She's My Sleeping Pill

755 SECRETS, GUILT AND COMA

Stefan’s blood ran cold and his grip tightened around the phone. He didn’t even hear what Cayenne was talking about. It was only until his chest hurt that he realized he stopped himself to breathe. No bomb was dropped but there was a ringing sound in his ears.

“Hon?” Cayenne called out but she was met with silence. “Hon? What’s wrong?” Silence. “Stefan!”

Stefan jolted back into reality and looked around to check where exactly he was. In front of him, Cayenne was fuming and her cheeks were puffed up which made her look adorable instead of looking fierce. “I’m sorry. I got lost in my thoughts.”

“It must be something so worrisome because you didn’t pay attention to me.”

“It is but I can handle it.” Stefan said and smiled faintly which didn’t reach his eyes at all and Cayenne knew that he was hiding something. Knowing that Stefan was someone who never wanted her to worry, she didn’t force him to tell her, if he thinks it was better for her not to know anything; she was fine with it.

But, “if you won’t tell me, I’m fine with it but if you think I should know it, no matter how bad the news is, I’ll handle it.”

“Give me two days. I’ll let you know in two days.”

Cayenne nodded her head because she knew that Stefan didn’t mean to keep it a secret. There must be a reason why he needed to sort it out in two days. Though, she couldn’t help wondering what happened. Since there wasn’t anything, she can do to help; she decided to go downstairs and make him some snacks.

As soon as she left, Stefan called Travis immediately. The latter already knew the news that involved Monet and Thomas in Baguio and when Jillyanna heard Stefan’s voice on the other end of the line, she turned on the speaker of her husband’s phone. “Stefan? Can you hear me? Is Yen with you?”

.....

“No, she went out to get something.”

“Don’t let her know. I know that she’s brave but I’m still worried for her especially since she’s pregnant.”

“I promised to tell her the news in two days.”

“Two days? Are you serious? Monet is in critical condition right now and Cayenne...you know that she would blame herself.”

This was what worried Stefan the most. The accident happened because Monet tried to run away from Thomas again. Thomas came to Baguio because Stefan told him about this clue. Stefan knew about it because Cayenne shared this information with him; not wanting to hide anything in their relationship. Monet told Cayenne of her whereabouts because she trusted her. In short, it all boiled down to Cayenne’s betrayal. If she knows about this, she will be devastated. Stefan can’t allow that to happen.

“I’ll have to talk to her about this, Jill. I can’t keep this a secret forever. I promised her. No matter how bad the news is, she deserves to know it.”

“Alright. I’ll send Brown in two days just in case something happens.”

“Thank you. Have you checked on them already? You are the first people I called when I heard about it. I haven’t informed Tristan yet.”

“I’d be going there tonight. Travis already informed Monet’s parents. No matter how much we want to support her decision, we still can’t prevent her parents from knowing what happened.”

“How about aunt Josephine?”

“I told her about what happened and she already booked a flight to the Philippines,” Travis answered since he was the one who contacted Thomas’ mother.

The three of them discussed what they could do to help the two people who were both their friends. Unfortunately, with Monet’s critical and delicate situation, they could not transport her overseas. The doctors preferred to keep her under monitoring. The only good thing that happened was the doctor’s presence who coincidentally passed by the street where the accident happened. He was even on his way to work. If not for him, they would have died.

The doctor called the emergency hotline of Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center even before he could get out of his car and the hospital responded immediately.

The situation was terrible. The driver of the bus that hit the taxi which Monet and Thomas used died on the spot. After the investigation, it was confirmed that the brakes of the bus malfunctioned which caused the driver to lose control going downhill. The street wasn’t really a steep slope and he could have avoided his death if the taxi wasn’t there in front of him.

The taxi driver was also confused. If he moved forward, he will hit the big truck in front of him. If he moved back, there was a big chance that the bus will turn them into a sandwich with the wall. In the last minute of confusion, he saw how swiftly the woman moved behind him and protected the other passenger. He was truly shocked seeing how big her stomach was, yet she chose to save the man, and his feet instinctively step on the accelerator which he knew could save the three of them – four including the unborn child.

Although he hit the loaded truck in front of him, the airbag saved his life and he didn’t think of the consequences anymore. He just wanted to check his passengers as soon as he could but moving around jolted him from the unbearable pain. His leg which was stepping on the accelerator got stuck between his seat and the broken dashboard.

