Dark Revenge Of An Unwanted Wife: The Twins Are Not Yours!

"Ciara, where is everybody?" Athena couldn't help her curiosity as she stepped into her large office space, eyes still turning behind to see if she would see anyone lurking behind. But there was none.

Was there a meeting she knew nothing of? She wondered, frowning when she noticed that she had just asked the thin air questions; Ciara wasn't around.

Her secretary's table was empty, except for a few files and stationeries. There was no handbag or coat. There was no phone on the table, or hair clip as was peculiar to the jovial lady.

Where did everyone go?

Athena stopped in her tracks, not sure if she should continue toward her office, or return to the reception and ask the few nurses she had seen around what was going on.

There were patients waiting downstairs, in the reception, needing to be attended to. And the doctors were nowhere to be found!

She rubbed the centre of her forehead slowly, releasing a tough breath. She really wasn't in the mood for this. The only reason she had come in here today was to check out the secret lab before it was moved, check in on a few patients, and then she would be back home checking on Spider.

It was almost noon and the fellow wasn't yet awake.

But he should have been dead. Athena mused, biting her lips, her thoughts sidetracking from the query of doctors' locations.

She had checked Spider's vitals, lip color, amongst other things, and the fellow should have been dead, considering the other signs she had noted as she treated him. But somehow, he was alive.

Forward or backward?

The question slithered into her mind when a sound of a door closing broke into her thoughts. Exhaling wearily, she threw a flitting glance at Ciara's table, and then moved to her office.

When she opened the door, her heart almost went away from her chest, when cheerful screams erupted in her private space, and filled her ears.

"Happy Birthday Doctor Athena!!!!!"

Athena, clutching her chest, scowled at her secretary who was laughing in the company of other doctors, nurses… it seemed everyone was here. She could see a VIP patient. And there was Herbert too.

A surprise?

Athena was still shell-shocked and a tad bit confused as she shook hands with a plastic smile on her lips. Today was her birthday? She had forgotten, and so did the people at home.

Not that she would expect her grandparents to know her day. But her children, Gianna…

"Congratulations Athena." Herbert spoke, a familiar voice which stopped her current train of thoughts.

"Herbert, you were behind this?"

The older man shrugged, then winked at her. "You are my most esteemed staff… Do you think I would forget?"

You are not supposed to remember. Athena thought, laughing, shaking the hands of her patient. "You should be having bed rest…"

The patient, a female in her late fifties, hissed softly. "Bed rest? I couldn't when I eavesdropped on the nurses. I was determined to be among you, to thank you for your services to us, the people."

She engulfed a surprised Athena in a hug.

As more of the staff came to wish her well, as Herbert gestured to the two-tier cake lying on the table with wine beside it, Athena couldn't help but dwell on the thought she usually had since her first birthday following her exile from the town, after Ewan had accused her of adultery.

When was her real birthday?

Surely her mother couldn't have known, because she had been dropped as a baby at the latter's barn. Or had the woman made a guess by her stature? An estimate?

"Won't you cut your cake?" Herbert called to her.

She nodded, held the knife, smiled as was expected as they sang to her, and cut the cake when they were done spelling her name.

The cake was sweet, she thought as she took a bite, before letting Ciara distribute with a tray some cut portion. She would be taking the rest to celebrate at home.

"So, how does it feel to be twenty-nine? Almost thirty."

Athena shrugged, watching the people leave her office to continue the day's work. "Did you make them wait since morning?" She wondered out aloud, sidestepping Herbert's question.

"Of course not. I asked your old man where you would be, when I didn't see you at the normal time…"

Athena nodded slowly. That would explain it. "Thanks for this Herbert, I really appreciate it."

Herbert gave her a nod, a wink, and then turned toward the door. "See you later, Athena. And enjoy the drinks."

A few doctors were still around, those closest to her, and she let them riddle her with questions and jokes, while counting down the time until she began her search for the secret lab.

"Why didn't the twins come around? They aren't present today?"

Ciara shook her head. "They mentioned they are not interested when I told them about it."

"I see." But of course, they were rivals. "That's alright. Where are they?"

"I'm not sure." Ciara answered with a thinking frown. "But they should be making their rounds. Last I spoke with them, they said that's what they would be doing."

Athena patted the secretary's shoulder lightly, when the office was emptied of people, thanked her for partaking in the surprise, amidst the blushing effect taking place on the latter's face, and then left the office.

"I'll be right back." She threw over her shoulder, before the door shut behind her.

–

If there was a secret lab, where would it be? If I was to create a secret lab, a secret stash, where do I put it? Athena wondered as she started the search for the hub of wickedness.

She checked rooms that should be empty, the pharmacy, eyes searching for buttons which might press open some secret hallway, but two hours and two bottles of water later, she had made no success.

Frustrated, she sat on one of the benches in the hallway, throwing her head back, eyes faced toward the ceilings but closed.

Think. She tasked herself, letting her mind wander and roam about possible solutions.

A tap on her knee broke the reverie. She opened her eyes, leveled her head to see a young girl of about ten years standing before her.

"Hi…" she murmured, sitting erect, eyes scanning the little one for any issue. "Are you here alone?"

Her eyes ran to and fro; there was no one in the hallways.

"No, my mother is with a doctor. And my father is not around. He is in heaven."

Athena licked her lower lip and drew the girl closer to her. "That's okay. Where is your mommy? So I can take you to her. It's not safe for you to wander about alone…"

She got to her feet as she spoke, clasping the girl's hand.

"Point me the way." She added, just in case the girl didn't know the name of the section her mother was in.

To Athena's amazement, they were moving downstairs, past the sections for treatment. She almost thought they were going to the reception space, but the girl pointed to the other end, the storage space, which didn't see much frequenters except the cleaners.

"Are you sure this is where your mother is?" Athena questioned, as she stepped into the large space where cleaning equipment were kept to one end, and spoiled gadgets were kept to another end. "This is no place for a doctor."

"But this is the last place I saw her. I know I was supposed to wait for her in her office space, but I got curious. She has been quite busy since morning."

Athena frowned. Office space? Wasn't her mother a patient?

"Is your mother a worker in this hospital?"

The girl nodded. "She is a big doctor."

This is getting interesting, Athena mused, looking around the storage space. "And she came in here with another doctor?"

The girl nodded again. "They are siblings, and they went through that wall. I've tried to access it but…"

A silence, one that Athena could understand, could fill up. From the words of the fellow, she knew the young girl was intelligent.

"You were looking for me, right?" She had to confirm.

The girl nodded. "One of the doctors directed me to you… you are the chief doctor of the hospital. But I lost my way."

Athena stalked closer to the wall in question, hand clasping the girl's tighter. Why would a doctor send a little girl to her, with no thought to the possibility of the little one missing her way? Or were they used to her intelligence?

"Here. This spot." The girl spoke, tapping the wall. "Do you think you can open it?"

"I'm not sure." A pause. "What's your mother's name?"

"Mary Clarkson."

Athena managed to keep her face as before, not wanting to alert the child of anything amiss.

Mary has a child? With a dead husband? How had she not known of this? For all she knew, the twins were too besotted with themselves to even give someone else attention.