"Nobody gets in my way, everybody step aside, you understand?" She warned the moment she stepped into the hall.
"Priyanka, wait, Priyanka." Max blocked her, standing in front of her. "You can't go in right now. His condition is still very critical."
She smack his chest, tears rolling down her cheeks as she snap at him. "And that is why am here! To see my fiancée! He was with me four hours ago, he kissed me, he told me he loves me and then he told me he has some unfinished stuffs to do here, that's why he left. He didn't tell me he was going to a coma."
"How obvious it is that you personally caused the accident." Francesca stood up, her eyes swollen like she has been crying all day.
To be candid and sincere, Priyanka is definitely not ready for a fight right now. She don't even have the strength to but looking at Francesca right now, it looks like she's forever ready to take her down.
"Listen to me, Francesca –"
"You almost killed my brother!"
"Listen to me!"
"Fuck whatever you have to say! I fucking hate you! I hate you indian bitch!"
Quarrels, noise, shouting, insults, name it. They filled the atmosphere. Leading to the ring of war. Max is trying to convey the issue with the ladies but Francesca is just making the whole thing worse. All she wants right now is to beat Priyanka to death. She just wants to strangle her neck and bite her pink cheek.
"Francesca," Tristan tries to soothe his girlfriend but she's just too stubborn to caution.
"What is it? Let me be! I need to tell her the truth. She set my brother up. Isn't it evident enough? He was at her place earlier and he had an accident on his way home and she is to be held responsible."
"Things don't work like that, Francesca." Harry commented. "She won't do a thing like that when she loves him."
Love, love, love. Ha ha. Francesca laughed heavenwards. "You think she loves Justin hundred percent? This...good for nothing, secondhanded piece of shit? This….this –"
"Enough, Francesca!" Adela booted in. She won't stand her daughter lacing fowl names on her soon-to-be daughter in-law while she's sitting here. "Priyanka has done nothing wrong. She is a good woman and won't want to hurt your brother, so stop talking nonsense."
Seeing Adela in pain, Priyanka felt her chest heavy. She went and sat next to her. Rubbing her back. "I couldn't stop him." She tried to hold back the tears that kept flowing down. "I couldn't do anything. I'm so stupid and useless –"
"No dear," Adela shook her head and wiped Priyanka's face. "You're still useful to me and to this family. Whatever happened is not your fault. You are innocent, you hear me? You're innocent. Now stop crying because if Justin wakes up and sees you like this, he's going to be so mad at you."
Unable to hold on the urge of busting out, Priyanka hid her face on Adela's chest and sobbed bitterly.
Later in the evening, the doctor came out and met only few persons sitting on the porch. Tristan took Francesca home to change, Max left to see Claudia and Harry left to see an important client. Adela refused to go home. Priyanka was still sitting next to her. Ben walked in and joined them an hour ago after the others had left. Even him is short of words right now. After escaping the paparazzi at the gate, he still receives notification of interviews about his son's accident.
His eyes went to Priyanka, wondering if she was involved in his son's accident. Something tells him YES and something also tells him NO. He only knew her few days, he doesn't know her deeply as his son has. But he prays that she doesn't have a hand in this incident because he is ready to drag this issue to the ground. And whosoever is involved in it must rot in prison. He swears.
Hoping that the doctor has a positive news, they stood up to meet him. "Please relax. He is not awake yet but there are still chances he might survive."
He might? That's an understatement for Priyanka. "Our wedding is coming up next weekend and you stand here to tell me 'he might survive?"
Adela place a hand on her shoulder when she saw how furious she was becoming.
Ben interfered, "Doctor, please do everything you can in your power to save my son. Money is not a problem, just save him. He is my only son."
Aww….so sad. The doctor let out a deep sigh. "I will try my possible best, your excellency." Then he left.
Ben went out few minutes after to get what he ordered. A giant pack of chicken pizza and three bottles of diet coke. "Justin told me you have allergic to fishes so I thought chicken is an alternative." He placed the pack on the table and opened it.
Mmm. Smoking hot with the cold drink.
Adela dig in but Priyanka declined. "Am not hungry. I will only eat when my fiancée wakes up."
Ben picked a slice and took a bite, "You should try eat something now or else you might get sick."
"Yeah, as far as am concerned, my son won't die. So eat up, honey." Adela added, her mouth full of pizza.
Priyanka looked at the two hungry couples eating hungrily and gulping their bottles in half. The giant pizza was disappearing bit by bit by every slice. She don't feel like eating because she has no appetite. Her appetite will only come when her man wakes up.
Max walked in with a slim fair blonde lady by his side. "Sorry I left for long and um," He gave Priyanka a flask. "I know you'll be hungry. My girlfriend here made something so I brought some for you."
She groaned, complaining. "I'm not hungry. I just want to see Justin."
"You will definitely see him but not right now. Okay?" When she shook her head and initiated to cry, he squatted down in front of her, holding her hands. "Listen to me, Priyanka." He whispered. "I know how you really feel right now, I understand the situation but you have to eat something, please."
"Why wasn't I the one who had the accident instead?" Her words breaking as she controls the urge of tearing up. "Our wedding is around the corner and this fatal incident just occurred. How do you want me to coax the situation and eat?"
