Three is a crowd: Now David’s happiness depends on Dr Kenneth 

David and Diane have been married for years; then there is Julie, the young secretary whose axis collides with the couple’s in ways none of them saw coming.

DAVID

I drove like a mad man, my mind filled with agonizing, terrifying thoughts of losing Diane. They say you never appreciate what you have until it is gone; I found that was definitely true, as the thought of losing Diane was almost too terrifying to contemplate. How would I raise the children by myself?

I might have complained about Diane’s permissive parenting style in the past, but there was no doubt that she was a loving mother, and the children needed her – I needed her too.

I was not a ‘praying’ man, but as I raced towards the hospital, I prayed instinctively, begging whatever higher being was out there to save her life, and not take her from us.

In spite of my racing, it felt like it took forever to get to the hospital, even though in actual fact, I covered what should have been a thirty-minute trip in about half that time. When I got there, I barged into the reception area, rudely shoving away anyone in my path.

“Where’s my wife? She was in an accident and was brought here; where is she?” I demanded from the receptionist.
“Sir, please calm down; what’s her name?” she answered, with the calm of someone accustomed to dealing with the frantic relatives.

“Diane Mujuni; where is she?”
“Just give me a minute and I’ll check; you say she was in an accident?” she asked, while typing away on her keyboard.
“Yes! Where’s Doctor Kenneth? He called me, so he knows; where is he?” I changed tact, thinking this might get me faster results.

It worked, as she finally understood what I was talking about.
“Oh that accident; Doctor Kenneth is with the casualty right now in the ER; just have a seat and I’ll let him know you’re here.”

“No, I’ll not have a seat! I want to see my wife; where’s the ER?” I demanded, looking around wildly for any signs.
“I’m sorry you can’t go in there sir; so, if you’ll just have a seat, I’ll page Doctor Kenneth, and he’ll be with you as soon as he can,” she repeated firmly.

I was tempted to throttle the directions out of her, but just then, my attention was diverted by a set of thick glass doors at the end of a corridor to my left opening, and I recognized the man I had been looking for striding in.

DIANE

“Diane, Diane, can you hear me? Can you open your eyes for me? Here, can you feel my fingers? Squeeze them if you can hear me. Diane, Diane…..”

The voice was coming to me through a haze, like whoever it belonged to, was calling to me from far away, which was strange as I could feel his fingers squeezing mine, but I could not for the life of me muster the energy to respond, or follow his instructions.

I wished I could, so I could tell him to shut up; I could feel a headache building at the back of my head, and his persistent calling was making it worse. As I became aware of the headache, other pains began to make themselves felt as well, until my entire body felt like one painfully pulsating mass.

Just as I was thinking the pain could not get any worse, it did, when the owner of the voice’s fingers moved from mine, to my face, and then physically pulled up one of my eyelids and flashed a bright light right into my eye.

A shot of white hot searing pain instantly exploded in my head, and with it, my body seemed to find its strength, as I reflexively moved my head to escape the light.

My response appeared to delight him, for his tone instantly changed from anxious to almost excited: “That’s it; stay with me Diane…..do you know what happened and where you are?”

I only had to think for a moment for the memory to come rushing back; the bright flash of the headlights, the sound of metal and glass, and the feeling of being hit and spinning into darkness – I had been in an accident, which meant

I was probably in a hospital and that the voice that had called me back to consciousness belonged to a doctor.
“Mmmmmm,” I moaned.
It was the only sound I could make, but it appeared to satisfy him.

“Good job; now I want you to try to open your eyes for me; Can you do that? Can you open your eyes?” he asked encouragingly.

It took tremendous effort, but I finally managed to flutter my eyelids, then dazzled by the bright room I was in, squinted, as the shape of a face began to form, then slowly come into focus.

JULIE

I was anxious to somehow reel Kenneth back in to the love we had found with each other; I loved how special he made me feel, the way he treated me with love and respect, the way he looked at me like I was the only woman in the world, the way he listened to me like what I was saying mattered – all things David never did.

I was still mulling over my call with him, when Sandra returned with Junior, fresh and clean from his bath, and as she handed him over, I hugged him close, inhaling the warm, fresh scent of him, and thinking how much I loved him.

I knew that no matter how I felt about Kenneth, Junior’s happiness – not mine – would always come first. However, I did not think that meant giving up Kenneth; since David lived with his wife, and only spent an hour or two at the apartment at a time, and Kenneth’s alternating shifts at the hospital meant that there were days he was off during the day, I was certain we could still be able to find a way to see each other without David finding out. The question was, could I get Kenneth to agree to remain a secret?

He had made it clear when we last met that he was tired of ‘being the third wheel’, and maybe he was right, but hopefully I could make him see that a bit of stolen, clandestine love and happiness was better than no love at all.

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