Mango

Chapter Fifteen.

Khaya

I kept pacing the floor of the corridor in the maternity ward of the Charlotte Maxele hospital. I could feel my thoughts all over the place and they were running at full speed colliding into each other because a headache was already there and it's been there for the past 5 hours I've been here. The nurses wouldn't let me in and it pissed me off at first, but I had to understand the urgency of the situation.

I took a seat on one of the chairs outside the room and my foot kept tapping uncontrollably. I was sure to be going crazy if I wasn't already out of my mind. The door suddenly opened and Lord knows I nearly dropped dead from the scare. The nurse walked out and motioned for me to follow her in, and so I did. My eyes searched for Mango and when my eyes finally found her looking paled and chapped, I nearly dropped on my knees.

I walked towards her, to park my legs on the side of her bed. She looked at peace, and God forbid, she looked dead. I looked at the nurse and she mentioned that the doctor went out to finalize some documents, but he'd be back in 5 minutes if not before. I gave a nod before she left Mango and I alone. The machine with that irritating beeping sound was constant, on a mission to drive me mad. But I kept my focus on Mango and her steady breathing.

"I'm sorry," I whispered as my throat constricted from the billion emotions I was feeling. I cleared my throat before trying to audibly speech again. "I'm really sorry. I thought I got rid of her. Honestly, she hadn't bothered me in a while and I truly thought she'd gotten over it. I promise to fix everything, just wake up for me, please. I've gotten so used to having you in my life that I can't bear to imagine it without you anymore."

I took a deep breath, acknowledging the entrance of another in the room. I looked up and saw a doctor. He walked in all smiles like my girl wasn't paled out and cold on one of his hospital beds. My blood started to boil, but I kept my anger in check. He stood at the foot of the bed and pulled out some clipboard before paging through it. "Mr. Zibani, it's a pleasure to meet the husband of such a strong, young woman." I nearly rolled my eyes at how practiced that sounded.

"Mrs. Zibani just happened to suffer a few minor injuries besides the staggering stab wound in her shoulder. But there's no need to worry about that because we've cleaned it, carefully might I add and she's all stitched up and ready to go. We ran some tests to see if anything crucial had happened to the baby, but everything seems to be absolutely fine. You'll just need to keep her on bed rest for all least two to three weeks so her body can heal from the sudden events. Another thing, she might suffer some memory loss due to a hit to the head. When we had a scan it revealed that she might have hit it before and a second hit after the brain hasn't healed fully is quite dangerous, but she seems to be a really strong individual. She'll pass the memory loss stage soon enough. Although I don't think it's a good idea to force her to remember. Rather let her brain process and trigger memories on its own. She'll be advised to see a therapist and a psychologist later on."

All that blabbering and I still couldn't digest anything he said. I was focused on Mango's face slightly frowning before she began opening her eyes. But they closed shut quickly, maybe due to all the lighting in the room. She tried opening her eyes again, blinking a few times now. This caught the doctor's attention, "Okay, I'll need you to help her sit up slightly. And she needs to take it slow." And that's exactly what I did.

She cleared her throat and said something I wouldn't have heard if it wasn't for how close we were. "Water." I grabbed the glass of cool water and placed the straw in the mouth, allowing her to take the much-needed time she must have surely craved. The doctor cleared his throat before announcing his exit. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?" She hissed as her hands flew up to her head before she groaned.

"Relax first then I'll explain." And for the first time in her life, she had actually listened without throwing me an irritated look, without bickering, and without any sign of complaint. When I made sure she was comfortable enough I decided I had to tell her, whether the doctor said I could or not. "The incident with Narelle happened again, but it was much worse. She stabbed you in the shoulder and smashed something on your head. But you did much more damage to her. You literally lodged a knife into her chest, but she wasn't as fortunate as you were. She didn't make it."

I looked at her, trying to see if anything affected her, trying to see what she was thinking or feeling. Her face was as blank as a canvas. I wasn't sure how she felt and I wasn't sure if I actually wanted to know. "So she died, huh?" She asked, her voice being colder than the iceberg. She looked at the door, but it was like she couldn't see it. It was like she saw right through it. All of a sudden she snapped her head in my direction and all that emotion she'd been trying to keep in, to hold back, came out like water from a broken dam. "I killed someone." Her brows furrowed in pain as her eyes bored into mine, revealing her fear and disgust.

"Okay, listen. You did what you had to do. It was all self-defense. It's not your fault." I tried comforting her as I stood to embrace her in a hug. She flinched away from me as if I was some sort of virus-infected rat. "You shouldn't blame yourself. It had to happen because it was either you and the baby or it was Narelle. It had to happen. And it wasn't your fault, Mango."

She laughed sadistically, "Damn right it wasn't. It was your fault. If I hadn't met you I wouldn't have met my father, or been pregnant, or killed someone. Of course, it isn't my fault. It never was." She pulled the thin cover-up to her shoulders before she turned her back to me, facing the opposite wall.

"You know what? It is my fault. And I take full responsibility for it, but Mango, you can't relive the past if you hope to move on from it. It is inevitable that you'll keep pondering over things you can't change, but you have to forgive, if not forget. Forgive me, forgive yourself, and everyone who has done you wrong. It may be hard, I know, but it's for the best. You can blame me all you want, but it's your decision if you want to move on from it, with your child. With me perhaps." I have never in my life voiced such emotion for anyone in my life. And I don't plan on doing it again anytime soon.

Mango turned ever so slowly to face me again and I couldn't help but admire how beautiful she looked even with the colour drained out. Even with the huge baby bump she had, she was still able to make my breath hitch every time. "Fuck you, honestly." She croaked, taking me back by surprise. She hardly ever swore but when she did, she was beyond angry. She let out an awfully audible breath before summoning me towards her with her two fingers like I was some kind of dog. Her dog. "Come closer, Khaya." She said when she saw I wasn't as close enough as she had wanted me to be.

She cupped my face and brought me closer to her. She looked me dead in the eye and Lord knows how much I've dreamt of this moment, I even wanted to crack a smile, BUT I had to keep it in. "What you doing?" My voice came out nearly strangled, causing me to clear my throat thoroughly. "What do you need?"

"Just shut up. Thula. Listen to me carefully. We are going to get through this together. We have to, otherwise, I'll lose my mind on my own. I need you, I need this baby and I need to fight this. So what do you say, you're going to help me?" Her eyes looked so hopeful that my heart nearly broke at the sight. I just gave her a nod and gave her the biggest heartfelt grin I could master, for which she returned. She let go of me before snuggling further into the bed, looking ultra exhausted. She mumbled something incoherent, but I didn't mind.

She fell asleep, and at that moment I saw peace take over. She seemed to accept everything as it was, so I did I. We'd finally reached equilibrium. It's been shit, but what's life without risks, right?

THE END.
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A/N:

So we've reached the end boo-hoo-hoo. Suck it up! It has been a long journey and boy am I so proud to say that I have a finished yet unedited little book for everyone to read.😭

I'd like to thank everyone who has been with me through this. It means the world to me.
But nonetheless, you guys have been such a great audience and I'd be damned if I wrote another book out of the blue. I'm just kidding.💀 Check out my profile for more books.

Thanks again! ILY guys so much.
Until next time my lovers.
- Much love, Ri.♥️