"How would you feel if the son of a billionaire whose sanity is not impaired is given to you in marriage because his family sees you are in need of money and marrying their mad son is the only price to pay?" I almost chafed at Nurse Stella.
At the time, I had taken my time to know most of the names of staff at the hospital.
And it was the same Nurse Stella that took me to the Fanny's villa some days ago to see if the billionaire could be of help. She was the only one I could complain to. I wanted to seek her opinion.
All my life I have grown to be jaunty but this time I was losing it. What was going on in my life at the time was more than being trapped between the devil and the deep blue sea.
"I would feel bad and even go crimson. Why would they do that to you?" she intoned, gritted her teeth and let a sullen look on her face.
"The billionaire feels I can't pay back half a million dollars so the only way I could do that was by signing to a contract marriage agreement with his mad son," I nagged on, as warm tears burnt my eyes before it trickled down my cheeks.
She rubbed me on the shoulder and petted me. But I was already addle and going bananas. Mother's ailment had brought upon me conditions I never thought could come my way.
I breathed hard, "That is my condition right now. The half a million dollars needed for mother's treatment are ready but the price to pay is settling down with the billionaires mad son. Can you imagine," I complained bitterly and wiped my tears.
My eyes narrowed.
She brought me into her embrace, wiped my tears and stroked my auburn hair. "I can imagine your plight right now. Life has never been fair to us."
I brought an anxious gaze upon the wall clock and perceived I had just five hours to take a decision otherwise the doctor would do as he said.
That very Dr. Peter I saw some minutes ago was capable of doing what he said. He was mean and cruel, as though the Fanny's bribed him to blow hot at me.
"But Melissa," she spoke softly into my face and stroked my long, scattered auburn hair. Her voice seemed to be leaden with some iota of conviction, "What would you want? Would you want to keep to your perception while your mother dies like a kitten? How much can you sacrifice to save the one you love?"
I sniffed and shot my anger-suffused face into her eyes. "What are you insinuating I do, uh? Are you telling me to scuttle back to the Fanny's and sign to that contract marriage? Is that what you are insinuating?"
She shook her head, "Perk up, Melissa. Steady on. But I am sorry to say this. You just have to do the needful."
My tears surged faster now. I swallowed hard, and was possessed slovenly by my impending fate. "Are you insinuating I return to the Fanny's and sign to a contract marriage with the mad son, uh? Do you realize that I am at my prime and still a virgin?" my voice shrieked with sorrow.
She shook her head in pity and suddenly her eyes welled up with tears as she used her handkerchief to dab on it.
"I am so sorry to sound horrible, Melissa. I can feel the pain of a poor girl who is only wishing she could give her mother the best without the stringent conditions of life. Sometimes I wish we could take a leap at life without snapping our bones."
I was wailing hugely now when what I heard next spiked into my ears.
"You just have to return to the Fanny's, yes," she affirmed cautiously, noticing I was going to be mad at her
I pulled from her and blinked nervously into her face. I glowered as I felt her words churn my stomach.
"I …"
She wanted to speak yet further and I interrupted. "I beg your pardon, nurse. Are you advising me to return to the Fanny's and become the legally married wife of a mad man? Do you know how traumatized I would be? How do you expect me to share same roof, same bed, with a man that is not just insane but violently insane? Do you realize he is the most violent mad man in Rio Hondo? Oh my God …" I held onto my head and stroked it confusedly.
I held my face in total bewilderment and stroked my hair in disgust. How cruel and inconsiderable this life could be. Everything was hitting hard at me now.
"I would feel much hurt if we lose your mother. I would be disappointed in you if she dies while you could have saved her. I …"
"Keep shut now! Keep shut. Just …" my wailing voice interrupted me and choked back my words. "You know what, just go. I want to be left alone, let me think about my life."
"I… I am sorry to sound horrible, Melissa. I mean well for you. But that is the price to pay if really your mother must stay alive for you."
"I can't imagine myself opening my legs for a mad man in the name of marriage. I can't marry him!" I snapped …
"No, no, you mustn't do that. All you need to do is sign the contract marriage, become his legal wife. You can share the same roof but not the same bed. You can deny him your body, and remain a virgin. Is he not mad? He has lost his sanity and doesn't understand the word sex let alone feel horny like a normal, sane, person would?
I shook my head, "No, no, no, I don't need your conviction anymore. I don't need it. Oh my God. Why me? Why was I fated for this? Why?"
I wailed on with my trembling hands masking my face.
Suddenly, mother's picture flashed in my head and it was accompanied with a conviction to do the needful. It was more tensed than clamor...