Reclaiming His Wife

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: HISTORY LESSON

As they picked a random path and began to stroll, Mark turned to Jessica, “tell me about your memories. Why is this place so special to you?”

“Growing up in the Alpha Home for Orphans in Berbice, we rarely went anywhere besides school and church – which were both in close proximity to the orphanage. But every August vacation, the Botanical Gardens would host a camp for children and the orphanage would take us. Those were the rare occasions I got to see that the world was bigger than my little community.”

“So it was like a summer camp for you?”

“Yea, basically. The camps are held at the Jenman Education Center other there,” she said, pointing to a one storey flat wooden building.

“Every year we’d learn something new. There is just so much to see here. The Botanical Gardens houses one of the most extensive collections of tropical flora in the Caribbean and are laid out with ponds, canals, kissing bridges and a bandstand,” she bragged.

Mark loved this side of Jessica – her enthusiasm for the things she loved and her excitement with sharing something that fascinated her. He hadn’t even noticed that this part of her had been missing during their three-year marriage. He had truly been blind to all the things that affect her. No wonder she wanted to divorce him. He just hoped it wasn’t too late to change her mind.

Pointing out some of her favourite spots in the garden, Jessica shared its rich history with him.

“The Botanical Gardens have been established since 1878. It was founded during the time of British Guiana, on an abandoned sugar estate, Plantation Vlissengen,” she noted.

“As you can see it has a huge variety of tropical flowers and one of the finest collection of palms, as well as lovely lilies, including the immense Victoria Regia Lily, Guyana’s national flower.”

“You sound like a tour guide,” remarked Mark.

Giggling, Jessica replied “well like I said, I spent many summers here learning – so I guess I would consider myself an expert – but only on the gardens. I’ll leave the other tourist attractions for Dewayne to expound on.”

“I’d rather neither of us not have any further interactions with that tour guide. I’m still pissed he had the audacity to kiss you.”

“With my approval,” she reminded softly.

“We are having a good time. Let’s not piss me off.”

“On that note, look over there,” Jessica said in an obvious attempt at changing the topic.

“At that iron structure?” Mark questioned.

“Yes. We are presently in the northern part of the Botanical Gardens and that is the youngest of three Bandstands. It’s about one hundred years old and commemorates the services of Mr Brummell who was the Sheriff of Georgetown for many years and also Director of the Gardens.”

“No shade, but I’ve noticed this country chooses the weirdest things to commemorate prominent people and important historical events.”

“Hey!” exclaimed Jessica. “On behalf of my country’s people, I take offence over that statement.”

They wandered further, where Jessica showed him the Seven Ponds Monument (the Place of Heroes) which was built in 1969 and used as the burial sites of Governor General David Rose, former Guyanese President Desmond Hoyte, Guyana’s first President Arthur Chung and the country’s famous poet Martin Carter.

They also visited the Mausoleum which was built in the year 1986 and housed in the gardens. The embalmed body of Mr Linden Forbes Samson Burnham, Guyana's first Executive President is entombed.

  Arriving at Jessica’s favourite spot, she halted their progress. Standing in the middle of one of several ‘Kissing Bridges’, Jessica remarked, “during the landscaping of the Gardens, the swampy sol had to be drained by digging trenches and raising the land using soil from what is now the artificial lakes. The Kissing Bridges join the islands of the lakes to the mainland of the Gardens. As a teenager, I always promised myself I would one day return here and do this.”

With that said she grabbed Mark by the collar of his shirt and kissed him. It was a brief kiss. It lasted less than a minute. Looking up into his eyes, they both stared at each other, frozen.

Then Mark moved.

He drew her toward him and bent his head. He was kissing her again before she knew what was happening.

Then he slid his tongue between her lips and she opened her mouth to him fully. Hearing his husky groan, she wound her arms around his neck and held on to him, trusting him, knowing where he took her she would follow.

Time blurred.

