~St. Martins Hospital~
Beep!
Beep!!
Beep!!!
The hospital ICU ward was eerily quiet and deserted save for the continuous hum of several machines and the ominous beeping of the heart monitor.
A young lady lay on the bed, her fair skin was pale, too pale that it looked lifeless and helpless save for her face which was calm and peaceful like she was in a deep sleep.
Her eyebrows were thick and bushy yet perfectly shaped, as though nature itself had carefully trimmed them and no hair strayed beyond their natural line.
Her nose well-defined gave her face a quiet elegance. Her lips were gently pursed, soft and composed, while her closed eyes made her long lashes rest together, overlapping lightly like delicate threads.
Despite her sunken cheeks and almost hollow eye socket, she was beautiful and if awake and healthy she would certainly make heads turn for a second glance.
Sonia.
She was a version that she would never believe was hers.
And if she stirs awake and sees herself in a mirror she would definitely scream her way back to the land of the dead.
Her hand rested at her sides, a bright gold ring with a simple glittering diamond stone on her middle finger catching the light.
A doctor in a white scrubs checked her vitals and as he lifted his hand to adjust the IV, his brow furrowed for a moment at the irregularity.
"Is there any problem?" A nurse beside him asked, her gaze not leaving Sonia's face.
The doctor shook his head. "It's okay as long as they is no accident, she would be fine."
Her brow furrowed slightly, her voice lowered softly. "Doctor, she had been like this for six months and her husband..."
"Mercy," the doctor interrupted, his gaze locked on the blood bag he was adjusting. "Matters of the rich families aren't always clear. Just do you job and don't ask questions you shouldn't."
"I just think she is pitiful." The nurse murmured.
"She is...." He muttered with a helpless sigh. "But then the Hort family aren't people you would want to offend."
"You're right." She muttered softly.
She stared at Sonia for a moment then gently moved a few strands of hair from her face and then placed her hand under the duvet.
Moments later, they both left the ward and the door closed with a soft thud leaving the ward in a deathly silence.
But at this time, the unexpected happened.
Sonia's fingers twitched almost unnoticeable at first, then stilled. Her eyes, for the first time in six months, twitched, showing signs of life that were never there.
Her toes moved slightly and went still again as though it had not moved at all.
Her eyes flickered slightly and slowly it opened.
Her gaze at first was unfocused, glassy, staring into nothingness as though she were hovering between worlds, neither fully here nor entirely gone.
The sharp and persistent scent of antiseptic wafted through her nostrils and unconsciously she scrunched her nose slightly.
She had always disliked the smell of hospital disinfectant but surprisingly that is the first air she breathed in after six months.
Not the sweet aroma of a well cooked dish nor was it the sweet fragrance of her body wash.
She felt it was odd.
Sonia's mind drifted back and forth as she tried to register her surroundings, but it was unfamiliar.
Where am I?
Beep!
Beep!!
Her brow drew together…the sound was strange and odd. The sound was the only thing keeping her company in the quiet room.
Her ears perked up as she tried to register the direction of the sound.
Slowly, she turned her head towards her left side, closer to the wall, her gaze narrowed.
A computer monitor, three lines of green, blue and yellow each moving from left to right in different waves.
She blinked slightly. "Heart monitor?"
How come?
Her throat was dry, her lips were parched and almost peeling off. She swallowed but then she felt an unfamiliar tightness in her chest.
She tried to move her legs but it ached and more terrible, it was heavy, it felt heavier than any water logged wood. She couldn't move or speak.
Sonia's gaze traveled round the room again for the tenth time, it was empty with just medical equipment lining every corner and no sign of a human.
Her thoughts raced as she tried to piece together every ounce of memory she had left.
Why she was in the hospital?
How she got to the hospital?
How long she had been in this state?
What her ailment could be.
But it was all blank.
She felt alive, but why did it feel as though she had been dead? Why couldn't she remember anything?
No matter how she thought about it…she was unable to untangle the web of confusion gripping her mind.
She struggled to lift her hand but like her leg it felt heavier than she had thought.
The feeling that she might have been abandoned in the hospital clawed at her heart.
She closed her eyes briefly as memories flashed through her mind.
"Husband?"
"I was married. Yes…"
Her consciousness sharpened little by little, like a blade drawn across stone, several memories coming together while she pieced each together to draw the facts.
But it was still slow. Then,
The door creaked open, slicing through the silence of the ward. Her brow furrowed slightly.
Is someone coming in?
A nurse?
A family member?
But the next moment, she heard another footstep, falling in beside the earlier step, her ears sharpened as she tried to distinguish it…it was a soft click of a heel.
Sonia's hand trembled softly, her eyes fluttered shut as she noticed the footsteps approaching the bedside.
Then the familiar voice of a man, supposedly the voice of her husband Alex Hort filtered through the silence.
"She really had a long life." He muttered annoyed.
"Well, everyone does unless in special situations." A female spoke, her voice a bit distant that she wasn't able to distinguish it.
"I least expected she would still cling to life even at this time." He sighed. "Even as the organs were said to have failed."
With slow steady steps, he closed the distance and stopped beside her bed, Sonia felt an intense gaze on her face, no doubt it must have been Alex.
"Alex," a woman called softly.
Sonia's breath caught.
That voice.
Isn't that Cyndi's?
"Mmmh." He hummed, his gaze retracted from Sonia and settled on Cyndi.
