The Truth Berries

XLVII

   He found himself standing alone on a sea of darkness and each step that he took created ripples that stretched far beyond his eyes could see. He did not know how long he has been there for there seemed to be no definite sense of time and space. Only two things were certain for him as he stood amidst that unfamiliar place - complete silence and heavy darkness.

       “Hello? Is anybody around? Please? Somebody help me!”, Miguel called.

       He was sure that he had a tiny hole on his abdomen before all of that. But as he searched his whole body, there was no sign of it to be found. There was no scratch or scar to indicate it ever existed before, though he was sure it really did. What’s more was that he found himself now wearing an unfamiliar clothing of pure white and its radiance illuminated the way for him. Still, he kept on walking without any certain direction for the whole place looked all the same everywhere. Every way he looked was a picture of nothingness and every time he called for help, only his voice sounded back. Miguel wandered aimlessly for a long time. He had no idea what brought him there or what was he even doing there. He was helplessly lost and no one seemed to be around to help him. Until he heard a familiar voice.

      “Miguel? What are you doing?”

       “Nadia? Is that you, honey?”

       “Miguel, why are you here? It’s not yet time for you.”

       “Where are you, Nadia? Where am I?”

       Then he saw a single ray of white light pierced the blackness. It gradually grew into a big bright spotlight and in the middle of it was Nadia in her ghostly sheen. Miguel bursted into tears when he saw her and he ran quickly to hug her. But no matter how fast and how hard he tried, the distance between them never seemed to diminish.

       “Nadia, take me with you! I long to be with you again.”

       “Oh Miguel. If only it could be. But it is not yet time for you. And baby, someone is waiting for you to come back. I hate to let you go but it is not my decision to make. So you better come back.”

       “Come back to whom?”, he asked her innocently.

       Nadia touched his cheeks to dry a tear from his face. Then she smiled at him, the kind of smile of a woman who knew something that’s secretly growing.

       “Miguel, I won’t be mad. I knew her and I think it’s about the right time for you to forget me and move on. I’m sure she would take the best care of you.”

       “I don’t want to forget you. I never will, honey!”

       “You don’t have to, but you keep on forgetting yourself too. Miguel, let everything in the past and move on. Do not dwell on it. You will only hurt yourself in what you are doing right now. Worse, you are also hurting the people who car the most to you.”

       “But you are the only one who truly cared for me!”

       “That used to be true, darling. But you know yourself that is not true anymore. That woman can give you the same love and care that I gave to you before – maybe even more. All you have to do is give her the chance that she deserves.”

       “How can I ever do that?”

       Nadia took him to her bosom and hugged him tightly. Then, she slowly pushed him away after she kissed him on his forehead.

        “You should start by going back to her now. I can see her crying terribly now just for you to come back. You should be thankful. No one ever gets to be loved by two exceptional women in just a single lifetime So you better get back now.”

       “How do I do that, Nadia?”

       Nadia put her left index finger on his chest and smiled.

       “I’m sorry for this, but you are going to hate me one last time for this one, honey.”

       She lightly pushed him back but the force seemed to be multiplied exponentially for it sent Miguel plunging backwards at out worldly speed. He tried to find anything to hold on to but there was nothing but flashes of light and the image of Nadia growing fainter and fainter. And before she totally disappeared from his sight, Miguel heard her say four last words.

       “Be good to her.”

       Miguel opened his eyes to a weeping Helen over him. She was hugging his bare chest and her warm tears ran in rivulets down his body. Now he understood what all of those meant. He was dead and her small fist still hammering his right chest was the strong proof of it.

       “How long have I been gone?”

       Helen straightened up quickly and looked at him. She could not believe her own eyes but the man had been dead for almost ten minutes. When she finally could talk, she told him what happened.

       “The bullet is out now. But you just passed away without any sign of pain. That was why I was so shocked to see you not breathing anymore, after I pulled the bullet out. What happened to you?”

       “Are we done yet?”

       “Not quite. I still have to patch you up. But please, don’t die on me again. I don’t think I could take another of that scare.”

       To her surprise, Miguel tugged her to him and held her face in his hands.

       “I won’t leave you again, I promise Helen.”

       Then, without any warning, he gave her a deep kiss. Helen took it with open eyes first for she did not expect something like that from him. But then she succumbed to him afterwards. Helen felt everything around her melt to that very moment. All her deeds and all the sacrifices she endured justified by that sweet single moment. She wanted to keep it frozen for an eternity but she knew too well that something urgent was still left undone. So even if she wanted to stay like that with him, she forced herself to break away from his kiss. Miguel slowly let her loose and she watched her open the other set of latex gloves without talking.

       “I’m sorry ‘bout that. It just – “

       “Please, don’t be because I’m not.”

       So he just kept quiet as she continued her job. She cleaned his wound one last time, sterilized the area around the wound itself and then she took the surgical stapler on the tray. She raised it before him and warned him.

       “This should be the last of the pain you should have before we are done. I’m sorry but you have to endure this too.”

       “I just had the best medication a man could ever have. I don’t think that tiny thing could cause me enough pain to forget about it.”

       Helen blushed with those words but she tried to give him a stern look.

       “We’ll see about that.”

       She loaded the gun and aimed it on his wound. Then she pinched both sides so that both sides of the wound would touch together as it was being forced to close. She fired the first shot and she heard him groan silently. When she saw that he was prettily holding up, she proceeded on. It took five staples to close his wound and the bleeding has stopped at last. Helen cleaned his wound for the last time before putting some Steri-Strips to support the staples. After that, she cut open a piece of sterile gauze pad and taped it over her sutured wound. Now she was done fixing him.

       “Finally! Now all that is left to do is give you some pain killers and antibiotics.”

       Miguel eyed the bottle of brandy on the far table.

       “I mean the right kind of pain killers.”

       Miguel smiled. They were really alike in so many ways. It was as if Nadia did not die at all but was just reincarnated in Helen’s body. But he knew that they were two totally different persons, and it would not be fair to treat her as if she was Nadia. He guessed he would have to figure the right way as they moved along. Miguel closed his eyes for some rest while she was starting to clean the mess from the bed. She was almost done and he was almost asleep when they heard a heavy crunching of gravel at the motel’s parking lot.

       And then a loud siren followed through.