That night after dinner in our new home and calling our family to tell them about the events of the day, Jerry and I tucked ourselves in the very large spacious bed. Honestly the bed was large enough to contain six people. Jerry said it'll provide enough room for lovemaking between us. I grinned about that thought.
Jerry turned over on his side of the bed and faced me.
"Rosie, I was thinking about something "
"What's that ?"I asked with piqued interest.
"What if we save enough money and build your own private medical practice. Even if it's small, I don't want you to keep working late nights at someone else's hospital. "
I felt tears forming in my eyes at my husband's thoughtfulness. How did I ever get so lucky in this life? I touched his cheeks "I'd love that sweetheart but ,establishing a hospital requires time, knowledge, skills and resources that I'm yet to have. I still need at least two or three years before I can feel fully confident to be on my own"
"Alright love. Whatever you say; but just have it in mind that I'm working towards it. "
I smiled and slept happily that night.
The following morning when I woke up, there was a text message on my phone from Jerry saying that he went to the grocery store to get some foodstuffs. I decided to do something useful with my spare time.
I went downstairs and swept every nook and cranny of each and every room downstairs. I also mopped the floors and dusted the place. It was so beautiful and it reminded me of one if my mum's quotes.
"A house is more beautiful when it's clean. "
Not too long after, Jerry drove in. He came out and started bringing out the things he bought from the boot of his car. I went outside to assist him.
"Morning sunshine " he said and kissed me.
"Morning sweetheart . Let me assist you " I replied and offered to help.
"No babe. They're heavy. how was your night? "
"My night was pleasant. Let me quickly clean up and then make breakfast for us to eat "
"Alright. That will be nice " he replied.
As I turned back, I felt dizzy and almost fell until Jerry held me back from behind "Are you okay,Rosie ?"
"Yeah. I'm fine . It's probably stress from the moving yesterday "
I finished cleaning up and went to prepare breakfast and then he told me he was resuming work the following week and since I still wanted to work, he would help me search for vacancies in hospitals.
Two weeks later, I had still not gotten a job. Vegas was much more different from New York in that aspect. I usually spent the days at home cleaning, washing, sewing and watching TV till whenever Jerry comes back. I also loved passing by the school field, a little distant from my house, to watch the children playing and looking forward to the day my children will be among them.
As usual, Jerry had gone to work leaving me alone. I was sick that afternoon but for some reason, I hurriedly took my bath, dressed up and packed a bag. I drove to the field. When I got there, the children had not yet gathered. Less than a few minutes later, the school gate close by opened and all of the children rushed out in excitement.
I went to the table tennis section and saw a young boy seated quietly, probably nine or ten years old. He looked lost, lonely, tired and... Sick?
I wanted to approach him but then I saw a group of boys move towards him and he stood up to play and immediately, he scored a goal.
His friends cheered him up but he responded with a lack of enthusiasm and I wondered what the problem could be.
I beckoned to him to follow me and when he came to me, I got a good look at his face which was weirdly familiar.
"Hi Phil " I put my hands in the back pocket of my trousers "You're Phil, right? I heard your friends call you that back there "
He smiled shyly "Is everything okay? " I asked.
"I'm fine, who are you? " he asked.
"I'm Roseline Winters "
"I'm not Phil. I'm Philip Harrison "
I was shocked but of course, the name 'Harrison ' was a common name.
"No one calls me Phil... " he continued "Except my dad and my aunt Ellie and uncle Rich "
Okay now!!
This wasn't common.
It wasn't all Harrison children that had an aunt whose name is Ellie and an uncle whose name was Richard.
"And your dad. Is his name William and your mum Shana?"
He pulled a face "Don't mention my mum and... " he looked at me suspiciously "How do you know my dad's name? Are you the one they call Rosie? "
"Yes "I smiled "Yes. I'm your dad's youngest sister. "
"But I don't understand what's happening. Why does he hate you so much and anytime his siblings call, they always mention your name and he'd shun them "
"How old are you? "I asked him and he smiled,
"I look young to be a twelve year old right? My younger brother is eight, but my sister Josie is three
" Alright, listen my brother and sisters neglected my mum and me for so long .They hardly call and if they even send money ,it's peanuts, meagre amount. Luckily, I had a scholarship and I am a doctor now and I've not seen your dad for like eight years now . I saw my brother some months back and my sister, but we didn't talk much."
"I can't imagine not seeing my brother for or sister for a day not to talk of eight years . That's harsh. If an opportunity comes, Mrs Winters can you forgive them?"
I laughed heartily. "Maybe I will and then maybe not " I shrugged and he held my hand.
"Can I call you Aunt Rosie? "
"Of course yes "I smiled and hugged him.
"Now tell me and don't lie. What's wrong. I can tell that you're battling with something in your mind "
Tears sprang out of his eyes immediately.
"Philip, are you okay? "
"Today is my mum's third anniversary " he said and then quickly added "She left us "
"You mean Shana left your dad? " I asked because she and my brother were so much in love back then.
Before he could answer, his dad, my brother came and yanked him away.
"I knew this would happen, Phil. Haven't I warned you not to talk to strangers? How dare you disobey my orders. How dare... "
"Dad enough!!!! " The young lady screamed that some people's attention were shifted towards us. "She's your sister, for crying out loud not a stranger. I can't imagine being away from Josie for a while day not to talk of 8 years. This is sheer wickedness. Whatever she did or didn't do still doesn't give you the authority to abandon her " he cried out.
I was speechless. I've known this little boy for not more than an hour but he was already standing up for me and defending me. "
Before I could say Jack, William slapped his son very hard on his face.
"You're grounded. And we'll talk about your punishment when we get back home "
The boy held his cheeks in pain and then screamed "Fuck you dad " and then he ran off.
I braced myself for what was coming next.
He eyed me scornfully and went after his son.
I stood rooted to a spot for a long time, tears filling my eyes, even as all the children in the field began to file out one after the other.
A strong thick hand touched my shoulders and I knew even before I turned back, that it was Jerry. I quickly dabbed my face with the back of my hand and faced him smiling. I blinked back the tears that was starting to form in my eyes.
Damn this hormones!
"Hey sunshine! " I kissed him "How did you know I was here? " I asked with a forced smile on my face.
"Stop that Rosie. Just stop it. It pisses the hell out of me " he said with a frown. I pulled back a little
"Stop what? "
"Pretending like everything's okay. Now what happened? "
"I can't talk now. Let's go home " I said. Within me, I was grateful he came because I wasn't sure I would be able to drive home on my own in this present state.
We drove home in his car. He said he would come back later to get mine.
It seems he had come back early from work because he had already prepared Macaroni and cheese.
It was horrible with an awful smell
But I couldn't tell him that. I had to endure and be grateful for the effort he went through to make food for his wife.
I couldn't endure the smell anymore. It was making me nauseous and before anything, I rushed to the toilet and vomited
"Are you okay, darling? " Jerry was at my side immediately. He gave me tissues to wipe my mouth.
"I'm fine. Just tired "I replied with a groggy voice.
"Tired? Are you sure you don't need to go to a doctor ?"
"No. I'm fine. I just need to rest. How far with the job hunt? "I asked and he smiled
"It was successful . Hope Medical Center, very close by. You can even walk there. They have an open vacancy for just one applicant. We were very lucky so I took with the manager. So you'll take your CV to them tomorrow and hopefully resume by Monday. " he looked at me in a concerned way "Are you sure you're okay? "
Before I could reply, I vomited again, this time, puking out all of my breakfast.
"Alright. This is it Rosie. I'm taking you to the hospital and you're not going to stop me "
He left me still standing in the bathroom, to go and get his car keys.