Falling for my Ex-Fiancee’s Best friend

Nathan paced around the halls of the hospital while he waited for the doctor. Good news, bad news, any news! He desperately wanted to know what was going on with Demelza. The medical personnel would not let him be in the same ward with Demelza while they ran the tests and eventually, because he had been raising his voice, calling, “Demelza,” all the time, the doctor had threatened to have security escort him out of the hospital unless he calmed down.

There were other patients in the hospital, after all.

So Nathan had calmed down enough to not talk or scream Demelza’s name and rush to every single attendant that came out of the ward to inquire about Demelza. But now, he paced instead, holding his head in his hands, running his face and groaning most times. He could not sit.

Just to keep himself busy, he stalked to the vending machine and got a can of energy drink. He was a ball of frayed nerves and anxious energy.

It was a few minutes later-even though it felt like an eternity had passed to Nathan-before the doctor came out. His face was inscrutable.

“What’s the matter with her, doc?” Nathan rounded on the doctor.

“Hold your horse now, son.” The doctor said and made Nathan to step away from him for a while. He adjusted his white coat and stuffed his hands in his pockets, suddenly smiling.

“You don’t look so good yourself, you know. You had anything to eat today?” The doctor questioned, but Nathan was not in the mood to answer any trifling questions. Demelza was the one he had brought to the hospital. Demelza was the person he wanted to know about.

“Don’t worry about me, doc. I’m asking about the woman I brought here. Tell me Demelza’s going to be okay.”

The doctor smiled again, and Nathan could not help but wonder exactly what the doctor found funny in this situation.

Finally, the doctor said, “She’s alright. She’s going to be fine. As a matter of fact, she’s going to be more than fine. She’s pregnant.”

It was as if a bomb had been dropped right at Nathan’s feet. He paused, contemplated the doctor’s words, even though he wasn’t really sure of what he had heard.

The doctor huffed imperially. “I said, Demelza-that’s the name of the woman you brought in, right?-she’s pregnant. You should celebrate. Congratulations!”

This time, Nathan finally heard and understood what the doctor said. Elation crawled its way through him from the pit of his stomach.

“YEAH!” He suddenly shouted and pumped his fists into the air.

“Mr. Storms! Calm yourself. This is a hospital, not an amusement park. We have patients that need rest in here.”

“Oh, oh, yes. Sorry.” Nathan calmed himself. “Thank you!” he said and clapped the doctor’s hand. “This is great news. Thank you so much.”

“Yes, well, I wouldn’t get too excited around her right now. She still needs rest.” The doctor said.

Nathan thanked him some more and jumped again after the doctor had left. He was overjoyed with the good news. Demelza was pregnant. But then… his thoughts slowed down as he thought about Silver who was also pregnant. His mood instantly dampened and he wondered exactly how he was supposed to react to the news now.

He stood there, thinking, when his phone suddenly rang. He clumsily pulled it out of his pocket. The call was from the doctor at the hospital where he had taken Silver to for the paternity test to be run.

Nathan gulped.

Normally, paternity tests took so much time and most times, the test had to be conducted again if the parents or the court were not satisfied with the results of the tests. But he had not involved the court. He had paid a lot of money to have the test on such short notice, and he had made sure that the doctor in charge of the test understood that it was a very urgent thing. He had needed them to process the results as soon as possible.

Now, being presented with the news that the results were ready, Nathan didn’t have the same buoying confidence anymore. What if the baby was actually his? He could not bear the thought.

But he needed to know the truth.

Demelza was still asleep when he went to check in on her, but some color had returned to her face. He was glad. She was looking much better now. He had to go check the results of the tests, so he excused himself and rushed out immediately.

The drive to the hospital was much shorter this time around. The doctor was waiting for him when he arrived and in no time, he got the results. The doctor excused himself from Nathan, stating that he had other things to tend to.

Nathan was left alone with the test results.

He exhaled as he handled the envelope. He had wanted to read the result standing, but he felt like he would not have the strength to complete that small task. He backpedaled to some chairs leaning against the wall and lowered himself into one.

He tore open the envelope slowly. Every tearing sound filled him with dread, but he tore the envelope anyway. Then the result was in his hands. Sweat beaded his brows and peppered his face. He wasn’t sure that he wanted to anymore, but still-he held the results in his hands and willed his eyes to see what was written on the paper.

He read…

And slowly, a smile spread across his face. The baby was not his. Oh, his heart was overflowing with such joy. He felt like flying. He felt like he was going to have a heart attack because his heart was pounding so furiously. He folded the results neatly again and put it in the envelope.

He went in search of the doctor, but couldn’t find him. He made sure to thank all the staff that were at the reception before getting in his car again, zooming off.

As he drove, Nathan thought, deliriously, that he was doing a lot of driving today. He made it to Silver’s condo in no time at all, determined to break the news to her first.

He didn’t even announce himself. He just went straight to her bedroom when he didn’t find her in the living room. There, he found Silver moaning in the arms of another man. He smiled wickedly, even though he was pained that Silver was already sleeping around even while claiming to have his child.

The man didn’t stop thrusting, even when Silver turned to see Nathan in the doorway. Nathan nodded with the envelope to his head. Then he dropped it to the floor and stormed out of the house.

The sounds of Silver’s moaning continued to grow even as he left.

He had gotten back in his car, ready to head back to the hospital to see Demelza when a call came in. He was needed urgently at the office.

Nathan cursed. Today of all days, he was needed in every single part of the world. But it was a good day nonetheless. He could not keep the smile out of his face as he turned his car around and headed in the direction of the office instead.

He quickly sorted everything that needed to be sorted out at the office and instructed that he should not be disturbed again for the rest of the day. Then he sped back to the hospital where Demelza was. She was awake.

A beaming smile split his face.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Demelza,” he started as he rushed to her side. “I’m so sorry, some stuff came up at the office and then the paternity results, and…”

“You’re talking too fast, Nathan. What paternity results?” Now that she was recuperating, Demelza sounded as meek as a lamb. But he had seen firsthand what she had wanted to do to Hampton.

He breathed in and began his explanation. He told her about how he had taken Silver to the hospital for a paternity check, and how he had met Silver in bed with another man when he had gone to give her the results.

“The baby isn’t mine.” He concluded.

Demelza continued to stare blankly at him. Nathan took her hand in his. “The baby isn’t mine, Demelza. I don’t want Silver. I never did. Please, come back home with me. You saw what happened today; I don’t want you staying at the hotel anymore, especially now that you’re pregnant with my child.”

He squeezed her hand again and kissed it. Demelza continued to look.

“Come back home with me, Demelza.” He pleaded.

Demelza wanted to argue, but eventually, she agreed and they went back home that evening. Nathan treated her like an egg, carrying her out from the car, into the house, carrying her about whenever she tried to walk until Demelza had snapped at him, “I’m pregnant, Nathan, not crippled. Put me down.”

Then he ordered her favourite takeout. It was very good food.

Demelza curled into him as they watched a movie when they were done eating. Nathan hoped that the days would continue to be like this.