002: My second chance at life

Elena's POV

I woke up with a jump, my heart beating like a drum inside my chest. What immediately came to my attention was the fact that I did not smell like the streets. The second thing was the constant sound of beeping of machines nearby.

I was at a hospital, yet I was not there as a patient. The rays of the sun were coming through the perfectly clean windows, and I stared at my hands. My hands were soft and clean. Not the broken, dirty things they had been reduced to in their two years of hell.

“Mrs. Martinez?” I was called back to reality by a voice I knew well. “Are you okay? Did you hear anything I said?”

I slowly turned my head, and there he was. Dr. James Parker, right by my side with that same sympathetic look I knew so well. It was the same deep worry in his forehead, the same cool bedside manner with which that life-shattering news had been given to me.

Or what I supposed had been the worst news of my life.

Dr. Parker went on, with his voice thick with false sympathy, "You blanked out when I told you about Marcus. It is perfectly natural. The sudden death of a spouse is traumatizing."

His statement brought up memories like a dam breaking in my head. All of the details of my former life crashed into my mind all at once, the debts, the mafia Victor Kozlov and his men, the streets, the hunger, the cold. And then, the last betrayal of finding Marcus alive, pregnant Sophia and what was supposed to be my death.

But somehow I was back. It was impossible, but I was back to the moment it all began, to that day two years ago when Dr. Parker told me Marcus was dead.

I stared at the doctor and really studied his face this time. I could see it now, the nervousness behind his eyes, the way his hands shook slightly, the sweat beading on his forehead despite the air conditioning. He wasn't grieving at all. He was scared.

"The accident was severe," Dr. Parker was saying, following the same script I remembered. "The trauma to his head... there was nothing we could do. I'm so sorry, Elena. Marcus is gone."

Gone. That lying piece of shit wasn't gone. He was definitely in that room, pumped full of whatever drug they had used to make him appear dead, waiting for the perfect moment to disappear with my step-sister Sophia.

But this time, I knew the truth and I had all the power.

After a few moments of thinking, I began to cry just like I did the first time. I let out the same broken sobs, the same devastated wails that had convinced everyone I was a grieving widow. Dr. Parker handed me the same box of tissues and made the same comforting sounds.

"I know this is difficult," he said gently. "But we may need to discuss arrangements. The morgue will need to…"

"No," I said suddenly, cutting him off. I wiped my eyes and looked at him with what I hoped appeared to be serious grief. "No funeral home."

Dr. Parker blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"I want him cremated," I said firmly. "Immediately. Today. Right now."

The change in Dr. Parker's expression was instant and beautiful. The fake sympathy vanished and was replaced by barely concealed panic. "Mrs. Martinez, I understand you're upset, but cremation is such a... permanent decision. Don't you think you should take some time to…"

"It's what Marcus would have wanted," I interrupted, my voice getting stronger. "He told me many times that he didn't want to be buried in the ground. He wanted to be cremated so his ashes could be scattered in the ocean."

That was a complete lie. Marcus had never mentioned cremation once in our entire marriage. But Dr. Parker didn't know that.

"But your family," Dr. Parker said desperately. "Surely they'll want to say goodbye? His sister Isabella, your step-sister Sophia... they'll want to pay their respects."

"They can say goodbye to his ashes," I said, standing up from the chair I was sitting in. "I'm his wife. I make the decisions about his body."

"Mrs. Martinez, please," Dr. Parker was practically begging now. "You're in shock. You're not thinking clearly. Cremation is irreversible. Once it's done, there's no going back."

"Exactly," I said, looking him straight in the eye. "I want to make sure my husband rests in peace. I want to make sure no one can ever disturb him again."

Dr. Parker's face had gone completely white. "But the...Don't you want one last chance to see him? To say goodbye?"

"I'll say goodbye at the crematorium," I said, already moving toward the door. "I want this done within the next hour."

"An hour?" Dr. Parker practically shrieked. "That's impossible! There are procedures, paperwork, death certificate…"

"Dr. Parker," I said sweetly, "is there a problem? You seem nervous."

"No problem at all," he said, his voice cracking. "I'm just... concerned about you. This is a big decision to make when you're grieving."

"I'm not grieving," I said. "I'm just a widow who wants to honor her husband's wishes."

Dr. Parker took a step back, and I saw him swallow hard. He was completely in shock by my decision and he didn't know how else to convince me otherwise. "Of course. I'll... I'll see what I can do.”

"Then you better start making arrangements," I said coldly. "Because I'm not leaving this hospital without my husband's body.”

I watched Dr. Parker fumble for his phone, his hands shaking as he dialed a number before I walked away. I had to strain hard to hear what he was saying and I could see the panic in his eyes through the window and the way he kept glancing at the door I walked out from.

"Isabella?" I heard him whisper into the phone. "We have a problem. Elena wants to cremate Marcus immediately. Yes, immediately. You need to get here now."

“Isabella? So Marcus’s sister was also a part of the plan?” I said out loud to myself. I was always so good to her and I even trained her in college and started a business for her, which she handled terribly before it crumbled.

But this time, I wasn't the naive woman who would be easily manipulated. This time, I knew exactly what game they were playing.