Unknown POV
Both men posing as staff of St Louis morgue, led Stuart's body out of the hospital, under William's lead. At the reception, they were apprehended by a nurse.
"I was permitted by Dr Sofia herself." William informed, when the nurse insisted on getting a proof.
"How am I sure you are not lying?" She asked.
"How about this?" William replied, shoving a paper which contained Dr Sofia's signature to the nurse who looked rather embarrassed.
"I'm sorry sir, I needed to be sure." She apologized, signaling the men to go ahead.
"I understand." William replied, smiling at the nurse.
The two men proceeded with Stuart's body to the van which was parked at the front of the building. Inside the van, sat the driver, patiently waiting for them. They laid the stretcher at the back of the van, and took their positions at the front, just as the van was kicked to life by the driver. The van drove out of the compound, while William trailed behind in his SUV, as directed by Dr Sofia.
The three men, all of whom were secret workers in MEDCORP rode straight to the prearranged destination, where Mr Crawford was to meet all four of them.
They pulled up in front of a restaurant and William followed suit. When he got down from his SUV, he walked straight to the men who seemed to be waiting for him, and together they walked into the restaurant and grabbed a table.
"Why are we stopping here?" William demanded. He was having cold feet, seeing that it was dark and he was alone with some strangers.
"Mr Crawford asked that we wait here." The driver of the van responded.
"But why?" William asked further, his voice quivering. He only just realized that except for them, the restaurant was completely empty.
"No questions. If the boss says it is okay, then it is okay." The driver of the van cautioned.
Just then, a car pulled up beside William's SUV, and all three men stood up at once. Mr Crawford took unhurried steps towards the men. His smiles turned to anger when he caught sight of William.
"What is he doing here?" He asked.
"Madam Sofia insisted that he comes with us." One of the men answered, with a shaky voice. All three men had their faces downcast, and William wondered why.
"Mr …" Crawford started to say, not sure of William's first name.
"Johnson." William completed for him, and he nodded in satisfaction.
"I'm sorry for wasting your time, there was a mix up somewhere. You should get going." Crawford said in his usual polite manner.
With a slight bow towards Crawford's direction, William walked over to his SUV, relieved to be out of Mr Crawford's presence.
He increased his pace, when he no longer felt their eyes on him. He literally raced to his SUV, hoping Mr Crawford didn't have a change of heart.
Now that the body has been successfully transferred from St Louis, what was left for William was to face his wife, Kate.
***************
At about 09:25 PM, William pulled up his SUV in his compound, deep in thoughts. What was he to tell Kate? Where has he been? These thoughts kept running through his mind. With the rear light, he saw the small sized board in front of his house which read "mortgaged", and without thinking twice, he drove right into it, crushing the board to pieces. With his current financial status, there was no need to mortgage the house anymore.
He stepped into the house, with caution. The living room was all quiet and empty except for the occasional ticking of the clock as each second passed by. From the untidiness of the room, William could tell that there had been visitors, and a whole lot of them.
He moved from the sitting room to the bedroom he shared with his wife but it was empty too.
He left immediately to where Kate must be - Stuart's room.
He came to a stop when he got to the front of Stuart's room, unsure of what to expect. From where he stood, he heard his wife's pitiable sobs. Even though he felt sorry for her, he didn't regret his actions. He did what has to be done to restore the family's financial status.
After a few minutes of waiting outside the door, during which he inhaled and exhaled deeply in a bid to calm himself down, he took a step inside.
"Where on earth have you been?!" Kate's voice shot at her husband, William the moment he stepped into the room. Her voice spoke of intense pain. One look at her direction will reveal just how much and how long she has been crying. She was currently sitting on Stuart's bed, shoving his clothes to her face to get a feel of him. The whole room was a mess as Stuart's belongings were scattered all over the place. His books, drawing board, basketball, clothes, shoes, everything laid on the floor in disarray.
"I'm sorry for not being here with you all this time. I was so overwhelmed with grief that I let it cloud my judgment. I thought about me instead of thinking about you." William explained, breaking down himself.
"It's been over four hours since I left the hospital. Not a single phone call did I receive from you. Plus you totally disappeared in the hospital." Kate queried, she wasn't sure she knew her husband any more.
"Honey, what are you saying? I went in there to see our son's corpse. Do you have any idea what that feels like?" William queried. Deep down within him, he feared his wife had learned about his dealing with Dr Sofia.
"Am I supposed to jump in your arms for that? You've never actually cared about him." Kate accused, amidst tears.
William, unable to come up with the right words to defend himself, stood there, feeling awful.
"Now that he is dead, are you happy?" She continued when William said nothing.
"I lost a son Kate, remember he was my son too." William said moving closer to his wife who kept moving backwards.
"No, William, he was my son, just mine. You, remember that." Kate responded fiercely, hugging herself.
"That I am not his biological father doesn't make me any less his father." William replied, his voice portraying just how much pain he felt. Kate was crying again.
Kate got up so suddenly that for a moment, William panicked. She walked towards his direction so fiercely that William didn't realize when she walked past him, towards the living room. It was the sound of the telephone ringing that brought William out of his panicked state.
"What are you doing?" William asked, grabbing the phone from Kate, and disconnecting the call at the same time.
"I'm calling the hospital." She replied, still in sobs.
"Why do you want to call the hospital?" William asked, resting Kate's weight against him.
"I want my son's body for burial tomorrow." She said, amidst sniffing.
"Honey, I already did that." William replied, holding his breath in preparation for the worst. Kate pulled away from him the next instant to stare into William's face.
"What did you say?" She asked, one hand wiping the tears from her eyes which were blinking rapidly.
"I authorized that his body be taken out for burial…"
"You don't get to authorize anything that has to do with my son. It is not your call to make." Kate responded with a calm voice, anger welling up inside her.
"I had to do it Kate, I had to. You couldn't even go to see him in the operating room. I did it to ease the pain of seeing him being lowered into the grave." William explained, trailing after Kate who was now moving about frantically.
"Where did you have him buried? " Kate asked, in an unusual tone and voice.
"St Louis Cemetery." William replied, reaching for her but she wouldn't allow him.
"He was my son, William. My son. It was my call to make." She said, storming out of the house, into the dark, still night.