And then, amazingly, he was slowing things down, nibbling on her lips, kissing her cheeks and her neck. Finally, he eased back and they were staring at each other again.

“Oh, my God!” she whispered, awed by the sheer force of the kiss. It left her trembling.

He was feeling something equally as powerful. She could see it deep in his eyes. His normally clear blue eyes were stormy. He truly desired her.

His cellular phone began to ring.

He remained still, not moving, and she knew why. Nothing could take away from the strength of this moment between them. Here on the kissing bridge, it was like they were the only two people alive.

Then as quickly as she thought that, he blinked and turned away, breaking the moment. She heard him answer it, but she couldn’t seem to move. She understood why he had turned away. Why he had broken the moment. It had been too much for him. For her. For them both. Without him looking at her, she could take a breath again.

She did.

And then she found she could move. She swivelled to retrace her steps and go get into the SUV, needing to sit down for a minute and feel something solid beneath her.

There were so many thoughts running through her mind. She thought they’d just had a moment. Damn it! They did have a moment. But why did he have to go and ruin it by answering his phone? Couldn’t he have ignored work for one god damn day! Here he had her swearing in her head. She never swore. But that was how mad she was. She felt rejected…stupid.

She took a few steps but in her mental tirade, she didn’t pay close attention to where she was stepping and her wedged heel got caught on a loose brick. She felt her feet slip from under her but that realization was too late for her to react and try to keep her balance. With a small cry, she felt herself falling backwards… backwards….

She frantically made a grab for anything within reach, but there was only the air and she felt her legs going up and her body going down, her back hitting the grass, then her head on something harder. She literally saw stars…scratch that, she literally saw an entire galaxy.

The next thing she knew Mark was dropping to his knees beside her. “Thank God!” he muttered when he saw her eyes were open.

“What happened?” she managed to say.

He glanced back to where she’d been walking. “You must have slipped on that brick back there.”

She started to lift her head but stopped after wincing at the pain.

“Take it slowly.” He put his hand under her shoulders to help her up. “Is your back sore or anything? Are you hurting anywhere?”

“No.”

Then he swore. “You’re bleeding.”

“I am?”

His hand came away with some blood on it. “You’ve cut your head.” He helped her to sit up, and then he checked the back of her head.

“Your hair is too thick for me to see the extent of the cut but it’s bleeding like the devil so you might need stitches. There’s a lump starting where you hit it, too.”

Parting her hair as gingerly as he could manage, he pressed his handkerchief against the cut. He was grateful at that moment that he never went anywhere without one.

“Hold that on it. It’s not as thick as I would like but it’ll help stem the flow of blood. We need to get you to a doctor.”

“Mark, we are not in America. We don’t go to the doctor or the hospital for these minor injuries,” she said quite frankly. “This is a third world country. The hospitals are overwhelmed as it is with more important cases.”

His mouth tightened. “Minor injury! You are bleeding from your head and may have a concussion.”

“I’m telling you, if we go to the hospital, we will be waiting for hours before someone actually sees to me.”

Jessica wasn’t trying to be difficult. But she needed Mark to understand that he was in a different territory and as such some things were done differently than what he was accustomed to. No amount of money would change that. Besides her head was hurting terribly and she just wanted to return to her hotel room and rest.

Considering his options, Mark asked, “do you think you can stand up? Are you dizzy or anything?”

“A little, but I’ll be fine.”

He helped her stand, and walked her the few remaining feet to the car. Soon they were heading back to the hotel.

“How do you feel now?” he said a few minutes later.

“Okay.”

They drove a little farther. “Talk to me, Jessica.”

“I don’t really feel like talking,” she said, calling herself an i***t for slipping. If only she’d looked where she was going, then—

“I want you to stay awake. You may have a slight concussion.”

“Oh.” She realized this was the correct procedure.

“Come on, you can do better than that,” he said, a serious look in his eyes.

“Okay.” She tried to think. “What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know. Anything. What are you most afraid of?”

She didn’t need to think about that. “Being alone.”

