Chapter 2: When Reality Hits

"Objective reality, otherwise known as truth, matters."

-Justin Raimondo-

***

As she fell to the ocean, Sofia could see Christian’s cold expression and at that moment, she realized everything she had known all along was nothing but a mere lie.

It was the biggest form of betrayal she had ever experienced from anyone.

Sofia was a sweet and vibrant woman who always tried to see the best in people, she had overlooked all of the signs within him. Tears fell down from her eyes right before she splashed into the ocean.

“Am I going to die like this?” She asked herself. The pain on her shoulder was becoming overbearing. She was doing her best to reach the surface, but it was very difficult.

Eventually, she lost all of her strength and slowly closed her eyes, feeling the darkness overwhelmed her.

They said when someone was about to die from drowning, they would feel like their body’s pierced by a thousand ice cold needles.

In the beginning, Sofia felt the same way as well. Until she suddenly felt something warm enveloping her.

She was not sure how much time has passed, but when she fluttered her eyes open, the first thing she saw was a white ceiling.

“Am I dead?” She asked herself. When she tried to move her body, she could feel the pain from the gunshot wound on her shoulder and realized immediately that she was still alive.

Amid the confusion, she suddenly heard the sound of an old lady entering the room and started saying something in Greek. From the look of her face, it looked like the woman was concerned about her.

Sofia didn’t speak Greek so obviously she had no idea what this old woman was saying, but then the old woman gestured for her to stay on the bed and walked outside to call somebody.

In between reality and dreams, she was both relieved and terrified at the same time to know she was still alive.

On one hand, she was relieved because she had another chance at life and just escaped a near death situation.

On the other hand, she was terrified with the realization that what happened with Christian before was real. It was not just some nightmare. He actually shot her and left her to die in the ocean.

The two years they had spent together with each other was nothing but a mere lie. Her heart was hurt beyond measure.

They had just got married, how could he do that to her?

The door burst open and an old man and a young boy entered the room. The boy was probably around sixteen or seventeen and the old man looked like the husband or brother of the woman since they looked pretty similar to each other.

“You are awake, thank goodness.” The young boy spoke in English with an accent.

“Why am I still alive?” She asked the boy.

“My grandfather found you in the ocean when he was trying to fish, barely alive, but we managed to get you to the hospital as soon as possible and help get you treated. Luckily, you survived."

“I see, thank you, but who are you people?” She asked.

“My name is Yiannis and these are my grandparents. You don’t have to be afraid of us, we are good people.” He comforted her.

The old man said something in Greek while looking at Sofia. Since she didn’t understand, the boy translated it for her.

“My grandpa’s asking, how did you end up almost dying in the ocean?” Hearing that question, Sofia felt her heart squirming with pain again and she started crying.

“My husband, he shot me. He wanted me dead.” Sofia replied and the boy translated it again. Hearing the response, the old couple gasped in shock and the old woman gave her a sympathetic look while murmuring something in Greek that sounded like words of consolation.

Before she could say anything else, the door was opened and a doctor headed inside the room. He looked at her once and asked her a common question.

“I am happy to see you awake, we have treated your wound but you shouldn’t move around too much or else it might open again.”

Fortunately for Sofia, the doctor could speak English as well so she could easily understand him.

“Now, I know you are probably still weak from all the things you experienced. But you were admitted to the hospital without any identity. We have contacted the authority to find out about your identity but so far they couldn’t find anything.”

Sofia thought about it for a moment. Then suddenly a plan appeared in her mind.

“Who are you, miss?” The doctor asked.

“My name is Sofia.” She replied.

“Sofia, who?” The doctor continued.

“That, I cannot say.” At that moment, Sofia decided to do one of the craziest thing of her life and that was to kept her identity hidden from the rest of the world.

Yes, she decided that she would start a new life and took revenge on Christian at the same time.

She must destroy that man the same way he destroyed her life and in order to do that, she must kept herself hidden until she was powerful enough to resurface.

“Okay, if you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. But do you have any family members we can contact?” The doctor asked again and Sofia shook her head.

“No, there’s no need for that. I will be fine on my own. No need to pursue this case further as well. I will deal with it myself.” She told the doctor.

“Fine, we will not pursue this matter any further for the time being. I suggest you focus on your recovery at the moment. You have spent two days being unconscious. I will do a thorough medical checkup on you today and if all is good, you can leave tomorrow.” The doctor told her.

Two days? She had been unconscious for two whole days? At that point, Christian must have returned back to Paris to inform her death to her parents.

He was a good actor and smooth talker, surely he would be able to persuade her parents about her death.

It made her even more sure to go along with her initial plan.

That day, after she was done with her checkup, the doctor said she would be able to go home the next day. However, she didn’t know exactly where she would go at the moment, she had no money and no passport.

She could contact her family back home and got Christian judged, but it would be too easy. She wanted to take revenge on him, having him jailed immediately wasn’t satisfactory enough.

As she was thinking about it, something that had been buried on the back of her mind resurfaced. She knew someone who lived in Athens. Someone related to her grandfather. Perhaps she could ask that man’s help.

Later on that evening, the old woman and Yiannis returned back to the hospital and met her. It was at this moment Sofia asked them for one important request.

“Thank you for saving me, I know I have troubled you so much, but can I ask you for one more thing?” She asked.

“What is it?” Yiannis asked her.

“Can you please book me a flight to Athens. I promise you once I reach there, I will pay you back for everything. The hospital bills and the flight tickets. I need to meet someone in there so I can get back everything I have.” She requested.

Yiannis translated what she was saying to his grandmother who didn’t take long to answer. Yiannis smiled before looking at her.

“She said yes, don’t worry, we will book a flight ticket for you tomorrow.” She breathed in relief and thanked the two of them again.

“You should just rest for today. Oh, my grandma also brought some food. Can you eat it by yourself?” He asked.

It was the moment she realized she had not had a proper meal since she woke up. Perhaps because her mind was so occupied, she forgot about her own physical needs.

“I can eat on my own, again, thank you. You and your family has been very kind to me. I will make sure to repay you back one day.”

She was being sincere. If it wasn’t for this little family, she would have died in the ocean.

As she was eating the meal, she started to formulate a plan. She would not let Christian get away with what he did. Soon enough, that man would pay for his crime and betrayal.

She would make sure of it.