I slowly opened my eyes, and what welcomed me was a white room. I must be in a hospital room. I slowly got up and immediately felt the pain in my back. I remembered what had happened. Even the bullet I caught for Ismael. I couldn’t help but burst into tears.
“You’re awake…”
I turned to my right to see Ismael’s face. His eyes were swollen, and he even had a dark circle under them. He must not have been sleeping well, because he’s looking over me.
“Ismael.” My voice cracked when tears welled up in my eyes. I immediately opened my arms to ask for a hug, which he did. His thighs are in between my legs.
“Jothea, my love…” he mouthed as he sniffed my scent. I felt his embrace tighten.
“Ismael, I can’t breathe,” I insisted, but he didn’t let go of me. I could only hear him sniffle because he was crying silently. He continued to stroke my hair and back as if I needed to be soothed now that he was the one crying.
“Brace yourself. I couldn’t hold you like this for almost a week.”
“But you can hug me again later. I won’t leave.”
“Who are you trying to fool again? You always leave when you have the chance, Jothea.” There was a hint of annoyance in his tone of voice. “You always leave me. You don’t think I can’t handle it without you.”
“But you seem fine, you know? You still look so handsome,” I joked to make his sullenness towards me disappear.
“Tsk.” He shook his head. “H-hold on. I forgot to call the doctor. I was carried away.” He pressed a button to call for assistance checking my vital signs and status.
“Everything’s normal, and the baby is fine,” the doctor said, which made me remember that I do have a baby inside my stomach. I almost forgot about this.
“You’re twenty weeks pregnant now, Miss Alvandra, in case Mr. Mondalla hasn’t told you yet.”
My mouth dropped open. Twenty weeks? As in five months? Is that why I haven’t had a menstruation in the past few months because I’m pregnant? I thought I was just stressed, so I experienced irregularities.
Wait, five months ago… Where are we?
My eyes widened when I realized where we could possibly have conceived the baby inside me. That also confirmed that this baby is Ismael’s.
I was relieved.
That was when Ismael and I went to Baguio.
I looked at Ismael, who was now thanking the doctor endlessly as he was being carried out of the room. I can’t believe this. Does it mean that four months from now we will see little Ismael, or may it be a mini me?
That made me tear up more. If this was the reason why I woke up again, I am grateful. I thought that day would be my last on Earth, but then again, Ismael saved me like he always does.
He walked towards me and noticed that I was crying. He immediately wiped it off his lips, but that made me cry into rivers. I was holding his clothes while sobbing. I am really thankful that I am here. God gave me another chance to live. He is giving me another reason to fight and live.
“We are now three,” he said.
I nodded. “I was supposed to tell you that day,” I said. “I’m sorry that I failed to tell you. I plan to surprise you because I want to see how you react.”
“Don’t worry about it anymore. I am happy-more than happy-because you’re here safe with our Cal.”
“Cal?” I frowned. “Was that a name?”
“Yes, baby. I recently came up with our child’s name. It would be Cal Mondalla.”
I was amazed by what he said. Don’t tell me that was all he was worried about while he was watching me here. I doubt it; maybe he doesn’t have just one name now, possibly twelve.
“Why would all of the names in this world make you choose Cal? You used to tell me that I was terrible at thinking of names because I named our cat Mael. Eh, that’s from your name!”
He laughed. “Cal as in Calculus.”
I laughed hard. “It seems like no one will call our child by his name because it’s just a name that’s traumatizing,” I jested.
“Were you traumatized because of the subject I teach or because of me?”
“Can I have both?”
We laugh at each other. I missed talking to him like this. Teasing and laughing, but of all the things I miss, I miss his lips the most. I grabbed his clothes, pulling him closer to me. I claimed his soft lips, and he immediately responded to my devouring.
I felt his hands on my waist, down to my hips. They roamed, even inside my hospital gown. My heart is beating, celebrating that it’s alive.
“Hmmm… Ismael…” I moaned when I felt the warmth of his rough hands on my back. I have no bra, so he can immediately access my body or even my breasts if he would like.
“I miss you so much, my love,” he said as he stared into my eyes. He even tucked the hair strands underneath my ear.
