As soon as we found out about her unexpected second pregnancy, a lot changed. I was in a period where I had to travel to the branches almost every week, so I couldn't enjoy every step of this pregnancy like I did the first time.
Julliane felt radiant...she was happy...from the first day until the final moments, she followed all the medical recommendations successfully.
She attended all the prenatal appointments, followed all the medical instructions, everything was going smoothly.
It was the night of December 23, 1998.
I had just arrived in my hotel room. I was exhausted; it had been a very complicated meeting. All I wanted was a shower and a bed where I could finally disconnect, so that the next evening I could return to the comfort of my home.
As soon as I entered the room, I threw my things on the nearby couch, already taking off my tie and suit jacket, leaving them on the armchair. Then, I went to the bed and collapsed, kicking my shoes off. After unbuttoning my shirt, I grabbed my cell phone and called my sweet wife.
I called Julliane, who answered right away even with the six-hour time difference. She said everything was fine. She told me about her day as usual, also mentioning Nicolas's school meeting, and said that she hadn't felt any apparent symptoms indicating it was time for our Elisa to be born.
I said goodbye, telling her how much I loved her and couldn't wait to be in her arms again. The last words I heard from her were, "Blake, I don't know what I would do without you...I love you...come back soon."
Mission accomplished...now I could rest.
I got up from the bed, took off the rest of my clothes, and took a quick shower. I was so tired that I didn't bother opening my travel bag to get pajamas. I wrapped a towel around my waist and stumbled onto the bed, falling asleep almost instantly.
The darkness lulled me to sleep as the sound of heavy rain fell outside the hotel. Suddenly, from a certain distance, I heard a sound similar to a cellphone ringtone. With my eyes closed, I stretched my arm until I reached the armchair and grabbed it among my clothes. I put it to my ear and spoke...
"Hello?" My voice came out groggy and still very sleepy...
When I heard the voice on the other side call my name, my body inexplicably gained immense strength, and my heart, beating rapidly, felt like it was about to jump out of my mouth...
"Blake, my son...are you awake? Blake?"
I sat up in bed, rubbing my heavy eyes. Only then did I look at my watch and saw that it was nearly 4 a.m.
"Mom?"
"Hi, my son...sorry if I woke you up, but I need you to come right away."
"Mom, did something happen?"
"Blake, come as quickly as possible...your daughter is beautiful...my love has your features and Julliane's eyes."
I remember that I didn't even say goodbye to my mother or even hang up the phone...
"Oh my god, my daughter was born...shit," I said to myself through tears.
In a mix of joy and also a certain apprehension, I quickly put on anything I saw in front of me—pants, shirt, shoes—and, about to leave the hotel room, the responsible CEO side of Blake activated in my brain. I called Stuart, my partner, to inform him of my immediate return to Chicago and to ask him to take over the meeting and close the contracts, giving me all the details later.
I ran down the hotel stairs, settled my bill, and caught a taxi that took me straight to the airport.
Nearly six hours later, there I was, finally disembarking at Chicago's airport.
As soon as I left the terminal, John, my driver, was already waiting for me. He gave me a look he had never given me before, but as I was in a mix of emotions, I didn't pay attention to his strange look.
In Chicago, it was already ten in the morning...
"Good morning, Mr. Blake."
"Good morning, John...take me to the Chicago Hospital Center, please."
"Yes, sir."
During the journey that was supposed to last only 10 minutes, my stress extended for almost half an hour due to the city traffic.
Finally, I was able to relax a bit when I saw the car approaching the hospital parking lot.
As I got out of the car and looked ahead, the beginning of my nightmare was just beginning...
The first person who saw me and came towards me was my father.
He didn't say anything and just hugged me..
"Hi, my son," he said.
Embracing him, I replied,
"Hi, dad."
Then I looked ahead and saw...my brother Jeremy and his wife Stella, whom I hadn't seen in years. Aunt Mary, Uncle Charlie, and even Mia, whom I last heard was in Paris. She, by the way, was the other person who ran towards me and hugged me amidst tears.
"Oh Blake, I missed you," she said.
I let go of her embrace and looked at everyone standing in front of me, but the beginning of a bad feeling started when I saw Nicolas hugging my mother and crying...
I confess that image crushed my heart, and as a father, I should have fulfilled my real role which was to go there and hug him, but something in me simply prevented me from acting and I remained in the same place where I was.
That's when my mother asked Mia to stay with Nicolas and came over to where I was standing, not understanding anything.
She was supposed to give me the worst news of my life, but she was not the one who spoke...
"Hi, my son," she said.
"Mom, what's happening?" I looked at her suspiciously, with teary eyes.
A strange sensation began to settle inside me...
"I want to see Julliane, and my Elisa."
I took a few steps towards the entrance of the hospital when Jeremy grabbed my arm.
"Blake, wait..."
In those words spoken by him, I felt that something had happened...
"Jeremy, let go. I want to see my wife."
I let go of him and went to the entrance of the hospital again. Just as I was about to open the door, I received my fatal blow, the most painful dagger a human being could feel, and the worst part was that it was said by someone I could never have imagined...
"It's over..."
Upon hearing Nicolas's voice, I stopped and turned towards him. He let go of Mia and ran towards me...
Looking coldly into my eyes, he simply said,
"Mommy died, daddy... I'm so sorry."
With my hand on the doorknob, I let it fall onto my body.
I lacked air, words, and in a split second, I saw everything spinning in front of me, and soon a huge hole opened beneath my feet. I succumbed to the darkness that engulfed me in a very cruel way...
Upon hearing those words, my body betrayed me...an abyss opened and I simply turned and fell.
As I slowly opened my eyes, I found myself face to face with a middle-aged man wearing a white coat, and a woman holding something in her hands that seemed to be a drip bag. I tried to move but my body didn't help me...I had no strength. I saw myself lying in a bed...looking at the ceiling...and slowly, the cruel and worst reality of my life resurfaced, emphasizing that all of it was indeed real.
How could she be gone? Was it that simple? No...it couldn't be...I struggled a few times, maybe that's why my hands and feet were tied to the bed now.
I screamed with all the strength in my chest and the air from my lungs...
"No!"
My mother entered the room and tried to calm me...nothing made my body stop trembling, crying, screaming...I just wanted to see her one last time, wanted to feel her one last time, to say that I loved her, but suddenly everything was taken away from me, along with my joy and will to live.
Mia approached where I was and said...
"Blake, your daughter is beautiful."
"I'm sorry, Blake. You're strong...you'll overcome," Jeremy said, his voice filled with sorrow.
After the immediate despair caused by the sedatives they infused in me passed, I realized that it had been almost three hours and I hadn't even seen the face of the true culprit behind all of this, the one who took her away from my life, the one who took her place.
I had not yet seen Elisa's face ... our daughter ...
The door of the room opened and Nicolas emerged from it. In his purest silence and empty gaze, he approached me. It was a scene that even the doctors and some nurses who were there, along with all my family members, were moved by. He simply came to me, hugged me, and said ...
"It will be alright, daddy ... we'll get through this together ..."
For the first time in years, I couldn't resist ... I held him close to my chest as tightly as I could, and like a real father and son, we cried together, consoling each other for our irreparable loss.
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