MY EX-WIFE'S GHOST

Prologue

LATIFA's POV

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I lie motionless in the cold sterile bed, my body a prisoner to the last injection. Every word and sound is clear. My heart, the distant voices and footsteps of patients along the corridor, the hum of the ceiling light, but I couldn't resist sitting up. I couldn't move; not my finger, not my lips.

The door creaks open, my heart thudding in my chest painfully.

Every day has been worse than the one before. A step towards my bed. Obviously Lady Joan. Her stiletto heels have never failed to announce her arrival.

"You look dreadful Joyce", her voice cut out dripping in sarcasm. "Worse than the last time"

My heart hardened. My nerves stood firm. I longed to scream, scratch at her face that was beginning to show signs of age, but my body refused to cooperate.

I know you can hear me loud and clear Joyce. The injection this time was to paralyze you, since your mental state is taking too long", she mocked. Her voice was on fire with triumph. "I never knew it would be that effective".

She sat beside me. She pulled out a set of photographs and fling them on my face. My eyes landed on the glinting pictures before me. Each one of them a knife through my heart.

My husband

In another woman's arm. Both naked, in our wedding bedroom.

His arms so long, around her waist. The way he hugged me. His face so calm, like I was with him; his rightful wife

My breath froze.

He cheated

Lady Joan leaned forward, her whisper harsh and taunting. "That's the Ministers grand-daughter. A real woman. Worthy of this role as the Dutchman's daughter in-law. Someone deserving of my son"

My heart thudded, pounding harder.

My vision blur

This can't be happening.

"And guess what", her voice came in clear. My nerves stand out, anticipating her next word. "She's two months pregnant!"

My breath caught, and then hazel. The words tugged at my throat.

Pregnant!

Never Zack will not......

Pain flowed through my veins leaving me helpless. I don't want to believe it, but the pictures were obviously not fabricated. It's real

"what you could not do in two years Joyce.... " Her taunting words cut. The antiseptic walls of the hospital run through my heart. The whirring sound of light hit my heavy brain.

"Ooh... I almost forgot ", her voice raised. "I was behind it. Behind the two years of torture" she sneered tauntingly.

I froze.

My brain processing every single word. She was behind what?.

I gasp. The tears streamed more than ever before. The pain was worse than it should have been.

I wanted to scream, struggle with her, strangle her. But she held me captive. She always did.

All along I tried to become pregnant but failed, was it because of her?

"You have to be shocked, Joyce," she teased. She snorted with laughter. "The Italian tea you had morning and night, do you think I favored you enough to give them to you every month?" she jeered.

My whole body hurts. Anger and rage fills me. My heart is pierced, piece by piece. Pain overwhelmed me. I wanted to burn her to a crisp. To drink her evil blood dry, draining her veins of their vitality. To inform her of what I am capable of, but my body. My body won't listen to me.

My tears ran unabated, the only way I can convey my anger and pain.

What have I ever done to her?

She leaned towards me, "I warned you when you married my son. I warned you to stay away", she spat. Her voice steady, with rage. "But you didn't listen... I can not sit and let you pilfer my husband's toil, you foul wretch".

Her voice rasped, charging the dimmed room. She paced through the room. Her heels tapped and clipclapped on the ground. "Do you see your signature on these divorce documents. I can do anything that I want, which includes your existence" she flashed a mocking grin, brandishing the divorce papers. My signature lay gorgeously signed.

She faked signing my signature? How did she obtain my signature?

Stuffing the documents in her bag, her voice now in a spine-chilling whisper, "Have a good night dear daughter-in-law. I mean my ex-daughter -in-law. We will meet in hell".

She turned and headed towards the door. "I'll get you to die peacefully. You don't have to worry about anything; fire will do its work; your agonies and of course your body "

My stomach was in knots

Lady Joan is going to kill me by fire?

******************

CHAPTER 1:

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Joyce's POV

"You're going to sign these papers and that's that Joyce!" My mother in-law rose from her chair with an air of authority taking over the room.

I sat across the room, my heart thudding hard enough to bounce out at her sudden action, "But... but I love Zack Mother, and....

Don't you call me that!

She hurled at me, her voice venting fury as she figuratively took steps closer to me. "I am not your useless mother. My son married you over my objection and you are aware a day like this is sure to break, when you failed to bless him with children after 2 years of marriage....shameless!

