Broken

*15*

The drive back home was quiet and depressing as Mo sat in the back of Tebatso's car with her eyes closed. She hadn't spoken a word to him since she woke up from her surgery. He had tried many and unsuccessful attempts to get her to speak but she ignored him like he didn't exist.

Without a word, he pulled into the parking lot of Pioneer mall and turned back to look at her with a small smile. "I'm going in to get us something to eat, ok? And I'm sorry that Thabile is not here...I can't reach her phone and it seems like she's off the grid because she's not even at her house. I know it would mean a lot to you if she was here so I'll try my best to find her, ok?"

Mo grimaced as she turned away from him and stared out the window.

Tebatso nodded to himself and got out of the car. He locked her in just in case she tried to do something that would put her in harm's way but she seemed to not even have noticed as he walked away. He came back some time later with some food and drinks and he put them in the backseat beside Mo to try and encourage her to eat but she slept all the way to the house.

When she woke up, she was surprised to find herself in an unfamiliar room with a grey and black wallpaper as well as furniture and a four-poster bed draped in white. She sat up and got off the bed just as an elderly woman came in with a small tray that held a glass of milk and a few pills and bottles of medicine.

"Good! You're up!" the woman said cheerfully as she placed the tray on the small table near the bed. "We have to check your wound and see how it's coming along."

Mo stared at her. "Who are you and where am I?"

"I'm nurse Mpheng, your own private nurse and Tebatso has asked that I take care of you until you recover, sweety. This is his house. Now go on and lay down and let's see what we have."

Mo didn't have the energy to argue so she did as she was told and once the nurse was done, she felt better. "Thank you," she whispered with her eyes closed.

"You're welcome, young lady. Now...don't go being depressed around here, ok? Losing a baby is painful, I know but what has been done has been done and cannot be undone. You're still in your prime and can always try for another one whenever you feel ready. You just have to let go of your pain and anger first, child. It's a long and painful process but once you come to terms with it, trust me, you'll feel on top of this world."

"How would you know?" Mo asked bitterly.

"For a woman who has heard four miscarriages, trust me, I would know." The woman smiled sweetly and left a dumbfounded Mo staring after her as she left.
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"Can I come in?" a voice said from behind the door while Mo changed out of the towel into her clothes.

For the last couple of days, she had been healing well and Nurse Mpheng was skilled in everything that she did which made Mo look forward to her being present until the day she stopped coming in because her job with Mo was done. It felt like a bitter loss.

"Come in!" Mo called as she put on a sweater over her shirt. She was fresh out of Tebatso's shower with her wet brazilian hair still wrapped in a towel and no makeup on. She thought she looked terrible but because it was Tebatso and nurse Mpheng who had seen her at her worst, she didn't care.

"How're you feeling today?" he asked her as he sat down on the well made bed. He looked at her while she sat at his dressing table and began to comb out her weave. "Mme Mpheng tells me that you have been doing considerably well. I don't think she wanted to leave."

For the first time since being home, Mo smiled. "She was a great nurse and you...thank you very much. I owe you a lot."

Tebatso laughed and shrugged it off. "You don't owe me anything. You were a friend in need and I was a friend indeed."

Mo looked at him. "Anyway, did you manage to find Thabile? I have tried to call her but it takes me straight to voicemail. "

Tebatso nodded and looked away. "She texted me that day when you came back from the hospital."

"What did she say?"

Tebatso chuckled bitterly. "She told me to leave her alone and that she wishes that I would get hit by a car as well as you."

Mo was shocked. "What! Why would she say that? I've been nothing but a good friend to her after all that shit she did to me!" She was livid. How dare, Thabi! she thought. "Why would she wish me-us such a bad thing?"

Tebatso gave her his phone and told her to play the Whatsapp voice note. Thabi's voice came on.

"I thought you were the one man that could take me out of my misery and give me a fresh start after my divorce but you're just a scum, Tebatso!" she screamed. "I trusted you! And all along you were just stringing me along! How dare you...with my best friend? How dare you, Tebatso Makoa!" Thabi was crying by now. "I trusted the two of you and you go and do this to me? And don't you dare try to deny it! I saw you after that dinner I had to leave early and when I came to check on you two, I saw you! I hope you get run over by a truck and I hope that that stupid bitch never sees better days! Enjoy your freaking marriage!" The voice note abruptly ended.

"Marriage? What is Thabile smoking and what is she talking about?"

"I would like to believe that after that pregnancy celebratory dinner, Thabile witnessed me proposing to you and she came to the conclusion that we were an item."

All Mo could say was, "Oh my goodness!" She thought of sending her a voice note to apologize and set things in the clear but then she remembered that phone conversation that she had overheard and decided not to apologise. "She deserves whatever is coming to her."

Tebatso watched her as she continued to comb her weave. "I told her about the baby."

Mo went cold and rigid. "I don't want to hear or talk about it-" she started as she stared at her reflection in the mirror but Tebatso went on.

"I told her to come and see you because you had lost your baby and you weren't talking to anyone or eating anything and she-"

"I DON'T WANNA HEAR IT!" Mo screamed as she stood from her chair and cupped her head in her hands. The tears flowed freely down her cheeks. She didn't want to talk about the baby or even hear any mention of it.

Tebatso came over and tried to comfort her but she pushed him away. "Stay away from me," she croaked and walked out of the bedroom.

Tebatso stared after her. He wanted to tell her that while she had been sleeping, Thabile had called her phone and left a voicemail apologising for being such a shitty friend and asking if she could come see her. She had already sent a bouquet of flowers earlier that morning to apologise.