What the heart wants

28

Jared sighed as he rid his table of all the paperwork he had been working on.

" I'm so tired." He yawned.

His phone screen lit up and he frowned as he picked it up. His mother in-law had called him thrice. He quickly dialled her number and waited patiently for her to pick up.

" Mum."

" Hello Jared, how are you?"

" I'm okay, just a little bit stressed."

" Take care of yourself."

" Yes ma'am."

" Is Aria there? I've been trying to reach her for a while now."

" No she is not. She's out with Bella for lunch. Is anything the problem?"

She sighed.

" Could you please come to the hospital?"

" I'll be on my way very soon."

" Thank you Jared."

***

" I've been trying to reach her since you called, I even tried Bella's number but it's not going through."

" It's alright. Since you're here you can just come with me."

" But Aria should be-"

" Jared it's fine. You're her husband and that makes you our son. Biologically or not."

Jared smiled.

At least his in-laws had accepted him into their family.

" I'm so glad you could make it here on such short notice Mrs Arowolo."

" It wasn't a hassle, I have so much free time on my hands."

The doctor shifted his gaze to Jared.

" Where's Aria?"

" She couldn't make it." Jared replied coldly.

" That's a shame." The doctor mused.

A shame? Why is that a shame? Does he like her?

He began sizing the doctor up.

" Yes but this is her husband, Jared King."

" Husband? I didn't know she was married."

" She got married very recently. She didn't want a large wedding."

" Okay, King as in King-"

" Yes." Jared stated.

" Oh whoa!, It's a pleasure."

" The pleasure is all mine."

" Is there a reason why you called us Dr Jackson?" Elizabeth questioned.

Jackson. So that's his name.

" Yes ma'am. Your husband's health has not made any significant improvement despite all the efforts that have been put in place. But we have a possible solution to that."

" And that is?"

" It's a new statin we're working on. It has passed the clinical trials and it has a 90 percent success rate. It will reduce the risk of a future blood clot and also reduce his cholesterol level. And that will bring about a tremendous improvement in his health.

" What are the side effects?"

" So far we've only experienced minor side effects that are common to other statins like headaches, dizziness, physical weakness and a few others but those are the most common ones."
" If you do agree, you and another relative- I'm assuming that's why Mr King is here- alongside the patient would have to sign some papers to show that we have your full consent." Dr Jackson explained.

" Can I discuss this with my husband and my son first?" Elizabeth questioned

Jared's heart warmed when she called him her son

" Of course,"

***

" What do you think Jared?" Jude asked

" I think we should go for it. It already has such a high success rate and Dr Jackson's sure that it will work."

" Alright, let's give a try but if there's no improvement, I'll stop."

" I'll go get Dr Jackson, the sooner the better."
***

" We'll get him started tomorrow-"

" Mum!"

Aria walked swiftly down the hall in a bid to reduce the distance between herself and her mother.

Jared noticed how Dr Jackson's eyes lingered on her a little longer than usual and glowered.

" I just got your text, what's wrong? Is Dad alright?"

" Imade, everything's fine; Dr Jackson just needed  your signature. He wants to get your dad started on a new drug, but Jared already filled in for you."

Aria turned her steely gaze to Jared.

" Jared...signed?" She asked quietly, her voice breaking a little at the end.

Uh oh!
That means trouble.

" Yes honey,we're done; so you don't have to bother about anything." Her mother replied lightly squeezing her hand, oblivious to the hurt in her daughter's eyes.

" Where's dad?" Aria questioned, her voice was still low and faint

" He's in his room."

" Is he sleeping?"

" No, you can go see him."

" Okay."

***

The car ride home was eerily silent; Jared knew she was mad at him but he couldn't muster enough courage to speak. But the moment they were within the walls of their house, all hell broke loose.

" How dare you?!" She shrieked, tossing her bag aside.

" Aria-"

" How fucking dare you?!" She screamed.

" Aria play, let me explain-"

" Explain what? That you took my place as the child?!"
" You had no damn right Jared! No right!"

" I wasn't trying to take your place I swear! I tried calling you! I even tried Bella's but-" he moved closer,

" Don't you fucking come near me or I swear to God I will kill you!"

He gulped. He saw the wildness in her eyes and knew she wasn't bluffing. Aria rarely raised her voice. But when she did, it was hard to calm her down. She only let her emotions loose when she was extremely hurt or angry; and right then, she was both.

" I hate you!" She screamed throwing her shoe at him.

He moved rights in time, narrowly escaping the impact of the heel.

" I hate you! I hate this damn house! And I hate this stupid marriage!" She cried. She tossed her ring at him- he scrambled to catch it- and stormed off to her room.

Jared stared at the ring in his hand, clenched his jaw and let out a shaky breath. He stuffed the ring into his pocket and proceeded wipe his cheeks with the back of his hand.

***
Nnoo!🤗!
I'm so sorry for the late update, Wattpad deleted the entire chapter and I had to rewrite it. The constant glitching is pissing me off😑.
Anyway,there's more drama coming up in the next chapter, stay tuned 😉.
Do you think Aria had the right to be mad?
Stay safe😷
Bye!!