STARGIRL

56. Lie

    The routine had been the same for an entire week.

She would wake up in her bed and lay there for what seemed to be hours without having the strength to get up or move.

The lower half of her body was still doused in intense aching pain and her mind was still processing the loss.

Nina Reign was despondent and in a feverish stupor, but she was not alone.

Her husband was there with her throughout the entire ordeal. From the moment she fainted on the kitchen floor, and a stream of urine mixed with blood trickled down her legs, he never left her side.

He watched as Nina went into early labor, but delivered a stillborn. The doctors and nurses desperately trying to lower her blood pressure with medicine.

He watched as her eyes rolled back into her head and the doctors and nurses scrambled to stop her from profusely bleeding.

He watched as they dragged her from one room to another, shouting in the halls to get the woman the care she needed when her obstetrician could no longer help with the sudden seizure she had due to eclampsia.

And now, he watched his silent wife who would stay in bed all day watching soap operas. The thought of almost dying had been running through her head for the past week.

Stanford, who hadn't been to work, and who had been stressing in an attempt to keep everything together was thinking about how he would not be able to live if something fatal would've happened to her that night.

The thought was gut-wrenching and he hated to think about it, but that was all he had going on in his head.

Nina, on the other hand, was ashamed of herself.

She forced herself to continue the pregnancy no matter the advice her obstetrician had given her. She had even convinced herself that it was all going to go smoothly, though she knew that her husband was ultimately right.

She accepted the fact that all she really wanted was to try and prove him wrong and that being stubborn caused everyone involved some grief.

Nina who had been laying in bed while watching television didn't notice that her husband had come into the room with her lunch.

Stanford exhaled, "I called Dr.Lee this morning and she said that it's okay to start putting some solids in your diet again."

Nina ignored him.

He looked down at the platter he was holding in his hands. Today he had made her chicken noodle soup using his late grandmother's recipe.

Without saying anything else, Stanford put the platter down on the end table right next to her side of the bed.

Her eyes wandered to the bowl of soup where she concentrated on the steam rising from the bowl.

Stanford stared at her and then lightly placed his hand on her forehead then cheeks to check for any signs of a fever, but nothing.

"I'm okay," she muttered very softly as she pulled one of her bedsheets up to her chin.

Stanford was shocked but happy to hear her speak.

"Nina?" He dropped himself down to his knees so that he could be looking right at her.

"Where's Maddox?" She asked Stanford as she summoned the strength to raise her hand upwards to touch her husband's face.

He nuzzled his face in the warmth of her caress and deduced that he could stay in that same exact position for years to come.

Stanford Reign truly hated the person he was because of his infidelity and lies.