Loving You Too Long

“Both of you, come with me,” he said with a nod of his head, walking towards another black Jeep Gladiator, as dark as the other two jeeps that had roared away, leaving their tire tracks in the sand.

Clasping each other, with Nathan limping, they entered the leader’s car.

“You were never part of this capture,” the man said with his deep voice, immediately nodded by Haisley and Nathan. “You never met us,” he continued, receiving another nod from Haisley and Nathan. After that, no one spoke.

Haisley and Nathan’s hands were intertwined, their bodies swaying with the car’s movements on the uneven roads.

Haisley looked out the window. Although she didn’t pay much attention to the road when they departed, she knew that the path they were on now was different. And actually, the dock they had just left wasn’t the same as when Haisley departed. Was this a secret route? A path known only to a few? Were the people who just saved her elite forces? Were they government troops? Or special forces paid by individuals?

Haisley shook her head. She didn’t need to know that. She wouldn’t ask anything else. She was grateful enough to get out of this tragedy. And she hoped there would be no more tragedies after this.

They arrived at a more open area, still within the embrace of the forest. “We’re here,” said the leader. Without being asked, though with confusion, Haisley, who was shivering from the cold, and Nathan, who was in pain, got out of the car while the leader remained inside.

The car then drove away, Haisley heard the horn honked three times, and shortly after, bright lights illuminated them, accompanied by the roar of a car engine in silence. The light approached and then stopped not far from where Haisley and Nathan stood. The car door opened, and Haisley could see Gilbert coming out from the driver’s side and Juan from the other side.

“G…” Instantly, Haisley shed tears again, entering Gilbert’s embrace and crying there while Juan welcomed Nathan.

“Let’s go home,” Gilbert said, wiping Haisley’s head and kissing her friend and brother-in-law’s head before enveloping the shivering figure into the car and covering her with a thin blanket that he had prepared.

Gilbert drove the car towards the city. Nathan and Haisley were then taken to the hospital. There were no major issues with Haisley. Aside from the shock, she felt her body was fine. The doctor had recommended treatment, but Haisley refused.

While Nathan was undergoing examination, Haisley and Nathan’s family, along with Flavia and Abigail, followed to the hospital. Upon seeing Abigail, Haisley immediately dropped her body into the embrace of the tall and slender girl. She cried and kept murmuring thanks before hugging Flavia and uttering the same sentiments. Both of her friends could only rub Haisley’s back and comfort her.

“Everything is fine now,” they said, nodded by Haisley.

Before long, Nathan came out of the X-ray room wearing patient clothes. The doctor mentioned that one rib on the left and three ribs on the right of Nathan were cracked. The shinbone also had fractures, but not too severe. They just put a cast on his leg and advised Nathan to be careful and avoid excessive movement for the next four to six weeks. Nathan was decided to receive treatment that night due to his weakened condition.

They gathered in the VVIP room rented by Haisley’s in-laws for half an hour until the nurse asked them to go home. Eventually, only Gilbert accompanied Haisley, who insisted on staying in the hospital to be with the sleeping Nathan under the influence of the doctor’s prescribed medication.

Haisley suspected that the police would come that night, but none arrived.

“Are you okay?” Gilbert asked with a concerned look. Haisley looked at him and nodded. She did feel weak, as if her body was now experiencing the aftermath of the shock she had just gone through. However, she chose not to say anything to Gilbert.

Suddenly, Haisley covered her face with both hands and started to cry softly. Gilbert, concerned, approached and wrapped his arms around his petite sister-in-law’s shoulders, comforting her.

“I was really scared, G,” Haisley whispered. “Even though Abigail said everything would be okay, still, when I imagine everything now, it feels frightening. I don’t know what would have happened to Nathan if Flavia’s father didn’t help us. I also wouldn’t know how strong I would be if Abigail didn’t reassure me,” she said between sobs, trying to calm herself down so as not to wake Nathan. “Everything felt really creepy. Seeing Nathan sitting there with a bloody face, I felt like our lives would end right there. We wouldn’t survive and get off that ship alive. When that woman planned to make me drown, it felt like my heart was forcibly ripped out and taken away.

“I was really scared. Even the presence of the diver didn’t really make me feel safe. The loud sound of punches and gunshots. I thought there would be casualties. I thought someone would die. But fortunately, that fear didn’t come true. That woman, she’s truly terrifying, G. There’s no more sweet Loretta; she looks more like the goddess of death in my eyes,” she continued, still sobbing.

Gilbert once again rubbed Haisley’s back, and Haisley rested her face on the broad chest of her friend and brother-in-law.

“But you guys are okay now. Just consider it all a bad dream,” said Gilbert, responded to by a nod from Haisley. Shortly after Haisley appeared calm and wiped her face from tears, Gilbert asked, “What about that woman? What happened to her?”© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

Haisley explained the entire chronology of events she experienced, from the moment she received the message, Abigail’s instructions, to the two people who took her to the dock. “The knife they gave me, I gave it to Nathan. And Nathan said he stabbed the woman’s leg with that knife. I didn’t really pay attention to it, but she did limp when she was escorted by the people in all-black who saved us.

“What do you think, are they special agents?” she inquired.

Gilbert shrugged. “Whoever they are, we can only be thankful to them,” he said flatly, making Haisley nod in agreement.