ARGON
“Get the stretcher! ” Doctor Nicole had yelled when Brielle and I arrived at the hospital with Estelle.
She no longer screamed or cried out for help. She was now mumbling, slowly drifting into an unconscious state.
When I saw this, I felt so scared for her safety, that I had to pull her out of the car and lay her on the stretcher when it was brought in.
“What happened to her exactly?!” Doctor Nicole questioned while racing into the hospital with the nurses and two other doctors, who had seen a red Estelle being brought.
“I don’t know how to explain it. She just started screaming and we had to rip her dress off to see some green substance all over her,” I explained, following them.
Brielle was following from behind as well. Only that she was a bit slow in her pace, trying to catch up with us.
“Take her into the emergency room and start the treatment as soon as possible. We’ll have to run some tests to know exactly what the substance was, ” Doctor Nicole said to her co-doctors and to the nurses as well.
They immediately took Estelle away while Doctor Nicole stopped to talk to Brielle and I, suggesting we wait outside. “I’ll do my best to make sure both mother and child are safe. Just wait here.”
She quickly followed the others, joining them in the ICU. I watched on until she was out of sight.
Estelle’s red skin and screams filled my head, leaving me worried about her condition. Not just her, but the unborn child in her womb. My baby!
“Goddess, please help,” I panicked, pacing outside the emergency ward.
While I was thinking about Estelle and my child, my attention fell on Brirlle who was now six feet away from me. She leaned against the wall, breathing like one who just ran a marathon.
Her forehead had sweat flowing down to her face, as she kept on wiping it with the back of her hands, dragging her nose.
That’s when my mind went back to the scene at the wedding. If she hadn’t stepped in on time, Estelle wouldn’t be here by now.
She was the one who intervened when we were all focused on the ceremony, assuming she came over to stop the wedding from progressing.
Well, I was the one thinking to that point. I was clouded with the thoughts of Brielle showing up to beg me to accept her, but she was never there for that.
“Come to think of it…” I lifted my head to stare at Brielle once again. “How did she know Estelle’s wedding gown was poisoned?” I asked within, recalling that she was the one who made that discovery.
“She wasn’t at the hall all day. In fact, no one saw her throughout, so how did she know that the dress was coated with poison?” This question troubled my mind, as I slowly found my feet moving towards Brielle.
She now hand her hands resting on her knees, lowering herself down with tiredness. I was almost close to her point when I heard the emergency door opening.
That got me turning back to see two nurses rushing out to get something. “How’s Es…” They ignored me, racing down the path.
By the time I turned over to face Brielle, she was gone.
“Where did she go?” I wondered, looking around to see if I’d find her. But she was nowhere around.
“Did she leave?” I crossed my arms, still hovering my gaze about.
After some minutes, Jerome and Alpha Deron soon arrived at the hospital to see Estelle. Jerome had called from outside the hospital, asking for my location.
I told him where he’d find me, and he soon arrived with a worried Deron, who looked like a crazy man, asking for his daughter. “How is she?” He had taken me by the shoulder, looking at the red bulb above the emergency room.
I had to pull him aside and calm him down, saying, ” She’ll be fine. The Doctors are attending to her. Once they’re out, we’ll know how she’s doing.”
“Oh, my poor girl! Who is the monster that tried to end my child’s life?! If I get hold of that person, I swear I’d…”
“Alpha Argon?” I heard Doctor Nicole’s voice from behind. We all looked and saw Estelle being pushed out on a stretcher by the nurses. They were taking her to a different room.
“Estelle!” Alpha Deron called in sadness, drawing closer to the stretcher to hold his daughter’s hand.
When I laid my eyes on Estelle, I felt a bit relieved on seeing her skin was back to itself, but not that much.
The nurses kept pushing her off to a different room, while Alpha Deron and Jerome followed them from behind. My beta had to go along with Deron, since the old man was going crazy just by seeing his daughter in this terrible state.
I was about to follow them but stopped when Doctor Nicole held me back and said, “We need to talk, Alpha. It’s important.”
Important? I don’t like the sound of that.
“Follow me, please, ” she said, leading the way.
I followed her from behind, until we where at her office stepping inside to have a discussion. As I sat down with my whole body shaking, Doctor Nicole said, “Thank the goddess that we were able to identify what poison was used on your wife. It was a very deadly and ancient poison. A rare wolfsbane.”
“What? ” I uttered in disbelief. “But I thought wolfsbane was Um… Purple in color? Yes, wolfsbane is purple.”
“Yes, we are all familiar with that color, but this particular wolfsbane is rare to find and very deadly when it comes in contact with the skin. Even I myself didn’t recognize it, until one of the nurses identified it as a rare old poison. That was how we found a way to save Estelle’s life,” Doctor Nicole shared, leaning against her seat.
This left my whole body shivering. Such a deadly poison was coated into Estelle’s dress and she didn’t even know?
How’s that even possible?
I raised this to Doctor Nicole, wondering why it was hard for anyone to pick the smell of the poison if it was wolfsbane.
