Twisted Pursuits

by Krystal Morrison

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  A BLOOD CURDLING SCREAM TORE through the mist of his sub consciousness. He shot upright in bed, his heart thumping rapidly, his body glistening with perspiration. He laid his head in his hands; it was just a nightmare he told himself. He was in his hotel room and not at home. Two weeks had passed since that awful night and still he could not have a moment’s peace; images of her ashen face or the dead remains of their child haunted his every thought.

  Doctor Hedley had called shortly after Jordan had left the hospital to notify him that Lauren had received complications, hence he could not release her on her own and he did not know anyone else to call. His resolve had wavered. His house was big enough; hence he did not have to see her at all if he did not want to and in two weeks or so she would be well enough to take care of herself. So he had hired a nurse and sent his driver along with Mrs. Stewart to collect her from the hospital the very next day. He left early for work in the mornings and came home late at nights trying hard not to think of the woman upstairs.

  On her first night back from the hospital, he was jolted from a restless sleep by her shrill cries, rushing up the stairs before he thought better of it only to stop short at her door as he heard the nurse’s calming tone reiterating that it was only a nightmare. It had been like that every night since, only he had known better than to seek it out and after a week he could not bear it anymore thus, he'd moved into his suite at the hotel. It was useless, even after a week away from the house he still heard her guttural shouts, in his thoughts or when he finally fell into exhausted sleep each night. They pulled at his heartstrings, made him want to do everything in his power to heal the pain he heard in it.

  He laughed coldly, why would she be hurt, she had made her choice and now she would have to live with it. Moreover, he still believed she was playing a sympathy card; his heart hardened at the notion. He had been played out; she would have to find someone else to toy with.

  He showered and dressed, she must be well enough to leave by now. He had had enough of this; he wanted her out of his house and out of his life for good. His heart clenched at the thought of not seeing her again but he stiffened his resolve, he would not be taken for a fool twice.

  Mrs. Stewart met him at the door, “Good morning Sir, would you like some breakfast?”

  “Yes, thank you, I’ll have the usual toast and eggs with coffee”, he had been in such a hurry to get to the house that he had not stopped for breakfast, not that he had much of a stomach for food these days.

  “Ok, Mr. Myles, just give me a few minutes to prepare it”, she answered, moving towards the kitchen.

  “Where is Nurse Bell, I’d like to speak to her”, he muttered, impatient to be done with this whole affair.

  “Here am I”, he had barely spoken before the woman materialized; “I wanted to speak to you as well, come with me, please”.

  She did not give him time to protests before she started in the direction of her patient’s room. Shock rooted him where he stood near the entrance of the room; all the scathing remarks he had planned to throw at her died on his lips. He had expected tears, hysteria, pleading anything except this. She just sat there staring at the walls, a faraway look in her eyes. She had not even given any indication that she heard them enter the room.

  “That’s all she has done since I’ve been here”, the nurse said, a pitiful expression on her plump face, “she should be better by now but she’s just getting worst”.

  “My God, what have you been feeding her, she’s paper thin”, he rasped.

  She turned lifeless eyes on him and the ice that had been surrounding his heart these past weeks thawed. She looked horrible, her skin had a sickly pallor and there were dark circles under her eyes, the vibrant woman he remembered was nowhere in sight. He saw a spark of emotion in her eyes and her face contorted in an ugly mask of anguish. He blinked as she became the lifeless creature again; wondering if he had imagined the momentary lapse as her attention refocused on the wall.

  “She won’t eat, she hardly sleeps, she hasn’t spoken one word since I’ve been here”, Nurse Bell went on, “in fact this is the only sign she’s made that she understands what’s happening around her”.

  “What should I do?” he heard himself ask.

  “Considering the circumstances I think she needs counseling”, Nurse Bell responded, “She’s obviously depressed”.

