10. I Never Meant To
Lovely Milluki awoke with a tremendous headache. She slowly opened her eyes and gave them time to adjust to the blinding light that emanated from the window. She was disoriented from her fall so she failed to notice where she was, it took about five minutes before the young woman frowned and realization set in. The bed was not her own nor were the sheets, and she for sure did not have white tiles on her floor. In her moment of bewilderment, the door opened, and in came a woman in a nurse's uniform. She was carrying a metal tray that had a glass of water and medicine. "You're finally awake," the nurse said in a sweet and caring tone. Lovely smiled back and rubbed her temple. "What happened to me," she asked because she can't seem to remember why she was in a hospital.
The nurse regarded her with a questioning look. "Well, you were found unconscious in the forest near the Calderon, someone saw you and brought you in. I'm not sure about the details but that's as far as I know," the nurse replied.
Despite her baffled mind, Lovely reached for the medicine and the glass of water that the nurse held out for her, but just as she raised the glass to her mouth, a sudden pang of guilt and pain erupted inside her once more. Unable to control her hands that shook, she dropped the glass of water and started hyperventilating, trashing the bed like a deranged lunatic. The nurse, astounded, quickly pushed on the panic button beside her bed, and immediately several nurses followed by a doctor arrived in the room.
They slowly pushed her back on the bed and planted an oxygen mask on her face. One of the nurses kept running her palms over her hair while whispering reassuring words like it's going to be okay and try to relax, but Lovely failed to do so. Her senses were consumed by one thing, and that was the image of her, seated inside a police station, relaying what she had seen on the night of Ram's disappearance.
The police asked her again, "are you sure?” and she nodded, "it was Gen, she was the last person with Ram. I saw her and Ram enter the kitchen then I heard a loud banging. I was drunk but not so much to have my vision lulled, I know what I saw."
Lovely's eyes were suddenly filled with tears upon remembering her own words. She felt her chest tighten and again, the need for air consumed her. The oxygen mask did nothing for her, so she pried it away from her face. It made her chase her breath rather than help her breathe. The nurses and doctor who were still standing beside her bed restrained her and placed the mask back on. "I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to," she yelled to them, over and over until the doctor decided to sedate her.
***
It was evening when Lovely awoke again. She was awakened by the not-so-considerate chatting around her. She opened her eyes and there, standing near the door was Carry with her arms wrapped around Angus's arm. Patrick was seated on a metal chair on her left and her mother was on her right, standing beside a small wooden table, busy cutting some apples. They were so absorbed by their chatter that no one noticed her awakening. So, she released a snort to gain their attention.
It was Patrick who first addressed her. He asked what happened but Lovely felt too emotionally drained to talk about it. She kept silent; however, Carry made a snide remark about how she was found near the Calderon and Esther probably had something to do with it.
Lovely felt a wave of pulsing anger bounce from her toes to her head, she wanted nothing more than to shove Carry's head on a wall, but with her current condition, she knew she would fail miserably. Her hands still felt numb, her head was still pounding and she wouldn't even have had the strength to conjure the ability to stand. Deciding to ignore Carry, Lovely turned her attention to her silent mother, who for sure was dying to know what happened.
"Mom," lovely called out in a weakened voice.
The dressmaker Anita Milluki turned to face her daughter, her eyes glistening with tears. When she received a call from the hospital, she felt that her world caved in on her. The last thing she wanted to hear after her husband's sudden death was her daughter in a hospital with her head bleeding and unconscious. "Mom," her daughter called out again and that pushed her to walk towards her, body composed but with a pale tear-streaked face. She wrapped her arms around her daughter and her cries took flight. She cried like a child as she tightened her grip on her daughter's body.
Lovely couldn't help but cry too, her arms came up around her almost immediately, pulling her mother’s weakened figure against her petite frame. Her friends who felt like giving them privacy nodded to each other and were about to leave when Lovely suddenly yelled at them, "don't you dare leave!” Her words sounded more of a command rather than a simple statement and that left her friends stunned and mute. They exchanged meaningful glances before deciding to settle back.
After a lot of crying and body-aching hugs, Anita finally let go of her daughter, she cupped her face with her palms and lovingly asked her daughter what happened. Lovely took a deep breath and relayed the event of the previous evening.
***
She was busy embroidering a dress on their porch when Mrs. Lee, the wife of a policeman came running towards her. The woman was flabbergasted, and in between breaths. She told Lovely what her husband told her when he came home. Ramuel Tobias was alive and would be arriving at their town to state his sudden disappearance. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Lovely felt the life drained out of her, because she felt like it did. She was so shocked by the news that sleep eluded her that night. She kept tossing and turning in her bed before deciding to drive to the Calderon Mansion. She waited outside under the cold moonlit sky and finally around four o'clock in the morning she saw a light emanating from one of the mansion's windows. That's when she decided to ring the doorbell. When Esther opened the door she attacked her, slapping her face hard. It took a lot of running and convincing before the old woman gave up and listened to what she had to say.
After relaying the news, it earned her another slap and the angry housekeeper left her standing in front of the mansion, determined to talk to the police chief.
***
A cracking sound halted lovely's tale. They all turned, only to see the screen on Patrick's phone showing spider cracks and his hands bleeding with lips contorted into a manic grin. "That son of a bitch is alive," he yelled. The anger emanating from him was enough to send shivers down their spine. Patrick was one of the few who deflected the idea of Gen killing Ram. He was adamant when he fought for her honor. But no one heeded his words, because everyone knew how hopelessly in love, he truly was with Genelyn Calderon, despite her having a boyfriend back then, he never stopped loving the girl. When the rumors erupted, he was in the front line, fighting and arguing with every person that ever made a snide comment on Gen.
Patrick turned his eyes filled with anger toward Lovely and the woman knew what was coming. "You, you said," Patrick began, but he was too deep in anger to even find the words. "I told them what I saw," Lovely answered, refusing to wait for the rampant blaming that she knew Patrick wanted to throw at her. He violently stood from his chair and took wide fast strides towards the door. Angus tried to stop him by grabbing his wrist but he violently pulled it back. He threw one last look at lovely before opening the door to her room, not bothering to close it.
"This is sick," Angus said a minute after Patrick left.
Carry was about to say something but Lovely cut her off before she could begin. "Don't you even dare gossip queen!" Lovely angrily spat those words at Carry, wishing they were daggers. Carry has no right to give her shit because she herself was the main reason why the town's people began calling Gen a murderer. It was Carry who absent-mindedly spread the rumors about Gen being a suspect, and how she was the last one to see Ram alive. It was also Carry who told the town's people about Lovely's statement with the cops. She was the wood that kept the flame burning.
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