True, the bus didn’t hit his taxi. It swerved a little and hit the metal lamp post before hitting the wall. Sadly, because of the strong impact, the lamp post bent and hit the window which Monet blocked to protect Thomas. The shards of the broken glass didn’t do much damage to her body because she was wearing thick clothes. The huge problem was the dent in the taxi that hit her head directly and the metal case of the lamp which smashed her shoulder and the base of her neck.

Then and there, Monet and the taxi driver lost consciousness. Only Thomas remained conscious while calling Monet’s name again and again, again and again, despite the amount of blood dripping on his face.

In the hospital, Thomas was looking through the window glass of the intensive care unit where Monet was being constantly monitored. He was told that she lost so much blood and needed a transfusion. Then, he was informed that the baby inside her belly was doing fine; very brave of the child to cling to life when its mother was already at death’s door. Once they were sure that they provided her with the best and most immediate care, they moved her to this room for monitoring.

“When will she wake up?” Thomas asked the nurse who came out from the ICU.

“As of the moment, we could not tell. The test results conducted for her showed that her brain received trauma from the impact of the car dent. Her shoulder and the base of her neck got affected as well which is critical for her movement once she recovered. There was also a blood clot in her head which we were able to remove but in medical terms, she’ll probably have amnesia. We can’t say for sure. In any case, we will inform you as soon as she wakes up.”

“And the baby?”

“So far, the baby is safe. You don’t have to worry about him.”

“Thank you.”

Jess felt really bad about what happened and she couldn’t even look at Monet’s pale face. She was so guilty and blamed herself for causing them this dreadful issue. She thought that, if she didn’t interfere, Monet wouldn’t have to run away and Thomas wouldn’t have the need to follow her. Their relationship would have ended then and there. But, there’s no way of changing the past. No matter how much she regrets it, she could not turn back the time and correct the mistake she did.

Thomas saw the assistant crying on the bench outside the ICU. He could tell what was running on her head and he felt guilty. If he didn’t force her to say something, Monet would still be alive and her assistant wouldn’t be sitting here with swollen eyes.

Guilt, regret, and unbearable sadness weighed on them. It wasn’t just them. Monet’s parents who learned about what happened could only cry in repentance. Monet’s action was enough proof that they did something wrong; something she wasn’t happy about. If they cared for her, if they trusted her to choose the man that she would love for the rest of her life, she wouldn’t need to hide the fact that she got pregnant. And even if she didn’t tell them who the father was, they already have an idea of who the man was. Yet, Thomas seemed to not know anything about her pregnancy either. As her parents, they felt that they lack attention and care toward their daughter. Now, that she’s in critical condition, she would not be able to hear their plea to live and their apology.

The next day, Travis and Jillyanna left to visit Thomas and Monet in Baguio City. Since it was not a trip for vacation, they left their children to Alex and Sky and the two elders felt really happy to take care of their grandchildren.

Both of them prayed that nothing bad will happen to Monet. Currently, she was the only one that needs continuous care and monitoring. Her sacrifice kept Thomas from any harm but the man was always wallowing in guilt that he refused to eat if she stays unconscious.

And worse, when Jillyanna and Travis came, they were greeted with bad news. Monet was finally declared in a coma. Her pupils were not responding to light and she was no longer responding to painful stimuli. Even though she was alive, her brain was functioning at its lowest stage of alertness.

Thomas broke down at the news and Monet’s parents could do nothing but tear up in sadness. Their prayers were unanswered. The taxi driver’s family even came to apologize for what happened even though the man was not at fault. And even if they wanted to blame the driver of the bus, they don’t have the heart to. The driver died already.

Back in City A, Cayenne was prohibited to use her phone for a long time because of radiation. She was not allowed to use the computer either for more than 3 hours in one day. Since this rule existed after they learned that she got pregnant, she wasn’t bothered that Stefan shortened the time even more. She was only allowed to use her phone if it was for a very, very important matter; and she can use the computer for projects and research. Most of the time, you can find her reading a book about pregnancy.

Stefan did all these to prevent her from knowing about what happened to Monet and Thomas, but as the saying goes ‘you can’t keep a smoke tightly under wraps’ and that applies to secrets. No matter how much you try to keep it, it will come out one day.

And that day came rather early for Cayenne to know the truth of the incident. Carla was eating something in the kitchen when Cayenne came to get some fruits. It just so happened that Carla scrolled up and the next post was about Monet and Thomas. Cayenne thought she was just seeing things when she turned around but something told her to look at it again.

Grabbing Carla’s phone, she read the news with trembling hands. Her knees were shaking and she dropped to the floor looking pale and frightened.

“Miss Yen? Miss Yen!”