His brow rose in surprise. “I may have done a shitty job in the past in showing it. But you are never alone and you will never be alone. You will always have me.” He vowed.

She winced a little as she adjusted her seat.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Mark.”

He glanced at her again, noting her wince, his mouth turning grim. “I know you don’t believe me now but over time you will after I prove it to you.”

“Okay.”

“Why did you leave just now? I thought we were having a good time.”

“I overreacted to the phone call you took.”

There was a tiny pause. “How so?” he murmured.

“I guess I got upset that work was once again coming in between us.”

“Jess, that phone call was not work-related. It was one of the bodyguards calling to inform me that the picnic basket I had requested for us was ready and that the picnic had been set up and we could head over to that section of the gardens.”

“Oh,” her breath caught upon hearing this. She moved her head to look at him to apologize for her childish behaviour and winced again.

“Don’t move Jess. We are almost there,” he assured her.

After that Mark drove straight up to the entrance of the hotel. Getting out of the SUV, he walked around to Jessica’s side of the car and lifted her out.

Briskly, he walked with her in his arms into the hotel. A middle-aged concierge ran up to them and asked if he could be of assistance.

“Yes, get me the best doctor in the city to make a house call to the hotel as soon as possible. Money is not an issue. And have someone properly park the car.”

With that said he handed the keys over and took Jessica to his room and placed her on his king-sized bed.

It was a testament to the amount of pain she was in that she did not protest him placing her in his room.

In less than ten minutes, the concierge returned with a nurse in tow.

“This is nurse Maybel. She will do a preliminary exam while the doctor gets here,” the man said.

Nurse Maybel immediately took control and began to exam Jessica. Completing her initial assessment she noted that the cut wasn’t too deep but that she would need to shave a portion of Jessica’s hair off since she would indeed need stitches.

“Okay, since it’s not so bad you can do the stitches, right? No need to get the doctor come all the way here,” Jessica said, feeling bad for the fuss Mark was making on a Sunday morning.

Mark nodded at the nurse. “Get him.”

The nurse nodded in agreement then looked at her. “The doctor really should see you,” she said, then went and picked up the wall telephone as Jessica glanced at Mark.

He gave a short shake of his head. “He will be paid to do his job, Jessica. Let him.”

Before too long, the doctor who identified himself as Benjamin Sutton strode into the exam room, nodding at Mark and going directly to the patient. “What have you done to yourself, young lady?”

Dr Sutton was professional in his examination. Contrary to what the nurse had said, she didn’t need stitches but he tidied up the cut and it finally stopped bleeding. Thankfully he hadn’t needed to cut any of her hair in the process.

“I don’t think the lump on your head is anything to be concerned about,” he assured her, “but we still need to keep an eye on it for any signs of concussion.” He considered her. “You will need someone to stay with you for at least forty-eight hours – who can check on you a couple of times throughout the day and night.”

“I’ll take care of her,” Mark said firmly. “I know what signs to look for.”

Dr Sutton glanced at Mark, held his gaze a moment, and then nodded. “Good. I’ll drop by tomorrow to do a follow-up and ensure all is well. Call me sooner if you have any doubts.”

“I will.”

Jessica looked from one to the other. “Do either of you mind if I have a say in this?”

Mark shot her an impatient look as if to say NO. But it was Dr Sutton who spoke.

“Young lady, this has to be taken very seriously. Your brain’s had a knock, and sometimes things can develop later on. You need to rest up and you need to have someone keep a close eye on you for the bare minimum of twenty-four hours. Although, I’d recommend close supervision for forty-eight hours.”

She swallowed, not sure she liked hearing that, but before she could say anything, Mark ushered both the nurse and the doctor out of the room.

Mark came to stand in front of her. “I intend to look after you whether you like it or not.”

“But—”

“It’s my fault you were out there today,” he cut across her, his eyes holding firm regret. “No arguments, Jessica. I need to do this.”

She melted faster than ice cream on a sunny day. “All right.”