The Son-in-law they never wanted

Shunned

Ryan alighted the boss and hurried into the hospital. He met Alina in the visiting area, pacing around angrily. 

  He swallowed and paused when her eyes caught his, the anger more evident in her eyes.

  Three years ago, Alina was forced to marry Ryan. She doesn't mind that he is stinkingly poor, she has her own money and can do whatever she wants but the fact that she can't boast of him to the world makes her really angry. 

 Ryan isn't ready to work for money, he is perfectly content with doing house chores and idling away at home.

 Instead, she's the one that takes care of everything that is money related, including feeding, calling plumbers, changing furnitures and no matter what she tells him, Ryan wasn't ready to change.

  As the head of the family, their own family, he is supposed to work or find means to earn money for the family. Alina constantly thanks heaven that both of them haven't had children yet, else it'd be more than she can endure.

 She had on countless situations searched for jobs for him, dropped his CVs and applied for him. She couldn't even count how many times they had called him for interviews because if how well she structured his work experience and the connections she used, yet, hr never goes. It felt like he is more content with being the house husband.

  "Took you long enough." Alina rolled her eyes.

  "I..." Ryan starts.

  " Don't even bother." Alina interrupts him.

She dumped a bag of fruits on his chest and fold her hands, taking him in. He is wearing casual wears, a plain T-shirt and faded jeans.

  Alina shakes her head with a sigh, Ryan is just never going to change, is he?

  "Have you seen her?" Ryan asks.

  ",No." Alina replied, staring at him accusingly, "I have been waiting for you."

"Don't say anything when we enter the ward," she tells him.

  "Okay." Ryan nods, holding the fruits well.

  "Great!" Alina carries her bag, "let's go inside."

  All eyes were in them the instant they entered the ward. All of Alina family members were there and Alex, the son of the commissioner of affairs who's always had his eyes on Alina. They've known each other since they were in highschool where they first met when Alina stood up to a teacher for Alex's sake. Ever since then, Alex has always been following her around and confessing his feelings to her at every given chance he gets.

When Alex saw Alina enter, he stood up, welcoming her with a smile. "Hey Alina!"

  "Alex." Alina smiled, acknowledging him, "you are here." She put emphasis on the "here". This was a bit more like a family gathering and he didn't expect to see him."

  "Yes." Alex smiled, happy he has Alina attention, "when I hear about Grandma Joan's health, I couldn't sit back.

"Ohh I see..." Alina smiled, "Thank you, Alex."

 "Anytime." He grinned.

 For a twenty five years old, Alex is pretty handsome, ladies dream man, with full pink lips, smoky eyes, short wavy hair and a friendly aura to him unlike Ryan who seemed he is void of any emotion. Unshaven mustache and overgrown hair.

  If his clothes weren't clean, he would pass off as a crazy man.  

  Although Ryan is three years older than Alex, one would think he is his uncle.

Ryan pursed his lips and dropped the fruits by Grandma Joan's bed, no one acknowledged him or greeted him. They treated him as a plague and would rather think of him as an invisible being.

  "So how is Grandma's health? Has the doctor attend to her yet? What did he say?" Alina asks the room, staring at Grandma Joan's unconscious body on the bed.

  "I invited a traditional doctor from the the best hospital in Capital city to cure Grandma Joan's health." Alex announced. "He should be here soon."

 "Ohh... That's great, thank you once again Alex." Alina offered a small genuine smile, "Has he performed a test on her yet?"

  "Yes, we are waiting for the test results."

  Alina nods, silence descended on them in the room, no one said anything to each other.

Alina was the only one beside her husband, others kept a reasonable distance away from them.

  "Thank you so much Alex." Mrs Bruce, Alina's mother smiled, "I wish I could have you as a son in-law. You're the perfect son anyone could ask for."

  "Oh, don't flatter me ma'am" Alex flushed.

  "She's right. Our family will be so much better with a son-in-law like you." Alina's aunt, Sasha chirped in. 

  Mrs Bruce turned to Alina, "You build a good relationship with Alex here."

 "He'll be a good addition to our family," Jeffery, Alina's uncle added.

  "We should introduce him to Grandfather."

 Alina rolled her eyes at her mum, "Mind your words mum, my husband is here." She warned

  Mrs Bruce scoffed but kept silent, murmuring incoherent words to herself. If there was a way to nullify the marriage between her daughter and Ryan.

 Alina snorts inwardly, she knows what are family are trying to do, they want Alex as their son-in-law in place of Ryan. They are doing everything to set them up together. They don't want to understand that she isn't in the least interested in Alex.

 The doctor walked in, his shoulder straight and head high. He seemed very confident with his work.

  "Good afternoon Doctor" Alina greeted him, "How is Grandma's health?"

  "It should be nothing serious. I just need to use acupuncture to help relieve and when she wakes up, we'll know what to do next." He said firmly, walking to the bed.

"Please do your very best." Alex said to the Doctor.

 The doctor nods and takes Grandma Joan's hand in his, feeling her pulse first before he started the acupuncture.

 Everyone watched with a bated breath except Ryan whose frown seemed to deepen the more he stares at the doctor.

 Acupuncture is very delicate and it takes a lot for one to perfect it.

After thirty minutes, the Doctor stopped and stared at the family, "I've done my part, now we just have to wait for her body." He said as Grandma Joan sits up a bit.

  "Thank you so much Doctor!" Alex beamed, other family members followed suit, thanking the doctor.

  "You did it wrongly." Ryan spoke out.

  Alina frowned at him, her eyes asking him to refrain from talking.

 The room went silent instantly, "Did what wrong?" Mrs Bruce asks with hostility.

  "The Doctor," Ryan repeats, making eye contact with Grandma Joan "He did the acupuncture wrong."

 The Doctor glared at Ryan, "what do you mean I did it wrong? Who's the doctor here, me or you?"

 "From the acupuncture you did, Grandma Joan will vomit blood in ten minutes and will fall into coma instantly. After that, she would have no more than one hour to live."

 The air in the room became thick with tension instantly, every set of eyes including Alina's were glaring hard at him, filled with anger and disgust.

  "Who put you in charge here?" Mrs Bruce asks.

 "If you have nothing better to say, I suggest you keep your mouth shut!" Sasha snapped at him.