"You got the wrong wife!"
Josef felt nothing but fury for every word the fragile, petite woman spat from her small, plump lips. He has every right to be hate the woman who left him five years ago, but he knows there's still hint of affection left somewhere in the dark corners of his dead heart.
He pulled the woman up to let her stand on her own, yet she could barely do so. A scent of cheap beer emanated from her rumpled, messy hair covering half of her face. Her boring black pant suit was creased from head to toe, nevertheless, it shaped her voluptuous and well-proportioned body.
"Hey, wake up!" Josef shouted to try awaken her spirits. He failed. She just bobbles her head back and forth, her black heels almost left her feet, while dangling side to side. In an instant, her heels snapped that made her fall down. Josef, quick on his feet, immediately caught her.
She's is as drunk as a skank, he thought.
"My head hurts," a drunk Mirabella whispered.
At that moment, Josef pushed the loose strands of hair from her face, revealing a half-bloodied face. It was somehow dark that he barely noticed, until he saw the same blood on his fingers. In an instant, Josef squatted, wrapped his arms around her back and behind her knees, lifted her up in a swift motion. He signaled one his guards to open the door to his car.
"Hospital!" Josef shouted with such urgency. He carefully put down Mirabella on the rear seat. He ran around the other door to sit beside her. Josef held Mirabella's head and placed on his lap.
"Mirabella, can you hear me?" Josef asked while patting her bloodied cheeks. Seconds passed and no words came out. A rush of anxiety filled Josef.
You're not gonna die on me, Mirabella. Not in this way.
"Faster!" Josef ordered demandingly to the driver.
- - -
"Mr. Harlington, no need to worry. Thankfully, she doesn't need any stitches. Her CT scan came out clean. She might feel nausea and pain upon waking up, I have prescribed medicines. One she wakes up, call me or the nurse's station."
It was a long time since Josef felt this type of relief. He almost begged the heavens to save her in exchange of his. He briefly forgot all the anger and pain this woman brought upon him.
Few minutes later, Mirabella heard little whispers around her. Her head was throbbing in pain. She knew this smell: the distinctive, pungent whiffs of disinfectant around and a mixture of sweet, metallic, and slightly musty odor. This is exactly how life and death smells like in a hospital. She can't be mistaken. She was in the same place five years ago, a part of her life where she almost die. But then, something felt different. Her bed was softer, almost embracing her in silk, unlike the stone-bed she had in the past. And, somehow it feels warm and smells like life.
Wait, am I alive or dead? 'Cause this feels like heaven. Oh no.
Josef was examining Mirabella's face. Her face was pale yet her beautiful features were still at show. Her full, dark eyebrows and lashes, her small, pointed nose, and her full lips that were once his. But one thing bothered him. The Mirabella he knew had a faint mole in the middle of her nose bridge, he once liked to kiss. This one, had none. Not one mole on her bare face.
In a panic, she forced herself to move. She slowly opened her heavy eyes. She expected to see a blinding light. Instead, she was greeted by a silhouette of slender, muscled man over her. As instant fear dominated her body, she pushed the creepy man before her.
"Stop!" Mirabella shouted. Josef stumbled back, with his butt on the floor. What the f? he thought.
But before Mirabella could utter another word, a sharp pain shot through her head. "Awww...that freaking hurts." As seconds passed, the pain got more difficult to bear.
Josef couldn't believe that someone just pushed him to the ground. Begrudgingly, he stood up and patted the invisible dust on his suit. Just then, he saw Mirabella squirming in pain. Without hesitation, he turned towards the intercom and called the nurses' station. He stepped towards Mirabella and tried to console her.
"Don't get near me! You perv!" she warned.
Me, a pervert? What did I do? he thought. Thankfully, the nurses arrived. They tried to calm her down but to no avail.
A severe headache is one thing but without her glasses, Mirabella is incapacitated. This made her panic in a strange room with strangers.
"Miss, you have to drink these pills to relieve your pain!"
"No! I need my glasses. I can't see. How would I know you're not going to kill me?"
Josef, ever an impatient man, couldn't bear to witness all these fuss. He briskly walked towards the nurse, grabbed the pills and the glass of water from her hands, and stood beside Mirabella.
"Stop!" his voice thundered across the room. Mirabella froze in fear. "Drink your medicine. Or I'll leave you on the streets. You're in pain and you're blind. What do you think will happen to you?"
"I am NOT blind. I can see just not clearly," Mirabella said resigned. She tried to grab the pills and the glass from Josef's hands but failed. In her eyes, all she could see were the blurred images.
Josef sighed in resignation. He pushed the pills into her lips one by one. His rough, strong thumb slightly brushed her soft lips. Electricity flowed throughout Mirabella's body. Josef, on the other hand, tried to stop himself to further caress her lips.
Josef mentally snapped himself back into reality. He placed the glass of water on her hands. "Drink up and rest. We have a lot of things to talk about."
He turned towards the door and left. Outside, he motioned one of his guards to come. "Look for Mirabella's optometrist and order her a new set of eyeglasses."
The way she behaves, she is not the Mirabella I once knew. She never needed eyeglasses. She doesn't shout nor panic. The Mirabella I knew was calm yet fun to be with. The Mirabella I just met doesn't have the mole I used to love. But she looks exactly like Mirabella, her beauty and her build. Yet, she just feels different. She is not the woman, I once loved and left me.
Who are you, wife?