PROHIBITED

Prohibited 2

I tried to open my eyes, but the brightness of the place prevented me from doing so. My eyelids were heavy. I raised my arms, but they hurt, everywhere hurts. Then I recognized the surrounding sounds. I hear them every day when I go to work. A few seconds later I began to see a little more of what was around me.

I observed a nurse looking at a chart which probably had my medical report. After a while, I was able to recognize her.

“Sara.” my voice sounded hoarse and weak. She raised her face from the chart and approached me. I saw she was a bit upset.

"Dr. Taylor," she gave me a small smile, "I'll call Dr. Davis, please don't move." I nodded slowly and looked in the direction of the window. Then I remember the life that is growing in my belly. I touched my abdomen with my sore hand and I tried to get up.

“Mia, don't move.” Carl, one of my colleagues, took me by the shoulders and made me lie down again.

"Carl, my child" I said, with a tightness in my chest. He looked at me and then lowered his gaze, and I knew whatever he wanted to tell me wouldn’t be pleasant. And I became impatient.

“Speak at once Carl.” I felt like I was suffocating, like air couldn’t enter my lungs. I was starting to feel anxious. After a long silence, he looked at me.

“It didn't survive.” He said, shaking his head, avoiding my gaze.

“It had very little time, I'm sorry.”

I cried silently and let the tears fall down my cheeks, my soul hurt, I lost a part of me, the thing that would have given me the strength to continue. I had plans of leaving here and going far away with my child after granting Jacob his freedom. But now I feel lost, I feel hatred for that i***t who I thought was good. I remembered his cold look when he saw me on the ground, I closed my eyes tightly.

“Regarding your general condition, you are fine, I am just awaiting the results of the x-rays. You have some bruises from the accident, but according to the initial examination, you will be perfectly fine in no time. The butler from your house brought you. He asked to see you as soon as you woke up.” When Carl finished speaking, I shook my head.

"That's not my house Carl," I wiped the tears from my face.

"Tell him to come in," I told the staff present, and a while later Walter entered, looking anxious. He has always been good to me. He is an older man and was nice to everyone.

"Ma'am, how are you feeling?" he asked anxiously. I remained silent and turned my face to look at the window.

"I'm fine, Walter, don't worry," I answered without looking at him.

“I'll be here to take you home, Mr. Jacob asked me to bring you to the hospital after the accident. Your phone was destroyed, but I managed to recover this.” He showed me what looked like a small chip, and he gave it to me, I looked at it for a moment and squeezed it in my hand.

“Ms. Kelly rushed to take everything else.” Kelly, my husband's lover, I could feel the anger burning through my skin, she and he are to blame for the loss of my baby.

“I don't want you to stay, Walter, one of my friends will take me home. Go, your boss surely needs you.” I urged him to leave, and I lied, because I would not return to that house. I do not want to see Jacob again for the rest of my life.

"Ma'am..." he wanted to refuse, but I raised my hand to stop him from speaking.

"You know what goes on in that house, Walter, I'll come back, I'll go get my things, and I'll talk to your boss, then I'll leave to let him be happy with his beloved," I said harshly, he looked down in embarrassment. I am certain he knows about that relationship, but he owes his loyalty to his boss, not to me.

“See Walter, I know you are here because of guilt. It's most likely that Jacob is with his lover and doesn't care about my condition."

Walter nodded and left the room. I pressed the button to call Sara.

“Doctor, is something wrong? “She asked as she entered. After everything that happened, my soul and body hurt, but now I need to make a call and my phone is in shreds.

“Sara, I need to make a call but my phone… I've lost it.”

She then handed me her phone. “Take as much time as necessary, call me when you need me”. I nodded, she gave me a slight smile and walked out of the room.

I dialed the number that I hadn't used in a long time and, fortunately, I didn't forget it, and waited for the person to answer me.

“Hello?”

"Blair," I said, and she remained silent.

“Mia?” She asked in surprise.

"Yes," I whispered and sighed.

“Mia, are you okay?” I heard the concern in her voice. She and Blake are sisters, and they have been my best friends since school. I distanced myself from them when I got married. After that, Blake left the country and we lost contact. They are the only ones I can depend on at this moment. I need a change of clothes until I am strong enough to go shopping. I will be staying in a hotel tonight, because my parents are traveling, and I know they'll remind me of their disapproval. That's why I thought it was best for me to be far away.

“Not really, I suffered an accident and…” we never hid anything from each other and I won't start now, especially when we are talking again after a long time.

“I'll come right away, are you at Memorial?” She asked and I heard her moving about. She has known my workplace for years.

“Yes, but I don't want to bother you, I just need a change of clothes and I thought that...”

“No, to whatever you're going to say, I'm already leaving, I'll see you in a little while.” She hung up the call, and I was left looking at the screen, lost in my thoughts.

