After Doctor Philip informed Raina that the person who helped her and her daughter will be coming over this afternoon, she has been restless. Even though the Tv was switched on, her mind was not there as she kept on looking at the entrance now and then. She couldn’t wait to wrap her arms around her baby girl. She missed her a lot. She and Adrie have never been apart for so long.

She sighed as she wondered how the person who helped her look like. She owed him a lot for helping her. She took in her surroundings and felt fortunate as she knew this was one of those VIP wards. She knew it must have cost her helper a lot. The doctor told her he had paid for everything including her medication. She felt relieved when he told her that because she had no money on her.

Some minutes later, The door to Raina’s ward opened and Doctor Philip walked in with Adrie, Alexa, Clarice and Ronald behind him.

“Mama!” Adrie screamed as she ran towards her mom.

Raina smiled as she sat up and assisted Adrie in climbing up her bed after which she hugged the hell out of her. Raina’s face welled with tears. She missed her little girl so much. However, she felt something was missing, she felt kind of incomplete and she didn’t know why.

She pulled away from the hug and showered Adrie’s face with kisses.

“I missed you mama” She grinned.

“I missed you too my love. I’m glad you’re here.” She replied and kissed her daughter’s forehead.

“Meet my friend, Alexa,” Adrie said as she pointed towards Alexa who was holding a small gift bag.

“Hi, Adrie’s mom.” She smiled.

“Hello beautiful, come here” Raina replied as she patted the left side of her bed to her as Adrie was already on the right side.

Alexa climbed up the bed and Raina hugged her after which she kissed her cheek.

Alexa passed the gift bag she was holding to Adrie and gave Adrie a signal to give it to her mom.

“Alexa and I made this for you mommy,” Adrie gave her mom the tiny gift bag.

Raina smiled as she collected it and opened it. She brought out what was inside and her heart melted at what she saw.

A get well soon card which they decorated in their writing and a bar of chocolate.

During Alexa and Adrie’s snack time, Clarice had given them one chocolate each and Alexa decided that she and Adrie should share hers while Adrie keep hers and give it to her mom as part of their present as it will make their surprise colourful.

Raina smiled as she pulled Alexa and Adrie into a joint hug.

“I love it. Thank you.” She whispered into their ear and they smiled because their plan was to make Raina happy which they achieved.

“Ronald can I see you outside for a second.” Dr Philip said and Ronald followed him outside.

Raina didn’t get to see his face properly, she hadn’t even told him ‘Thank You’ because she was so engrossed with the girls.

“How are you feeling my child?” Clarice asked as she kept the basket of food on a nearby table before walking up to Raina and taking a seat beside her bed.

“I’m fine. Thank you very much for your help. Thanks for taking care of my daughter.” She said.

“No problem my child, Just get well soon.” She encouraged.

“Mama, Clarice is my Nanny. Just like she’s Alexa’s Nanny.” Adrie chipped in.

By now, the girls had already climbed down from Raina’s bed. They were seated on the resting couch where they were playing with some of Alexa’s toys which Clarice brought for them.

“Oh, I thought you were his mother. I mean the man that helped me.” She mumbled.

“No, I’m not. But I’m like a second mom to him.” She said and Raina nodded.

“His name is Ronald and Alexa over there is his daughter, She will be seven in a few months,” Clarice said.

“I brought some food, soup and fruits for you” Clarice said as she pointed to the basket she placed on a nearby table earlier on.

“Thank you so much.” Raina appreciated with tears in her eyes. It has been so long since someone cared for her this way. She knew these people from nowhere and they’ve already done so much for her.

“You’re welcome, dear. I also brought some books for you to read. I felt you might be bored.” Clarice said as she brought out some novels from a bag. There were about four of them so she handed them to Raina.

“Thank you so much. I’m sure I’ll enjoy them.” Raina said as she checked out the novels one by one, looking at the title and the author.

“Hope Adriana did not cause you any trouble? and thanks for the clothes.” Raina asked and said as she noticed the beautiful dress her daughter was wearing.

“Your daughter is a sweet child. And as for the clothes, don’t worry. They are for Alexa but they don’t fit her anymore. We have been looking for someone to give, guess Adrie came at the right time.”

………………………………………………….

“She’s going to be fine right?” Ronald asked nervously as soon as he shut the door behind him.

“Yes, we just need to keep an eye on her for two more days and she will be out of here.”

“Raina does not know she had a miscarriage. I don’t think she knew she was pregnant.” Dr Philip said and Ronald sighed.

“I was wondering if you wanted to give her the news or I should do it instead.” Doctor Philip asked.

“Thanks, Doc, I will tell her myself.” He said to Doctor Philip who nodded and gave him a light squeeze on his shoulder after which he took his leave.

Ronald entered Raina’s ward and saw Clarice chatting away with Raina. They wasted no time in becoming friends.

While the girls were on the other side of the room, playing with some toys.

Clarice took a glance at Ronald and sensed that he and Raina had things to talk about so she decided to take the girls for a drink to give the adults some privacy.

“Alright girls, let’s go for a drink,” Clarice said as she stood up from the chair.

“Yayyyyy.” The girls jubilated as the ran towards Clarice.

The girls gave both Raina and Ronald a kiss on their cheek before leaving the room with Clarice.

As soon as the girls walked out with Clarice, Ronald took a seat beside Raina. It was the same chair Clarice was previously sitting on.

That was when Raina took notice of his features. He was quite tall, handsome with a beautiful golden brown eye.

Raina sat up so she could look him in the eye when talking to him. As at this time there was no more drip on her hand. She looked okay but needed more rest and the bruise on the left side of her face was healing. It looked better than it was yesterday.

