Chapter 10: Another missed opportunity

Cody couldn’t believe the bombshell his mother had just dropped. It felt like his soul had just left his body.

“Did you hear me? Your wife just lost the baby! She’s in there getting her womb washed and she’s even unconscious from the fall” she yelled at him.

Cecily came to calm her down.

“Mom, we’re still at the hospital, can you keep it down?” Mr. Whyte went and grabbed her arm and took away from Cody’s side, Cody rushed to the entrance of the ward, trying to get in but Mr. Story pulled him away, he tried to break free but Cecily joined in to pull him away.

“Can you control yourself?” Mr. Story yelled at him.

“What happened to her?” Cody yelled back.

“If you cared enough you wouldn’t have left unannounced” Mr. Story shouted back.

“That wasn’t the question, what happened to her? What did you do to her?” Cody yelled losing his temper.

“She fell down the stairs you know why?” Mrs. Story replied calmly.

Cody took a few steps back as a wave of guilt hit him. Cara stood rooted in her position not knowing what to do next.

“Because she was looking for you Cody” Mrs. Story answered her own question and looked away.

The doctors and nurses wheeled Nina out of the theater on a stretcher and Cody began to run after them. A doctor stopped and turned to them. “Who’s her relative, I need to talk to someone”

Cody immediately stopped and turned around. Mr and Mrs. Story approached him.

“We’re her parents” Mr. Story answered.

“I’m her husband” Cody shot back.

“Can you sit this one out?” Mrs. Whyte yelled. Cody glared at his mum and then at his dad who shook his head calmly at him.

When Nina opened her eyes the first thing that greeted her were pains, excruciating pain, she felt it in her head, in her abdomen and even at her back. She looked around and saw her family hovering over her.

What had happened? Where was she? Why was she in pain? She tried to sit up but a hand tapped her gently as if to tell her to relax. It was her dad, she could tell from the touch. She fell asleep again.

When she woke up again, the pains were better now, they were not totally gone but they were better. Her eyes met her dad’s and she smiled.

“Are you better now?” He asked her and she nodded in response.

“Yes dad” she said calmly, he helped her sit up. The door opened and Mrs. Story looked excited to see her, she went out to call the rest and they all came rushing in, with the exception of Cody. He was the last to step in and he looked lost or out of his mind.

“We haven’t gone home or slept, we’ve been waiting for you to wake up” Mrs. Story announced.

Nina felt so loved it melted her heart. Then she suddenly remembered what had happened when her eyes met Cody’s. She started to panic.

“My baby, is my baby okay? Why am I here? What happened?”

“Calm down hun” Mr. Story consoled. She glared at Cody.

“Cody where did you go? We need to know now” Mrs. Story asked.

It was Mrs. Whyte’s turn to glare at him. Cody stared at Cara who was dying of guilt.

“We went to the beach” Cody and Cara said together. They had already rehearsed their answer.

“What did you go to the beach for? A whole party was ongoing for you and you thought it wise to leave before anyone else” Mrs. Whyte ranted.

“Cody and I buried a time capsule at the coconut grove, we went there to update it and relive memories” Cara interjected.

“Hey, how come you guys went without me?” Cecily cut in getting jealous.

“So didn’t you have the decency to even inform your wife of your whereabouts?” Mrs. Whyte yelled.

“I was gone for just a little over an hour, can’t I just have a break to get some fresh air without being policed?” Cody shot back at his mum. Mrs. Whyte couldn’t contain her anger anymore she slapped him across the face. The room went silent you could hear an ant walking. Nina even began to feel bad for Cody. She noticed the bracelet on Cody’s wrist and then anger raged within her.

“You’re a liar Cody! Who did you go to meet? Tell us the truth” she yelled.

“I went to the time capsule, like my sister said” Cody replied.

“Cody, couldn’t you have gone with your wife?” Mr. Whyte asked.

“Dad, this is a ritual between Cara and I. We promised to be back when I turned thirty to update it” Cody explained. He caught Nina staring at the bracelet and immediately came up with a counter attack in case she brought it up.

“So the time capsule gave you that bracelet?” She said almost immediately.

“This?” Cody said and stared at the bracelet, “Yes!someone gave it to me years ago, I promised to keep it buried in the capsule forever, but yesterday I took it out and updated my diary”

“Who is that someone?” Nina asked calmly. Cody went silent so did everyone else. Nina nodded understanding the silence, she was afraid Cody had stolen away to go meet someone else, but it turned out he had gone to dig out accessories his first love had given him. Did it mean he was ready to get over her or did it mean he wanted to feel closer to her?

“Cody you got asked a question” Mr. Whyte reminded him.

“It was just someone” Cody sighed.

“Whoever it is don’t they have a name?” Nina yelled angrily. “We just lost our baby because you just couldn’t…”

“Are you blaming me Nina? How is this my fault Nina!” He burst into tears. He was boiling with rage and didn’t know who to lash out at. Whether to lash out at his beloved mother who put him in this mess or at Nina who had overreacted over his absence and lost their child in the process or at himself for not leaving with Annalise. He turned her down only to come back to naught. He was pained he was annoyed, his mind was in chaos.

“Can everyone excuse us? I want to talk to Cody” Nina said calmly.