"Tell me what's your gift?" this was the most invasive question Dr. Angeli Roberts frequently asked her clients who were having crises about being gifted. That question were even followed by more that were as penetrative. This may have caused someone to wince and think twice, but Dr. Roberts was equipped with the ability to calm someone down. At first, she thought it was the skill she got from many years of practice until she discovered that her gift to lull is rooted from her capacity to stabilize the neurotransmitters responsible for mood.
She was just 31 years old when the light-succumbing-event happened.Busy practicing her profession as a psychologist, she always grabbed the opportunity to spend time with her husband for three years whenever there was. She was on a vacation with her other half Orlando Roberts in Bali, Indonesia. The weather was hot, and the sun was high. They were enjoying the heat, the waves, the moment. They were so in love just as much as when they first met. And with their shades on, they were captured by the light... and so was their love.
Both of them were febrile when they decided to go back to New York City, three days after the incident happened. Somehow they responded to paracetamol. They returned their lives back to normal when they were able to recover. And as when they thought that everything's okay, a terrible thing happened.
Angeli noticed excessive vaginal bleeding when she decided to pee during her vacant time. She tried to call her husband but his phone was out of reach. She was desperate and scared. She was shaking when she dialed her husband's number for the second time. But then again she failed. She went out of the comfort room while starting to feel some cramps. It got stronger as more and more blood leaked out of her vagina. Just when she was about to faint, her brother Kevin entered the room. Though still in shock, he immediately carried his sister and brought her to the nearest hospital.
"Are you the husband?" the doctor asked Kevin.
"No, I'm his brother. I already called her husband, and he'll be here in no time." Kevin answered with his hands in his pocket.
A minute after, Orly arrived, sweating and panting. Kevin told him to see the doctor, and he hurried himself there. He asked the physician about what had happened. He, very nervous, sat as the doctor said. He couldn't stop his tears from falling after he heard that his wife was eight weeks pregnant... and that she had a miscarriage. It was hard for him but he had no choice but to tell his wife about what's the real problem. She mourned then moved on.
Months later, the news about people with blue stools were all over. Everybody was afraid, and so were the couple. Especially that just a week ago, Orly developed some pin point rashes on his both legs. What made things worse was the fact that those rashes developed into bruises. Though Angeli was perfectly fine, she couldn't stop her fears that her husband may have the disease. Two weeks after the clinical manifestations started to appear, Orly had a tonic-clonic seizure. He was rushed to the hospital, and was intubated because of apnea. He was confined at medical intensive care unit for close monitoring. Three days after his confinement, he had some blue fecal discharges that made the doctors diagnose him of having alien-light-syndrome - the series of signs and symptoms that was associated to the effect of the light that had eaten the earth.
For weeks, Angeli had to live her life going back and forth to the hospital. Everyday, as she visited inside the ICU, she would touch her husband while whispering at his right ear about what had happened to her the whole day. It had been a routine to her. Tiring. Exhausting. But that's the only thing she could do to keep him loved... and to keep her sane.
On the the third week of his hospitalization, Orly was still in deep coma. All the hope that Angeli had for her husband started to vanish. The intoxicating despair made her hold on to the memories she had with him. While on her way to the hospital, Angeli received a call from a nurse, telling her that her husband was being resuscitated. Her anxiety escalated; it made her drive faster. As she was about to enter the Intensive Care Unit, she saw the flat line on the telemeter. She knew that very moment that her husband was already dead. It was then confirmed by the resident physician
On the last day of her husband's wake, Angeli delivered a speech. She tried to prepare for it, but there was nothing that came out of her mind. The day came when she had to speak about her husband. Though unprepared, she was sure she could make it. She just closed her eyes and allowed the memories to envelope her and to speak on her behalf.
"We are not a perfect couple. We were not. We used to fight a lot. We used to spend a little time for each other. We were not a perfect couple. Period. But despite all the things that made us very different from each other, I know that our love was much stronger. And now... I couldn't say 'we' anymore. I couldn't say 'us'. Letting go of him is like giving up a piece of me. It's so painful. I usually counsel people about moving on... about letting go of pain. But then I realized something. Getting rid of the pain is impossible... maybe as of the moment. Getting used to it is much more realistic. Dear, wherever you are, I will always love you."
Tears fell from everybody's eyes. Angeli saw everybody's reaction, and tried to conceal the pain she was bearing at the moment. She composed herself, and responded to people who said condolence. That same day, Orly was buried. There was no tears she could shed anymore. Her eyes were puffy and red. People noticed the wind to be getting stronger. An impending storm may be coming.
Later that night, after she took a shower., she rested her tired body on the bed. Her skin was touching the velvet cloth, reminding her of their moments together. She closed her eyes and tried to relive the memories. It was then that she realized that there's no way she could be with her husband again but in her dreams.
It had been three months after his husband's death, but she was still overwhelmed with the pain. Drowned in loneliness, she decided to take a vacation. She went to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia to unwind. She stayed there for eight months, living like one of the locals. When she noticed that she was ready to return back to her previous life, she took the flight back to New York. Three months after that, she started counselling again. Even though there are times that her husband's memories came to pass her mind, she could no longer associate it with torment but with happiness.
No comments:
Post a Comment