Through Your Eyes — Chapter 52

"What's wrong?" I squirmed free from Sean's grip on my face. The man's face was also close to me that I felt suffocated. "Am I going to die? What are those damn bugs out there?"

"And why in the hell you're here?" Sean snarled. I stiffened; never did I thought that this man whom I considered perfect was now barking at me. I felt humiliated, but when I looked up to him, I saw drops of tears running down his flushed cheek.

"Patrick, what are we going to do?" Sean growled again, and I noticed his quivering lips, which he concealed by brushing his hair away with his fingers a couple of times. I looked at the man, and I shuddered at his pale lips. Drops of sweats were trickling down his temples.

"Sean, I don't know. You know I have not discovered or developed an antidote yet."

From their tone, I realized I was in danger. What kind of bugs were there in those barrels that this man had to create an antidote? And why in the hell would he grow those kinds of bugs whose bites seemed fatal?

"Boil a needle or knife. I need it now!"

I slowly weakened just by watching them. They scared my soul out of me, clouding my mind. All of a sudden, my energy was leaving me that even the simple task of asking them, I couldn't do. I just watched them in horror, but I was too weak to object to what Sean was demanding. I didn't know if it was because I was just frightened, or it was already the venom spreading into my system.

Sean lifted me in his arms. I could feel him taking long strides towards somewhere I could not figure out. A few seconds after, Sean laid me on a bamboo bed under a tree. Out in the corner of my eye, I saw the man moving the blade of his knife in the midst of a flame.

"Red, please hold on. You're my life, you know that? All my adult life, I was already looking for you. And now that I find you..." mumbled Ryan in between his stifled cries.

I tried to reach out for his hand, but to my added shock, I had no strength anymore. I was just listening and observing them like I was under epidural anesthesia, only that my whole body could not move.

"Every day, I look at your name on my wallet, determined that someday I'm going to find you. You still have no face, but I already imagined you as a beautiful woman. I told myself that someday, I'd give Sir Thomas the reward of having you as my wife. And I can already imagine the smile on his face."

What is he talking about? Why is he looking for me? Dear skies, I was screaming deep inside to ask him all about it, but my mind has started to become groggy.

"Red, I already loved you long before I met you. It's because you were in my mind all day and night. And now, all I am waiting for is for you to fall in love with me and let go of Eric. Red, promise me, you will be my wife, and I will be your husband."

Dear saints, I wanted to hug him at that moment and tell him I did not love Eric anymore. All I felt for him was a heartache because of his betrayal and inability to give me his heart while I was still with him. And it hurt to know that I may have his body but not his heart and mind. All because of Calla.

"Here, Sean. What are you going to do with that?" The man whom Sean called Patrick handed me the cooled-down knife. As a doctor, I knew what Sean was doing. He had the blade disinfected and sterilized in the fire.

"I'm sorry, babe! This will be quick."

Sean placed me flat on the bamboo bed in a supine position. He then stood by the bedside and put one knee at my side. Gaining his most comfortable position, he bent down and aimed the knife at my face.

I closed my eyes. I understood what Sean was doing.

"Please, don't move, sweetheart. It hurt, but this is better than doing nothing."

I felt a cold sensation on my face, followed by the smell of alcohol. Then after a moment, I felt a sharp pain on my cheek, just on top of my cheekbone. I wanted to hold my breath and groan, but I no longer have any strength to do that. I also noticed that I started to feel drowsy.

Then, I felt Sean's mouth sucking on my wound, and I heard Patrick yelling at him. Judging from the pitch of his voice, I could tell that he was furious.

"What are you doing, Sean? Do you also want to die? Even if the venom's effect in your stomach is not as fast as the bite, it will still kill you gradually."

"I could not afford to live, Patrick, if I lose her. If she's not going to survive, at least I still have the time to finalize the papers. How can I face my old man?"

I heard Sean broke into a bitter wail as he lifted me back in his arms. He hugged me tight that and pressed his face on mine, drenching me with his tears.

"Please, don't leave me, dear."

"Sean, cheer up. Let's find ways. Nature has never lacked in supplying us it's healing power. I have here the roots and leaves of an anti-venom plant. What's important is that you have removed  the venom that has lodged under her skin." I heard the voice of a woman, and even if I couldn't open my eyes, I knew she was auntie Dina.

So, Patrick is the husband of Dina, and the friend Sean wanted to talk to.

"But this stupid son of yours sucked and swallowed the blood!"

"Don't worsen the situation, Pat. Let's find ways to save them. I always believe in ancient medicine. If it's not that potent, how could any of us survive?"

"But this is Bronca bug, Dina, a cultured type of the Bronca species. I have not yet developed the antidote for this. Haven't you heard the news? After this bug has bitten the first victim in Sama island, no scientist has ever found the cure yet."

"It's true, auntie. The first man the Bronca bug had bitten died in a few hours, and all who touched him got the same symptoms, though not as fatal as the direct bite."

"Scientists have discovered that the bite comes from the Bronca bug. They call it the Bronc X virus. What they did not know is that the breed we have are the fatal ones because they are genetically-engineered. Once a person got bitten, the venom spreads throughout his body. This venom can be passed from one person to another through direct contact and droplets."

I shuddered at what I heard from them. In less than a day, I would then be a memory. Perhaps, due to panic, I lost my sense of hearing and lost my consciousness.