  This was not the Lauren he knew. She might have pretended to be someone she was not but he strongly believed that some things could not be imitated, they had to be genuine. He wondered for the first time since he had seen the corpse of their child, if he had been wrong. He found it hard to believe that the woman who had spoken longingly of Anna’s unborn child could so willingly discard her own without reason.

  He shoved the thought from his mind? What reason could she have had to throw away his child? While he respected a woman’s decision to do with her body what she felt best, within reason, he could not understand what reason Lauren could have had. She knew that any child of his would be deeply loved. Why had she not confided in him? Did she not trust him? What about what he wanted? Why had she not given him a say in whether or not his child lived? The questions were endless, they plagued him constantly. At times he felt they would drive him crazy.

  “Mr. Myles”, Mrs. Stewart’s voice broke into his reverie, “a Mrs. Anna Martinez has been calling all week for you and she’s on the line”. She handed the phone to him.

  He frowned as he took the phone from Mrs. Stewart. Why would Anna want to speak to him?

  “Jordan Myles speaking...”

  “What have you done to Lauren?” she shouted, interrupting Jordan, “I’ve been calling her for almost two weeks and no one has seen her”.

  “Calm down”, Jordan said, striving for patients, “Lauren is right here”.

  “I’m coming over right now!” Anna huffed and the line went dead before he could respond.

  He was irritated at her meddling, but decided it might be good for Lauren, after all they seemed close. Precisely five minutes later the security called, regarding access for a Mr. and Mrs. Martinez and a few minutes later Anna was barging into his living room, both hands resting on her lower back as if to support her protruding stomach with her husband running behind her, his expression worried.

  “Where is she?” Anna huffed.

  He barely indicated to the stairs before she began mounting them, surprisingly swift for her advanced stage of pregnancy.

  “Be careful honey”, Daren muttered as Anna followed Jordan’s directions to Lauren’s room.

  “Oh Lauren…” Anna’s eyes flooded with tears as she saw her friend. She strode towards Lauren “what happened to you?”

  Lauren flew up out of her chair so fast it almost toppled as Anna came into her line of sight, cringing from the other woman. Anna stood there gaping as Lauren backed away from her, staring at Anna’s protruding stomach as tears ran down her cheeks.

  “Go away”, Lauren rasped, clasping both sides of her head as if to hold it together.

  “Lauren”, Anna pleaded softly, confused, fresh tears forming in her eyes, “it’s me, Anna, you’re best friend”.

  “Anna, perhaps you should come another time”, Jordan encouraged, taken aback by Lauren’s reaction.

  “Like hell I will”, Anna yelled, “what did you do to her?”

  “Leave!” Lauren screeched, sweeping the contents of a nearby night table, shards of glass flew everywhere as a lamp clattered to the floor and shattered into a million pieces.

  Daren rushed forward and drew Anna out of the way towards the door while Lauren began to thrash the entire room, flinging anything her hands caught and tearing the covers from the bed. She was the mad woman again.

  “Look what you did to her. I’m calling the cops, you... you... aahh”, Anna’s enraged outcry turned into yelps of pain as she doubled over, clutching her middle.

  Daren swore; carefully bundling her into his arms and headed for the stairs. Jor
dan would have offered them some assistance but he had to prevent Lauren form hurting herself.

  “Call Doctor Hedley”, he commanded as he lunged forward, enclosing her body in a death grip.

  She fought against him until they fell on the bed together, grating howls escaping her. Slowly the wrestling ceased, she fell against his chest, wailing brokenly, her thin frame jerking with the effort. He tried to comfort her but it was useless, if anything she cried harder. They remained in that position until Doctor Headley came. Lauren was so still he wondered if she was breathing as he carefully untangled his arms from around her.

  He watched as the doctor cleansed a few scrapes that she had received sometime during her debacle. One thing was evident; something terrible had happened to her. His mind went back to the day of the incident; she had been trying to tell him something. Now that he thought about it, she had not told him what had put her in such a state when she had gotten to his house. Could he have been wrong about the entire situation all along, hope burgeoned in his heart; he had never wanted to be wrong so badly in his entire life.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  “YOU CAN’T JUST LEAVE”, Jordan bellowed, frustration lending his voice a foreboding edge.

