CHAPTER 37

Rachel was rushed to the hospital

at midnight because she had

fainted. She has been feeling unwell

for a few days now but she refused

to tell anyone about it because she

didn't want to bother anyone. One

thing that Rachel has always

yearned for in this life was her

mother's love and now that her

mother decided to come back to

her, she does not want to burden

her mother with complaints of

her illness because she doesn't

know if her mother will hate her

for being sick.

After a series of medical tests,

the doctor came in to inform her

family that she needs blood

transfusion urgently and she

has a very rare blood type, AB

negative. Her grandmother cried

after hearing that because Rachel

came into their lives at a time when

nobody wanted her but since that

little girl came into the lives, she

has brought happiness and put

a smile on their faces. Sometimes

the woman wishes that Rachel

was her daughter and not

her granddaughter.

 The family told the doctor to get

blood from the blood bank that

they are willing to pay any amount

that it might cost because their

granddaughter's life is worth more

than any amount that the doctors

are going to charge them. After

listening to the family, the doctor

told them that they can only hope

and pray that they get a compatible

blood because as he has said

before, Rachel has a rare blood type.

After the doctor left, everyone in

the family looked at each other

because none of them has such a

blood type which simply meant that

the only person who can easily

donate blood to Rachel right now, is

her father. Shulamite's parents

looked towards their daughter and

said, all these years you've been

hiding who Rachel's father is, but

right now, her life is on the line and

it's high time you told us who her

father is and where we can find him.

Shulammite cried seeing her

daughter in such a situation. She

has never liked Rachel right from

the day she discovered that she

was pregnant. Even when she left

home, she never regretted leaving

her daughter behind as she has

always seen the girl as a hindrance.

Shulamite got pregnant ten years

ago when she was thirteen years

old. She was impregnated by her

teenage boyfriend Maxwell who

was seventeen years old at the

time. When her family discovered

that she was pregnant, they decided

to relocate as they could not bear

the shame of people discovering

that they have failed as parents

because their daughter is pregnant

at thirteen. The family's relocation

was so impromptu that Shulamite

never had the chance to say goodbye

to her friends or even to Maxwell as

she was kept under house arrest

for fear of people knowing about

her pregnancy.

Her parents kept asking her who

was responsible for the pregnancy

but she never said anything to them

even after her mother got angry

and gave her a beating, Shulamite

still refused to tell them the father

of her baby. After giving birth to the

child, she hated the child with a

passion. When Rachel was a baby,

Shulamite has always wished that

the baby will sleep one day and

never wake up, so that she can be

free as her mother was always

forcing her to take care of the child

anytime she neglects the child. As

a baby, Rachel cried a lot which

made Shulamite wonder sometimes

if the girl was cursed with crying.

She cried almost all the time, both

day and night and when the girl

spoke her first words, she said,

"mama."

Rachel never stopped loving her

mother. She has always loved her

mother right from when she was

a baby as she never stopped calling

Shulamite mummy even when she

knows that her mother hates it

when she calls her that. While

Shulamite was away, Rachel goes

to sleep with magazines that have

her mother's pictures on them. She

was so proud of her mother that she

shows those magazines to her

friends in school telling them that

that is her mother even though

some of her friends taunted her

sometimes that she has been

abandoned by her mother.

Now that Shulamite has started to

see that have nine years old

daughter is a blessing and not a

curse as she has always thought,

the girl is sick. Shulamite cried as

she begged the heavens to spare

her daughter because her daughter

has no-fault. She walked into the

hospital ward where her daughter

was laying on the bed and she

cried seeing how frail Rachel looks.

The Rachel that she knows has

always been an active girl, not the

one lying on this bed. She held

onto the hands of her nine-year-old

daughter and said, "your only

mistake in this life is coming

through me and loving me who is

not worth being called a mother.

I promise you that if we can't get

a blood donor tonight, tomorrow

morning, I will go look for your

father and bring him down here."

Shulamite sat there crying even

though she knows that her daughter

cannot hear what she was saying

because the girl was unconscious.

Maxwell has been abroad since he

was eighteen years old and he

recently came back to take over

his father's business. He only came

to assume his new position at his

father's company and he wasn't

expecting that the position comes

with a fiance. When his parents

came to pick him up at the airport

and he saw an unknown lady with

them, he suspected that they were

at it again. His mother has always

been worried that he will bring a

foreign woman home and the

moment he arrived without any

girlfriend, she was very happy

because she has already prepared

one for him, in the person of Chioma.

Max and his family have been going

back and forth on the issue of him

marrying Chioma who he doesn't

love and knows nothing about.

Max has always had hope that he

will find his Shu again because

that's the only girl he has ever loved.

He hoped to apologize to her about

what happened between them years

ago because he shouldn't have done

that to her as she was just a very

young teenager. He was proud of

her when he discovered that she

has become a model but gave up

after her many relationships with

other men as he knows that his

mother will never accept a person

like that into their family. He almost

reached out to her when she retired

from the modeling industry after a

model had an accident in her car.

Every time he hears about Shulamite

in the news, he wonders what

happened to her over the years

because the Shulamite that he

knows was a very kind and sweet

girl, not the one he sees in the news.

 After his failed attempts of rejecting

his marriage to  Chioma, he gave in.

He might not love her but he has

grown to like her because Chioma

is a wonderful soul and she is fun

to be with.

As Max sat reminiscing his life

before he met Chioma and after he

met her, he couldn't believe how life

has taken a turn for him, and by the

end of tomorrow, he will be a married

man. Although he never pictured

himself getting married at twenty-six,

the truth is, his parents always win

in the end. It has always been that

way right from when he was a child.

