CHAPTER NINE

Getting Akai out of her high chair, l put her head on my shoulder and rubbed soothing circles on her back but that did nothing to quiet her down. Her body was heating up and shivers started racking her body.

"We need to get her to the hospital immediately!" I screamed to no one in particular before dashing out the front door. Strapping her up in her seat, Hilden got into the passenger seat, l paid him no mind as l sped down the lonely streets. Pulling up to the hospital, Hilden carried Akai in his arms as we both ran to the nearest nurse demanding her assistance. My little innocent baby was put in a gurney and rolled into the ER.

Seconds turned into minutes, minutes turned into hours as we all waited in the reception area. Mrs Keys was balling her eyes out, occasionally blowing her nose on her husbands clothed shoulders. Celia had left after spending thirty minutes in the waiting area claiming the hospital was depressing her. This led to a screaming match between her and Mrs Keys causing us all to be kicked out of the waiting area.

To my surprise Hilden and his father sat quietly at the far end of the reception area, occasionally coming over to where we sat, bringing with them refreshments. I like to paint myself in a positive light but l am just like everyone else. I tell lies to save my skin when l find myself in dire situations. Keira and l used to gossip all the time because according to her, our lives were too boring and the only way to rid ourselves of the boredom was to sink our claws into other peoples business. We would have a field day where every two hours we snoop around whatever location we were at, whether it be eavesdropping or snooping through peoples private belongings and most of all, l always find myself passing misinformed judgements of people.

And of course l had already passed judgement on the Stone family. The main reason for this was their acceptance and involvement in this farce of a marriage. Secondly Celia's attitude is revolting. Thirdly, the man l am supposed to spend the next two years of my life with has no manners. He arrived to dinner an hour late. Not that l could hold that against him. If possible, l would have not shown my face. This made me wonder how they had judged me.

A nurse walked out of the operating room they had taken Akai into with a clipboard in her hands, reading through a few documents.

"How is my grandbaby doing?" Mrs Keys spoke, standing up and making her way to the nurse.

"I am in no position to say anything, the Doctor will be right out"

"Miss, there is no difference to what you or the Doctor will say. You might as well tell us now to save us the stress" Hilden spoke, coming to Mrs Keys rescue.

"Sir, like l told the Lady, l do not have the power nor the knowledge to disclose anything to you" She replied.

Just as Mrs Keys was about to respond, her husband put his arm around her shoulders "Let it go Darling, it's no use" he said.

It wasn't long till the Doctor came out of the room. We all rushed to him, nearly knocking him down.

"Hhh-uuh" He said clearing his throat. An indication for us to give him some personal space. Poor fella had his back to the wall, in an attempt to put some much needed distance between us all.

"Any news doctor" l asked, the feeling of not knowing killing me.

"As you know, she is allergic to the smell of nail polish. But we were able to inject her with Epinephrine. She will spend the two days in the hospital. we want to monitor her progress, just to see if there are anymore problems. She also didn't have enough oxygen in her body, so please be mindful of that. I guess that's from after the reaction, so we gave her beta-agonist as well as an oxygen mask to help with the breathing. And lastly we injected her with an intravenous injection to help with the inflammation to her air passages."

"Will she be okay?" Hilden asked

"Yes she will, but going forward please be very aware of her surroundings. Her life depends on it" The Doctor spoke before leaving.

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief at the somewhat great news we had just received. My heart felt heavy at the fact that my little baby had to spend the next two days in the hospital. The root cause of children's nightmares.

"Who had nail polish on when we have a no nail polish rule?" Mrs Keys spoke with anger evident in her tone.

" Maybe on of the helpers did" Mr Keys said

"Everyone who comes to the Manor is briefed on the does and don'ts. I would know if any of my helpers had any nail polish on."

"I fired one of the helpers today, maybe she did this to spite me" Mrs keys said. You could see that she blamed herself for what had happened. The first time since knowing her that she hadn't waved her malicious finger in my face accusing me of something. Maybe she knows how much l love Akai.

Leaving the group, l made my way to the help desk to see if it was remotely possible to see Akai. I didn't have high hopes cause l knew she had just come out of surgery and she needed the time to fully heal without any interruptions.

"Hello" l called out to the salt and pepper coloured bob hair wearing receptionist. Her glass covered soulless eyes stared into my own. Her eyes skimming me from head to toe.

"You need to have medical aid to get treatment" she spoke after her assessment.

"excuse me?" l asked not quite understanding what she was implying

"People of your.. predicament usually need to provide medical aid or proof that they can pay for the services we offer" she spoke. A loud boisterous laugh bellowed out of my mouth causing the woman, whose name per her nametag is Lily, to look at me strangely.

"Is anything funny?" she asked with a bit of attitude.

Hilden, who had noticed my disappearance had decided to look for me. As the knight in shining armour that he is, c-ame to my rescue

"Everything okay here ladies?" he asked

"This woman is clearly lost, she seems to think she can afford medical assistance in this fine establishment" Lily spoke

"And what makes you think she cannot" Hilden asked

"Look at her, how can anyone in their right minds believe that a person who looks like her can afford our medical care" she spoke smugly, smirking in my direction.

"I told you son that she is nothing but an embarrassment. You should have never agreed to marry her. She will drag the Stone name through the mud. You watch and see" Celia spoke making her presence known. She spoke waving her hands in the air causing her pink coated nails to show.