  Doctor Semaj, a balding man appearing to be in his late fifties, adjusted his spectacles on the bridge of his nose, a move Jordan had come to recognize over the past two weeks as a sign of irritation. He could not fault the man, after all, he had been like a man possessed these past weeks.

  “Mr. Myles”, Doctor Semaj said, a little of his unease seeping into his voice, “there is nothing more I can do for Ms. McKenzie. She’s simply not responding to treatment”.

  He thought of Lauren lying upstairs, staring into nothingness and a sense of desolation overcame him. He sunk into a nearby chair, a resigned sigh escaping his lips. Some of his inner turmoil must have showed in his expression because the Doctor’s face softened.

  “The mind is a powerful thing Mr. Myles. One can easily lose themselves in its recesses”, Doctor Semaj said indulgently, “Ms. McKenzie has withdrawn so deeply within herself it will take extensive psychiatric treatment or a miracle to pull her out of it”. He paused for a moment, appearing to be in deep thought, “what I can’t figure out is what could have pushed her into such a state”, he shrugged as if it was beyond him.

  “I will not relinquish her to a psychiatric hospital, she is not mad”, Jordan responded in much the same way he had when Doctor Semaj had suggested it a few days ago.

  He had agonized over the situation endlessly these few weeks and each time the truth stared him straight in the face, it was all his fault. He had been so caught up in his own feelings that he had not thought of her suffering. Her aunts had not called or visited the entire time she had been there, he was all she had left and he had turned his back on her at a time when she had needed him most. He could not help but wonder if he had offered her a little support, she might not have fallen into such a state.

  “Suit yourself”, Dr Semaj shrugged turning towards the door, “I am terrible sorry, I wish there was more I could do for the young woman. I have another appointment and I must be on my way”.

  Jordan grunted a reply and watched as the Doctor exit the room along with all his hopes of recovery for Lauren. He was at a loss, he had tried everything to reach her and so far nothing had.

  In a bid to lift her spirits, the day following her incident with Anna he had resumed giving her little tokens as he knew she took delight in them, however on the fourth day he gave up as he had the impression that it caused her more pain than happiness. He remembered entering the sordid room with a cheerfulness he did not feel only to be greeted by silence and soft brown eyes with so much grief in their murky depts.

  He had observed that his presence unsettled her; he could sense her struggling to keep a tight lid on her emotions in the way she sat stiffly through his visits, not once uttering a word or acknowledging his presence. He would leave her room each morning chilled to his very soul, no one deserved to bear such pain as he had seen in her eyes. Eventually he had ceased his visits all together as he could not bear the thought that he was adding to her sorrow somewhat, although he could not fathom how.

  Powerless, he had lapsed into a black mood which had sent his entire office scurrying to please him on the few occasions he tore himself away from the house. He winced at the memory of his secretary whimpering in the face of his wrath over a miniature mistake in a document; even the staff at the house had gauged his temper and stayed clear of him.

  He pushed his chair away from his desk and strode to the window, shoving his hands into his pockets. He laughed scornfully, cursing the day for being so sunny and beautiful when there was naught but gloom in his heart.

  A sickening feeling started in the pit of his stomach, he knew what he must do, he had known all along, yet he could not help postponing the inevitable for fear that it would ruin his very existence. He forced his legs to move, his heart pounding against his ribs, what if he failed he thought fleetingly, no! He pushed the thought from his mind, too much depended on his success.

  IT WAS QUIET HERE, THERE was no sense of time, no rush to be anywhere, no one existed in this world but herself and no one could hurt her here; she was numb. It was better this way, she told herself, the pain was too unbearable. She cringed at the mere thought of it. Someone was sitting beside her, without looking she knew who it was; his face came into view, a pained expression marring his handsome features. The wound in her chest began to ache, she struggled to shut him out but she kept seeing his face clouded with hate as he had seen the dead remains of their child.