I swallowed hard but the bolus of her words would not pass. Her hatred for me has increased daily, though I am stuck in this puzzle. "Mother please don't do this, I am not mad please remove me from here!"

My hands trembling, my body in conflict countless times with it's uncontrollable spasms. Whatever they are administering to me is working faster. But I have to fight, fight for me and for Zack. I have to survive this.

"You look too good Joyce" she got down on her knees, her voice thick with disdain, her expression unyielding.

The cold, hygienic walls of the psychiatrist hospital collapsed on me. The powerful torch light beam buzzed around my head, thudding into my brain like pecking minihammers. My finger that gripped the bed sheet, "Take me home, Mother, Please...", voice cracked. Head buzzes, eyes wilden, hair goes unkempt, I know the way I would look... yet still I am not mad.

My mother-in-law looked into my eyes, her own face softened up as if she was pitying me. Her wrinkled foggy hands strodded gently over my messy hair, "you have seen enough dear Joyce, as well as my son. No child and now a crazy wife, sign the papers and let him go, Joyce"

My breath snagged shorter, my chest thrashing faster against my ribs. "No," I snapped, "I love my husband, take me to go see him mother," my dainty eyes welled with tears.

Her lips curled with a look, disgust on her face as she let out a scoff, "I would love to, my love but he doesn't want to see you. He's weary and broken.".

My heart tightened in grip, Zack will not do this to me. He has proven his genuine love and affection towards me all these years. Sharp pain coursed through my frail heart as I shake my head in disbelief.

He never gave a reason not to trust him. Our courtship and marriage years have been nice and definitely lovely. I've witnessed some evenings of gentle tending and mornings of wakeful joy and sweetness. Non has been a nightmare, with the exception of my mother-in-law who never got along with me. She spelled it out to me from the very beginning.

She grabbed my trembling hands smiling, sarcasm edge in her voice, "you poor thing, I heard you talk to yourself all night and you also fight the nurses", she tsks. "Zack wouldn't want to see that scene".

"But Mother...." My voice came in unedited. "They are drugging me, they are driving me mad". I squeezed my aching head more. The lingering impact of the medications eludes me.

Her smile vanishes, her eyes become somber as she glances towards the nurse standing by the door, inclining her head towards her.".

There it was, the syring, tiny but traumatising, rushing at me in desperation. Too late for me, too late to run again for my sanity. All I could do was scream and struggle as always, reaching out in mid-air, but the needle pierced into my arms with no pity.

My vision blurring to the injection's work, my sight fade, my mind ablaze as walls surround me.

My mother in-law sat beside me as she stridd my hair, gripping it harder now, hazel breathing and she muttered to my face

"By the time I'm finished with you, you will think you're crazy".

Darkness enveloped my vision

And the dreams recur, the recollections I did not wish to forget. The new days of my marriage, the days which have sustained me, struggling and overcoming those who thirst to devour what we hold.

My favorite days. The days that my blessings started, I was blessed by the universe. The best gift, my husband Zack Dutchman. Best man a woman could ask for. Lovable, courteous, kind, handsome and ridiculously rich.

I miss him so much, his clean jaw face, his soft touch, his smiles, I miss him. Weeks have gone by, he has not come to see me. Perhaps he is too busy at work. If only I was home, I would have been with him.

The first time I ever laid eyes on him, during my internship period at the Dutchman Land Company, a multi millionaire firm. He had been sitting there in command and composure. His demoneering glance buried itself into my frail body, piercing every single bit of it.

The feared ruthless Mr Zack Dutchman, my boss to be, then husband. We have had our lives full of bliss, But an unknown disease cut our happiness short.

If only my doctor was present in town that day, if only I was airlifted out of the country, I would have survived that sickness. I would not be stucked here today.

I could sense my tears moisten my cheek, but...... what's going on? I couldn't move my body. The sunray finally fell upon my small black room, the cacophonous dialogue of other inhabitants shattered the air, but I couldn't move, why could I not move?

My head is wide awake and my subconsciousness on guard, but not my body. My racing heart, my ears can sense every single blow but I cannot raise my hand.

What have they done to me? What have they put into me? Why am I lying here?

My tears streamed at the world's heartlessness, at the world's injustice towards me. Is love so unjust? Or is it so only to me?

Then came the sound, the second jingling of the keys chain. Flush of fear ran through my body, my heart pounding fiercely, threatening to burst out of my chest.

