In the labour room .
" She is very anaemic and unconscious too . It's going to be really hard . " , a nurse said .
" You know , when I went to call Melvine madam I heard the young man threatening her that he would kill her if anything happens to this woman and her baby . " , the nurse who went to call Melvine spoke up .
Four nurses were surrounding the labour bed where the unconscious woman was placed . Hearing the nurse's words other nurses became very scared , at that moment Melvine approached the bed .
" Let's start . " , said she . She noticed that the nurses were a bit uneasy . She asked , " Anything wrong ? "
" Ma'am we are actually very scared , that man seems to be very dangerous . What if something happens to the patient ....."
" We don't have much time . We have to do the delivery as soon as possible otherwise it won't be good for the baby . We can't waste our time being scared by his threats . Now please focus on the operation . " , Melvine said without any emotion . Though she tried to clear the uneasiness from their minds she herself was very disturbed . She took a deep breath and started with her job .
-----------------------------
Two exhausting hours later .
" Finally , it's done . It was so hard . " , a nurse said with a sigh .
" Right and fortunately both the mother and the baby are fine . " , another nurse exclaimed .
" Right , otherwise I can't even think what the man would have done . Have you noticed , his outfit was completely black too ? I really get scared whenever I see someone in black clothes . It always feels like the person is someone very dangerous . " , the previous nurse said in one breath .
" That's why I don't even let my husband wear anything black . " , another one remarked .
" But whatever , the baby is so cute . " , a young nurse said looking at the newborn baby who was sleeping peacefully like a cotton ball .
Melvine was quiet as usual .
Some times later she softly said , " Shift her and the baby to the cabin . Keep her under observation . If any problem comes , let me know . I hope there won't be any but if there is just inform me . "
Melvine gave them some more instructions as she proceeded to leave .
" Ma'am , are you leaving ? "
" Yes , my shift is over . "
" But ..." , a nurse hesitantly said .
" Do you want to say something ? "
The nurse spoke up , " Yes ma'am . Actually we need to inform the man about the situation . So ..."
" Yes , inform him . The patient's condition is stable and the baby is healthy too . What's there to be concerned about ? "
" Um , he's a bit short-tempered . I'm a bit nervous . "
" Behave with him as you do with other patient-parties . He's just like others who come for the treatment of their patients . Don't treat him any different from them . " , with that she left the room .
The nurses did what Melvine had instructed them and then a middle aged nurse approached Ryan who was leaning against the wall in the waiting area , crossing his arms . He immediately looked at the nurse as he heard her footsteps .
" Is she okay ? Is everything okay with the baby ? How was the operation ? " , he asked hurriedly but in a straight voice .
" Sir , the patient is okay now . She gave birth to a healthy baby boy . Both of them are doing well . We have transferred them to the cabin . " , the nurse told him .
Ryan nodded slightly and said , " Can I meet them ? "
" You can but the patient is sleeping . " , the nurse replied .
" Okay , I'll just see them . "
......
The nurse brought Ryan to the cabin where the woman was kept with her baby . He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the woman was sleeping peacefully . Some moments later ...his eyes fall on the newborn and a small smile appeared on his face . After admiring the baby for some time , he asked , " When can they be discharged ? "
" Doctor said , they can be discharged by today afternoon . "
" Okay thank you so much ...and .... can I talk to the doctor ? "
" Sorry sir , her shift is over . But she gave us all the instructions , if you want to know anything about the patient we can ...."
" No , it's not about that . Okay , please take care of them . I need to leave . I'll come back later . If anything happens in the meantime , inform me . "
The nurse nodded as Ryan left the cabin .
….....
It was the long and empty corridor of the hospital . Only Ryan's faint footsteps were heard against the silence of the corridor .
For an instance , he stopped walking and waited for a few seconds before continuing again .
He passed a passage and stopped again . He let out a silent chuckle and spoke up , " How long are you planning to follow me ?
Come out . "
No response came .
He said again , " I know , you are following me . So it's pointless to hide . "
This time some gentle footsteps were heard . Ryan turned around as the footsteps approached him from behind .
They were now face to face . He waited for the person to speak who was currently looking down .
" Can....we ...talk ? " , finally the person managed to say .
" About the patient ?? " , Ryan straightforwardly said .
" Does that matter ? "
" It does . For me at least . "
" I see . No , it's not about the patient . "
" Then ? "
" About some other things . "
( Pause )
" Go ahead , I'm listening . "
The person took some time , probably to adjust themselves . But Ryan was not in his best mood , he was very tired as well .
He spoke up , " Miss Melvine ....can you hurry up a bit ? I don't really have eternal time to waste here . "
Melvine's tired eyes looked very pitiful for an instance .