“When we opened her dress, the smell came puffing out horribly. I almost threw up.”
That’s when she said, “That means the person who carried this deadly act must have mixed a smell dispenser that lasted for only a few minute before it’s real odor came out.”
No wonder Estelle didn’t notice anything until she began to feel the burn.
“Damn! All these happened at our own wedding and we had so many guards on ground. Oh goddess!”
I had my hands running through my face in worry, until my mind went to another important case.
“My baby!” I immediately uttered, looking at Doctor Nicole. “What about the baby? I hope the child is okay?”
She didn’t give me a quick response but stared back with a dull face.
Why is she silent? I need to know how my child is.
“I… I don’t know how to say this, but…” She sighed, lowering her head down. That gesture alone was enough to tell me what was wrong.
“It can’t be. Please let this be a joke, goddess. Let her say something else aside from what I’m afraid of, ” I panicked and hoped from within.
But it wasn’t enough to prevent what had already happened.
“Alpha, I’m sorry. But your child is…”
“Don’t!” I silenced her in her spot, feeling my heart turn heavy. I know what she wants to say, and I don’t want to hear it.
“Hear me out first.”
“I said don’t!” I raised, getting to my feet in anger, and grabbing my head in frustration.
“My baby! My child! No, no, no!” I found myself crying for that innocent soul, wishing I had intervened earlier to save it’s life.
“That poison took my child’s life. I swear I’m going to find this bastard and make him pay! He’ll regret ever crossing paths with me!” I raged out, getting mad.
Just when I was about to storm out of the office, Doctor Nicole dragged me back from behind and said, “The poison didn’t take your child’s life! Something or someone else already did the job.”
“What?” I was confused. What does she mean by that?
.
Soon, I was out of the office looking all lost. The rage that was overwhelmed me had subdued after what I heard from Doctor Nicole.
I didn’t know how to react or how to feel at that point. All I know is that my whole body couldn’t stand what she had just told me in there.
As I distanced myself from her office, I spotted Brielle sitting close to a different ward. “She’s still here?” I uttered, staring at her from afar.
I thought she left after getting Estelle to the hospital, but she didn’t. She just sat there on the bench, staring at the floor with a napkin in her hold.
That’s when I thought of her help today. If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t have known about the poison.
Still, I was curious to know how she knew about it.
I had to know.
Drawing closer, I came standing near a lost Brielle, who soon took note of my presence through my shadow. She lifted her head to gaze at me, revealing her sweaty face.
“What?” She uttered, dimming her eyes at me.
I paid no attention to her sweats but sat next to her, saying, “Thank you… Thank you for saving Estelle’s life. You… You really helped us.”
“Hmm. It’s fine, ” She said, wiping her head with her napkin.
“Tell me, how did you know her dress was poisoned? You weren’t around all day and the dress was brought in towards the evening. So, how did you…”
“Who told you I wasn’t around, Argon?” She questioned me, lifting her brow.
“I was present at the Hall all morning. I left the mansion to make sure things were in order. I am the organizer. I know when you arrived but I chose to stay out of sight, just in case you plan on disturbing me.”
“For real?” My eyes came large, stunned by what Brielle said. “So, she has been around and I didn’t even know?”
Brielle sniffed and went on talking. “I know when the dress came in as well. Tania was the one who notified me, so I went over to make sure it was exactly what Estelle asked for. But when I got there…” She paused, staring out to nothing.
“But what? What happened?” I asked, suspecting she had seen the culprit at that time.
“Did you see the person who poisoned the dress? Did you see his face? ” I questioned desperately.
But instead of getting an answer, Brielle suddenly got to her feet and asked, wiping her face with her napkin, “Is it me or is this place getting so hot and… ”
All of a sudden, Brielle’s eyes came rolling. My heart skipped when I saw her falling backwards.
“Brielle!” Quickly, I caught her in my arms and held her close.
Her skin came turning red just like Estelle’s!
I was horrified!
“DOCTOR! HELP!!” I screamed, lifting Brielle into my hold while racing for the emergency room.
Luckily for me, Doctor Nicole had just stepped out of her office and saw me running with Brielle in my hold.
“What happened to her?!” She asked, drawing nearer to check Brielle.
When she saw her skin… “Oh no! It seems Brielle has the poison in her!”
“What?!” I gasped out in fear, feeling my arms holding Brielle tightly to my body.
No wonder she was sweating too much. I just sat there asking her questions instead of finding out why she was dripping much sweats!
“We have to admit her immediately! Who knows how far the poison has gotten into her body. NURSE! ” Doctor Nicole yelled, rushing ahead of me.
I followed her from behind, holding Brielle close. Her eyes were shut. She was unconscious.
“Brielle, please open your eyes. Come on, say something!” I begged, noticing how her breathing slowly faded.
I was so scared on seeing her in this state. My heart raced like crazy, causing me to panic.
“Please wake up, Brielle, please! ” I kept on begging, terrified for her own safety.
She has to wake up.
She has to.