Against All Odds

Chapter 2

“ Sign here and uhm…”, the lawyer said while Vanessa stole glances of Damian. What on earth are you doing? Is this right? You barely know this guy and you’re already getting married?

Several thoughts swirled aimlessly in different directions through her mind. Damian signed the papers and pushed them to vanessas side of the table. Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

She took the pen from him as her heart raced faster. What if he was a bad guy?what if she was making the biggest mistake of her life?vanessa wished an angel could fall from heaven and tell her exactly what the right thing to do was.just then, damians voice brought her back to the reality before her eyes.

“We are running late. I need to sort some documents in the office. Hurry!”

Vanessa sucked in a deep gasp of breath and signed the papers. Then, she gave them to the lawyer sitting in front of them.He scanned through them and adjusted his eyeglasses. Then, he stretched out his hand to damian as he rose to his feet.

“Congratulations, Mr and Mrs Hyacintho. You are now proclaimed husband and wife”

The words sunk deep into her chest. She felt like she had imprisoned herself with her bare hands. Vanessa felt like she had crumbled her world using her bare hands. But then, the thought of her sick father who had been in the hospital for two years left the poor lady with no choice.

Damian on the other hand, seemed relaxed and unbothered about the whole thing. He took pictures of Vanessa and himself and also recorded videos. Vanessa managed to fake a smile all through.

“I need you to look really relaxed and comfortable. This will convince my father that we’re really in love and are a couple”

“Well, we don’t need to convince him because we are not”

Damian turned off the camera of his phone.

” You have to get over the fact that this isn’t real” Vanessa heaved a sigh.

Hearing him admit it made her feel better in some kind of way.

“I need my father to believe me. I need the companies. I have worked my whole life and studied even harder to earn it. You can't ruin my chances”, he concluded.

Vanessa looked at him and chuckled. “Is this my fault that he didn’t give you in the first place? Damian, look, we are both helping each other out and you should quit making it sound like it’s all on me”

“Fine! Can we leave now?”, Damian replied.

The young lady did not quite understand what he was insinuating. Her phone pinged and she unzipped her purse then swiped to the left to unlock it. It was a message from the hospital and she had to leave as soon as possible.”I got to go now”,she said.

Damian shrugged his shoulders and let her have her way.

. . .

Vanessa breathed heavily as she hit the nurse’s desk at the reception.the nurse could hear her heart thrumming. She stared at her for a couple of seconds.

“Miss Leo, your father needs the transplant in the next 24 hours or you will lose him”, the nurse spilled.

“I will not lose my father. Tell the doctor to prepare the theatre room”

On that note, she pulled out the cheque which Damian had given her and handed over to the nurse. The nurse was shocked and held her mouth.

Nearly all the nurses knew about her case; Mr Leonard was one of the oldest patients in the hospital. Vanessa had always pleaded to be given more time to work and pay his bills. Seeing that huge amount of money which automatically clears their debts caught the nurse unawares.

“Ah…..right away!” she managed to say and dialled the doctor’s number immediately. Vanessa dashed to see her father.

He was lying on the bed with many drips injected to his body. An oxygen mask covered his nose and only his eyes could roll around and speak but not his mouth.

“Thank goodness darling, the doctor left about thirty minutes ago and …” she paused and tried hard to suppress the tears that gathered in her eyes. Vanessa sat beside her father and held his hands. Since she was a baby, her dad has been her closest companion. In fact, she was closer to her father than she was with her mother.

It was only lately due to her father’s predicament that both women seemed to tag along well. “dad, you’re going to be fine. Guess what?” Vanessa smiled. Her mother was imterested as well.

Then she turned to her mother.”The bills have been cleared. Dad’s surgery will happen tonight"

Mrs leonard rose to her feet. For the past two years, she had hoped that a day like thiswould come but she’d never imagined it would show up real soon. She was dumfounded. Tears rolled down her eyes. Vanessa turned to her father on the sick bed and smiled. She could feel his hand holding her tighter while tears rolled down her eyes. If only she could tell them what exactly she did to get the money. One thing was certain, her mother wouldn’t accept it if she knew but her dad, he had no option.

“Nessa, who cleared the bills?”

Vanessa had dreaded that question and here it was. Lying to her mother was going to complicate issues if she ever finds out in the future. Just then, the nurses walked in and asked Vanessa to stand up. Thank goodness! They literarily saved her ass. Vanessa wrapped her arms around her mum’s neck and both walked out while the nurses pushed Mr leonard on a stretcher to the theatre room.

