The nurse nods at Greg, signifying it is ok for him to come into the room where Julia is being kept.

“I’ll wait in the car.” I do not want a repeat of what happened earlier on. As I navigate the bend I realise that I don’t even have the car keys. I run back but just miss him as he enters the room. Crap! I’m not going in there. I don’t even want her to know that I’m still here. He said he wasn’t going to take long so I decide to sit on the bench outside just an earshot away where incidentally I can also see everything in the room but they can’t see me.

The nurse is applying bandages to Julia’s arm when Greg enters the room. She gets rather excited and hops up to welcome him but the nurse scolds her.

“Mrs Rios, please! You need to relax. You are lucky that he acted as quickly as he did. You didn’t lose a lot of blood but you need to take it easy.”

“Mrs Rios?” His eyebrows arch as his lips silently retrace the nurse's words to her.

“What?” She counters with a pout that lets her chin slightly tip her shoulder in feigned innocence as she returns to her seat at the edge of the bed.

Shaking his head, he strides over to the table where they are finishing up. “Anything I can do to help nurse?”

“Well, she needs to rebuild her fluids so maybe you can get her something to drink.” He produces a juice from behind his back with a smirk.

“My hero!” Julia squeals. “See why we are so good together? You are perfect for me.” The nurse finishes up and leaves the room, closing the door behind her. I still hear them but now I can’t see. Another nurse enters the corridor where I’m sitting from the nearby room and calls a name. The guy at the other end of the bench looks at me and I look at him.

“Nope! Not me.” Then we both look at the nurse together. He shakes his head in denial as well. She then calls the next name on the list and he gets up and accompanies her back into the room. I look at the door to Julia’s room and then to the end of the bench, then switch places and… it worked. I can see them again but their voices are now distant.

Greg is pacing and running his hand through his hair before he finally resolves to sit in the chair previously occupied by the nurse.

“Jules you need to stop this. Don’t you see how dangerous this has become? You could have killed someone tonight. You hurt yourself and you almost hurt me.”

He leans forward; rubbing his forehead, then returns his focus to her.

“I told you I would handle this. Why did you have to get involved?”

“I didn’t.”

“You called her… and went to see her tonight… with a knife? What were you thinking? Julia you are scaring me.”

“What knife? It was a nail file. Look I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. I promise.”

“Why did you go down to the school tonight? I need you to be honest with me”

“I was just trying to set that bitch straight. She needs to leave us alone.”

“Don’t call her that.” He scolds.

“She needed to know the truth. She should be grateful I saved her from continuing to make a fool of herself. Why are you even defending her?”

“Because she’s my wife!”

A cynical smile sweeps her face. “That is not even funny, well maybe when I did it just now but...” But he doesn’t respond. Instead his eyes recede to his knotted fingers in his lap. Hers follow suit and then retreat back up to his face, narrowing and ice cold.

“When?”

His foot fiddles with something imaginary on the floor before him. “Paris!”

“Dammit Greg, you were only supposed to sleep with her if she gave trouble but you said you won’t because of your whole chastity thing!”

“What?!” My mouth drops open in disbelief and I attempt to contain my outburst with both hands. It seemed to have worked.

“I know, but she was threatening to leave me again. I had to do something to make her stay. You were the one who said to do whatever it takes.”

“I organised an amazing opportunity for you to sell your idea. I don’t know why you insisted on carrying her along with you.”

“Because she worked with me to create it in the first place, she knows most of the programming and she speaks fluent French.”

“You also speak French, and you can programme. Admit it you still have feelings for her!"

Greg just shrugs and she continues.

"It’s ok I knew that, which is why I agreed and even paid for her to go along. Look, is this marriage thing going to be a problem for the deal, because I can’t have any more setbacks?”

“It’s not even recognised over here. The investors loved the idea though.”

WHAT?!!! So they both planned this? I was just a pawn in their grand scheme. That’s why they were messaging each other while we were over there. He used me and the whole idea just to get the investors to say yes?

Just then the door shuts behind me and they both freeze. I don’t even remember getting up, much less entering the room. “I came back for the car keys.” Greg subconsciously taps his pants pocket and it jingles. “Yea, looks like I won’t be needing them after all. I’ll find my own way home.”

“Maya wait!” I hear his footsteps behind me.

“No leave her. It's better this way. Besides, we don’t even need her anymore.”

I don't think I even made it all the way to the door before the room starts spinning. Moments later someone is picking me up off the cold floor and putting me on a nearby cot. As I am wheeled down the corridor into another room I am in and out of consciousness. The doctors and nurses are working frantically around me but I manage to see Greg through the window just before everything goes black.

I open my eyes and there's Greg again, this time just hovering over me. “Hey, how are you feeling?” he whispers.

“A little light-headed but I’m fine now. I must have fainted.”

“You were bleeding. Did Julia cut you too?”

“The nurses didn't say. They just took my information and left. I think I would have felt something at least?”

“Not with the adrenaline rush. It is possible you did get stabbed and we just didn’t notice. Does anywhere hurt?”

I feel about my body “No! At least I don’t think so. I just remember passing out and then someone picked me off the floor. Then moments later I’m in a room full of doctors and I just barely glimpse you in the hallway through the window.”

He smiles. “I was the one that took you off the floor. I even tried to follow you guys but they ran me out of the room.” He looks up at the door. “Um, just hold on a moment. I think I see a nurse. I’ll find out what happened.”

Greg pushes the door in as he passes through but it doesn’t close completely and once again I can hear the whispers from outside. This hospital really needs to do something about their doors, I muse to myself.

“Where are you going?” I hear Greg scold someone outside.

“What’s wrong with her now?" Julia? Whoa, talk about role reversal. She better not come into my room or I promise I will not go so easy on her for round 2. 

"I guess she’s not getting enough attention so she has to fake an illness.”

“What? No, she says she fainted but she was bleeding. I told her I was going to get the nurse. Do NOT go in there.”

“She’ll be fine. Greg listen, I know things were bad between us before but I have changed. And everything has worked out for the better now.

“Better? You think this is better? Julia, you are getting worse. This time you actually hurt yourself and someone else with you. I never wanted to go along with this plan of yours in the first place. ”

Just then a voice interrupts them. 

“Mrs Rios?”

“Yes?” Julia responds.

“We just got back your test results. You were hemorrhaging but we managed to get the bleeding under control.” Immediately I jump out of bed and wheel my drip stand to the door to get a look.

She rolls her eyes at the nurse, waving her bandaged arm. “Yes I know that already!”

The nurse continues “And the baby is fine.”

Greg looks up at Julia, his mouth wide open and blank eyes stare back at him.

“What baby? I’m not… we didn’t.”

“But we did.” I push the door open. “I think that’s my results, nurse.” The nurse pauses, understandably confused.

“Yes, I am Mrs Rios, the real one anyway. Well at least that’s what I thought. Apparently it's not even valid in this country.”

The nurse sighs. “Ok Mrs. Rios, since patient information is strictly confidential, shall we go back into your room and finish our conversation then?” She closes the folder in her hand and follows me back into the room.

It appears by Greg’s tone that he was equally shocked. “You’re pregnant… with our baby?”

“Oh, no. Since this was all a ruse and you were never really with me, let's call this one an immaculate conception.”

Julia counters “So you did have sex with her? But we never had sex. And what about your chastity thing, you know, waiting until marriage?”

“I guess he did.” I chime in before pulling the door shut behind us.