Who is she? What has Mother planned? Is this the end she has long threatened me with?

Joyce's POV

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The air outside was chilly, with a slight scent of damp earth and corroded swings. The hospital's pseudo playground was duff with a few corroded benches with half legs missing and swing sets.

Patients mill about in slack movements, eyes sunken and shoulders sag under the weight of whatever kept them here.

I sat with my arms folded around me. The wind tugged at my already dirty shirts and pants, but I barely felt the chill. I was drawn to my trembling hands wondering if they had always been like that or if it was the drugs drilling through my system.

"You don't belong here", a voice interrupted, smooth yet coarse with something obsessed; knowledge.

I turned my head slightly, just enough to gaze at the woman sitting beside me. She's older, possibly in her late forties, soft gentle voice with thin figure that doesn't fit here.

I did not notice her approaching me until she addressed me. Her smile captivating, melting my suspicious heart. "I know you, you're Lady Joan's daughter in-law, aren't you?"

My breath hitched, my fists tightened on the hem of my top. "You.... You know her?" My voice cracked, fear tugged at my throat.

She lets out a dry laugh, "I know her too well my dear, and I know what she's doing now". She leaned in on me, "and what she's doing to you, Joyce".

A chill ran down my spine, my heart racing faster. Glimpse of Joy rushed through my veins. Somebody else knows what I know, what I'm going through. That proves I've not been hallucinating. I am not crazy.

"You do?", My curiosity got the better of me and I asked. Longing to hear the words again.

She's good at it my darling", she continued. "Bribing doctors, eliminating her enemies. Yes I know what she's doing to you".

My heart beating louder and faster, my breath rhythmically paced. The words alone sent shivers down my spine, and I was left more confused and scared. "What do you mean?"

She vows on my shoulder, her low voice trembling with anger, "I know what she's doing to you Joyce and you're not the first"

Her words hit me. My hands struggling with the fabric of my shirt.

"She made me this way", my voice trembled, in a whisper that was barely audible. "She ordered them to inject me and it's driving me crazy.".

The woman caresses my hair, nodding at every word I utter, as though nothing took her by surprise.

"I know.... she kills everyone who stands in her way, and you my love....", her expression softens, my heart misses a beat.

"You're an obstacle to her", she said

My tears flow down. "I attempted to inform my husband earnestly, yet he didn't trust me, and......", my voice was interrupted "he hasn't come to see me for ages".

"That's what's she does. Cuts off any kind of support from you"

"But who are you and how did you know all these?"

She laughs, throwing back her head, making her red hair fall back at her slender shoulder.

The red hair, the same as Zacks. I had always wanted to have a mini version of him with the red hair.

"Let's say i used to be like you Joyce, a victim of her evil deeds. I've been here all these years" her voice weaver, an overflow of sorrow in her voice.

"Years!", My voice rose in astonishment.

"Don't let them know you're fine. They will give you an increased dose" she advised.

I swallowed hard. Not to draw the guards' attention to us. I moved my hair, scratching it more to divert them. "Why?"

"I am her worst nightmare, just like you my dear", she said, her face unforgiving.

"She wants me to sign the divorce papers", my heart tightens at the thought of losing Zack. "I can't lose him, he's all I have. I won't divorce my husband".

"For your freedom, Joyce?" She asked

Enamored by her question. The thought of leaving my Zack has never occurred to me before. Being an orphan with no siblings, Zack has been my only family and my only means of happiness and peace. I can't live without him by my side.

The woman shook my shoulder, rising from the rusty bench as she walks away slowly.

The emptiness that had been invisible some minutes prior lunches back. The pain of loneliness wraps me around again.

She'd really occupied the empty space within me.

"How badly do you want to break free away from here?", Her voice pierced sharply.

"Huh?"

"Do you want to break free from here or do you want to remain behind?" She asked again, her eyes fixed on mine.

Frozen by her question, her eyes never leaving mine. Her gut and courage say she's no ordinary woman. "I want to escape, I want to go see my Zack"

"I mean without your husband. Would you accept leaving your husband, Joyce?"

A stinging pain coursed through my heart as I shake my head in disagreement. I cannot leave Zack.

My heart skipped a beat, as she turned and walked away. "What does she mean without my husband?, Who am I running to if not Zack?.

