CHAPTER 3 - THE DIVORCE
1034 Words
"She is not moving," responded another passerby.
"Call 911," said another person standing around.
While still on the floor, Cece was not moving, nor was she showing any sign of life, and nobody was attending to her. All of a sudden, a young man jumped out of a taxi, ran to where she was lying, picked her up, placed her in the car, and instructed the driver to drive as fast as he could to the nearest hospital.
After a while, once Cece had been admitted to the hospital, she woke up to see a familiar face in the form of Dr. Jones, who happens to be a friend of Freddie, who was not at the party earlier.
"Welcome back," said Dr. Jones.
Cece looked surprised to find herself in the hospital.
"What am I doing here, Dr. Jones?" asked Cece.
"Apparently, you collapsed and were brought here by this man over here," Dr. Jones pointed to a young man sitting in one corner of the room. It was then that Cece noticed the man.
"Hi," said Cece, facing the young man.
"Hi," the young man replied.
"What happened to me?" Cece gently asked.
"Well, I saw a bunch of people gathered around you while you lay lifeless on the floor. I asked them what happened, and they told me you fell down the stairs—all 25 of them," he replied.
Cece looked surprised and shocked to hear this.
"Thanks so much for your help," Cece thanked the young man.
"You are welcome," the young man replied.
"But if I may ask," said Dr. Jones, "what happened? Where was Freddie?"
Cece stared at Dr. Jones, her eyes laced with tears. Seeing this, Dr. Jones became worried, moved closer to Cece, and gave her a hug. Cece cried even more while hugging Dr. Jones.
The young man could not bear to be in the room as Cece cried.
"I will just give you two some privacy," said the young man as he left the room.
As the young man stepped outside the room, Cece opened up and narrated everything that happened to Dr. Jones, and how people even endorsed Freddie's actions by welcoming the other woman when he introduced her at the party.
Dr. Jones was at a loss for words.
"Oh my God," she said. "Freddie did this?"
"Yes, he did," Cece replied.
"How can Freddie be this wicked?" Dr. Jones asked again, her anger evident and through the roof.
"I really don't know," Cece replied. "I thought the whole thing was a joke at first, but he was very serious about it."
As Cece finished saying that, the look on her face changed from sadness to anger.
"What's he doing here?" Cece asked.
Initially, Dr. Jones was confused about whom she was referring to. She turned around and saw it was Freddie.
"Oh, my bad, I called him," Dr. Jones replied in a subdued voice.
"How could you have called him?" Cece asked angrily.
"I thought it was a good idea to call your husband. I had no idea he had done so much to you today, Cece," Dr. Jones genuinely replied.
"It's okay, I understand you did that from the purest part of your heart. Thanks," Cece replied.
"And who is the lady beside him, locking elbows with him?" Dr. Jones asked, her anger flaring.
"That's Amelia," Cece replied.
"Oh, that does it. I'm going to give him a piece of my mind right away," said Dr. Jones as she walked outside to meet Freddie.
Initially, Cece wanted to stop her, but when she remembered the pain she felt from his horrible decisions and the pain from falling down the stairs, she didn't bother anymore.
As Dr. Jones stepped out of the room, Cece couldn't hear what they were saying due to the thickness of the glass door separating them, but she could see Dr. Jones's anger through her expressions. This went on for a while, and later on, Dr. Jones came back in, with Freddie and Amelia following.
Dr. Jones stood beside Cece, showing her support, while Freddie and Amelia stood in front of them.
While all this was going on, the young man who brought Cece occasionally looked at them from the outside.
"Hey Cece," Freddie says, "how are you feeling?"
Being as angry as she was, she did not reply to him.
"Okay, I did deserve that," Freddie says. "It may not be what you wanted to hear on my birthday, but I am sorry I am not sorry for having done that either way. I cannot delay my decision any longer."
Dr. Jones was speechless when she heard this from Freddie; it never came as a surprise to Cece, who just rolled her eyes in a distasteful manner towards Freddie.
What made the matter worse was when Freddie, despite seeing Cece lying on the hospital bed, pulled out a paper from his suit pocket.
"Hey Cece, I really need you to sign this divorce paper right away. I am getting married to Amelia this weekend, and I cannot do that while I am still married to you."
As he said this, tears rolled down Cece's eyes. She shut her eyes so tight to stop the tears, but that didn't do much. While he said this, Dr. Jones's mouth was wide open.
"Freddie, are you out of your mind?" Dr. Jones yelled at Freddie.
"I am sorry if this came so suddenly, but I have to do this," he replied, without any sign of empathy.
"It's okay, Dr. Jones, it's okay," Cece said. "Give me the paper; I will sign it for you," she added.
Freddie handed the paper to her. She took a pen from Dr. Jones and signed it for Freddie as he wanted. She handed it back to Freddie without uttering a single word.
"Thanks so much, Cece, for doing this for me," said Freddie.
Cece did not say a word in return; she just kept on looking at how shallow Freddie is and how much hatred she has for him and Amelia.
As Freddie was about to leave the room, he turned back.
"That reminds me. I have something for you, Cece," said Freddie.
- Writer
