Ten hours later, after I almost lost my mind and patience, finally the team of doctors who did heart surgery to my wife comes out of the room, being led by Dr. Paresh himself.
"Doctor," my call toward Dr. Paresh halts his move.
"Mr. Bennet.."
Doctors behind him catch him up and leave him to face me alone.
"How is she ?" I ask him straightforwardly.
Dr. Paresh puts the scrubs cap from his hat and exhales before answering my question, "We are able to pull the iron from her heart and covers the whole."
"And... ?"
Once again Dr. Paresh exhales heavily. "The iron got into two of her valves and damaged them."
My heart just drops down to the floor to hear his explanation. "But... but you fix it, right ? You promised me..."
"I tried my best to fix them, Sir. I really did..."
"But... ?"
For the third times, Dr. Paresh exhales heavily. "I fixed it. But to be honest, it won't be able to function 100% like it used to."
"What's that mean ?"
"At the very least, she would have stenosis, or regurgitation, or both."
I stare at him blankly, asking for him to explain more.
"Her valves might become stiff and hard to open, or.. on the other hand, they might unable to close perfectly. Either way, she most probably will have leaks in her heart. Those leaks will force her heart to work harder to pump the blood to her lungs and inside her heart and might caused muscle damage or even heart failure."
I close my eyes with a deep frown. I feel like I loss all my strength to hear his information about Jennifer.
"How... how bad ? I mean... I mean... you said they are fixed but not 100%. How bad is the damage, after being fixed ?"
"That.. I can not tell you for sure, Sir. We can only make examination after she is conscious."
"So.. there's nothing we can do until then ?"
"I'm afraid so, Sir."
I, once again, close my eyes and, once again, exhale heavily. "Where is she now ?"
"She is taken back to the ICU," Dr. Paresh answers me, "The same room she was in before ?" He explains more when seeing the skin on my forehead crumpled in the middle.
"Oh... okay," I murmur.
Dr. Paresh pats my shoulder twice. "Don't lose hope, Sir. It is a fixable condition. We just need to know how bad the condition will be to decide the proper act."
My head nods without being ordered since my brain is actually completely in a blank state at the moment.
Dr. Paresh pats my shoulder again before excuses himself.
----------
Once again, I lose my time sitting beside Jennifer's bed, holding her left hand and put it between my palms and touching it on my forehead. Once again, my ear is hearing the same repetitive beeps and hissing of the air pump from machines that monitoring her condition.
I glance at my watch when it beeped once.00:00 AM.
"Happy birthday, Baby," I whisper softly toward Jennifer before kissing her forehead gently. "We will celebrate it once you're awake, okay, Baby ?" I continue my whisper as if she could hear me. Actually, I really believe she can hear me. Thus, I keep whispering onto her ear. "Our baby is beautiful, Babe. She looks exactly like you. You must wake up soon, Babe so you can carry..."
I halt my words when my eyes see a group of people who is coming into the room. Sara, Fred, Albert, and ... I squint my eyes when recognizing the last person, shillyshally walking beside Albert. Charlotte.
"You.. " I instantly stand up, even almost forget to lower my voice.
Charlotte immediately hides behind Albert's back.
"What do you want ?!" I hisses, suppressing my anger.
"Scott.." Sara comes toward me and hold my hand, asking me to calm down.
"Please..." Albert also speaks up, "She didn't mean to harm you." Albert moves a side a little then cleaves her hair apart. It is when I see something on her head. "Also.. She has had her punishment," he adds with a sad tone.
I exhale heavily. "Speak," I say in cold.
Albert brings Charlotte forward, petting her back to encourage her, "It's okay, Sugar. Just tell him what you need to tell."
In doubt, Charlotte takes a step closer to me. "Death.."
"Scott.." Both Sara and Fred whisper at the same time to correct her.
"I... I mean, Scott," Charlotte corrects herself. "I... I'm sorry..." She makes another step. "I... I didn't have any intention to hurt you. I've... I've never had problem with you, you know that, right ?"
I respond her with a silence.
Charlotte sighs. "I... I had to help her. I owe her."
"It's my fault," Albert adds mournfully.
"No, Tiger, it's not your fault."
"It is," Albert insists. "I was in between life and death at that time. So Black begged Viper to safe me. So she did. And when Viper needed her help to get rid of your wife, she insisted Black, reminded her about what she did to me. So, Black couldn't refuse her."
I glance at Charlotte who drops down her head and sobs silently.
"Please forgive her, Bro..." Once again, Albert speaks up on her behalf. He rounds his hand on Charlotte's shoulder to comfort her. "She has had her punishment already. Now... now..." Albert throws his face, maybe to hide his tears from me.
"It's okay, Tiger.."
Albert choked on his own saliva then coughs a little before continues his words with hoarse voice, "They forced her to wear that shit on her head. That f**king shit is even preventing her from reading minds."
Charlotte hides her face onto Albert's chest. That man embraces her and pats her back.
I exhale. "It happened, " I eventually raise my voice. "Nothing is matter more than my wife's life now. Not even a grudge."
I can see a glimmer of relieve in Albert's eyes. "So.. you would forgive her ?" He asks my confirmation.
"Sure," I say with a shrug before sitting back again beside Jennifer and reach her hand. When I still notice they are still standing there awkwardly two minutes later, I continue my words, "Now, would you leave ? I need a moment alone with my wife."
"Su.. sure..." Albert murmurs. He then leads the group to leave the room while I have already put my mind back to Jennifer.
----------
I am standing at a place. All my surrounding is misty. I barely can see anything, but somehow I feel so calm and peace.
"Daddy..." A voice of a little girl is calling me from a far. Not long after, I can see a shadow of a little girl is running toward me. I squat down and open my arm, ready to catch her. But she never comes. Where is she ?
In the middle of my confusion, a soft voice whispers through my ear, "Scott.." and followed with a gentle touch on my lower arm.
With that, I jolt a little and immediately open my eyes. It was a dream. The whispering voice belonged to Jennifer. The touch was also hers. I recognize her touch too well. Even in my dream.
But then... I feel the same touch. This time slightly on the back of my palm.
I raise my head and focus my sigh on my hand that is under her hand. Then, I can see Jennifer's fingers are moving again.
"Jen..." I call her with so much excitement.
Her fingers move again.
"Jen... are you awake, Baby ?" I call her again, slightly squeeze her fingers.
Jennifer's eyes start to move. Then slowly, her lids are opening a little.
"Hi, Baby.." I greet her, unable to hold my lips not to tremble and my voice to be shaken.
Jennifer squints, maybe to adapt with a lot of light that suddenly goes through he sight. "Where... Where am I ?" She asks, barely audible.
I squeeze her hand to express my joy. "You're in a health care, Baby.."
"What happened..." She halts her words, then moving her right hand toward her belly. :My baby.. where... what happened with my baby ?? Where is my ..."
She can not continue her words because suddenly she gasps for air. The heart monitoring machine is starting to making weird disturbing long noise.
"Baby, calm down. Your baby is fine.. Sophie is fine.." I try hard to calm her down. But I guess, she is unable to hear me because she is already having a seizure.
"Help !! Please, Help !!!" I yell in panic.