FORBIDDEN(FIVE)

         Stella just smiled and helped herself with the toast that he made for her. He sat down and watched on with anxiety in his eyes as she ate quietly. She felt that he was still not happy but was just trying to make up for the way that he has treated her. 

       Moments later, she felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen. She looked at him with disgust and asked ’what the hell did you put in my tea?’ the pain became unbearable. She had started to bleed. All he kept saying was ‘I am sorry….I’m very sorry’. Stella cried her eyes out.

      She felt violated because he didn’t ask her to abort the pregnancy but did it on his own accord. She cried till she couldn’t anymore and slept off. When she woke up a few minutes later, the pain had subsided and she found him still sitting close to her bed. He was dozing off. When 

     Rob realized that she was awake, he began to explain why he did what he did but she wouldn’t listen and ordered him out of her room. ‘Get out…..I said get out of my room. You disgust me!’ she yelled Rob immediately left the room. She showered and went to a nearby hospital to check if she was alright

    The doctor who took care of her told her that what she had done was very dangerous and that it had affected her womb. Her chance of getting pregnant again was 50-50.she started to cry again. He had destroyed her womb with his act. The doctor consoled her and said that all hope was not lost because there was still the 50 chance that she would give birth.

    Stella was not satisfied with the news and left the hospital heartbroken. When she got back to the house, she found Abigail there which fueled her anger. Rob escorted Abigail out the house immediately when he saw the way Stella looked at her. When he got back she angrily told him how he had endangered her life by giving her that drug. He didn’t know how to console her and just looked down.

    A friend had given him the drug thinking that it was for Abigail.They didn’t talk much for the rest of the semester but continued to live under the same roof. They soon completed with first class degrees. Mr. and Mrs.Quartey was more thrilled because both did so well but noticed that they didn’t relate well to each other. Mr. Quartey however told his wife that it was because they were grownups and had probably grown apart and therefore dismissed the thought that something was amiss.

    A year later, Rob got an opportunity to work in London. He left a month later. Mr. Quartey was pleased with the outcome. Stella was working in a bank. She had not forgotten about the incidence and still hated him for deceiving her into drinking the tea that morning. She remembered it vividly as if it happened yesterday. Rob came back to Ghana after three years though he kept contact with them. Stella had moved out of her parents’ house and lived alone in a rented apartment.

    Apparently Mrs. Quartey had been pressurizing her daughter to bring home a boyfriend for a change but she never paid attention to her. Rob couldn’t believe that she had stayed single up to date and became worried. He had dated two girls in the course of the three years he lived in London but none worked out.

    Now here they were again. Stella came in to visit her parents a night after he had arrived. They had wanted to surprise her but she came unexpectedly very early in the morning when the parents were still in bed. Rob was up early though he was tired from the trip and headed straight to the kitchen for some juice when he saw her. His heart began to beat like the first day they met.