My eyes hurt more. Tears streaming down. Six months without Zack has been hell for me.

I want to get out of here.... But can I sacrifice my marriage for my freedom? Can I trust her?.

*******************************

I was not aware of the duration or the amount of time that has gone by. The days have instead gone by at comparatively slow speed, draining my brain along with it. The multiple doses of pills and injection and traumas.

My mind kept drifting back to the woman and her questions. Incident of that day roaming free in my mind and her words embedded in my heart.

*Would you accept leaving your husband, Joyce?*, *Would you prefer to get out of here or stay behind?*

Escape!

The air in the room grew thick. The door creaked open and my heart somersaulted. Expecting another sinister hand with a syring. But instead, I gasped.

It's him

The one I desire more than anyone. The only one on my side.

My man, Zack

My husband was standing in the doorway, his eyes locked stubbornly on mine. Weak, harried, exhausted, so exhausted that I've never seen him be. His hair mussed and his jaw unshaven. Like he's suffering as much as I am. Like he hasn't slept a bit like me.

My heart tighten. My tears well up in danger of falling. Emotions long dead come alive in an instant

"Baby", I whispered

His eyes shine, more than it did before, as if something inside him broke at the mention of my voice. He came closer to me, he kneels beside my bed, holding me in his arms.

He missed me as much as i do miss him. I wont leave my husband. I will wait patiently till he takes me away.

I can trust him more than anybody else. I love him more than life. I won't leave him.

Our feelings occupy the space in the room.

Zacks POV

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Wrapped around me, Joyce hugged tightly, bare, breathing in my scent. Responsible, calm, I felt. Feelings that had long passed. The ones I'd so desperately wanted.

Her pulse a lullaby. Her deep, slow, soothing breaths.

Her skin so soft and luminous in the dark room. Her face shone innocently in my arms. Her long hair soft even when she was ill. The memory of burying my hands on them dances at the door of my mind.

Six months have passed and her beauty is giving way, unfading but nothing much happened in her mental health.

Days has passed quickly. No progress, No changes.

The day that this occurred hangs around the corners of my mind, weighing heavily.

Suddenly fall out of nowhere, there in the conference room. Being informed she have a strange disease afterwards and here we are.

I wish she could return to being in my arms. This serenity.

Will she be this calm when she learns?

My heart beat faster. The fear of breaking the news to her clung to my chest.

How is she going to take this betrayal?

Seeing her so calm brings a lot of memory; Our first night together.

Her expression when I walked through that door had melted my heart. Her longing was evident. I shouldn't have stayed away this long.

"No!, I will break it to her another time, not today"

The weight of the thing is on my shoulders. I've done something bad. Something that will make all that we've build through these years collapse. Something which can shatter our love, her trust.

I experienced the bottom of my heart lift out.

Horrendous load of fear ran down my spin. Fear of being caught. Fear of seeing her in sufferings.

Will she ever forgive me?

But then

The door creaked open

She bristled instantly, her body rigid against mine.

A shadow remains in the doorway

The Nurse.

She had sat up, wrapping her arms around my body. Her sharp nails piercing my skin.

The Nurse approaches smiling, "it's time for your injection, Mrs"

Her breath caught. "No... No, not anymore!", her body trembling against mine. Her breathing became labored.

My heart beating louder against my ribcage. "Baby...", I shuddered, patting her back. "Relax, it's just your injection"

"No, I don't want.... They're drugging me baby", her voice came out hoarse and strained. She pushed my shirt. "They're making me crazy!"

My eyebrows knitted, taken aback by her words. "What?"

"Sir, please stand aside while we do our duty". The Nurse spoke, expressionless, unnervingly serene. She stepped forward. Joyce is pushed off me by the two orderliners.

The syring at the ready.

"No, don't make them take me please... please don't leave", she pleaded tugging at nothing, her body trembling with terror.

A pain knife cut my heart. Tears streaming down her delicate eyes. Her eyes never leaving mine.

She screamed

A raw snarl, heartbreaking shriek

"Baby stop" I gasp fighting to hold her down. "You're scaring me"

"You're scaring her.... "

"She's hallucinating. She's having another episode", the nurse said.

Her voice tight.

My grip ease. My hands dropping to my side. The two orderliners grasped her arm tighter, pinning her down on the mattress. She fought, kicking vigorously.

