Contract And Marriage

Maximus

After Sarina left the hospital, I got really busy. Even though I didn’t want to leave her, I let her visit Dr. Miraez. I learned from her bodyguard that she saw the doctor, and I was fine with that since she had someone with her whom I trusted to protect her. She also told me about her sessions and why she needed them.

A couple of days ago, my wife asked if I could come with her to the next session. Who was I to say no? So here we are, sitting in front of Dr. Miraez, who is smiling at us. Although I could see some worry on her face, she still seemed optimistic about my wife’s condition. Maybe she was just concerned about what Sarina might discover, too.

“How are you, Mr. and Mrs. Lardizabal?” the kind doctor greeted us with a smile.

“We’re doing well,” my wife answered cheerfully, while I only managed a small smile.

I couldn’t help but feel worried for my wife, especially after she told me that she felt like she was about to find out something more. I could see the fear and anxiety on her face, but she tried hard to show me that she was okay.

“Are you sure you’ll be alright, my wife?” I asked, unable to hide my concern.

“Now that things are better with Grandma Sol, and I know I still have my parents and family-plus you, Chase, and the baby inside me-I’ll do everything for all of you. I want peace of mind, and I won’t get that if I don’t find out the truth behind everything that’s happened to us.”

I couldn’t respond to what she said and just looked at her quietly. I didn’t realize she had been thinking this deeply, too. Maybe it was because of her dreams.

“I’m here for you, to stay by your side and support you, my wife.” She nodded and smiled before turning to Dr. Miraez, who kept looking at us warmly.

“I’m ready,” my wife said, and the kind doctor nodded. Sarina sat on the couch, and they began her session while I sat quietly off to the side.

“Sarina, last time, you mentioned that you were in a car,” Dr. Miraez began, moving her hand, which my wife followed with her gaze.

“Yes, Doc.” I didn’t ask my wife what happens during her sessions because she usually tells me later. But she hadn’t mentioned what her doctor was asking now.

“Let’s continue. In the car, you tried to escape.”

“Yes, but there was a man.” And then, just like that, my wife closed her eyes, but I felt she wasn’t asleep because she kept answering Dr. Miraez.

“Where am I?”

“Who are you?”

“What do you want from me?”

She kept asking questions, and I was sure they weren’t directed at her doctor. “What are they doing to you?” Dr. Miraez asked.

“They brought me into a moving room and threw me onto a bed. I felt dizzy; everything around me was spinning.” The fear in my wife’s voice was so clear that I wanted to go to her and hold her, but her doctor stopped me.

“Roskov?” I stood up when she mentioned that name. That monster is behind all of this?

“What do you want from me?”

“Where are we?”

“What do you mean? Who told you to do this?”

“Please, let me go. I need to be with my husband…”

“Stop! What are you doing? Untie me, Roskov!”

I wanted to leave the room. I didn’t think I could bear hearing my wife say these things. What did that monster Roskov do to her? And he tied her up, too?

I was holding back my anger, unsure if it was right to go along because I might lose control after everything I had just learned. Even though Dr. Miraez had warned me about what could happen and how I might feel, I didn’t expect it to hurt this much, seeing my wife suffering. I can’t imagine what she had gone through at the hands of that monster, Roskov.

“What’s that? No! Don’t inject me with that!” Sarina screamed.

“What are you doing to me, Roskov?”

“What do you mean he’s coming? Who told you to do this to me?” Her voice started to weaken as if she was affected by whatever the man had injected into her.

“I don’t want to sleep; why would I sleep?”

“I want to go to my husband; I want to go to Maximus…” I was on the verge of tears because it felt like she was hoping I would suddenly appear and save her.

“Please, let me go. Take this off of me. Untie me, please. I didn’t want to be treated this way…”

“Who are you?”

“I never thought you could do this to me…” She was speaking in Tagalog now, which meant the person she was talking to understood Tagalog. So, it wasn’t Roskov anymore!

Sarina stayed quiet, but her tears began to fall. I felt so sorry for her; it was like my heart was being squeezed from the pain of watching her suffer.

“Nooo…” I stood up when my wife suddenly screamed, her tears flowing and her body shaking with fear.

“No, don’t say that. Let me go!!!” She screamed, and suddenly, her cheek turned to the right as if someone had slapped her.

“Ahhh!!” She kept screaming with her hands raised in the air.

“Let me go!!! Let me go!!!” she cried while her legs spread wide open.

“For mercy’s sake, please stop…” I could see that she was struggling as if someone was pinning her down and choking her while violently taking advantage of her. Who was the heartless person who did this to my wife?

“Noooo…. Maximussss…” My heart shattered when she called my name. She begged for help, but I wasn’t there to save her. How could I have left her like that? I collapsed back into my seat, feeling like a candle melting down. I needed something to hold on to after discovering what my wife had gone through. I couldn’t help but blame myself-if only I had been quicker, if only we hadn’t left that day when our flight got delayed. There were so many “if only,” but I knew I couldn’t change the past.

Sarina kept repeating the same things, which probably meant the person who hurt her did the same horrible things to her over and over. The pain I felt from not being able to find her and save her was just as relentless.

“Roskov, please, help me…” My eyes widened. Why was she asking for help from that man?

“Roskov!” Sarina cried.

“Roskov!”

“Roskov!”

“Argh!!”

“Let him go…” I couldn’t understand what was happening anymore, but I felt that maybe Roskov had helped her.

“Sarina,” called Dr. Miraez. “Sarina, can you hear me?” But my wife didn’t respond.Property © of NôvelDrama.Org.

“Sarina, tell me, who just arrived?”

“Let her go, I said… Ump! Argk!”

“Run, I need to run; he can’t catch me!”

“Where are you, Sarina?” Dr. Miraez asked.

“Shore, I’m on a yacht,” she replied.

“I need to run; I stabbed him. I didn’t mean to… But if I didn’t do it, he wouldn’t stop,” she said, breathing heavily as if talking to herself. Did she stab the person who hurt her? Where was Roskov?

“Run, Sarina, don’t let Jason catch you!”