"You were lucky," Carl entered with some x-rays.

“You have no fractures; I will need you to come back in the next few days to check your condition.” He said, while his gaze remained on the documents.

“Thank you, Carl.” After a while I became sleepy.

I heard voices that woke me up. A restless Blair was asking Carl about my condition. He answered her as he tried to calm her down.

I opened my eyes and looked at my friend.

"Blair," I called. She turned to look at me and quickly walked towards me.

"Mia," she took my hand, then she examined me from head to toe.

“It's good that you're okay. Tell me, how did you end up here?” I saw Carl, who nodded and left the room.

I told Blair what happened this morning and saw an angry look pass over her face.

“That cretin, we all knew that he wasn’t suitable for you, that he wasn't good for you, hell Mia, you were the only one who didn't see through him. Look, he abandoned you in this hospital. I'm sure he didn't even bother to come and see you.

“No, and I know, I know, now I know, Blair, what hurts me the most about all this is that I lost my baby. And Jacob is the last person I want to see in this world. It is best that he doesn’t come either.

Blair hugged me and kissed my forehead.

***

After spending some time with Blair and catching up on the things that had happened to us over the years, Carl entered the room again.

"You can go now Mia; I signed your discharge right now." I got up with Blair's help and noticed that darkness had fallen.

“Thank you, Carl, for attending to me with care.”

“It's my job. Mia, I'll leave my card with you. Call me if you need anything.

I thanked him again and Blair helped me take a bath. When I was ready, we left the hospital.

“I'll take you to my house. There, I can take care of you.” Blair gave me a quick look as she spoke.

“No Blair, I was thinking of going to a hotel.”

“What kind of friend do you think I am? I would never leave you when I know you need me.” she said angrily.

“Thank you, I'm sorry I distanced myself from you.”

"Don't think about that now darling, just think about recovering. The doctor gave you two weeks to be home. The most important thing now for you is to get better and ask that unfortunate man for a divorce," she blurted out in annoyance.

I nodded as I stared out the car window.

We soon arrived at Blair's house, and I noticed some changes had been made. I lived around this neighborhood when I was a child, and being here brought back memories. We entered and she led me to a room where I could rest. I turned on the TV, but looked at it blankly, my mind was replaying what happened today. I allowed myself to feel vulnerable and I knew that something was missing, a part of me, and I was certain it was not Jacob. His coldness and the way he looked at me after I discovered his deception made me see who he truly is; a cold and manipulative man.

“I brought you this.” I saw that she had a tray with food. So, I settled into bed and ate some of the chicken broth.

"Thank you, Blair," I said. She shook her head as she hugged me, and left after giving me a comforting look.

Afterward, I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth and got ready for bed.

Two weeks later…

The physical bruises I sustained from my fall were barely noticeable and I felt better, however the pain in my heart remained the same. The fact that I would be going back to work the next day, gave me some encouragement. Blair has taken good care of me all this time, and without a doubt she is a great friend. Blake was also looking out for me; she called every day. She was mad when I told her what had happened with Jacob, whom I hadn't heard from since that day. I did not expect such an attitude from him, but his indifference increased the pain of the reality of his deception and further affirmed his words.

“I DON'T LOVE YOU.”

That evening, I helped Blair to prepare dinner. Later, I got my uniform ready for tomorrow, since my shift starts in the morning.

Every night, the memory of the day I lost my child torments me and it was difficult for me to sleep, but after much effort I was able to fall asleep.

The sound of the alarm indicating that it was five in the morning woke me up. I went to the bathroom, took my bath and prepared to go to the hospital. Obviously, what had happened to me was not made public, everyone assumed we still had the perfect marriage.

I left in Blair's car, reminding myself to buy one for myself.

I arrived at the hospital and entered, but I felt strange when I saw people looking at me. I walked to my office and dropped my purse, I put on the white coat that had my name on it. I sat behind my desk and began to review the surgeries that I would be performing today. A few minutes later, I heard a knock on the door.

“Come in,” I said, still looking at the papers with the patients’ information.

“Good morning, Dr. Taylor, Dr. Harris is waiting for you in his office.” A nurse said when she came into my office.

I thanked her and stood up to go to the Director's office. As I walked towards the elevator and heard the whispers of some staff members,

What's wrong with them? I thought to myself.

Arriving at the door of Dr. Harris's office, I knocked gently.

"Come in, Dr. Taylor," I heard him say. I entered, and he pointed to one of the chairs in front of his desk, indicating that I should sit down.

"Good morning," I greeted him and he nodded.

“I won't beat around the bush, doctor.” His serious expression made me worried, but he has always been cordial with me.

“A patient died, and the report we have is that it was as a result of a bad procedure you carried out.”