CLAIRE
I had no idea how long I was unconscious, but by the time I regained consciousness, it didn't come without a price.
The gnawing at my sides and the incessant pounding in my head has intensified.
Breathing seemed uncontrollably painful because it felt like my entire ribs had been ruptured as a result of the accident. I might just be on my way to dying.
"I think she is awake." I heard a familiar voice by my side, a voice I had only gotten accustomed to recently, although not the voice I would have liked to hear first thing as soon as I returned from my journey of unconsciousness.
I blinked my eyes open when I felt a figure hovering over me and they immediately came in contact with a figure in white.
Did I die already?
"Am I in heaven?" I managed to blurt the words out of my swollen lips.
"No dear," a soft feminine voice said. "You are in the hospital, you will get better soon."
Despite the heaviness on my eyelids, I still managed to force them open.
I made eye contact with the man sitting by my bedside, and that was when the memories came flooding back in.
I had gone off to the club after Jason had brutally rejected me and made me sign the divorce papers. I had gotten drunk at the bar and in my attempt to get away from the stranger, I got hit by a moving vehicle.
"Relax, miss, I am going to administer some drugs to you so that you get better." The female doctor smiled down at me.
I knew she meant well, I knew she was going to make me feel better, I wanted to trust her. But at the same time, my anxiety was growing involuntarily. It was as if the gravity situation I was in was being made known to me as the moment dragged by.
Jason had asked me to sign the divorce papers, I was divorced and alone.
There was another woman in our home and Jason had told me I was no longer welcome there.
There was a baby growing inside of me, a baby that may eventually grow up without a father.
The emotions were starting to build up and it was becoming more and more impossible to control it.
I had another breakdown which was slowly starting to progress to a panic attack.
Before the situation could escalate, the doctor held me down at once and injected a substance into my arm.
Almost immediately, I felt lightheaded and my eyelids grew even heavier, my consciousness was slowly dwindling.
"Try to relax, miss, you will get better by the time you wake up." The doctor's voice echoed in my head as I drifted out of consciousness.
And true to her words, when I opened my eyes later, I felt better, although the pain still lingered somewhere within.
"Jason…" I called softly when I managed to force my lips apart.
"I would prefer you call me Richard." The masculine voice cut into my thoughts.
I tilted my head to see the same man from the club sitting on the stool beside the bed.
The knots on his brows began to loosen gradually.
"How are you feeling?" He flashed me a smile.
My brows were raised as I forcefully lifted my body off the bed and rested my back on the wall.
"Should I call the doctor? Do you feel any pain?"
"No… I'm fine." I cut in.
"You are in the hospital." He told me softly. "You had walked off into the middle of the road and let yourself get hit in a bid to escape me." He told me, his voice bearing a hint of sarcasm.
"My life is being ruined and I can do nothing but just sit back and watch." I suddenly blurted out.
His eyes stayed on my face.
"It can't be the end." He suddenly told me.
I shook my head. "You won't understand…"
"I do… perfectly…" His eyes stayed on my face.
There was something about how he looked at me, there was something about the way his eyes pierced through mine, as if he knew something about me, as if he knew me more than just a woman who got hit by a vehicle.
"You've probably seen the news." I shook my head and smiled sadly.
He nodded his head to affirm what I just said. "As well as the source." He added.
I sat up even further.
Perhaps, there could be a solution too, perhaps, there cou be a way I would prove to Jason that I was innocent.
"We are going to talk about that as soon as I have confirmed that you are fully recovered and don't have any concussion." He told me.
"I am, I am fully recovered." I assured him.
********
Why was I not surprised when he showed me the picture of the person who had spread the rumours and it turned out to be the same Stephanie Rodriguez? The same woman who had ruined my marriage so that she could step in and had ruined my life as well.
"I wonder how her fans would react when they find out how low their supermodel can go just to keep a man to herself." I said amidst gritted teeth.
"It's not just to keep a man." Richard revealed. "Stephanie discovered that getting married to Jason was the only way she could secure one of the biggest modelling gigs in L.A, seeing you as a potential threat, she planned to get rid of you so she cou keep Jason to herself. And looking at the state you are in, she must have succeeded."
Not only has she succeeded in kicking me out of my home, she has equally succeeded in ruining my reputation.
"But how do you know all of these? And why are you helping me?" I asked.
"You will find out in due time."
It dawned on me at the end of the day that it would be no use trying to convince Jason since he was already far spent into it, my reputation had equally been ruined beyond repair.
I knew because I tried applying for other jobs but no company wanted to employ somebody with such a huge scandal in their organisation.
But I was not about to break down again.
On Richard's suggestion, and with his help, I was able to get my papers ready and plan to fly out of the country. That was the only way I would be able to heal.
I had a hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses on as I arrived at the airport with Richard, clutching my little belongings, all that was left of me.
"Call me as soon as you arrive in London, I have some contacts there that can be of help to you." Richard told me just as I was about to board the plane.
A knot tightened in my stomach as I felt the weight lifted off my feet, hinting that the airplane had left the ground.
As I looked through the window and watched everything get smaller as the plane began to ascend towards the sky, I was rest assured that this would not be the last time I would step foot on the ground of L.A. I would definitely come back to take my revenge on those who ruined my life.