Chapt. 23 - Consciousness

“If I survive, tell me, what do you want? Freedom? I’ll give it to you.” –Mike–

***

Mike’s parents stared into the room through the large window when Angie arrived. She couldn’t speak. Her steps, which had been quick with impatience to get to the hospital, were now slow, as if her feet were stuck in the ground.

She hoped it wasn’t serious. Perhaps her mother-in-law was overreacting because Mike was her only son—finding her son in trouble, which parent wouldn’t be worried?

Angie’s jaw nearly dropped when she saw the man in the room wasn’t just receiving treatment for being unconscious—it wasn’t a minor issue as she had imagined, but something more serious. Mike, her husband, was lying there with his chest exposed, covered only by bandages. Several life-support machines, like the ones she had seen on TV, were attached to various parts of his body.

To be honest, Angie had never seen those devices up close before. Still, this time, she was seeing them right before her eyes, and the one receiving assistance from those strange machines was her husband—the man she had married just a few months ago, and even then, it was only a formal arrangement.

It must be made clear that there was nothing special about their relationship.

However, why did Angie’s chest feel tight as she watched what Mike was going through now? She stumbled and nearly fell to the floor, if not for her mother-in-law, who was quickly catching her.

“What’s happening to Mike, Ma?” Angie turned to her in-laws with reddened eyes. She tried to regain her composure, which was now drifting aimlessly due to what she had witnessed today. “Mike is okay, right?”

The two elders remained silent, heads bowed, upon hearing Angie’s question.

How could he be okay? It was clear how the man inside was faring. The oxygen tube was still assisting his breathing, and Angie felt guilty for nearly betraying the man who had turned her life upside down.

She had almost disgraced the family by planning to run away with another man.

Angie brushed aside her mother-in-law’s arm and walked confidently toward the window, gazing at Mike. Unconsciously, she pressed her hand against it, as if she could touch him.

“The operation he underwent failed. Some armed men managed to find them and launched an attack. Unfortunately, Mike became the victim, as he was the one they were targeting,” Zack, Mike's father said.

Vivian, the mother-in-law, sobbed. Her face was swollen, as if she had been crying since earlier. “I told you, we didn’t need to move everything in one night, especially after discovering the betrayal. Why did you insist?”

Mike’s father hung his head, unable to refute his wife’s accusations. What Vivian said was true. Why hadn’t he considered the news as a warning? It was clear who they were targeting. Their son.

“Who are they?” Angie asked, though she didn’t understand what had actually happened, she wanted to know how her husband—a man with a brilliant, cunning, and ruthless mind—could be defeated by ordinary criminals?

“We don’t know who they are either. No traces were left after the incident, even though Greg tried to find them. It’s as if they had been preparing everything for a long time.”

“Then how is Mike now?”

Vivian shook her head, then sobbed again.

Serious. Mike’s condition must be severe. Vivian wasn’t someone who tended to overreact, nor was she a fairy godmother type of mother who treated her son with kid gloves. She could have pointed a gun at Mike’s head if he dared to defy her orders.

Therefore, when she saw Vivian devastated, Angie knew something was seriously wrong. Mike was not okay.

“He just came out of surgery. We didn’t even get to accompany him; only Greg and a few guards were there because his condition was so critical that, if not treated immediately, he wouldn’t just be disabled for life—it would be worse than that.”

Disabled?

Angie must have heard wrong. Or was that really what happened? Her father-in-law wouldn’t joke about something like this, would he?

“It’s impossible... Mike–” Angie shook her head in disbelief. Her gaze was vacant, fixed on Mike, who showed no signs of injury on his face or body, but as her father had said, he might lose the ability to move his lower body. “I’m sorry, Mike...”

Angie recalled how she had parted ways with Mike the previous night. She had ignored him and felt no premonition, even though Mike’s behavior seemed odd.

Since they got married, he had never once said goodbye to Angie. Even when going to the office, he would leave, disappearing and reappearing suddenly like a ghost. That night, Mike knocked on her door and spoke unusual words.

Recalling all that, Angie’s chest felt tight as if crushed by thousands of tons of rock.

Her tears broke free instantly. Though she didn’t understand why the tears were flowing, her defenses crumbled without her being able to stop them.

Mike was annoying and terrifying, and he left her baffled because he was the first man she’d ever met who was so uniquely strange.

Despite his intimidating appearance and occasional menacing grin, Mike had never once taken advantage of the situation or tried to touch her carelessly, even though they were married, and doing so would have been a necessity.

Now, Angie regretted it. She cursed herself, thinking she should have opened the door that night and let Mike do whatever he wanted to her. After all, the man had never again threatened her with a gun like he had during their first meeting.

However, Angie realized that regret is useless now. She now only hoped that Mike would be okay, no matter his condition. She promised—a promise she might regret, or perhaps the opposite—that she would stay by Mike’s side no matter what happened. God and the universe had witnessed them like the wedding vows she had spoken and couldn't break.

'In joy and sorrow, sadness and happiness. Health and sickness. Until death do us part.'

***

The doctor had allowed them to visit Mike in the ward, as Mike had shown good progress. Angie had truly kept her promise, staying by her husband’s side and hoping that the man she had always called a scoundrel would open his eyes and find her for the first time.

However, the hope of being alone with Mike, caring for and accompanying him without any disturbances, seemed unlikely to ever be realized.

A woman entered the room elegantly, removing her sunglasses and looking Angie up and down like a beggar wandering under a bridge.

"What are you doing here?" asked the woman with a cynical look that didn't faze Angie at all. From the start, she disliked the woman’s presence, making the already-strained relationship between Angie and Mike even more complicated and uncomfortable.

“Shouldn’t I be the one asking? What are you doing here?” Angie replied calmly.

The woman snorted, pulling a chair closer to Mike’s bed.

“Of course, I want to be with my beloved man. What about you? Why did you come? Haven’t you already decided who you chose? That man is certainly more attractive to you than Mike—though I can say, you’re not worthy of a great man like him. What’s his name? Jordan Fall, right?”

Angie was startled by the woman’s words. The meeting between her and Jordan had been arranged so no one would know. But how could Cintya know everything? Even about Jordan.

A great man? What did she mean?

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about. How did you find out about that?”

Cintya’s expression changed slightly when Angie looked at her with suspicion. However, her pale face quickly returned to normal.

“Do you think I don’t know about you? I deliberately asked some people to watch you. I was quite surprised to find out who you were targeting. Isn’t Mike enough for you? Is it because he’s not as rich as Jordan?”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, it seems this little bunny doesn’t know anything about Jordan. Don’t you like him very much? You should find out about him.”

Angie didn’t like hearing the nickname “little bunny” come out of Cintya’s mouth. Besides, how did that woman know the nickname Mike often used for her? Was Mike really that close to his aunt, so they usually discussed something very personal? Why did Angie dislike it whenever she remembered how her husband praised the woman who wasn’t his biological mother?

Angie glared at Cintya, who then called over a few burly men, who immediately grabbed Angie's arms and dragged her out of Mike’s room. She struggled, resisting moving even an inch from where she was.

However, of course, her strength was no match for two men as big as they were.

"Let me go, you bastards! Mike will kill you if he finds out you touched his wife!"

Her words were met with loud laughter from Cintya, which grew louder as they dragged Angie’s body nearly to the door. However, an object flew through the air and struck one of the men, who immediately released his grip on Angie’s arm.

The man turned, as did Cintya and Angie. All three were stunned to discover who had thrown the bottle of mineral water with such precision.

"Let her go, or you'll lose your heads right now!"