When Gabriella’s eyelids began to vibrate, Max immediately got up from the chair. With a reassuring curve of lips, he greeted his wife.
“How are you, Gaby?” he asked, stroking the pale face.
For a few seconds, the woman just blinked slowly under the furrow of her brows. After taking a deep breath, she replied, “What happened?”
“You had a high fever last night. Don’t worry. It’s getting better now. Are you dizzy?” Max asked, raising an eyebrow.
“A little,” Gabriella said hoarsely.
“Then, does your back still hurt?”
With a weak motion, the woman shook her head. “It’s been much better.”
After one breath, the man’s smile broadened. Carefully, he kissed the forehead of the woman who never left his sight.
“Then do you want to get out of here?” Max whispered before returning to his cheerfulness.
Receiving the unexpected invitation, Gabriella’s brows furrowed deeper. “Out of this hospital?”
“Yes,” the man nodded without a second thought. “Do you mind?”
“Have I been allowed to go home?” the woman inquired in confusion.
“Of course. The doctor said that you are much healthier. You just need to regularly treat your bruises with ointment.”
Gabriella spontaneously took a quick breath. “Then, what about my stomach?” she asked with slightly pursed lips.
“No problem. We just have to wait for the bleeding to end. After that, we can invite the Little Prince again.”
Hearing that name, the woman’s expression automatically turned stiff. Her eyes were shaking violently, just like the air in her lungs. However, after a blink, she brightened her face again.
“Okay. Let’s get out of here,” she said with a small nod.
Knowing his wife’s denial, Max’s smile was threatened. To disguise his sadness, the man raised the hand that he always held to his lips.
“Let’s start a completely new life,” Max whispered, widening a smile. His determination to improve the situation was unanimous. It would not waver in the face of reality any more.
***
“Why do you bring me here?” Gabriella asked as the ship they were on, stopped in the middle of the blue sea.
The man who had just put a scarf around his wife, let out a long breath. “Doctor advised me to comfort you. Therefore, I bring you to this beautiful place. You’re not drunk or nauseous, are you?”
With a small curve of lips, the woman shook her head. “Thank you, Max. But, I feel no need to be comforted. I’m fine.”
Hearing the lie, Max’s smile turned wry. After blinking for ideas, he stepped in front of his wife so that the woman’s eyes no longer saw the open sea.
“Do you want to play?” the man asked, successfully deepened Gabriella’s confusion.
“What kind of game?”
“Honesty. Here, you and I can’t lie. Nothing can cover each other’s hearts and minds. The loser will get a fierce kiss attack,” Max explained while sneaking a joke. “How?”
Getting such a very difficult challenge, Gabriella’s eyelids suddenly froze. With a faint shake of the head, she expressed suspicion. “What exactly are you planning?”
The curve of the man’s lips suddenly shrunk. However, after circling the gaze for a moment, he looked back at his wife with a joking expression. “Don’t you want to play?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
No answer was heard. The woman realized that her husband was after something he refused to show.
“Then let me start first,” Max said, showing fakeness in his smile. A second later, the sound of the man’s breath turned heavy. Looking up at the blue sky, he narrowed his eyes.
“I want to apologize for ignoring your sadness. I shouldn’t have stopped you from falling. I forgot that someone who manages to get up after falling will have stronger legs to go further.”
Knowing the direction of her husband’s conversation, Gabriella shook head and sighed. “Don’t say like that. I’m fine, Max. You don’t have to feel guilty.”
“Do you know that I am also trying to ignore sadness?” the man interrupted, managed to freeze the vibrations in his wife’s eyes. “I’m afraid that I won’t be able to get through it. Because of it, I prefer to pretend to be strong and forget about the pain.”
Suddenly, Max took a deep breath and released regret to the air. “When I heard the truth about our Little Prince, I was shaken. I wanted to scream, cursing the situation. I wanted to destroy everything around me. But as it turned out, I didn’t do that.”
A second later, the man returned to Gabriella’s gaze. He no longer hid the tears.
“I’m sorry for pretending to be strong and turning all my sadness into anger,” Max said hoarsely. His trembling lips were starting to have trouble uttering words. “I thought I was great. But then, I realized. The denial only exacerbates the fear and emptiness.”
With the same furrowed brow, Gabriella wiped the tears from her husband’s cheeks. However, before Max’s face had dried up, remorse washed over him again.
“I can’t pretend to be strong anymore, Gaby. I regret not being careful enough to have that accident. I felt weak from instantly collapsing with just one hit. I should have been standing there, fighting that bad guy. Instead of letting him hit you and snatch away the Little Prince’s future. I’m so sorry, Gaby.”
“No, Max. It’s not your fault,” the woman sighed as she couldn’t bear to see the sadness on her husband’s face.
“I really want to make you and the Little Prince happy. But why … until this moment, I still fail? I even put you in a difficult position,” the man lamented as he no longer looked at his wife. He was already drowned in pain.
After one heavy breath, Gabriella burst into tears. The real pain was etched on her face.
“You know what? Instead of being sad, I feel more confused. I wonder, if I had known from the start, what would I have done? Will I still save you, or run to protect the Little Prince? Thinking about it always makes me feel guilty. I can’t really choose,” the woman said in a thin voice.
“I’m confused about how to deal with reality. I’m glad I managed to save you. But on the other hand, I feel very guilty for neglecting my own womb,” Gabriella said between the irregular breaths. “I’m sorry, Max. If only I knew earlier, we would have been able to better anticipate what happened.”
Seeing his wife bowed down in self-blame, the man pulled her into his arms, letting her shed tears on the trembling shoulders.
“I’m afraid that the Little Prince hates me, Max. I haven’t given him any attention or affection at all. His brief presence was filled only with suffering. What if he gets angry and doesn’t want to come to us again? How can I make amends if that really happened?”
Hearing the woman’s wail, Max swallowed hard. After filling his lungs with new air, the man sighed, trying to lighten his wife’s burden. “I think our Little Prince is proud of his mother. You were so brave against that bad guy, Gaby.”
“But he must be sad because I didn’t know he was there,” Gabriella said softly. Her throat was very narrow. Even breathing, she occasionally choked. “I’m a useless mother, Max. He must be very ashamed of me.”
The woman gripped Max’s shirt with all her strength. It was the only thing she could do to hold back the tightness, that almost burst the heart. “I’m really sorry. Very, very sorry.”
Realizing that his wife’s sadness was almost at its peak, Max didn’t make a sound anymore.
Gently, he caressed the head that rested on his shoulder. Closing the eyes, the man also deepened his regret. He knew that after uncovering all the wounds, a new heart would have room to reorganize.