“Did you lock the door?” I asked because I knew what he meant.
“I did,” he whispered. “But are you alright? Does it still hurt?” He felt my back where there was a bandage around it, because that’s where I was shot.
“Don’t mind me. I miss you too, Ismael,” I admitted.
I heard him sigh as he sat on the bed. He leaned against the headboard, and pulled me onto his lap. “Why would you even do that in the first place? You don’t have to sacrifice your life for me. I should be the one doing that, not you, Jothea.” He scolded me like a child, but I didn’t know why at that moment I was even more excited because I could see his concern for me.
“Because I might die if I were the one seeing you lying on this bed,” I admitted. My hands are now resting on his shoulder. “You’re stronger than me. I might lose my mind. And that was the least I could do for you. You always saved me, Ismael. It’s always you who’s giving everything. I also want to give; if my life is all I have to give you, why not?”
“But I don’t want you to leave me like that. I don’t want you to sacrifice yourself for me. You always make my heart break, Jothea, but ironically, it was you who could only mend it by this.” He took my hand and kissed it. “Don’t ever do that again. I’m begging you.”
“You know that I will do that again, Ismael. Don’t make me promise.”
He had done nothing but shake his head and hug me.
“You are really stubborn. You always put your life in danger, as if you don’t have someone who would be worried about you.”
“Because your life is more precious than mine. Ever since I was born, it was as if it were just a pure mistake. It was just you who made my life special. Without you, I’m just plain living lifeless.”
He looked at me. “No, don’t say that.” He caressed my tummy. “When this one is born, I will not be the only one who will prove to you that you are relevant in this world, Jothea. You are not a mistake. You would be the mother of men, who would be the line of gentlemen who respect and treat women just like I treat you. If our parents failed to be parents to us, then at least we shouldn’t be like them, right?”
I remembered the conversation Joth and I had. This is also what we wanted. We don’t want to be like our parents. If we ever have a chance to live again, I would rather be the parent of my parents, and they would be my child.
“We shouldn’t be like them, Ismael,” I stated as I placed his head on my chest. We remained just like this for a moment before we chose to sleep together on the bed. Hugging.
*****
Ismael told me that Raviel and Roxsielle were in jail. The gathered evidence proved their unlawful deeds; that’s why they are facing a pile of cases and sentences. Even the rape case in which I was involved was submitted to the authorities, making Raviel face a case without bail.
On the other hand, I also can’t help but feel sorry for them because I am the main reason why they have instilled such anger in the world that they can harm other innocent people. I also heard that they almost blew up the Safira Company. I can’t face Miss Sapphire and my other coworkers because of what happened. If it weren’t for me, their lives wouldn’t be in danger.
Ismael and I went back to their residences. He said his father wanted to talk to him about something I didn’t know. He said he’d tell me later. I’m glad that he’s finally talking to his father now. I don’t know what happened, but I am really happy that they’re no longer avoiding each other. And the smiles of both of them have been radiating since the day we came here.
“Jothea! My sweetheart!” Ismael’s mom greeted me, who had just arrived at the mansion. Isa followed her, who just nodded at me before heading straight up to her room.
“Don’t worry. She’s not mad at you. It’s just her usual face,” Ma’am Elisse said before inviting me to have tea.
Honestly, I couldn’t speak or even look at her properly. I knew she had heard about what had happened to me, even about Raviel raping me. Who is rich enough not to know about that?
She handed me the cup of tea, which I accepted. “Careful, it’s still hot.”
I nodded and took a sip. “Ahh!” I screamed as my lips were burned. She immediately came over to check on me. She also took the cup from me. “Darling, are you okay?”
She quickly called a helper to bring her the first-aid kit. “I told you it was hot. Why do you look like your mind is out of place? Are you okay? You don’t even look into my eyes,” he said while smearing ointment on my lips.
“I’m s-sorry,” I replied simply and chose to glance at her for a moment.
“Hey, I saw you, sweetie. You just averted your gaze. Why? What happened? What did I do that made you uncomfortable? Was it because of me or pregnancy hormones?”
I shook my head. “N-no.”
“Then was it because of what happened to you?”