She said , " Very sorry , I won't take much time .
Actually , I just wanted to know.....that night ....you did something to me . Umm .....can you tell me what did you do ? "
" You don't know ?? " , Melvine shook her head as no .
" Well , simply speaking I took my payment . " , he said nonchalantly .
" Payment ? "
" Yeah . I saved you from Derek . So you had to return my favour at least . So I took something from you . "
" Took ....what ? "
" Didn't you check yourself ? "
" Check what ? "
" That may be one of your lungs is gone , or may be half of your liver is missing .....or your eyesight might have worsened a bit , or may be you have lost something else from your body . " , on the surface Ryan's words might seem humorous but those words sounded extremely harsh to Melvine .
She said slowly , " You are not wrong . I did feel that something was gone from my body ...I know what it was ....it was the weird tiredness , I was feeling all the time . As if , something was crushing me down like a burden . After that day ...the burden was gone ...I felt much better than before . " Ryan looked away .
Melvine continued , " I can guess that I can't ask you anything else about that night , it would probably be out of my limits . "
Ryan looked at her and said , " You understood correctly . You don't need to know what I did with you . Just know this , you've already paid for my favour . So you don't owe me anything anymore . "
" But ? "
" There is no but . You wanted me to let you go , I did the exact thing . And I think , that's enough for you to live peacefully . What will you do by knowing about that night's complicated process ? " Melvine continued to look down as she nodded slightly .
" Thank you for whatever you did that night . Thank you so much . " , she said in a low voice .
" Miss Melvine , do you have anything else to say because I have to leave . "
" Can I ask one last question ? "
" Ask . "
" That woman ..... is she your wife ? " , Ryan raised his brows , " And the child ... is it yours too ? "
Ryan frowned and asked , " And what will you do with that information ? Doctors don't need the patient's personal informations . Do they ? And we don't share any close relationship that I would like to share my personal informations with you . Don't you think so .... Ms. Melvine ? "
Everytime Ryan was addressing her like that she was feeling a kind of emptiness in her heart . But she knew that it was probably the most suitable addressing when you want to let someone know that there's nothing left between them .
But was there anything between them , ever ? Who knows .
" No need to answer . I understand . " , she said in a cracked voice .
Ryan was speaking very casually but with each of his statements Melvine was becoming weaker from inside .
( Few moments of silence )
" Yes .... I'm the child's father . " , Ryan remarked .
Melvine stared at him blankly as if this statement was the final blow but little did she know that a lot more was yet to come .
" I hope there's nothing else so I'll be leaving now . " , he said again and was about to go when she somehow managed to say , " S... sorry for b...bothering you this much . And thank you for wasting your precious time on someone like me . And thanks again for that night ..."
" Stop saying thank you . Your ' thank you 's are of no use to me . " , Ryan cut her off .
" Then what should I give you that is useful to you ? " , she asked subconsciously . And immediately Ryan's eyes became sharp at her question .
He said , " Oh .....so would you like to offer something ....but what would you offer ?....let me guess ...must be your body ... isn't it ? " , with every word Ryan was taking a step towards Melvine . And Melvine instinctively was moving backwards . This process continued until Melvine's back hit the cold and damp wall of the corridor and she found herself trapped between Ryan and the wall .
" What would you offer Ms. Melvine ? " , asked he , leaning towards her a little . His glare made her very nervous . She said in a weak voice , " Ryan , what are you doing ? " ,
" Are you nervous ? But why ? I think , I need to remind you something . Well , try to remember , how desperate you were when you agreed to sleep with me just to break free from me . " , Melvine continued to stare at Ryan silently as she didn't get his point .
" You know , it seems that you have a pretty good experience of using your body in order to get out of problematic situations . I wonder , how many people you've slept with so far, just to get your own way . So why pretending to be nervous now ? " , he said mercilessly .
It was the worst insult possible for a woman . Melvine couldn't stare at him anymore . She looked down immediately as her eyes were brimming with tears . It was true .....when she was with Ryan she never really objected anything that he asked from her . And she can't even say that he was wrong in his judgement .... it was not wrong that she really wanted to break free from him even at the sake of her self-dignity . But till this day , she still doesn't know why she behaved like that . Ryan must have thought that she was one of those cheap women to whom self-dignity had not much value .
She tried to say with so much effort , " I am not like that ....I have never did any such thing .....You are wrong ... It's just ....."
" You know , whatever it is ....I am not INTERESTED . " , Ryan cut her off and with that he turned around and left .
The corridor became silent again . Melvine was completely shattered . She had to process a lot of things .
She wiped her tears and kept staring at Ryan's retreating back until her sight became blurry with tears .