Tears | [BoyxBoy] | English

38

'Will I do it?' Yeheni asked me. Her eyes were full of fear and pain. I patted her head. I was staying with her at the hospital since the previous night, preparing for her birth.

'I'm sure that you will. Yesh, you are going to be the best mother in the world. When our baby comes to us in a little while...'

Yeheni, who was in a wheelchair, rested her head on my arm. She had gained some awareness of her surroundings thanks to the miracle of Dr. Niluka's medicine. I gathered her hair and tied it with a loose band. Her hair had started falling out with pregnancy, but there was no harm to her beauty.

'Mr. Gamage, we will take her in. You can stay by the labor room if you like.' A nurse came and told me while pushing Yeheni's wheelchair. Yeheni turned her head and looked at me with a scared look in her eyes.

'I'm scared.' she muttered. 'what if I fail?'

'No no, you can. I am here with you.' I gently squeezed her shoulder and encouraged her. After taking Yeheni to the labor ward, I went there and stood by the wooden door. After about an hour I could hear Yeheni screaming.

'it hurts!' I could barely hear her screaming from the undergrowth, but I didn't have the courage to open the door and go inside.

A nurse flung open the door and came out. Through the open door, I saw Yeheni's face. She was crying. The nurse grabbed me by the shoulder and pushed me into the room, saying without saying that I had to go there.

'It's your wife. Go inside.'

I entered the room. Yeheni looked at me and started crying. 'it hurts! I'm going to die.'

I couldn't think of anything to say and went to hold her hand. Yeheni squeezed my hand tightly as if to vent her pain.

'The baby is coming. Push!' A nurse at Yeheni's feet ordered her.

'I can't!' Yeheni screamed, tightening her grip around my arm. I could feel her pain.

'Just a little more. One shoulder came up. you can.' The nurse looked between Yeheni's legs and said.

After about a minute of silence, Yeheni let out a death wail and unconsciously fell on my arm. The nurse at her feet took something like a bundle from the cloth covering Yeheni's feet and ran out of the room while two other nurses dragged me out of the room. The room was a mess. With the doctors and nurses running around, I couldn't see anything clearly.

After another hour and a half, everything became calm. A nurse came and tapped me on the shoulder and signaled me to follow her. I slowly followed her. She took me to a doctor. The doctor motioned for me to sit in a chair and crossed his arms.

'Mr. Gamage.' I felt uneasy when he started talking in a deep voice. 'Is Mrs. Gamage very sensitive?'

I thought for a moment. 'She used to deal with everything, doctor. But now she is oversensitive to everything.'

'How will she react when she finds out that his baby was born dead?' I froze when the doctor asked.

'She... She...' I struggled for a while, unable to think of anything to say. 'Doctor, is my baby... dead?'

The doctor took off his glasses and placed them on the table with a nod. 'Yes. Your wife has been in a lot of pain, Mr. Gamage. She was too weak to carry a child. It is not known for what reason, but the child has died inside her stomach.'

I felt tears gathering at the corners of my eyes. I just stared at the doctor without saying anything. He started talking again after making sure I didn't say anything.

'We have arranged to show your wife to one of our psychiatrists. That doctor will help her forget about the child. Until then, Mr. Gamage has to stay by her child. We can't leave her alone with the cuts on her shoulders.'

I covered my mouth with my hand because I had nothing to say. I had a lot of doubts and fears about how Yeheni would react to this. The doctor wrote something on a piece of paper next to him and handed it to me.

'Take this medicine. This will help us a little to control her.'

I folded the paper and put it in my pocket. 'How is Yeheni now, doctor?'

'She bled a lot. Now she is in a separate room. She has come to her senses now. If you tell her that the baby is gone... I think you should take it slow, Mr. Gamage.'

I looked down. I could easily imagine Yeheni finding this difficult to bear. But I also knew she would have to say this. I thanked the doctor with two words and stood up. A nurse outside the room motioned for me to follow her. When I followed her, she led me to a private room.

The nurse opened the door. Yeheni was lying on a bed inside the room. As soon as I entered the room, she was sitting on the bed with tears in her eyes.

'Ayya, they won't give me my baby.' She started to cry when I went near her and held my hand. I patted her head.

'Tell them to give me my baby!' She said clinging to my arm again. Tears welled up in my eyes and Yeheni started crying.

'Why don't you give me my baby? Give him to me.'

'Yesh... your baby,' I bit my cheek. 'He's dead.'

Yeheni's mouth dropped open. She looked at me with a scared look. Suddenly, a deafening high-pitched wail came out of her mouth. My hands were wet with her tears and saliva as she wrestled frantically.

'Keep her calm!' A nurse beside me screamed and came there when the few pins attached to Yeheni's hand came loose and blood started flowing from Yeheni's hand. I hugged her tightly and tried to stop her from struggling. After struggling for almost five minutes I managed to stop her. My shirt was soaked with blood and Yeheni was panting and hitting my chest with her fisted hand.

'Bring him to me!' She squealed as I pressed her head to my chest.

'Bring him!' She bit my hand hard and I bit my lower lip to prevent a sound from coming out of my mouth.

Yeheni's bite mark was firmly etched on the upper part of my left arm, bleeding down from it. Yeheni kept hitting my stomach and cried until she passed out. I hugged her and put up with everything because I was afraid that she would hurt herself.

'Yesh?' After she stopped struggling I patted her head.

She did not respond.

'You leave. We are going to give her some medicine and let her get some sleep.' A nurse came near me and pointed to the injection in her hand.

I removed Yeheni from my body and placed her carefully on the bed. The nurse injected her arm and another nurse motioned for me to leave. I came out of the room with a heavy heart.

It was the end of the first phase of our marriage and only one painful beginning to the second phase. 

___________

TEARS

2022. 08. 06