. She asked for him to pick her up. He had no complaints and was at the gates of the University within fifteen minutes of her asking him to collect her.

He thought she was going to go home, but she directed him where she wanted to go. They stopped at the local public hospital. The driver asked if she was OK, why she needed the hospital. She told no lies and told him she was there to do a job and to visit somebody. She could tell he wanted to ask her more, but she told him not to wait around and she would call when she was finished. Nakisha had a feeling that he would call Michal and tell the man what was going on, but she did not care, she had nothing to hide.

Making her way through the hospital, she went to the Orderly staff room, putting her backpack in the locker and quickly changed. Yes, she did not say anything to anyone about this job, and she always found a way to avoid being seen by anyone she knew. She placed a kerchief on her head, tying it under the pony tail she had put her hair into. She put a mask on her face, knowing that covid restrictions were well and truly settled, but an easier way for her to avoid being noticed. Once she was set and ready, Nakisha reported to the boss and got her duties for the day. She would be working from one to nine and gets a thirty minute meal break in that time.

Nakisha headed to the woman's unit ward, where her shift would be for the day. She did not mind it there. She got to see and speak to all kinds of different people when she worked in that unit. As an Orderly, she would assist with patient care. She would tidy up, she would help patient’s shift in the bed, she would transport patients from one part of the hospital to the other. Nakisha did her job and she did it well.

She sat with an older lady named Sophie, who had just gone through a hip replacement. She turned her over and read her a book, washing her arms and legs and face with a cloth, to make her feel comfortable. She sat with a new mother, who had a caesarian and had post natal depression, not getting to hold her baby because it was in the special care nursery. She got a wheelchair organized and she took the new mother to see her baby, standing by and watching that beautiful moment of mother and child bonding. Nakisha loved her job. It was moments like that in which she hung around for. Plus, she also needed the money.

Yet after all that, it was her meal break that she was looking the most forward too. When five o'clock hit. She left the woman’s unit and made her way down the hospital halls to the children’s unit. Nurses on duty looked at her, waved and smiled. They knew her, she was there all the time for the past week and they knew her from her work around the hospital. Making her way down to room seventeen, Nakisha lowered the mask and gave a light knock on the door, pocking her head around the frame.

The television was on, cartoons playing. A little boy with dark hair and green eyes was sitting up on the bed. The moment he heard her knock he looked up a giant smile crossing his face as he saw that it was her. Nakisha smiled happily and entered the room, pretending to pounce on the little kid, before wrapping him up in her arms in a big bear hug.

“How is my little JackieJ?” Nakisha asked.

“Better!” Jack Shaw said brightly. “I can feel my toes today!”

“Oh little man, that is good news!” she smiled. “Soon, you will be strong enough again, you’ll be winning against me in a race!”

“I always win against you Sis!” Jack laughed.

“Maybe you are just too good for me.” Nakisha teased.

“Or maybe you let me win too much.” he teased back.

Nakisha laughed, brushing a hand through her little brothers hair and kissing him on the forehead. She took a glance around the room. She could see that things were exactly the same as it had been Friday night when she had visited. The card and balloons she got for her little brother were still in the same place, nothing else added. She saw his over way had the basics, tissues, pen and paper and his dinner.

“Hey kiddo, what is with the food?” She asked.

“Oh... Well... I was not really hungry.” Jack told her.

“Come on. I’ll help you eat.” She offered.

With a tender smile, Nakisha bought the overway closer to the bed, looking at the food. There was mash potato, which she knew he would not eat. There was juice, which he would not drink. There was sausages that she knew he would eat, but he could not cut up. There was plain slices of bread and a pellet of butter to the side, but she knew he could not open the packet and butter the bread. Nakisha held back her tears, not to show Jack her sorrow, as she picked up the fork and knife, cut up the sausages and handed Jack the fork. He grabbed it, thanking her, holding the fork in his right hand that was in a fist, the head of the fork near where his thumb and pointy finger curled and his twisted his wrist to get the angle he needed. As he bought the sausages up to his mouth, he leaned back into the bed and tilted his head up just to angle the tip of the fork into his mouth so he could eat the piece of sausage off.

