by J A Fielding
“Okay. What did he say?” Rita asked.
“That there was an accident and that Mitchell was hurt,” Natasha said as a tear rolled down her cheek.
“Was it serious? Is he badly hurt?” Rita asked but Natasha never answered. She just stared into oblivion with a tear rolling down her other cheek.
Chapter 2
Natasha was shaking as she held the phone tightly. Rita was getting more and more worried. She had never seen her best friend like this.
“Tasha, talk to me. What’s going on?” she asked again but Natasha was quiet. Tears were rolling down her cheeks and as much as Rita wanted to help, she couldn’t do anything, not without knowing what was making Natasha so upset. She slowly took the phone from her hands and put it on the table before she put her hands on Natasha’s shoulders. She looked into her eyes even though she knew that Natasha’s blank look was looking way past her. “Let it out,” she said in a low voice.
Natasha became hysterical. She cried on Rita’s shoulder for a long minute before she finally pulled away.
“Can you talk now?” Rita asked and Natasha nodded. “Okay, who was that on the phone and what did they say to get you this upset?” Rita asked again.
“Remember when I told you Mitchell is in England on business? Well, that was one of his associates, Patrick Keller. He said that Mitch had an accident,” Natasha said as she choked back her tears.
“What kind of accident?” Rita asked. Natasha shook her head.
“I…I don’t know,” she said.
“Okay, you go lie down…” Rita said.
“But Alexis….” Natasha started to say before Rita shook her head.
“I spend most of my time with that baby. I will feed her, bathe her and get her to bed. You just lie down,” she said.
“Rita, I can’t…I can’t just sleep. Not when Mitch is…” Rita shook her head again, shutting her up.
“Mitchell is all the way in England and you are here. There is nothing you can do. Not right now anyway. Come on, I’ll give you a Valium,” Rita said as she walked her back to the living room.
“Why do you have Valium?” Natasha asked.
“Sweetie, every time I visit my mother at the hospice, I need a Valium and every time some weirdo art collector comes into the gallery, I need another one. Story of my life,” Rita said.
Natasha smiled. “At least I got you to smile,” Rita said as she got a bottle of pills from her purse. She gave a pill to Natasha and then walked to the kitchen to get her some water. When she came back, she handed her the glass and watched as she took the pill. “Good, now go lie down. I’ll give the baby some of the green goo I saw in the fridge,” Rita said as she watched Natasha walk towards the hallway. She felt sorry for her friend but she also needed to know what was going on if she was going to help. She looked at Alexis who was busy nibbling on her teething toy in the playpen before she went to the kitchen to heat her food. A few minutes later, she had Alexis in her high chair. She looked at the big eyed toddler and smiled.
“Now, we’ve been on this rodeo before, Alexis, and I need you to cooperate with me if we are going to make this work,” she said. Alexis chuckled and Rita rolled her eyes. “Of course, you would laugh at me. You do that every time I talk to you,” she said and then sighed. She was talking to babies now…
After a long hour, Alexis was fed and bathed and Rita could finally breathe easy. She looked at her clothes and sighed. Her top was covered in the baby’s vegetables, and her pants, well, they also shared in the same fate. After she put the baby to bed, she walked to the guest room where she had left a few of her clothes the last time she stayed over at Mitchell and Natasha’s place. She changed into a pair of pants and a sleeveless top before checking in on Natasha, who was now sound asleep. She then walked back to the living room with the baby monitor in her hand and then pulled her phone out of her bag. She sat down as she dialed Stacy’s number.
“Hi Rita,” Stacy said excitedly. Rita never understood why Stacy always seemed so happy.
“Hi girl. How’s your day?” Rita asked.
“Good. Can’t complain. How’s yours?” she asked.
“Not so good. I need a favor,” Rita said.
“Sure anything.” Rita smiled. She could always count on Stacy.
“Would you happen to know a Patrick Keller?” she asked.
“Sure. That’s Mitchell’s associate from England. As a matter of fact, that’s where Mitchell is right now. Why do you ask?” Stacy asked.
