Chapter 4: Return from the abyss

~Melissa~

“We’re getting a divorce” 

“Sign the papers Melissa!” 

“Wait...... Robert? Please” 

“Your no longer my responsibility” 

***********************

The echoed sounds of my last memories [which felt more like nightmares] jolted me awake. 

My eyelids twitched and felt heavy, as though I had been in an eternal slumber. Before they fluttered open........as I slowly regained consciousness. 

The lights above me were too bright, blurring my vision. 

“Thank heavens.........Doctor! Come quick, she's finally awake” I hear a female voice in the background call out. 

The sterile scent of antiseptic wafted in the air filling up my nostrils. With the faint sound of beeping monitors beside me, making me realize I was in a hospital room despite my mind being a hazy mess. 

My body limbs felt sore and heavy.....most especially my legs, with every attempt to move being futile. Mixed with a dull, throbbing pain in my head. 

“Urgh”. 

What happened to me?

I silently winced out, asking no one in particular. My voice sounds hoarse and almost alien. My throat feels unbearably parched, in desperate need of water. 

"W-water…. please." I pleaded 

A soft voice responded almost immediately. The nurse perhaps. 

“Here you go miss”. she said, lifting a straw to my pale lips to take a sip out of the water filled glass. 

“The doctor will soon be here okay” she calmly reassured me, before exiting out the room almost abruptly.  

*******************

“What do you mean I've been in a coma for a month?”.

The doctors pronouncement struck me like a punch to the gut, leaving me disarrayed. 

A month?. The thought made me claw at my chest that tightened with panic. Instinctively, I attempt to sit up, steadying myself on the hospital bed, but my body was too weak and unyielding. 

"Take it slow," the doctor said, gently pressing me back into the pillow. "You've been through a lot. Just breathe." 

In the midst of my dilemma, I closed my eyes, letting the gravity of the moment settle in, as I try to recall what happened to me but everything is a blur. 

“What happened to me doctor?”

“Why I'm i here?”. I mumbled the questions with a croaked voice, in desperate need of answers. 

But rather than giving a swift response, the doctor fell silent—for a bit too long. One which made me feel a cold wave of fear, ripple through me. 

“Before I proceed, I would like to know your name miss. Just to be certain your not suffering from a head concussion” he uttered with a soft yet firm tone, breaking the prolonged awkward silence between us. 

“Melissa! Melissa Mon—

I stuttered, now realizing I no longer had the right to that name. I quickly retracted my words. “Melissa Cortez”. Now going by my maiden name. 

“Well Miss Cortez, he began. I'm afraid I have some unsettling news”. 

"You were involved in a car accident. A very serious one. Your car was struck head-on. You suffered significant injuries—particularly to your face and abdomen. We've done multiple surgeries over the last few weeks, including a complex facial reconstruction."  

 Hearing the doctors nerve wrecking pronouncement, my heart palpitated, slamming hard against my rib cage, as panic surged through me.   

Of course! my face. It now made sense why it was banded up in thick bandages and the aching stings I felt—an aftermath of the stitches done. 

I tried to lift my hand to touch it, but couldn’t find the strength within me.

“My face.......It–its different”. the words spew from my cracked voice, as tears now threaten to spill.

 The doctor gave a small nod, and continued by saying, "Yes, the damage was severe, Miss Cortez. We did everything we could, but there will be some scarring. The swelling has gone down, but it’s too early to know exactly how much of the damage will be permanent”. Further confirming my fears, as a gasp escapes my breathe. 

Facial reconstruction! The words felt like a bitter after taste, with reality slowly seeping in. Not only was I out cold for a whole month, but my face—my identity was no more. Completely erased, like an afterthought. 

What sort of ill fated luck had befallen me? I wondered.

 First my whole world comes crashing down with Roberts insistence on a divorce, and now I was left to deal with the repercussions that came like a vicious tsunami, all of which was too burdensome to bare. 

“I know this must be very hard to process Miss Cortez, but is there a relation or loved one you would like us to reach out to on your behalf?” the doctors voice, warm and gentle, inquired as his sympathetic eyes gazed at me. Like they instantly read me like an open book based on my countenance. Pulling me out of my brief wander. I swallowed down hard at the lump in my throat before responding. 

“No! Doctor–i have no one”. the words come out sour. When suddenly my eyes bulged in horror as an instant realization triggered my mind. 

“What about my baby doctor?. Is my baby safe?” I immediately questioned him, with a flicker of optimism in my eyes hoping to hear something positive for a change. 

“Miss Cortez!. he began and then let out a small sigh, averting his head to the floor briefly. “There’s no easier way to say this, but you lost one of your babies” the doctor said with an unsettling tone in his voice. 

“One? what do you mean by one doctor?. I asked, feeling really confused by his shocking revelation. 

“Yes, Miss Cortez. You were pregnant—with twins—specifically boys. Unfortunately you lost one but the other survived and is stable in your womb. Which I consider a miracle seeing the tragic incident you encountered”. He firmly responded. 

My breathe hitched for a moment, “Twins!” The words hit me like a fist, as I blinked rapidly, trying to process what he just said, but the room seemed to spin around me. 

Before now I was oblivious of my child's gender and now realizing I was pregnant with twins, rather than being in a celebratory mood I was engulfed with grief towards the child I had lost due to my carelessness. 

I say carelessness because if I hadn't reacted the way I did by driving recklessly, all of these would have been avoided and so I blamed myself. But I felt even more resentment and contempt towards Robert–my now ex husband for putting me out the way he did, by choosing Jodie over me despite my efforts at being a dutiful wife. 

Hot. painful tears spilled out from my eyes, now unable to hold back the pain that clawed at my chest. An unusual chill brushed against my skin, sending shivers down my spine. My hands that now felt a bit strong, clutched hard at the bedsheets underneath me, desperate to feel anchored in this new reality I had woken up to. 

“I’m sorry I couldn't protect you baby”. 

“I’m really sorry”. I whimpered, mourning my losses. 

The doctor reached out, resting a gentle hand on mine. "I know this is a lot to take in. It’s a devastating loss. I’m so sorry. We’ll do everything we can to help you recover—physically and emotionally." offering his heartfelt empathy and reassurance. 

I turned my head toward a window at another side of the room, the light outside harsh and unfeeling. I felt numb, like I was floating above my body, looking down at a woman who was no longer the same. An identity that felt foreign–and unbelonging to me.   

“As much as I sympathize with you miss Cortez, I'm afraid there's more” the doctor blurted out. His words sounded like a nuclear bomb about to explode. 

More? What more could he possibly say that is worse than everything I had discovered?. 

“What is it doctor?” I asked with a tremble in my voice, bracing myself for the worse. 

Just as he was about to respond, the hospital's room door gently swung open when two middle aged people, a man and a woman dressed luxuriously walked in with soft smiles on their faces. 

“Ah, your here just in time” the doctor said to them, clearly aware of who they were. As confusion consumed me. 

“Miss Cortez, this is Mr & Mrs Cassagrande! he began and then paused in between___

 “Your new guardians”. he revealed, taking me aback by his utterance, as I gazed at the people who stood before me. Oblivious of who they were. 

Guardians? 

What does he mean by Guardians?. I thought, feeling even more perplexed. 

Just when I assumed things couldn't get worse than they were......they actually did. 

And for a moment I wished I didn't awaken from my coma, only to be compounded with such bizarre revelations.