 At 5 a.m. the next morning, the

doctor came to meet the family of

Rachel and told them that they

couldn't get her blood type at the

blood bank and also, couldn't find

a blood donor. He suggested that

they come in for a test one after

the other so that they can know

whose blood is compatible with

Rachel's. The family told the doctor

not to worry because they all know

their blood groups and they know

that nobody's blood group is

compatible with Rachel's in the

family. Shulamite asked the doctor

how long her daughter has until

they get a blood donor. The doctor

told her and then, she looked at

her parents and said "both of you

know that I have never liked Rachel

and I'm really sorry for that because

just when I began to love my

daughter, tragedy struck. I promised

her that I won't let anything happen

to her and finally, I am swallowing

my pride because I don't mind

graveling at the feet of my enemy

for my daughter's sake. I am going

to look for her father and I hope I

get there on time because he's

getting married today." Her mother

was shocked after hearing that as

she said "I have always thought that

you refused to tell us who the father

of your child was because you do

not know who got you pregnant.

How could you have done this to

Rachel? Now you want to go and

disrupt someone else's wedding to

get what you want." 

Shulamite looked at her mother and

said "even if it was his father's funeral

today, I will still go there and disrupt

it for the sake of my daughter. I don't

care what anyone thinks but my

daughter comes first." Shulamite

walked away after talking to her

mother and was headed for Max's

home. Her only prayer was to get

there in time before the wedding

because it will take her about three

hours to reach Max's family house.

Shulamite kept cursing at everyone

and everything that she met on the

way because there was traffic jam.

By the time she finally got to Max's

family's house, she was told by the

maids that the family has left for

the chapel. She got into her car and

drove down there but when she got

there, she wasn't allowed to go in

because the wedding was strictly by

invitation. She looked at the Bouncers

at the gate and said "I don't care

who is getting married in there, but

I need to get inside because I need

to see my father and let him know

that my mother is dying in the

hospital. If you don't want me to

go in, I can tell you my father's name

so that you look for him and call him."

The Bouncers saw that as a better

idea as they got the name of the

man and his description from

Shulamite. As the Bouncer opened

the gate to enter, Shulamite shoved

him hard with all her strength and

ran into the chapel. The couples

were about to exchange their vows

when she got there and she

shouted "Max! you have to come

with me now your daughter is

dying at the hospital and we

couldn't get a blood donor because

she has your very rare blood group." 

Shulamite saw the Bouncers

coming behind her and saw that

even Max could not understand

what she was talking about so she

ran to where the couple was

standing. As she was dragging

him to come with her, she decided

to tell their story to the whole

Chapel if that will get Max to

come and save his daughter.

"Max, I was thirteen and you

were seventeen when we had sex

for the first time. My parents

moved because they discovered

that I was pregnant and they

couldn't bear the shame of letting

people know about it. Your daughter

is now nine years old and she is

sick. We couldn't get an AB negative

anywhere, so you are my last hope.

Please help me save her and you

can come back to your wedding

because she is all that I have. Max

please I can't lose my child." She

turned to the lady to who Max was

getting married as she began to beg

her to let Max save their child.

Everyone in the chapel was surprised

especially Chioma and Max's

parents. Max was most surprised

as he has just learned on his

wedding day that he has a

nine-year-old daughter with another

woman. He didn't let the surprise

get in the way of saving the child

as he asked Shulamite "where is

she?" He held onto Shulamite's

hand and that's and was about

running out of the Chapel when

Chioma held on to him and said

"Max hold on, please. Let's just

exchange the Rings and let the

priest pronounce us married then

you can go save your child." Max

looked at her and said "Chioma,

you are a great girl but I am sorry

I can't do this. I didn't have the

balls to back out of this marriage

but right now, after discovering

that I have a child, I just can't go

on with this anymore. It's not

fair to you."

 They ran out of the chapel as

Max's mum chased after them

trying to stop them but it was too

late because they were already in

the car driving away. Neither of

them said anything to each other

while driving to the hospital

because each person was stuck

in their own thoughts. Max didn't

bother doubting that the girl is

his child after hearing that she

has his blood group which is very

rare indeed. He couldn't believe that

all these years that he has been

seeing Shulamite in the news and

on the runway, she already had a

daughter.

When they got to the hospital, they

ran into Rachel's ward, and there

she was. Awake but very weak.

Immediately she saw the man

who came in, she knew that he

was her father because they both

look alike.

Max looked at Shulamite and tears

began to stream down his face

as he couldn't believe that he was

denied the chance of ever knowing

that he had a daughter or even

watch her grow. He left the ward

and went to look for the doctor but

they still had to carry out a blood

group test to be sure that he and

Rachel's blood are compatible.

Max was weak and sitting on a

chair after donating his blood to

his daughter when Shulamite

approached him. When she got

closer, she sat next to him and said,

"I am very sorry for what I did today

but thank you for saving my child.

I owe that girl a lot in this life. I

know that I can never repay her

for the love that she has shown

me all these years even though

I've always rejected her." Max said

nothing to her and was just quiet

and after a few minutes, he looked

at her and said, "Shu, if she was

never sick and needed my help,

would you have ever told me about

her?" She shook her head and said

"no I wouldn't have. All these years

I hated her for coming into my life

and disrupting it. It's only recently

that I started to love her and I've

become so greedy that I never

want to share that love with anyone.

When I heard about your marriage,

I thought about telling you but I

was scared that your family will

take her away from me and she

might go with you because I've

been a terrible mother to her even

though all she has ever done was

love me the way I am. She is the

only one who sees good in me when

everyone says bad and I don't know

why she held on to someone like

me. So, no I wouldn't have told you

about her." Shulamite cried into her

hands after speaking.