“Thank you so much, Mr Ronald. Thank you for helping my daughter and me.” She said sincerely.

“You’re welcome. Adrie is a sweet little girl and I’m happy I helped you guys. You can call me Ronald.” He replied with a sad smile and she nodded shyly.

Even without makeup and how pale she looks, Ronald still noticed how beautiful she was with her full plump pink lips.

“Doctor Philip said they have to keep you here for two more days and then you will be able to go home.” He said.

Raina nodded as she processed what Ronald told her. She was happy on one hand and sad on the other hand. Happy that she will be out of here and will be able to take care of her daughter and sad that she had nowhere to go as she wouldn’t want to go back to that house and she had no money to at least rent a place.

Ronald noticed she wasn’t happy about what he just told her so he decided to ask the question that has been on his mind.

“Raina, what happened to you the other night? I found you unconscious and Adrie was kneeling beside you, crying her eyes out. I saw your bruises and the one on Adrie’s arm too. Please tell me, Ray, I want to help you.” He said the last sentence as he took her hand in his, encouraging her that she could trust him.

Even without saying anything, tears started falling from Raina’s eyes, this man has done a lot for her and her child, it’s only fair that he knows what happened.

“I was abused by my lover. I won’t call him my husband because we were never legally married. We were only engaged. We were so in love with each other but everything changed a few weeks before I gave birth to Adrie. He started hitting me a few weeks after Adrie was born. I don’t know what went wrong. He will go out and come back drunk at night and start hitting me for any little thing I do.”

“I used to own a restaurant which I closed down months after he lost his job. I couldn’t cope with the expenses and there was no way I could pay the workers too.”

“One thing I regret doing is having a joint account with him. He spent the money lavishly and even blocked me from having access to the account. I looked for a job after that, I was an assistant in a daycare, it wasn’t paying a lot but it was enough to put food on the table for Adrie and me.”

“I had always wanted to leave him but I had nowhere to go and no money too. I argued with him last night and he began hitting me. Adrie came from nowhere. I had put her to bed earlier but I think our noise woke her. She ran to me when she saw her dad hitting me and he began hitting her too.”

“That was when I lost it. How can he be so cruel to do that to a three-year-old? I reached for a vase and hit it on his head. Then I carried Adrie in my arms and ran away. I had no idea where we were going and it was raining heavily too and suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my lower abdomen, I had no idea what it was and continued walking with my baby in my arms. It got to a time I couldn’t hold it anymore, that was when I fainted.” Raina said in tears.

By the time she finished her story, Ronald had already taken a seat beside her on the bed and pulled her into a hug as she cried in his chest.

He comforted her by patting her back and whispering encouraging words in her ear as he thought of how to break the news about her miscarriage to her. Hell, she had no idea she was even pregnant.

“I have no idea how to tell you this Ray, but I think you should know.” He said after a while.

She could sense it was bad news but ‘what could be worse than what had happened to her already?’ She thought to herself.

“Please tell me, Ronald. Am I dying?” She asked in fear.

“No. you’re not.” He answered and she let out a sigh of relief.

“You see Raina, you were bleeding when I found you, I couldn’t tell where since you had bruises all over your body and it was dark.” He said and she nodded, encouraging him to continue.

“You had a miscarriage.” He said and Raina looked at him with a shocked face.

“What do you mean I had a miscarriage?, I was never pregnant,” She said with a shaking voice.

“You were pregnant Raina. You weren’t just aware.” He replied and she burst into another round of tears.

“No wonder I felt incomplete when I hugged Adrie. I felt something was missing. I lost my baby.” She said in between tears and Ronald was almost in tears too.

“Its okay Raina.” He said as he pulled her into his chest again and she cried her heart out.

“I had a life growing in me all these while and I never knew. I killed my child, Ronald.” She said in tears.

“It’s not your fault Ray, you didn’t know.” He said trying to comfort her in every way possible.

“I’m a bad mother Ronald, I should have known I was pregnant. How will Adrie react when she finds out I killed her baby brother or sister?” Raina said as she cried harder in his chest.

Ronald sighed as he thought of what else to say to comfort her. He pulled her away from his chest, held her shaky hands in his and made her look into his eyes.

“It’s not your fault Raina. You had no idea you were pregnant. Don’t blame yourself for something that isn’t your fault. You’re not a bad mother. Even before I saw you, I knew you’re a good mother, I could tell from Adrie’s behaviour. You even thought her how to pray, something I never thought of teaching Alexa. You have to be strong Ray, if not for me, do it for Adrie, she needs you!”

“You can count on me, Raina. I will always be here for you.”

“You don’t need to worry about where to stay when you are out of here. You can come live with us; we will be honoured to have you.” He genuinely offered.

“Are you sure?”

“What about your wife? I mean Alexa’s mom. I don’t think she will be okay with it.”

“Alexa’s mom is not in the picture. You don’t need to worry about that. Its just Clarice, me and Alexa in the house. We would be happy to have you and Adrie.” He said and Raina got confused because she didn’t know what to say to him. She didn’t want to be a burden to him, He had assisted her enough.

“Raina I just want you to be safe, Your lover must be out there looking for you and I don’t want him anywhere near you or Adrie that’s why I want you to accept my offer. Besides Alexa sees Adrie as a sister and best friend, she will be happier if you guys stay with us.”

“Just think about it Ray and if you’re still not comfortable with it, I can help you out with an apartment.” He offered.

“Thank you, I will think about it.” She replied with a sad smile.

Ronald prayed in his mind that she accepts his offer and move in with him. He truly likes her and felt the need to protect her. Raina has gone through a lot and she deserves to be with someone who will make her happy and he was determined to be that person, the one who will put a smile on her face every single day.