"This wasn't what we agreed on," Cyndi said aggrievedly.
Sonia's pulse quickened as she listened carefully. Though her mind screamed but her body remained still and focused.
She couldn't be hallucinating besides the voice was her best friend's.
A lady she had called her sister. The woman she had trusted with every secret, every fear, every fragile piece of her heart.
The woman she had hoped would help her understand the situation she was in now.
The footsteps moved closer, Sonia held her breath. She sensed shadows falling across her bed.
She wanted to open her eyes fully, to confirm she wasn't imagining this but fear held her back.
Fear of being discovered.
"Alex, it's been four years and since the time she was in the hospital it had been six months," the woman muttered. "Six months of waiting."
"Baby, you have to calm down. It's almost over," her husband said quietly.
"Almost?" The woman scoffed. "You've been saying that for a while now."
There was a pause. Sonia imagined him rubbing his temples the way he always did when irritated.
"One more month," he said at last. "Just one. The doctors said as long as there's no progress or improvement by then…"
He didn't finish the sentence.
He didn't have to.
Sonia finished it in her head.
"I'll be gone."
Her chest tightened painfully.
One month? I was estimated to live on machines for another month.
Cyndi exhaled, long and slow. "Alex, our baby can't wait. The more she is lying here the longer it takes for us to settle down."
A tremor passed through Sonia's awareness. "Baby? Settle down? She can't be hearing things, right?"
"She doesn't even know," the woman continued. "Doesn't feel a thing, she is as good as dead, do we wait for her to pass away."
Alex lowered his voice. "Be careful."
"Why?" the woman shot back. "She can't hear us. Look at her."
Her fingers traced Sonia's face, she pinched her cheek making sure to leave a mark to prove her point...there's no reaction.
Sonia bore the pain silently. Her face expressionless, not even a twitch.
"You see that. She doesn't feel a thing, how do you think she will hear?" She asked, meeting his gaze.
"Sweetheart, I understand that but…" Alex began.
"Alex, four years ago," the woman went on, "You promised you would divorce her, you promised to make me your wife . But then you never and six months ago, you promised again. Yet after six months the result wasn't even achieved, not even in the least."
Alex kept mute…not denying, not refuting.
"I just want my life to start," she added softly. "I'm tired of sneaking around."
"Cyndi…it's not like that…" Alex began.
She scoffed. "It's like how?" Her voice cold as she met Alex gaze head on.
"For God's sake," she continued. "You can't keep me waiting for a woman who's already half gone just because you don't want it to look bad…just because you can't let go."
Sonia's mind reeled. So this was it.
For four years she had been the best wife, disregarding the rumours. And for Cyndi, she had treated her as her best friend and sister.
And surprisingly she had been plotted against by them.
For as long as four years ago?
Her fingers twitched again and this time it was stronger.
Yet it had gone unnoticed…they weren't interested in her. They weren't bothered. She was going to die anyway.
"She's not coming back," the woman whispered. "You know that."
A sigh followed. "Don't say it like that."
"Like what? Like the truth?" Cyndi retorted.
"..."
"You promised me," the woman murmured. "That once this is over…"
"I know," he replied. His voice softened. "I just need you to be patient."
"I've been patient," she said bitterly. "But I think you are just reluctant to part with her."
"No matter what…living together for four years, there must be some attachments," her husband answered.
Attachment? That shouldn't be there…that wasn't the arrangement." Cyndi reminded.
"I know. I know. Can we not talk about this again?" He whispered softly, almost coaxing.
Sonia's eyelids fluttered as she slowly opened her eyes for a fraction as two blurry shapes came into focus.
Alex and Cyndi stood beside her bed, Alex wrapped his arms around Cyndi, his head lowered as he captured her lips in a soft coaxing kiss.
Cyndi leaned into him, her head tilted upward, eyes closed as she responded with the same fervor as Alex.
Their hands grappling against each other in frantic touch, soft moans and groans echoing from their lips.
She sighed tiredly.
It seems they had forgotten this was a hospital ward.
They were so absorbed in each other that they never looked at her face.
Never noticed the faint awareness burning behind her gaze. Never noticed her eyes wide staring at them.
Sonia watched, frozen in disbelief, as her husband's hand slid higher cupping her best friend's breast right beside her hospital bed.
Cyndi's gasp as she circled her arms around his neck pulling closer.
They had forgotten about her, about the sickly woman that lay behind them.
Sonia's vision sharpened painfully. Every movement stabbed deep in her heart and it remained stuck.
Her heart pounded wildly now, no longer in rhythm with the machine beside her.
Look at me, she begged silently. Just look at me.
But they didn't.
They were lost…lost to restraint, to decency, to the presence of the woman whose life they were waiting to end.
Sonia's tears slipped silently down her temples, soaking into the pillow.
Her chest burned.
Anger flared in her chest; hot, sudden, burning alive.
With one final resolve, she opened her eyes wide to witness the scene properly.
She wanted to remember this betrayal, to remember this day. To remember this harm, the betrayal of her friend and her husband.
Her heart beat erratically. Then…The monitor faltered.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Cyndi gasped and shoved Alex away. "What's happening?"
Alex spun toward the bed in panic, colour drained from his face.
Sonia had long closed her eyes calmly, her resolve stronger than ever. Her face paler than usual.
Footsteps thundered outside. Voices shouted. The ward erupted into chaos. Doctors rushed into the ward.
The sound warped, stretched and then flattened.
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!