Craved By Mr. Russell

Journey of Uncertainty

MALIYAH

~~

“D~did I lose the pre-pregnancy?”

Shakily, I uttered those words as soon as my eyes flickered open. My sight was blurry but I could see Dr. Hurrel’s frame beside me, her white coat standing out more than her physical features.

Ryder said what he said but I needed my baby. I didn't want to lose my baby.

I lost my marriage, clearly but my baby, God no….

However, just like my plea fell on Ryder’s deaf ears, this particular one fell on God’s.

Dr. Hurrel answered with empathy after she did a quick check on me, “I'm sorry Mrs Willows. You came in with a ruptured fallopian tube. We had to operate—”

“You took out my baby?” I whimpered, my lips quivering.

I could feel a slight discomfort in my lower belly and when I tried to sit up, Dr. Harrell warned me against doing that. She pushed me back onto the bed and muttered a response, “Yes. We took out the fetus in your tube and we couldn't save the left fallopian tube.”

Could this day get any worse?

Tears literally gushed out of my eyes as the weight of my problems crashed into me, showing me zero mercy. Life was a b***h! A bitter one that wouldn't let me be happy.

I just couldn't catch a break—

“Mrs. Willows. Please relax.” I heard Dr. Hurell’s voice but she sounded so far even though she was standing right beside me.

“Just Maliyah. Call me Maliyah.” I cried bitterly, unable to bear the tight clench in my chest. “He left me for another woman. He signed the divorce papers—”

I broke down completely, wondering why I had to wake up after the surgery. “I should have died in surgery. I shouldn't have—”

“You needed to survive, Maliyah. Although I saw the divorce papers. You were holding it until the anesthesia effect kicked in.” She sat beside me, holding my hand and smiling even though I saw no reason for it.

Dr. Hurrel wiped my tears and continued, “During the surgery, we found out that we missed something–”

“Am I dying as well?” I whimpered, ready to embrace death like it was my baby.

“No, Maliyah. You’re carrying lives within you.” Dr. Hurrel broke that news to me.

However, my foggy mind didn’t register her words until after a few seconds of silence. I mumbled, “W-what?”

It was at this point that Dr. Hurrel explained to me that the initial scan they did missed the two other fetuses in my womb. “You were carrying triplets, Maliyah but one of them was in your tube which we had to take out–”

“I’m still pregnant?” I stuttered with tears in my eyes.

Dr. Hurrel nodded, “Yes, Maliyah. You have to live on for these two and move on with life even if Mr. Willows won’t be in the picture.”

I cried my eyes out of their sockets as my hand traveled to my stomach. I caressed it as I said, “It’s hard. I love my husband.”

How would I raise two kids without him? A single mother? That wasn’t the kind of life I envisioned. I didn’t want to be like my mom for crying out loud.

“I’ll leave you to think about it, Maliyah. You will be discharged tomorrow. I hope you’ll have made up your mind by then.” Dr. Hurrel said to me and advised me medically before she left me alone to my thoughts.

I spent hours crying in that hospital room. I cried over the loss of my home and cried because I knew my kids wouldn’t have a normal life just like I didn’t. It suddenly occurred to me that my mom must have felt the same way when she had my sister and me and raised us alone.

Just like that, I became my mom as I wouldn't be going back to Ryder.

I’d rather raise my kids alone than raise them with a cheater.

“I’m sorry, babies but it will be just us,” I said to my babies as I caressed my stomach.

With a made-up mind, I left the hospital the next day. Thankfully, Collins came to take me to the building that was once home. Ryder wasn’t there and with Collins's help, I packed my bags, packed more than enough valuables that would help me build a new life in Seattle.

Dr. Hurrel was very helpful with moving my mom to the hospital in Seattle. Life as a single pregnant woman with a sick mother and without the luxury that came with a rich husband was hard.

However, the money I got from selling the gold, diamonds, and other valuables, was enough to see me through the first year as a divorced woman, and during that year, I gave birth to the most precious little girls– Addison and Madison.

They both had my strawberry ginger hair and my green eyes.

They are my mini-mes and with their arrival to the world, my life started afresh.

However, two months after the kids were born, I received a call from the hospital and I was told that my mother passed away overnight. I was left alone to grieve for my losses with two infants with no support system but that day, I vouch to myself, “I’ll rise from this ashes.”

And just like that, the journey of uncertainty began…