Chapter 4

RAINA

After Dr. Philip informed Raina that the person who helped her and her daughter would be coming over this afternoon, she had been restless.

Even though the TV was on, her mind was not there. She kept looking at the entrance every few minutes. She couldn’t wait to wrap her arms around her baby girl. She and Adrie have never been apart for so long.

Raina sighed as she wondered what the person who helped her looked like. She knew she had to pay him back for helping her.

She took in her surroundings and felt fortunate as she realized she was in a VIP ward.

The doctor told her the person who helped her had paid for everything, including her medication. She felt relieved when he told her that because she had no money on her.

Some minutes later, the door to Raina’s ward opened, and Dr. Philip walked in with Adrie, who was followed by another child, a woman, and a handsome man.

“Mama!” Adrie screamed as she ran toward her mom.

Raina smiled as she sat up and assisted Adrie in climbing into her bed, after which she hugged the hell out of her.

Tears welled up in Raina’s eyes. She missed her little girl so much. However, she felt something was missing, she felt kind of incomplete, and she didn’t know why.

She pulled away from the hug and showered Adriana’s face with kisses.

“I missed you, Mama.” She grinned.

“I missed you too, my love. I’m glad you’re here,” she replied and kissed her daughter’s forehead.

“Meet my friend, Alexa,” Adrie said as she pointed toward Alexa, who was holding a small gift bag.

“Hi, Adrie’s mom,” she smiled.

“Hello, beautiful. Come here,” Raina replied as she patted the left side of her bed to her as Adrie was already on the right side.

Alexa climbed up the bed, and Raina hugged her, after which she kissed her cheek.

Alexa passed the gift bag she was holding to Adrie and gave Adrie a sign to give it to her mom.

“Alexa and I made this for you, Mommy,” Adrie gave her mom the tiny gift bag.

Raina smiled as she collected it and opened it. She brought out what was inside, and her heart melted at what she saw.

A get well soon card, which they decorated in their handwriting, and a bar of chocolate.

During Alexa and Adrie’s snack time, the woman gave the children one chocolate each. Alexa decided that she and Adrie should share hers while Adrie kept hers and gave it to her mom as part of their present.

Raina smiled as she pulled Alexa and Adrie into a joint hug.

“I love it. Thank you,” she whispered into their ears, and they smiled.

“Ronald, can I see you outside for a second?” Dr. Philip asked, and Ronald followed him outside.

Raina didn’t get to see his face properly. She hadn’t even told him thank you because she was so engrossed with the girls.

“How are you feeling, my child?” the woman asked as she placed the basket of food on a nearby table before walking up to Raina and sitting on the chair beside her bed.

“I’m fine. Thank you very much for your help. Thanks for taking care of my daughter,” she said.

“No problem, my child. Just get well soon.” She smiled.

“Mama, Clarice is my nanny. Just like she’s Alexa’s nanny,” Adrie said cheerfully.

By now, the girls had already climbed down from Raina’s bed. They were seated on the resting couch, where they were playing with some of Alexa’s toys that Clarice brought for them.

“Oh, I thought you were his mother. I mean the man that helped me,” she mumbled.

“No, I’m not. But I’m like a second mom to him,” she said, and Raina nodded.

“His name is Ronald, and Alexa over there is his daughter. She will be seven years old in a few months,” Clarice said. “I brought food, soup, and fruits for you.” She pointed to the basket on the table.

“Thank you so much,” Raina said with tears in her eyes. It has been so long since someone cared for her this way. She knew these people from nowhere, and they’ve already done so much for her.

“You’re welcome, dear. I also brought some books for you to read. I felt you might be bored,” Clarice said as she brought out some novels from a bag. There were about four of them. She handed them to Raina.

“Thank you so much. I’m sure I’ll enjoy them,” Raina said as she checked out the novels one by one, paying attention to the title, synopsis, and author of each book.

“Hope Adriana did not cause you any trouble? And thanks for the clothes,” Raina said as she noticed the beautiful dress her daughter was wearing.

“Your daughter is a sweet child. And as for the clothes, don’t worry. They were Alexa’s, but they don’t fit her anymore. We have been looking for someone to give them to. No doubt Adrie came at the right time.”

RONALD

“She’s going to be fine, right?” Ronald asked nervously as soon as he shut the door behind him.

“Yes, we just need to keep an eye on her for two more days, and she will be out of here.”

“Raina does not know she had a miscarriage. I don’t think she knew she was pregnant,” Dr. Philip said, and Ronald sighed.

“I was wondering if you wanted to give her the news or if I should do it instead,” Dr. Philip asked.

“I think I’ll tell her myself,” he said to Dr. Philip, who nodded and gave him a light squeeze on the shoulder, after which he took his leave.

Ronald entered Raina’s ward and saw Clarice chatting away with Raina. They wasted no time in becoming friends. The girls were on the other side of the room, playing with some toys.

Clarice took a glance at Ronald and sensed that he and Raina had things to talk about. “All right, girls, let’s go for a drink,” Clarice said as she rose to her feet.

“Yaaaay.” The girls did a happy dance and gave Raina and Ronald a kiss on the cheek before running toward Clarice, after which they all left the room.

As soon as the trio was out of sight, Ronald sat beside Raina. It was the same chair Clarice was previously sitting on.

That was when Raina took notice of his features. He was tall, handsome, and had beautiful golden-brown eyes.

Raina sat up so she could look him in the eye when talking to him.

She looked okay but needed more rest, and the bruise on the left side of her face was healing. It looked better than it had yesterday.

