“What do you mean you had a relapse?” Felix was thrown off balance, trying to believe her words were just a prank. “It’s been years, Gina. How come?”
When he didn’t get a reply from her, he thought of possible ways by which that could happen. The only reason he could think of was a foolish one but he still had to ask.
He cleared his throat and gazed sharply at her, hoping his assumptions wouldn’t appear to be the reality. “When last did you take your medications?… The long-term one”
Gina was caught off guard by his question and couldn’t find words to reply to him. Her reaction was already an answer to the question of Felix who stood rooted to the ground with a bewildered expression on his face. “Tell me you’ve been using those medications without missing a single dose”
“I’m sorry but I stopped months after I left the asylum” Gina replied with a low voice, her gaze on the ground as she started to realize the gravity of the situation. “I haven’t taken any pills since then” she mumbled incoherently as thoughts of how she forced her daughter to work herself to the bones just to get money to buy her so-called medication. Instead, she had used it to put up more luxurious items for her wardrobe. Still, she didn’t feel any bit of remorse towards her daughter who had spent her youthful days caring for her, that was the height of her insanity.
Felix was astounded, pondering how someone could be so bold to stop her life sources. Ever since he knew her, she had an abnormal level of thinking but it seems she had grown past that level, she was beyond redemption but he wasn’t going to say anything that would keep her hopes down or high.
“I’m sure you’ve realized how dangerous your decision is” Felix stated with his eyelids closed in frustration. He had never solved mental health cases like hers before and he feared the chances of her being locked up forever, in an asylum.
“You’re going to help me right?” Gina pouted her lips trying to look cute as she walked seductively towards Felix who felt a sense of unease in his heart. His attractiveness towards her started when she was brought to him as a patient who had passed through other doctors, doctors who were fed up with her case. She didn’t look crazy at first, she carried herswlf with a kind of elegance that made people drawn to her. His speech was eloquent but the only problem she had was her brain constitution. She was always compelled to do crazy things, and his love for her made him indulge her till she was beyond control.
He was warned severally to stay away from her but he remained adamant. By the time he realized his mistake, it was already too late. His obsession had broken its walls. Even when he found out she had a husband and daughter, he didn’t stop pursuing her. Every time, he looked back thinking about his actions, he felt he had also been insane. His insanity had led him to commit a huge crime that had placed a stain on his reputation. His actions had marred him for life.
Gina’s whispers jolted him out of his thoughts, “Are you scared?… You always made the first move”
Her seductive smile made him swallow hard as he took several steps back till he hit the wall behind him. “Gina, we’ve grown past that. That was just a mistake and a result of our youthful exuberance. Don’t do this”
Gina chuckled happily, enjoying his reaction. She still had a tiny bit of power over him, she wasn’t done teasing him yet. “When was the last time you dropped flowers on my late husband’s grave?”
That was the last straw, Felix’s knees gave in as he fell to the ground, gripping his head with both hands in great trepidation. Gina had opened the last button of his mental strength. How could he visit the man’s grave when he couldn’t even face him head on?… Wouldn’t that make him a coward?
Gina knew she had gone too far but the thrill she felt from torturing emotionally led her on. “I’m quite sure he had always wanted to have a word with you. I mean, he was forever grateful to you for taking care of his wife, always happy to share a drink with you but what did you do?… You….”
“Shut up.. that’s enough, Gina” Felix yelled at the top of his lungs. He wasn’t going to watch her list his crime like she had no involvement in it. “I won’t take this from you, Gina.. if you had any tiny bit of love for that man, you would have stopped me from doing the deed that has left us both in tatters”
“You’re the only one suffering from the guilt” Gina waved her hand absentmindedly. “I’ve been living the dream. The child he left with me has also been of good use. Would you believe, I made her marry a man to pay back a loan?…. I know my craziness had gone beyond words and I, I’m speechless”
“What??? You did that to your daughter?” Felix exclaimed in shock. “How could you do that?
“Who told you she’s my child?… Even though I birthed her, I have never considered her as my child. She’s the exact opposite of me, just like her father. I greatly despise them both”
“So, do you mean she knows nothing about the happenings surrounding her father’s death and the main illness you’re suffering from?” Felix asked to confirm, regret in his heart as he recalled the day he met the deranged woman. What mother causes so much pain to her child and still feels nothing but empathy towards the child?…
“No, she doesn’t” Gina replied with a frosty and nonchalant tone. “I even extorted money from her all in the name of treating a terminal illness. That was the only this she was useful for and the fact that she served as collateral”
“You know what?… Let’s call the nurse to begin your medical checkup” he had had enough of hearing the mundane things she had done. He had to find a way to disconnect himself from her, a way to her out of his life forever. There was no cure for her illness, she was bound to remain like that for the rest of her life.