Nakisha said nothing to tell him off, she did not correct him, she smiled, patted his hair again and then using the knife, she worked on the slices of bread, buttering them up for her brother. She ripped the bread into small bite size pieces and then offered him a piece to the left hand. Jack took it, squeezing the bread into a mess with a closed fist hand and bought it to his mouth, chewing on it until he started chewing on his own fingers. He discarded what was left of the mangled piece of bread and Nakisha helped him get another piece of sausage on his fork.

It was the same steps, the same process for the whole half hour she had of her meal break. Helping her ten year old brother eat his meal. She cleaned his face and hands, then tucked him in for the night. She wished she could stay longer, but she needed to get back to work. Kissing Jack on the forehead, she told him she would return the next day and then she left the room. She placed the mask over her face again as she left, hiding the fact that she wiped her tears away at the same time as well. She said goodbye to the nurses and made her way back to the Woman’s Unit.

For the next three and a half hours, Nakisha worked hard and with kindness to everyone she had to deal with, she made patients smile, she made them laugh. She listened to stories and she helped them get ready for bed for the night. She felt an ache in her stomach, knowing it was because she had not eaten anything since breakfast and wondered if she should get something on the way back home or if she should make something when she returned. Maybe instant noodles would do her for the night, as she also needed to study and continue writing her thesis for University. She did not want to waste time having to cook a meal.

When nine o'clock came, she clocked off, went back to the staff room and got changed out of the Orderly uniform, putting it into the laundry pile that got cleaned every night for the staff. Leaving her hair up in the pony tail, she grabbed her backpack and called the driver, advising him she was ready to be picked up. She went to the main entrance and found a spot outside near the roadside, on a garden bed where she could sit and wait.

What she had not been expecting was while waiting a different car then the one she was expecting pulled up into the short term parking bay in front of her. She did not feel comfortable at all and grabbed her bag tight, reaching in for her phone, ready to hit her speed dial emergency number and GPS signal. However, her moment of fear did not last for long, as she saw who got out the car and she finally understood the situation. It was Ben, the driver that took Michal around every where.

“Madam.” he said with a nod, opening the rear passenger side door for her.

“Thank you.” she responded politely and got into the car.

As Nakisha settled in, Ben closed the door for her and she buckled up. It was only upon hearing the sound of a throat clearing did she look up in surprise and realise that she was not alone in the rear of the car. Michal was sitting in his usual spot and his grey eyes were looking at her sharply. Like she had expected, it would seem her driver had told Michal where she had asked to go after classes and here he was.

“Late night at the office?” she asked, breaking the ice cold pressure between them.

“I am a busy man.” Michal stated with a chill. “Yet, it is questionable why a woman would be out so late.”

“If a man can work hard and be busy, can a woman not as well?” she retorted.

“You did not tell me you would be out this late at night.” he stated.

“Must have slipped my mind.” she said with a shrug. “Oh... So you know... I will be home after nine on Monday’s to Friday’s.”

“What if I do not agree.” Michal questioned her.

“My life, my choice.” she replied to him annoyed.

“You go out in the morning, come home late at night.... Some would start suspecting you of being an escort or something like that.” Michal accused.

“Only drop kicks with sick minds would think of something like that.” she said angry.

“Then tell me or phone me next time you will be coming home so late!” he snapped back.

“Then put your number in my phone next time so I can.” she responded back hotly. “I figured your little driver you have following me called you anyway, so what is one night in question?”

She glared at the man and then turned her head, crossing her arms and looking out the window into the darkness. She was annoyed how he seemed to always think he could tell her what to do and how to do it. She was a free person and she was working hard to make a name for herself in the world. She did not need somebody to put a chain around her ankle and hold her back.