“Thank you so much, Mr. Ronald. Thank you for helping me and my daughter,” she said sincerely.

“You’re welcome. Adrie is a sweet little girl, and I’m happy I helped you guys. You can call me Ronald,” he replied with a sad smile, and she nodded shyly.

Even without makeup and how pale she looked, Ronald couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she was with her full, plump, pink lips.

“Dr. Philip said they have to keep you here for two more days, and then you will be able to go home,” he said.

Raina nodded, but Ronald noticed she wasn’t happy about what he had just told her, so he decided to ask the question that had been on his mind.

“Raina, what happened to you last night? I found you unconscious, and Adrie was kneeling beside you, crying her eyes out. I saw your bruises and the one on Adrie’s arm too.

“Please talk to me. I really want to help you,” he said, taking her hands in his with the last sentence, encouraging her that she could trust him.

Even without saying anything, tears started falling from Raina’s eyes. “You have done a lot for me and my child. It’s only fair that you know what happened.

“I was abused by my lover. I won’t call him my husband because we were never legally married. We were only engaged.

“We were so in love with each other, but everything changed a few weeks before I gave birth to Adrie. He started hitting me a few weeks after Adrie was born.

“I don’t know what went wrong. He would go out and come back drunk at night and hit me for any little thing I did.

“I used to own a restaurant, which I closed down months after he lost his job. I couldn’t cope with the expenses, and there was no way I could pay the workers too.

“One thing I regret doing is having a joint account with him. He spent the money lavishly and even blocked me from having access to the account.

“I looked for a job after that. I was an assistant in a daycare—it didn’t pay a lot, but it was enough to put food on the table for Adrie and me.

“I had always wanted to leave him, but I had nowhere to go and no money either. I argued with him last night, and he began hitting me.

“Adrie came from nowhere. I had put her to bed earlier, but I think our argument woke her. She ran to me when she saw her dad hitting me, and he began hitting her too.

“That was when I lost it. How can he be so cruel to do that to a three-year-old? I reached for a vase and hit him on his head. Then I carried Adrie in my arms and ran away.

“I had no idea where we were going, and it was raining heavily too, and suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my lower abdomen. I had no idea what it was and continued walking with my baby in my arms.

“It got to a time when I couldn’t hold it anymore. That was when I fainted,” Raina said through tears.

By the time she finished her story, Ronald had already sat beside her on the bed and pulled her into a hug as she cried on his chest.

He comforted her by patting her back and whispering encouraging words in her ear as he thought of how to break the news about the miscarriage to her. Hell, she had no idea she was even pregnant.

“I have no idea how to tell you this, Ray, but I think you should know,” he said after a while.

“Am I dying?” she whispered in fear.

“No, you’re not,” he answered, and she let out a sigh.

“You see, Raina, you were bleeding when I found you. I couldn’t tell where since you had bruises all over your body, and it was dark,” he said, and she nodded, encouraging him to continue.

“You had a miscarriage,” he said, and Raina looked at him with a shocked face.

“What do you mean I had a miscarriage? I…I w-was never p-pregnant,” she stammered.

“You were pregnant, Raina. You just weren’t aware,” he replied, and she burst into another round of tears.

“No wonder I felt incomplete when I hugged Adrie. I felt something was missing. I lost my baby,” she said in between tears, and Ronald was almost in tears too.

“It’s okay, Raina,” he said as he pulled her into his chest again, and she cried her heart out.

“I had a life growing in me all this while, and I never knew. I killed my child, Ronald,” she said in tears.

“It’s not your fault, Ray. You didn’t know,” he said, trying to comfort her in every way possible.

“I’m a bad mother. I should have known I was pregnant. How will Adrie react when she finds out I killed the baby?” Raina cried harder in his chest.

Ronald sighed as he thought of what else to say to comfort her. He pulled her away from his chest, held her shaky hands in his, and made her look into his eyes.

“It’s not your fault, Raina. You had no idea you were pregnant, so please, stop blaming yourself. You’re not a bad mother.

“Even before talking to you, I knew you were a good mother. I could tell from Adrie’s behavior. You even taught her how to pray, something I never thought of teaching Alexa.

“You have to be strong, Ray. If not for me, do it for Adrie—she needs you! You can count on me, Raina. I will always be here for you.

“You don’t need to worry about where to stay when you are out of here. You can come live with us; we will be honored to have you,” he genuinely offered.

“Are you sure?” She sniffled. “What about your wife? I mean Alexa’s mom. I don’t think she will be okay with it.”

“Alexa’s mom is not in the picture, so you don’t need to worry about that. It’s just Clarice, me, and Alexa in the house. We would be happy to have you and Adrie,” he said.

Raina looked confused and said, “I don’t know what to say. I don’t want to be a burden. You’ve assisted me enough.”

“Raina, I just want you to be safe. Your lover must be out there looking for you, and I don’t want him anywhere near you or Adrie.

“That’s why I want you to accept my offer. Besides, Alexa sees Adrie as a sister and best friend already. She will be happier if you guys stay with us.

“Just think about it, and if you’re still not comfortable with it, I can help you out with an apartment,” he offered.

“Thank you. I will think about it,” she whispered.

Ronald prayed that she accepted his offer to move in with him.

He had no idea why he was drawn to Raina. He felt the need to protect her, and he hoped she would give him a chance to.

Raina had gone through a lot, and she deserved to be with someone who would make her happy, and he was determined to be that person—the one who would put a smile on her face every single day.