His Perfect Wife

Chapter 5: The Orphanage

Valerie’s POV

I walk out of the library after submitting my design for the competition. The vibration of the mobile grabs my attention. A message from Liam.

“Hey babes! Where are you? Waiting for you at the canteen.”

I smile a little. Liam and Cora really care about me. I do not know what I would have done if they were not a part of my life.

I reply instantly, comings sweets.

 I rush towards the cafeteria. It is almost lunchtime and hence the cafeteria is full as always. I search for Liam and Cora. Liam notices me first. He moves his hand to grab my attention, “here, sweetheart.”

I smile and I wave back. I take long steps towards the table. Liam is sitting there with his lunch, so is Cora. I take a seat by Cora.

“Don’t tell me you forgot your lunch again!” Cora speaks first.

“Actually, I woke up late. Besides, I have a heavy breakfast. I’m not hungry.” I lie. First, my friends still have no clue about my marriage and secondly, I have little money left. I have to buy medicines that are quite expensive. Besides all these, I have already spent a lot on a tie that I bought for my hubby. I know he will never wear anything if I gift him, and so I placed it in the box that Daniel got for him. And guess what! My grumpy husband liked it!

“Oh, come on, Valerie. Stop this dieting!” Cora speaks in an irritating tone, giving me half of her sandwich.

“Yeah, girl! You are perfect, just the way you are…” Liam sings the last line, handing me over an extra fork to dig in his mac and cheese.

I smile inwardly. Cora and Liam both know I am an orphan and I spend every money in a calculative way. I even do a part-time job in a fashion store just to earn my day to day living. The launch in the cafeteria is really expensive to buy, and hence I always skip it if I forget to take some with me. I feel blessed to have friends like Cora and Liam in my life. I take a small bite from the sandwich. I really need to eat healthy, especially protein. Doctor Smith has told me explicitly, and so I always try not to miss the breakfast at least. But the situation was different today. I sigh in silence. Liam and Cora have no clue about my disease either. Still, they always take care of me, just like a loyal friend.

“babe! Check out that guy,” Liam says, grabbing our attention. “He is damn hot!” He fans himself once again, blinking his eyes several times unnecessarily.

Cora and I look towards the direction where the man tracker of our group just has pointed out a hot guy! I saw a big guy walking towards the counter. He is really tall and muscular, and his football jersey is shouting his actual identity. But his frame is nowhere near compared to the lean build of Austin. And his face is not even comparable with my hubby’s. Especially in front of that cute dimple.

“Damn! He is really hot.” Cora exclaims.

“What do you think, Val?” Liam asks me.

“He’s okay!” I reply as I take another bite from the sandwich.

“What do you mean, okay? Look at his muscles, girl!” Cora exclaims.

 “Well, he doesn’t even stand a chance if you compare him with my…”, I wanted to say, ‘with my hubby,’ but I cut off instead.

“With my?” Cora and Liam speak in the chorus and they exchange a glance, “dimple guy.”

“Shut up, ok?” I snap at them with a shy smile.

Of course, they all knew about the incident. Almost seven months back, I first came to this city. It is much bigger, and people never sleep here. The huge buildings, new traffic rules, fancy cars, and different transit systems, and the new nightlife, everything was different. After settling down in the new city, I went to look for a part-time job. Just like any other day, I was in the mall, looking for a job. I was returning empty-handed as usual. My legs dragged me towards the escalator. Suddenly someone pushed me harshly from behind. I lost balance and fell, hurting my head. While rolling down the escalator with blurry vision, I saw that man running downstairs, intentionally pushing an old woman just in front of me. The old woman fell as well. I stood as I reached the ground floor. My forehead was bleeding terribly. I knew the reason very well. I gathered my strength and walked near the old lady, laying on the floor. She was badly hurt. Blood was all over her body. The lady was in her seventies, maybe. I looked around only to find a heavy crowd around them who were more attracted towards the scene rather than helping us. I sat down slowly, taking that woman’s head on my lap. The lady was still in her senses. Tears rolled down from her eyes. She must be really hurt, I thought in my mind. I searched for my phone in my pocket and called the ambulance.

I met Dr. Smith in the hospital. I never intended to tell anyone about my condition after coming to this city, but that unfortunate incident opened up my secret in front of that young doctor. I stayed there while they treated the old woman. She was no one but Austin’s grandma. Merry became attached to me. She had a soft spot in her heart for this orphan girl who was new to the city. Austin was out of the country. Merry asked others not to mention anything about that incident in front of Austin. Cora and Liam knew about this event as Liam was the one who drove me to the hostel on that day, from the hospital. And obviously, he can’t keep any secret and hence Cora knows all about this.

