I
Atty. Yhera and her officer friend at the NBI made a further search for Seigfred in the nearby islands where they caught Conrad Zhang; Today, the whole afternoon, they were able to visit two nearby islands but unluckily, there was no sign of Seigfred there. Sad and about to lose hope, Atty. Yhera, excuse herself from her friend and his co- NBI officers and she walked briskly inside her Montero car.
As she sat down inside her car, Atty. Yhera was not able to hold back her tears. She let herself cried and poured out all the sorrows and emptiness that she felt inside her heart since the time Seigfred has been found missing.
They said, sometimes, strong women breakdown and cried too; they just hid it, where no one could see them. The fierce lawyer cried and felt how weak she is right now.
She just sent a message to her friend, saying she will go ahead and drive her Montero car back to their home, all the way from Batangas City.
“Seigfred, where are you Sweety,” Atty. Yhera whispered as she laid her aching and tired back on her bed. She just arrived home and for the past few days; she has been truly busy and tired searching for Seigfred. She taught, when they found out about the hide-out of Conrad Zhang, she will be together again with Seigfred but unluckily, they came late; Seigfred tried to escape to save his life from Conrad Zhang and his hired goons.
II
Shandall was frustrated and Aling Matina could easily detect it, based on the sudden gloominess in her eyes.
“Shandall, would you want to take a rest now? I will just stay here to check on him. I will just call you the moment he opens his eyes.” Aling Matina said in a low voice.
“Yeah. Hmm, wait, I will get a photo of him and I will try to search for him on the net,” she said and then took a photo of the sleeping, ill stranger in their guest room.
When Shandall reached her bedroom she sat on her soft, queen-size bed and started to browse her high-end mobile phone. In the google search engine, she uploaded the photo of the man that she took a while ago and then searched about him. She was shocked to know who the man is.
“Goodness, he is not an ordinary man,” she murmured as she browsed down for more information about him. Then something hit her eyes. The man with a pretty executive-looking woman with whom his arm was wrapped around her shoulder. She read the story or caption behind the photo and her frustration grew more. The man has been engaged already with a woman, whom the media men, called the fierce and pretty, Atty. Yhera Khareel Munzana.
“He is already taken by an extraordinary woman,” she muttered again, shaking her head. She will not deny it, she found the man so alluring and he made her heartbeats that fast when she keenly looked into his face. She sighed. Even before, she was not that lucky with men that he liked or fell in love with. This is the third time that she got interested in a man, only to find out that he has a fiancee already.
Shandall could still remember the first man, that she instantly became head over heels with; they dated and became even so close, only to find out later on that he has a live-in partner already That was her first heartbreak. The second man she had a relationship with, was her eldest brother’s friend with whom she had a crush since her teenage years. They separated a year after being together when his long-time girlfriend, who migrated to Canada suddenly returned to the Philippines, rekindled her love for him, and then petitioned him to go to Canada. He left her without a word. She just realized he was gone when for a week, she never visited her anymore and never replied to her messages. Not even her brother knew that he went to Canada together with his former girlfriend.
Shandall looked at the photo again of the man inside their guestroom and the woman beside him. She made a long breath and shook her head. “Maybe, I am not really lucky in love or with men. I will rather be alone and just write my novels then,” she thought with a hint of resignation in her mind that she will find the man for her in the near future.
She was in that kind of state when someone knocked on her door. It was Aling Matina.
“Shandall, the Doctor arrived already. Would you want to meet him?” Aling Matina asked when her face popped from the door.
“Sure. I need to know our guest’s real condition,” she said as she alighted from her bed and followed Aling Matina back to their guest room.
The Doctor was there already and she was surprised to know that he is still a young one.
“Doctor, thank you for coming despite the fact that it is late already,” Shandall said with a smile.
The young doctor smiled back, “It is my responsibility to cure the sick Ms. Shandall, I fledged for that, so there is no problem to think about.” With a gentle voice, the young doctor replied looking at Shandall with a bright smile on his lips.
The young doctor checked Seigfred condition. “Don’t worry, he just needs rest. He seemed to run through mountains the way I looked at it. Just continue letting him take the paracetamol every four hours or as the need arises. And since he seemed to be dehydrated, I need to put at least this dextrose to replace his lost fluids and to provide carbohydrates into his body. This one bag might last at least eight hours, so, I will return tomorrow to remove this IV or intravenous from him.”
“Thank you, Doctor, I’ll take you then outside,” Shandall said when the young doctor informed them that he needs to go already.
Before the Doctor finally turned his back going to the docked speed boat; Shandall called him, approached him, and murmured something to him.
“Doctor, I preferred that you keep this matter as confidential first. I am not sure, but I guess someone wanted to kill our visitor, so it will be safe for him to be here without anyone yet knowing it, aside from our household staff. Once he is fine already, I will let him decide what to do next.” Shandall said in a low voice, which the young doctor understood and agreed.
“No problem Ms. Shandall; my priority is the safety of my every patient.” He then excused himself and walked towards the speed boat of Shandall that will take him back to the port.
When the doctor left, Shandall smiled and went to the guest room. “I will give myself a little time with you Mr. Seigfred Yee,” she thought while tenderly looking at the handsome face of the ill man on the bed.