Disease

Ciara's pov

I could feel the heavy pain in my body even when my eyes were shut. I felt myself for a moment before I finally opened my eyes. But surprisingly, the pure white on the ceiling was the first thing I saw as I opened my eyes. I can even smell and feel the coldness of the air that was brushing on my skin, probably coming from the aircon. 

I swallow when I feel the dryness of my throat. All I could hear was my heavy breathing and the noise that was made by the machine beside me. My eyes went around to check the surroundings and realized I was in the hospital. 

Slowly, my eyes landed on the man who was currently sleeping on the side of my bed. 

'Wait, isn't this the Manong Driver?' 

I immediately sat up from lying down to wake Manong Driver. Unfortunately for him, he definitely couldn't earn any money from driving because of me. I patted his shoulder to wake him up. 

"Manong, wake up." I was a little surprised when it suddenly stood up and shouted. 

"Where, where? Where's the fire?" He hysterically went around, which made me slowly and gently laugh.

"There's no fire, Manong," I said, laughing. He looked at me in shock and couldn't believe pointing at me. 

"Mam!" He hurriedly approached me. "I'm glad that you're already awake! I was really worried about you earlier when you fainted in my taxi, were you okay now? How are you feeling? Can you still feel any pain in your body?" Manong asked me worriedly, causing a smile to curve on my lips. 

"Don't worry, Manong. I'm already fine. Well, it's still a bit painful, but it's fine. And I would like to say thank you very much and I am sorry for the inconvenience, because of me you couldn't earn anything today." I apologize. 

"It's nothing, Mam. It's our driver's priority to take care of and help our passengers." He said, while shyly scratching his nape. 

"I'm really sorry and thank you very much. I'm very grateful to you. So let me give you this." I smiled and immediately took my bag to get some money. 

"Oh! No, you don't need to, Mam! You need it more." He restrained. 

"No, Manong, it's fine. You need this. You haven't earned anything now because of me, so please accept it, as a thank you." I said and handed over the money worth five thousand. He was surprised when he saw it. 

"Oh, no! No, Mam! That's too much." Manong said shyly. 

"Please accept, Manong. I just want to thank you for bringing me here by giving me this. I didn't expect too that you'll stay here just to keep an eye on me and took care of me, you're like my father too." I smiled and said that. But then, sadness prevailed, when I suddenly remembered my parents who hated me a lot.

'kring .. kring ..' I looked at Manong's phone when it rang. 

"It was yours, Manong." He immediately picked up and answered the call on his phone.

"Hello?- W-what?!- Where are you? What happened?- Ha?!- A-all right, I'm on my way, wait for me, papa is coming, wait for papa. I'm coming.." I saw how Manong held back his tears as he put down his phone.

'What happened? Is there something bad that happened?

"Mam, I'm sorry. I have to go now, my youngest was injured." 

"What? Oh, God! Go ahead! Go ahead, Manong! Be careful," I said worriedly. 

"Thank you very much, Mam. I'll leave now." I nodded, and there he quickly ran out of the door.

After Manong left, the female doctor came inside my room. 

"How are you feeling, ija? Is there still a pain in your wound and bruise?" She asked me, and I smiled. 

"It's fine, there's just a little bit of pain, "I replied. I feel better now, compared to the past. 

"Is that so? It's good to hear that. But your heart doesn't seem to be running properly." She said that made me stop for a moment. 

What?

I don’t know, but I was suddenly nervous. The doctor's eyes were mixed with sadness and worries, I could see that. 

"What do you mean?" I asked nervously. I was even more surprised when he took both my hands and smiled bitterly. 

What's going on? 

"We ecg you earlier and when the result came out, we found out ..." She looked down, she didn't seem to want to say the next thing.

"What's the result?" I asked incredulously. I didn't take my gaze at her.

"You have heart disease." She said that caused me to stop and my shoulders dropped. 

"Heart disease?" I asked, voices were almost cracking. She nodded slowly in response. 

"You're allergic to dust or animal fur, so you're less likely to get heart disease if you stay in dirty places too often." She explained I was shaken by the nervousness and fear I was feeling. 

"But from what you looked, you looked clean. It's just shocking why your heart is weakening so fast?" I looked away as I remembered Tyron locking me in an abandoned room. I felt my tears welling up so I stopped them immediately, but my tears were so reprehensible that they kept falling.

"Your heart is not beating normally. You can't get tired, avoid dusty places and things that can make you tired quickly." It's a serious tone that comes out of her mouth

"And avoid ..." I looked at the doctor as she stopped speaking and stared at my body. 

"Avoid the person doing that to you." She looked me in the eye seriously, so I immediately looked away. 

"Your husband is hurting you?" She asked, but I remained silent and looked my head down. 

My tears are starting to flow again. I don’t want to admit it, I don’t want to say that my husband is hurting me. 

"Does he?" She asked again, I immediately shook my head. 

"N-no, I'm just really careless with my body, t-that's why," I responded quickly to her question, but she just sighed at me and seemed to say that my answer was stupid even though it was true.

"We're not playing here, ija. So if you can, I beg you. Take care of yourself and stay away from things that are not good for your health and heart." It said and seems to be giving me a warning. Does she refer to my husband?

"Stop hiding your grievances because that will only make your heart rate worse and weaker."

"Rest if you don't want to completely won't wake up anymore." He said meaningfully, making my chest throb. 

Does she mean, death?

"As much as possible, avoid what you should be avoided. You have a choice, ija. Leave or Die." It's a serious tone that made me gulp, she patted my shoulder before standing up. I was surprised by what she said. She seemed to be hinting at something in the last thing he said. 

"You may be able to lie to me, but you can't hide the truth from yourself." She said, 

"I'll go now, rest first and you can go home tomorrow as well." I nodded and smiled bitterly. He is right. I know in myself the truth. So it's up to me to decide whether to let him hurt me or stay away to live peacefully. But I can’t afford to leave him, but I will die if I stay. 

What if I die? Will they be happy? Am I such a worthless person, so I should just die? Maybe they would be even happier if I lost. Everyone hates me, especially my parents, I don’t know why they are so mad. I do everything they want, but why do I still seem to be wrong?