  He stared at her tormented expression, feeling as if someone was squeezing his heart, he steeled himself for what he was about to do.

  “Lauren”, he said, shaking her gently.

  “Go away”, she rasped, clutching her chest as if to prevent it from tearing apart.

  “No!” he said emphatically, perhaps if he had insisted that she talk to him from the onset she would have leaned on him and they would have gotten through this together.

  She sprang out of his grasp in one fluid movement and headed for the door. She had to get out of here, a voice in her head insisted, quickly before Jordan caught her. She had barely gotten to the door, before he pounced on her, his hand snaking around her waist.

  She kicked and screamed as the painful memories of that night came rushing back. The rippling contractions, her voice begging the doctors to save her baby, the nurse holding the dead remains, Jordan’s face as he had seen it, it was all too much to endure. Jordan pulled her to the floor with him, using his body to pinion hers; he palmed her face to still her thrashing head.

  “Listen to me”, he said forcefully, “I am not leaving, not now, not ever”.

  He repeated it over and over until her flaying subsided and her chest heaved under him as she fought to breathe. He stared at her wan cheeks and tormented eyes and everything crumpled within him. Nothing mattered anymore except that she get well again. His own feelings took a backseat; it didn't matter anymore why she had gotten the abortion. What mattered was the fact that she was the kindest person he had ever known and she would never intentionally hurt a soul, least of all him. He sat up and pulled her with him, mindful to hold on to her in case she tried to escape him again.

  “I long to see your smile, hear your voice”, he stroked her cheeks, her lips, “serve you coffee in the mornings. I live to make you happy. I cannot bear the thought of you suffering, it kills me inside”.

  “But you hate me”, she whimpered, her voice rough from disuse, her eyes brimming with tears, “I see it in your eyes”.

  She was speaking, he felt giddy with relief, “the only hate I feel is for myself, for not being there for you, you will never know how I have suffered for it”.

  He grasped her hands in his, as if doing so would allow him to draw some of the sorrow from her.

  “You are not alone, help me to understand, tell me how you feel, let me help y
ou, please”, he begged.

  “You can’t”, she insisted between sobs, “and you shouldn’t”.

  He inched closer to her, resting his weight on his knees, his eyes stinging with unshed tears.

  “I love you Lauren, do you hear me I love you and it’s pure hell to see you wasting away in that God forsaken bed”, he was tired of denying it, perhaps now that she knew, she would start living again.

  “No, no, you can’t love me”, she tried to pull away from him.

  “It’s ok if you don’t feel the same”, he ignored the pang in his heart.

  “Of course I love you”, she responded, frowning as if it was absurd of him to think otherwise.

  He closed his eyes briefly at her admonition. To think that he had intended to throw this woman out of his life a few weeks ago was unforgiveable, the callousness with which he had treated her was unpardonable yet she still loved him. He did not by any means deserve her.

  “I’m sorry I hurt you Jordan”, she said tearfully, “I did not intend to… I swear”.

  “I am the one who should be sorry for abandoning you those first weeks”, he responded, totally abashed.

  “They took our baby Jordan”, his hand was numb where she clutched it to her chest, squeezing it as if her life depended on it.

  He frowned, she was speaking incoherently again. Had he pushed her over the edge with his foolish mechanism, dread settled in his breast at the thought.

  “I didn’t even know I was pregnant”, she choked, “Nana was the one who told me”.

  Rage boiled inside him at the mention of that evil woman’s name.

  “It’s insane, but in those moments I knew I loved and wanted him more than anything else”, she spoke with a reverence that took him aback, her expression dismayed, “then Nana came and said she was taking me to the doctor”.

  “It’s ok, you don’t have to talk about it”, fear gripped him; she had that raw look in her eyes that he knew all too well.