“Keller just called Natasha about some accident Mitchell was in,” Rita said.
“What? When?” Stacy asked. She sounded frantic.
“Sometime today. Natasha got the call maybe an hour, an hour and a half ago but we don’t know the whole story. I need you to call Keller and find out everything for me, for Tasha’s sake,” Rita explained.
“Oh man, how is Tasha?” Stacy asked. Rita took a long deep breath.
“Not so good. I gave her a pill so that she could rest up. So will you make that call for me, like right now?” Rita asked.
“Sure. I’ll call you back when I find out anything,” Stacy said before hanging up.
Rita made herself busy and cleared the table and then did the dishes. She liked being busy when nervous to get her mind off things. After she was done, she looked at the time and sighed. It had almost been forty minutes since she asked Stacy to make the call.
“What could be taking that long? It’s just a call,” she thought. “What if it’s something serious? What if Stacy couldn’t get any information because…” Her random traumatic thoughts were interrupted when she heard her phone ringing. “Hey, what did you find out?” she asked when she picked up.
“It was a minor accident, nothing to worry about,” Stacy said. Rita could tell that even she was relieved.
“Oh, thank God. What happened exactly?” Rita asked.
“The clients decided to have a game of soccer and one of them had a not so clean game. So, Mitchell ended up getting injured. He will be jetting in later this evening. So, let Tasha know, will you?” Stacy said. Rita breathed a sigh of relief. “It will be at around eleven,” she added.
“Thanks Stace. I will let her know,” Rita said before she hang up. She looked at the time and sighed. She had a couple of hours until Mitchell came back and she was a hundred percent sure that the effects of the Valium would not have worn off. She took her phone and called Dave. He would know exactly what to do.
“Hey babe,” he said when he picked up.
“Hey,” Rita said.
“What’s wrong? You sound exhausted,” he said.
“Well, I had to take care of Alexis and Natasha. So yeah, I’m trying hard to hold myself together,” she said.
“Why? Is Tasha not okay?” Dave asked, sounding concerned.
“Well, she went frantic when she found out that her husband was in an accident,” Rita said.
“What? When? Is Mitchell okay?” Dave asked.
“Yeah, he is okay. It was a petty accident. Nothing major but I do need your help,” she said. “Are you on call tonight?” she asked.
“I was actually about to get off when you called,” he said. “Why do you ask?”
“Well, Mitchell is coming in at eleven and I gave Natasha a Valium,” she started.
“Why the hell would you do that?” Dave asked.
“Did you not hear me say that she was frantic? I could hardly calm her down and I needed her out of my hair so that I could think of my next move,” she said in her defense.
“So you gave her a Valium?” Dave asked. Rita could hear the criticism in his voice.
“Well, I had to do something. Anyway, you are a doctor, so I will need you at the airport when Mitchell touches down and because I can’t leave Alexis and Natasha on their own, I need you to do it and then bring him back here when you are done with your preliminary doctor check-ups,” she said. Dave laughed. “I’m serious,” she said.
“I know you are. It’s just like yo
u sound like my boss when you order me around like that,” he said.
“I’m sorry. I’m just trying to get control of the situation and it is not working very well,” she said.
“You don’t have to defend yourself, I get it. I’ll see you in a few, okay?” he asked.
“Thanks Dave,” she said before hanging up. She sat down and took a long deep breath. Everything was sorted. All she had to do was just wait for Dave to get home…
*****
When Natasha woke up, her head felt heavy. She could hear voices coming from the living room. When she raised her head, she noticed that she was on top of the covers and wondered why. Her heart suddenly started beating faster when she realized what had happened just before she came to bed. She’d gotten a call from Patrick Keller about Mitchell. There had been some sort of accident. Her head suddenly felt heavy and even though she wanted to get out of bed, she found herself struggling. She remembered Rita giving her a pill…Valium. Could this have been why she felt so weak? She then felt her head getting heavier and heavier….