Grandma Merry started to spend more time with me, and I found my long-lost family in her warm embrace. We were complementary to each other. Our connection grew stronger and one day Austin came back. I fell in love at first sight, but I knew I would not live long. Cora and Liam only know half of the story, and I will probably never tell them the other half. I haven’t even told them the actual identity of my dimple guy.

“Why don’t you tell him how much you like him?” Cora speaks again.

“Like? She’s in LOVE, babe!” Liam replies.

“Will you two stop?” I speak again, blushing.

“All right! All right! Listen…” Liam says dramatically, “a night out at the bar! How does it sound?”

“Count me in babe,” Cora shouts out.

“Can’t!” I reply in short.

“babe!” Cora and Liam both shout out.

“Sorry guys! But it’s MONDAAAY!” I speak again.

“And it’s your orphanage day!” Cora and Liam speak together once again.

“That’s right!” I grab her bag as I stand up. “See you!”

“Bye, babe!” Liam and Cora wave at me.

I walk out of the campus. The orphanage is not far from here. It’s only on the opposite side of the university. I lost my parents when I was only ten. I didn’t have any near kin and hence I was sent to the orphanage. The sisters there were friendly, but not the other kids. I was new and timid. I always get bullied. I swallowed all the insults only in a hope that I would leave this hell one day. I concentrated more on my studies. I was always a straight-A student. Everything was going well until the day when my sixteenth birthday came. In the name of a party game, my roommates dared me to go to the nearby woods, and then they beat me up terribly. I started to bleed. They all left me alone there in the darkness. I will never forget that night. It was dark. The only thing I am afraid of. I cried all night before losing my consciousness. In the morning, a nun found me in the woods. I was still bleeding. She took me to the hospital instantly. The doctors tried everything, and when they finally found out about my disease. They told me one in million get this disease. How unfortunate I am! They also told me it is not incurable, but it will cost a fortune to continue the treatment. I definitely didn’t have that money. I asked them not to disclose this in front of the orphanage authority. They have already done a lot, and I didn’t want to bother them anymore. The doctors told me that without the treatment it depends on how long I can survive. It may be six to ten years from now. On that day, I decided to do everything in this small span that I always wanted to do. I wanted to go to university and be a fashion designer. I knew I had little savings, but I also didn’t know even if I will last until my graduation. I laughed inwardly. I applied to different universities and luckily; I got a full scholarship from this one. On my nineteenth birthday, I came to this city to live my life fullest, to fulfill all my wishes.

Every Monday I visit this orphanage, which reminds me of my old home. I talk to every girl living there, just to make sure none of them are getting bullied like me. But the picture is quite different here. The administration is stricter, and the nuns take really good care of the kids. Usually, whenever I visit them, I stay late to read the little ones read bedtime stories. When I was in the orphanage, I always longed for this. I know I can’t come over every day because of my job, but whenever I can, I definitely come by to spend some time with the kids.

As I enter the corridor, a few kids come running towards me.

“Val! Val!”

“Yay! Val is here!”

I smile a little, handing them over the chocolates I brought beforehand. Then I ask them, “where is sister Agnes?”

“She is in room no ten,” one kid replies.

“She is with Susan. Susan is sick,” another little one speaks.

My heart skips a beat as they use the word sick! I rush towards the room to find Sister Agnes standing inside. A doctor is examining a little girl laying on the bed. I walk in silently.

“What’s the matter?” I ask her.

“She is fine for now. But she needs to go under surgery. Sooner is better.” The doctor says while standing up.

“Surgery!” my eyes fall on the little girl. She must be around six or seven.

“Yes. The condition of her heart is not good. She needs to go under a heart surgery.” The doctor explains.

“But doctor, the amount is too much for us.” Sister Agnes speaks in a guilty tone. Her eyes are still red from crying.

“I know, sister Agnes, but there is nothing I can do. I’m sorry,” the doctor walks away from the room.

“What will I do, Val? She is too young to die.” She speaks again with teary eyes. Susan is sleeping soundly on the bed. She looks so pale. It’s true. She is too young to die, and who can understand that better than me?

“How much do you need?” I ask her, holding back my tears.

“Fifty thousand, Val,” she says again in a trembling tone.