My eyes went on Felix and returned to my enraged aunty. How did they get to know I was in the hospital when the doctor was just asking for their contact information?
"Someone who knows me saw when it happened and told me so I had to inform them." Explained Gina as if sensing my question.
"So it's you, huh?!" My aunty was shouting and storming towards Felix. Before I knew it, she began kicking and beating the hell out of his senses with Gina and the doctor trying to stop her.
"Were you blind to see she was a pregnant woman crossing the road? What if you got her killed? What if she lost her baby? You want her to join her late parents at this early age?"
"Aunt... please stop already. All of that didn't happen. We need to thank God instead of being so violent." Gina was doing her best to calm Aunt Margaret.
"Being violent?! Who would pay for her bills, huh?!" I know that was my aunt's fear as much as it was my fear too. If it turned out it was not the man's fault, where would I get the money to pay for the hospital bills?
It took heavens to calm my aunty down even though he did his best to prove it was not his fault which made me more afraid. Aunty was also doing her best to pin that on him. He looked rich so he needed to pay the bills or else we were doomed.
After clarifying the situation at the police station, I realized Felix wasn't at fault, it was mine. I missed the traffic sign and tried to cross when I shouldn't have.
We were grateful Felix helped us clear the bills, but that didn't stop Aunt from still blaming him. She insisted he should have known a human is different from a car when driving. She blamed him for the money she lost because of the deliveries I missed for the three days I spent in the hospital.
It was after he offered us a ride home that day I was discharged and my aunt took his contact I came to realize those were not just mere blame she forced on him; it was a way of taking her extra burden away from herself. She wanted him to take responsibility for me as soon as possible.
Before I knew it, she was setting a blind date for us.
I didn't blame her, no one could feed a pregnant woman and also fend for her three children and take care of her crippled husband with that little amount we made from sales.
I know Aunty and uncle reserved a piece of love for me but not when there was no good earning after the long day. I always felt the harshness and bitterness in their voices when they talked to me in such situations.
As time went on, Felix began visiting and eating in our small restaurant which was not just our business center but also our home. We all lived in the second room away from the room customers were served food.
Since then, Aunty got me so attached to him even though I was carrying a child. A bastard child as some boldly told me.
Felix was the CEO of a Museum and Exhibition Service Provider Company called Galaxy.
After I had given birth to Christine, six months later, he made me his secretary and aunty he employed fully as a cook in his company where we no longer competed.
It was like a dream come true for me because of the so much love I have for anything related to art.
I felt I had finally found a way to showcase my talent. Part of it was painting. Gratefully Felix found the potential in me and he gave me the opportunity to begin painting so many historical arts; humans, animals, villages, kingdoms, absolutely anything related to history, that attracted visitors. In fact, the museum blended perfectly with the local foods we served to everyday visitors as it was a symbol of bringing our cultural heritage to life.
Felix's love became the only good thing that has ever happened to me and I was ever grateful for it, despite my odds.
Life became much easier not until Christine developed a blood cancer disease at the age of five. Within these years, I came to realize that nothing good ever lasted for me.
The worst of it was that she had the rarest to be found among the blood groups. She was U-negative which made it hard to handle her sickness. Several times, her sickness would take her down to the point the doctor would demand for blood transfusion, but it was always a hard thing to find a compatible donor.
Day in and day out, her sickness worsened, constantly leaving her in and out of the hospital.
As if Christine's sickness hitting us hard was not enough another disaster was revealing its cruel face, the company which once thrived as a hub for art and culture, now experienced a significant decline in visitor engagement and physical infrastructure.
We became in competition with a newly emerging museum that was taking over Galaxy and was owned by a mysterious billionaire.
Despite the dedication and effort put into preserving and showcasing valuable artifacts, the company struggled to maintain its appeal in recent times.
Since then, the company has been in a devastating struggle.
What would I tell Felix now again? The last time he paid for Christine's treatment I could see the pain in his eyes when he told me he couldn't take this anymore. People were already saying I and my daughter were bad luck to him and the company.
Felix was struggling to recover the company and my daughter's poor health was not helping at all. If this continues, the company will go bankrupt and if that happens, we would be left with nothing to survive. I was so afraid to go back to such a situation again.
"You have no other option than to tell him about it. You can't risk her life no matter what?"
"I'm not risking her life Gina, I can never do that to my own daughter, but...if he spends again for surgery and blood transfusion his company will go down and we will survive with nothing. I need to find other ways to help her."
"What other ways? Your aunty is your last option and I don't think she would accept the trouble. Her husband is still going through the bone surgery of his crippled legs and her three children depend on her. The earnings she makes from cooking for tourist guests is no longer as big as before because of the decline in visitors."
Gina was right. I shouldn't even think of going to meet her for help. There was no option in mind at all than to tell Felix about it again.
That afternoon, I went to his office to inform him about Christine's sudden bring down again.
I walked the stairs, feeling the scrutiny gazes of faces disgusted at my presence in the company. Their whispers filled my ears as I went towards the elevator that would lead to his office.
"That woman has no shame in her. Can't she see nothing good comes from her?" One of the workers said.
"Isn't it up to five years she had been in a relationship with the boss, yet he had not properly engaged her not to talk of getting married to her." Another chirped in.
"Five years, you say. This year will make it six. Besides, who would want to engage such a loser who brings bad luck? See how our company had kept going down the drain ever since her daughter became sick with her disastrous disease. I pity the boss who is still keeping her. She must have caged him with charms."
As much as these words forced tears to my ears, they needed to be punished for gossiping about me like that. But I had no time to face them right now. My daughter was more important than these useless cramps who seemed to have forgotten the time my presence helped the company flourish.
"Miss, the boss warned me not to let anyone in no matter who." His guard tried to stop me, I knew he was doing his job.
"It's important, Cowell. I must see him now," I insisted blinking away the tears that fought to surface.
"Ma'am please..."
He was about to say when I forced open the door to his office before he could stop me.
"Boss... I tried to stop her but she insisted." Cowell was apologizing the moment I stepped in.
Felix lowered the coffee tea in his hand to the table. He was having lunch. It was roasted seafood with coffee tea. It was part of what he loved on a warm afternoon like today.
He noticed the sad look on my face and knew at the moment everything was not alright so he bid Cowell to leave as I had expected him to do so. "It's okay, Cowell, you can leave now."
"Okay, boss." Cowell lowered his head and glanced at me. I knew he was also annoyed at my presence. Everyone seemed to look at me in that manner now, but I wouldn't mind anymore.
"What's the problem?" Felix asked while gesturing for me to sit. His voice was unusually stiff but I didn't take it seriously as I began explaining Christine's condition to him and when I was done, his fist had already clenched on the mug.