She was not sure how long she had been out but when she woke up, she felt stronger than she did when she woke up the first time. She could still hear the voices from the living room. She got up from the bed and walked to the bathroom. She quickly brushed her teeth and then splashed some cold water on her face before she walked to the living room. It was a full house. Rita, Dave, Mona, Leo, Mitchell’s mother and sister, and even her own family, Estelle and Eric, were there but Mitchell’s mother and Eric were seated in the kitchen…not that Natasha really cared. The person she was really worried about, Mitchell, was seated in the reclining chair with his foot elevated. He had a brace on but she did not care. He was fine. She did not even care to say anything to the rest of the people in the room. She walked straight up to Mitchell and kissed him hard right on the lips.
“Whoa, great to see you too, Tasha,” Mitchell said when she finally pulled away.
“Don’t you ever scare me like that again or so help me God I will kill you myself,” she said in a whisper.
“Oh, you are stuck with me, babe,” Mitchell said before Natasha kissed him again.
“We are also fine, babe, thanks for asking,” Mona said loud enough for everyone to hear. Natasha laughed as she pulled away from Mitchell. Estelle stood up and walked towards them. Natasha smiled at her and hugged her.
“Hi baby,” she said as she held Natasha closely. “At first I was upset you didn’t call me but then I found out that Rita drugged you,” she added, loudly enough for Rita to hear.
“I did not drug my best friend,” Rita said frowning.
“Honey, you gave her a Valium without a prescription. Do you have any idea how strong diazepam is?” Dave asked.
“I take it all the time and I’m fine,” Rita said in her defense.
“That can’t be good. Right Dave?” Mona asked. Dave shook his head. “Take care. You could be a junkie in the making,” she added, laughing. Rita threw one of the throw pillows at her.
“The pill was especially strong because of Natasha’s new diet, which by the way I do not support,” Dave said. Estelle looked at Natasha and frowned.
“Are you starving yourself in the name of a diet?” Estelle asked.
“I need to shed this baby weight, Nan, and it’s not starving. I am just on a strict diet for the duration of my program,” she said.
“What program?” Mona asked.
“She signed up for a crazy ten hours a week workout program that is also dependent on what she eats,” Rita said.
“But honey, I saw you rock a bandage dress just last week,” Mona said.
“And do you know what I had under that dress? Yards and yards of spandex,” Natasha said. Estelle shook her head.
“I will never understand you children,” Estelle said. Natasha smiled and looked at Mitchell.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Patrick got me to play soccer and let’s just say that I am not that good at tackling,” he said. Natasha rolled her eyes.
“Not that good? Your leg is in a brace,” she said, surprised that he could be so relaxed.
“Chill, babe. It’s just a minor injury. I believe they called it a stress fracture,” he said. “Relax honey, it’s just a fracture,” Mitchell said again. Natasha shook her head.
“Just a fracture? That’s like telling airport security to relax because it’s just a bomb,” she said. Leo laughed.
“Yeah buddy. I think Tasha is right. You are taking this a little too lightly,” he said.
“Yeah, and I thought stress fractures just occurred because of pressure, not impact,” Natasha said. Leo and Mitchell looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “Oh, did I forget to mention that I happen to have an entire army of soccer crazed male cousins?” she said.
“Clearly,” Leo said.
“Actually, his x-rays show that he had a pre-existing stress fracture but the impact is why his leg is in a brace. It was literally the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Dave explained. Natasha looked at Mitchell.
“I think he just referred to you as a camel,” she said, smiling.
“Well, he is the proverbial camel in this conversation isn’t he?” Rita asked.
“Yeah and the proverbial camel is still in the room. He can’t exactly leave at will,” Mitchell said. Natasha smiled again.
“So, how long are we going to have the brace on?” she asked looking at Dave.
“Well, he should be back on his feet soon enough plus with the help of the crutches…” Dave started.
“…he has crutches?” Natasha asked, cutting Dave short.
“Did I forget to mention that?” Mitchell asked. Natasha turned and looked at him angrily.
“I literally just woke up. When would you have had the time to mention it?” she asked.