Mrs Leonard leaned her head on her daughter’s shoulder as they waited patiently for the results of the surgery.vanessa looked down and saw her mums eyes draped in tears.”come on, mum…this will only make things worse and uneasy for me. I’m trying to be strong and you have to do the same” Vanessa said. she wiped her tears with a tissue paper while she admonished her to stop crying.

... ... .... ..... ...... .... ..

Damian had dialed Vanessa's number several times but anytime it rang, the call went off. He was getting pissed off. It was supposed to be the first night if their wedding tigether–a supposed honeymoon. He needed every bit of evidence to convince his father. Now that he had found someone to play along, she wasn't showing up at one of the most auspicious moments.

Suddenly, a thought struck his mind and he tried to recollect every bit of their conversations in his bid to find any useful information as regards her whereabouts.

After a deep thought, he placed his hands on nothing useful. But then, she had mentioned her sick father; literarily everything she ever talks about. Damian squeezed his eyes shut, his back leaned against the bedroom chair. " Come on, Damian, think!"

Damian usually does that to himself. He believed that speaking to his inner mind will make it respond faster and act more quickly. He rose from the chair and paced around the room. All he could see in his head was Vanessa, sparkling with those adorable eyes in her white balloon dress which fitted just perfectly. One would think that she had planned for the wedding since ages.

Something was missing though, she didn't hold a bouquet. Damian had heard about how colourful bouquets added to weddings and the bride in particular. Anyways, that didn't matter at the moment so, he shoved the thought.

Just then, his phone rang. Oh! How Damian hated for his meditation to be interrupted. With his closed eyes, he reached for it on the table and brought it closer to his face then opened his eyes.

"Sh*t!" was all he could say. Right there and then, Damian took his coat from the chair and headed out. " I'm driving", he said when his driver opened the car door for him. The driver shut the door after him but before he could get in, Damian had "flown". It was safe to say so because it happened rather too fast; none that his driver had expected. But then, that was the boss on 'those days'.

Unfortunately for Damian, the traffic was horrible. He honked his car several times but no one seemed to pay attention to him. Maybe, just maybe, if he had his entourage, a consideration would have made way for itself. But, he was too stubborn to wait. He looked through the rear mirror and all he could see was the annoying faces of drivers who just like him wanted to get off the road as fast as possible.

Almost everyone seemed to be in a hurry. The traffic light turned to green and Damian hesitated not in swerving the car such that it nearly hit someone's. In a couple of minutes, he was already out of the car and in front of the hospital he had received a text message from.

Damian removed his coat and placed it on his shoulder. Then he unbuttoned the sleeves and raised them a bit to reach his elbow.

He didn't say a word to the nurses as he jerked off to the ward in the text. They tried to stop him but one of the nurses recognised him. " That's Damian Hyacintho! Don't you know?", she said excitedly. Her hands were already placed on her chest as she squeezed it. It was obvious it was pounding. " His father is the richest billionaire in Manila, I mean the whole of Philippines". Each word came out with utmost care.

Just then, his bodyguards arrived the hospital and threw questions at the nurses. They simply pointed to the route he took and off they followed.

Before Damian stepped into the ward room, he drew in a long breath. " I hate this!", he muttered and pushed the door open.

" Finally! Damian I was so scared and I'm glad you showed up as soon as you received my text", a lady's voice spoke excitedly. Her head was covered in a bandage stained with blood but she didn't look like she was in pains.

Damian only came to the hospital to confirm if she was really in New York. " Sh*t!" he whispered. His nightmare was staring at him right in the eyes. " Damian? I need a hug", she said. That was typical of Julia Jordan. They had dated for a year while he was still pursuing his MBA program and had never thought that she would show up like this. Her timing was just worse.

Before Damian could say a word, Julia fell into his arms. " I've missed you", she said. Damian wasn't having it. He wanted to push her away but the little sense of humanity left in him wouldn't allow him to do that to an injured person. " What happened to you, J.J?", he finally asked.

" Well, I was driving..." His countenance changed automatically. " Driving? I thought you had a driver?", he cut in. Julia laid back on the bed. " Does that matter? I got into an accident and here I am. I had no one to call but you", she said. Damian nearly burst asking her how she even found out he was in New York but the press always do their best!

Talking about the press, they were already in front of the hospital, looking for a way to have an interview with Julia and Damian. One of his bodyguards came to tell them so. Damian hit his hand on the bed. " How did those guys find out?"

"Damian, wait!", Julia said but he had already rushed out.

At the sight of him, they pushed their way through and their microphones were tossed to his mouth. Damian scanned through their eyes and there was silence.

" Damian!", echoed voices which called out his name. He recognized one but did not the other.

The cameras flashed at the new development. Turning around, Damian's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

" Vanessa?" There was a slight tremor in his voice.