"It's not easy for you, I know and it's not also easy for him in there alone. He is fighting for his life right now, to make sure he makes it. And he won't be happy seeing you starve yourself for him." He caress her lap softly then adds, "Please."
He smiled and kissed the top of her head when she agreed to eat. At least even if it's just few spoons. After Max and his girlfriend left for the night, Ben followed later, leaving Adela and Priyanka in the hospital.
It was midnight when Priyanka managed to fall asleep. She was in a revelation that seems so real. In that revelation, she was in her mermaid form, swimming so fast to the dept of the ocean. She was searching for the root of saving her fiancée' life. She got to the bottom of the water where two hefty mermans stood at the border's entrance, holding spares and sword to guard the entrance.
She greeted them and they allowed her in. The goddess of the ocean, her biological mother. Mother Teresa, was seated on the throne, red haired that reaches her waist to her rainbow tail. She look no differ from her daughter. She smiled, arms spread abroad when she saw her daughter for the first time in a month.
Priyanka gladly went to hug her. She was eleven when she swim in the Florida ocean and met her for the first time. "Mother."
"My one and only child. How have you been, my dear?" She welcomed her to sit next to her throne.
"Things have been going very well, mother. But my heart is troubled."
She took up her golden staf and stab it on the ground, "What is that thing that dares to disturb the princess of the sea?"
Looking sad, Priyanka let out a deep sigh. "Mother, the love of my life is in the midst of life and death. Our wedding is sooner and he had an accident."
"Daughter!" Her father, Jonah, a merman with silver tail, shouted. Eyes wide open in rage. "That man is a human. You are not supposed to spend the rest of your life with him."
Priyanka stood up, abruptly. Matching her anger with his. "But I love him! He is the man I've chose to spend the rest of my life with."
"Not in history!" He gritted his teeth, quietly giving her a sound warning. "We sent you out to land to study the nature of humans and not to fall in love with them."
"Sorry I failed you dad. But this man took my attention and I love him."
He looked at his wife, the goddess, "Can you hear your daughter talking? She is obviously playing with fire. She knows the penalty and she wants to put herself at stake."
Mother Teresa turn to her daughter, "My dear, we are mermaids not humans. We have laws that governs the entire sea and oceans of the world. It will break the record of our history if you let your heart take over your mind."
No, no. They still don't get it or is it that they don't believe in real love. "Mom, put yourself in my fins. I love this guy, I want to have children with him. I want to carry his heirs and heiresses."
"Ha!" Jonah laughed wickedly. "Baby mermaids, huh? Populate the human world with baby mermaids."
"He doesn't care! He knows what I truly am."
"Of course he does." He scoffed, crossing his arms. "Love at first sight is working. I can sense it, darling. You seriously think you have fore-eyes, didn't you? An eleven year old adolescence falling in love with an eighteen year old adult she only met at the shore in one night in Florida. And then, she kept appearing to his dreams, telling him about his future, how do you expect him not to love you to death? You are the one that started it first."
Tears bust out of her eyes and her mother felt pathetic. "Jonah, we have to let this girl live her life freely. We can't control her anymore."
"Precisely!" He exclaimed, waving his hands heavenwards. "The little mermaid princess we put in a basket has now grown so big that she no longer listens to her real parents." He turns to his daughter who was sobbing on his wife's shoulder. "I've told you before and am still going to repeat the same thing until you listen. You're only gonna marry the prince of the Pacific ocean."
"I forbid you, father!" Her eyes darting flames of fierce. "Travis will not have me to be his wife, never! It's not gonna happen."
"I've told you and I won't go back on my words, daughter."
Really? Her eyes narrowed as she observes something on him for a minute. "So you are the one who plot that accident, isn't it? You wanted to kill Justin so I can marry Travis, how dare you, father?"
"I will send Travis to land to find you and you must marry him whether you like it or not. That is the only condition I can spare the life of that human." He left.
Since he was out of sight, Priyanka faced her mother. "Mother, you have to do something. You have to bring Justin's soul back. I don't want him to die."
"My dear," Mother Teresa sighed in dismay and place one hand on her daughter's shoulder. "There's nothing I can do about this situation right now. He is the god of water and he has made his decision."
"No, you can't let him die, I'll kill myself too. Please, mother. Do something, I know you still have the powers to but you're just scared of father."
She is right. It's true. Mother Teresa paused for a moment, then said. "There's only one condition the human could live again."
"What is it, mother? Tell me, am ready to do it, just name it. Is it the change of my tail colour? Or cutting of my hair? Or making me ugly? Or crippling me? Just say it."
"My dear, you'll have to overcome the trials coming your way any moment from now, but before then, I'll invoke the spirit of the human back."
She sound weird. "I don't understand, what trials?"
"You will see, I can't tell you right now, but I hope you can overcome it and I also hope that human overcomes it. Though, it won't be easy."
"What if I can't overcome it? What will happen?"
Mother Teresa smiled, "Something dramatic will happen and that thing will lead to you coming back to the ocean forever. But if a solution is made immediately, you will have a happy life living with humans."
Curious. Anxious. Eager. Nervous. Tense. Priyanka is feeling everything right now.