The needle went through her skin. She screamed again, this time wildly. It made me recoil in shock.

I remained there, stunned. My breathing strained and face went pale. Her moan eases. Her eyes fix on mine. Her breathing eases.

"You will have to let her rest now, Sir", said the nurse with compassion as she unplug the syringe.

Her eyes slowly close, taking in the effect of the fluid. The orderliners carefully covers her body.

The air in the room thicken. I swallowed hard. The pains of the scene tugged at my throat unwilling to move. I looked down at her calm frail body. Her soft breathing. The rise and fall of her chest. Turning, i left the room and the scenery behind.

I have to find solution to her pains. Quick solutions.

***************************

The hospital hallway loomed with hue, motion of movement and discordant shriek from the ward of patients. The smell of antiseptic and something chillier pierce my nose as i walked. My head spinning with anger, fear and remorse.

The visit has worn me out, something I've never felt, or even dreamed. At first, I'd wish it would never end, with my wife in my arms. Sharing a passionate moment together, with our passions fulfilled.

I had desired this for so long. Having her in my arms. Touching all of her. Our heart pounding against one another. Assuring each other for the future. But in the end, she had screamed.

The way she had never screamed before.

She clung to me, begging me not to leave. It has shattered something unexplainable within me.

My torment, my betrayal gnaws in like a snail. Drawn in my mind.

I was dreaming away, and nearly ran into a woman. She backed up, tilting her head while she looked at me. I barely noticed her. My head busy with my problems.

I finally raised my gaze, and then jammed.

Red tresses and those green eyes....

Not any red hair; my red hair. The same color that distinguishes me from my folk. The same unruly waves which would not calm.

They are not ordinary. Even within my own family.

I blinked, discomfort

"You look like you've seen a ghost", she said, her smiles unwoven.

I breathed out, weaving off the strange feelings. "Am sorry, I wasn't looking"

The lady in her late forties stood looking at me intently, more like she was examining me. Reading me. "You're her husband?" She inquired, not exactly.

"I mean Joyce", She smiled quietly to soften my furrowed brow

"Yes", my teeth gritted

Her eyes light up with something I couldn't pin down."She talks a lot about you"

My heart gripped. "You talk to her?". A burst of joy ran through me.

She nods "She's hanging on"

"But I want more" I swallowed hard. The anger clogged on my throat. "Surviving isn't enough"

She glanced at me, softly now. Her green eyes flicker, hitting something within me.

"Do you love her?"

I mocked. Indignant at her query "of course I do, she's my wife"

"Besides her being your wife, do you love her?", her eyes bristled at me, her tone unyielding. Her temerity annoyed me, as though i am in trouble with my mom.

"Yes, I do"

"Why did you leave her to the mercy of your mothers. Why isn't she being cared for by you?"

Her eyes flashed at me, unwavering. My browns frowned in confusion. Why am I responsible to her. Why does she care so much about Joyce?

"She wants to leave here" her voice softens

"I know", I cut in. My breathing risk. "I know. She doesn't belong here, I don't know how things got this far"

She did not utter a word, her little green eyes fixed on me, examining me. Her face serene. "Maybe you should take her issues personally. From the food and water she eats. Her medication and injection or better still take her overseas for better treatment.".

My stomach twisted. "You think I haven't tried?, I have but my mom said she stay where we can keep an eye on her progress". I stuttered, rubbing my hands across my face.

I feel like I've failed her. I don't want to accept all these months have been for nothing. The guilt stung. I clenched my fists, releasing a sharp breath.

"I've failed her", the words felt so bitter on my lips as I uttered them. My mind went blank with my betrayal. My chest con subsided, the burden of my silence weigh on my shoulders.

But then again, her eyes faltered. A glimmer of understanding.

Silence clung to us. Then she reached out and placed a firm grasp on my shoulder, "Your guilt wont save her, my dear"

Our eyes locked again. I felt a genuine connection.... A familiarity that I just can't get.

What is it about her?. There's something unexplainable in the way we're connected, the way she speaks to me. Something fidgety about it.

Before I could adjust to it, she turned away. Her back disappearing from the balcony. I exhaled, shaking off my thoughts.

I have to do something about Joyce's health. Maybe it's time to fly her out...

But still I cannot get rid of this meeting as i left the hospitals. The strange feelings lingers. The feeling of meeting someone I've longed lost. A missing part of me.