“Dave, would you tell her to calm down? It’s not like I am in a wheelchair or anything,” Mitchell said. Natasha shook her head.
“It is a big deal, Mitchell, and it’s time you realized that,” she said. Mitchell held her hand and smiled at her.
“We are going to be okay. We always work things through,” he said. Natasha frowned and looked at Dave.
“What should we do? How are we supposed to handle this?” she asked.
“Well, as long as you keep the leg elevated and use the crutches every time you walk, you should be fine,” Dave said to Mitchell. Natasha frowned.
“See, we’ll be fine,” Mitchell said.
“Let me go say hi to my dad and your mom,” Natasha said as she walked into the kitchen. She knew she still had a frown on her face but she could not help it. It had been a long day.
“There she is,” Eric said as she walked in.
“Hi Daddy,” she said as she hugged him.
“Natasha dear, you should turn that frown upside down. After all, Mitchell is fine,” Mrs. Schmidt said as she wrapped her own arms around Natasha. “How is my favorite daughter in law?” she asked.
“Mrs. Schmidt, I am still your only daughter in law,” Natasha said.
“And that’s why you are my favorite,” Mrs. Schmidt said with a smile.
“How are you? You were out for quite a while,” Eric said.
“Really? How long was I out? What’s the time?” Natasha asked.
“It is ten in the morning,” Eric said. Natasha’s eyes grew wide. “And that’s why we don’t take sleeping pills without a prescription,” he added.
“I didn’t just take one, Dad. Rita gave it to me,” she said.
“Well, you took it,” Eric said.
“Come on, Eric. Leave the poor girl alone,” Mrs. Schmidt said. Natasha gave her an appreciative look.
“Guess we all know who my favorite parent is right now,” Natasha said as she looked at her dad. The two laughed as Natasha grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.
“Hey, you should eat something, not just have water,” Mrs. Schmidt said.
“Yeah, you should eat,” Eric said.
<
br /> “I’m not hungry,” she said.
“That’s because of that diet you are on,” Mrs. Schmidt said as she climbed off the stool she was seated on. She walked to the fridge and took two eggs out. “I’ll make you a proper breakfast,” she said as she beat the eggs in a cup.
“You also know about the diet?” Natasha asked.
“We had to find out why you were out for more than twelve hours, so Rita fessed up,” Eric said.
“Well, you should know that it is not really a diet but actually a…” she sighed when she realized that even she could not believe whatever she was about to say. “Spice the eggs, Mrs. Schmidt. That should give my brain the jumpstart it needs,” she said as she buried her face in her hands. Eric looked at her and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.
“For a person who just woke up, you look beat,” he said.
“This whole thing is too new for me and I just don’t know how to handle it,” she said, looking at Eric.
“Oh please, all Schmidt men get a leg injury at some point in their lives. It is kind of like a rite of passage,” Mrs. Schmidt said as she seasoned the omelet that was now on the stove. “His father still has a scar from the fourth year of our marriage, fell down the stairs. His grandfather slipped on ice and his great-grandfather coincidentally had a soccer injury. Relax, he’ll be fine,” she said as she served the omelet on a plate.
“See, it’s not a big deal,” Eric said.
“Eat up and relax. My son may have had a few accidents in his past, but the one thing he did well was getting you to make an honest man out of him. And you are the most loving, caring woman ever. So I know he will be okay,” she said, smiling.
Natasha smiled and took a bite of her omelet. Everyone was right. She married Mitchell for better or worse and this was one of those lows in their marriage that she would power through.
Chapter 3
Two weeks after the accident, Mitchell and Natasha were at the doctor’s office. Natasha had tried to find the perfect balance between work, being a wife and being a mother. She had to; otherwise it was a sure thing that she would crack under the pressure. To say that she was no longer worried would be a big joke because the truth was she was more scared than ever. The accident, even though it was a minor one, was an awakening for her. She realized that any accident, however minor, was a big impact to her family. She began thinking of how life would be without Mitchell, without the father of her child, and it was something that she could not live with.
