His Mystery

Two

Ximena

I could hear the beeping sound of a machine far away. I could feel the coldness of the room in my cheeks.

‘Where the hell am I?’ I asked myself as I repeatedly tried to open my eyes, to no avail. I tried to speak, but it felt like I had knives in my throat.

I felt a warm hand on my hand and then voices from far away.

“How are you feeling?” The unknown voice asked me.

I tried to open my eyes, but they felt so heavy. I guess whoever was there noticed because they said, “It’s okay, rest. When you are ready, you will come back to us.” Before releasing my hand, making me feel the coldness of the room again.

I listened to the unknown voice and relaxed, but the darkness pulled me in.

Today was our fifth anniversary. Roberto and I have been married for five years, and today, I was finally going to tell him the big news. I was finally pregnant! We have been trying for months, but yesterday I finally got those two pink lines on the Clear Blue home pregnancy test. I decided to make his favorite dish and get dressed up in the little black dress that he always loved, put on the killer heels that he always told me to keep on while we made love, and curled the tips of my long blonde hair. I applied a bit of makeup and walked down the stairs to the two-story home that we bought in hopes of having a big family.

Roberto was a Special Agent in the FBI. He was never around as he went on secret missions, but he was hands down the best husband when he was around. Of course, if I had his meal ready on the table and the house was squeaky clean. If not, I would be thrown around the walls and beaten till no end. He never took me to the hospital to get checked out. Instead, he apologized for days on end, bringing me flowers and taking care of me.

I sat down in the formal living room, waiting for him to come home. He had texted me earlier saying that he would be home by seven pm. It was now seven-fifteen, and he was not here.

I grabbed my cellphone and called him to ensure that he was okay, but I got his voicemail instead. I placed my phone back down and waited.

I waited in the same seat until it was nine-fifteen as tears rolled down my face. I understood his job and what I signed up for as soon as I said ‘I do’, but I wanted today to be unique. I stood up from the chair in the living room and walked toward the dining room. I turned off the lights and left everything there. I walked up the stairs, turning off the lights as I went upstairs.

Once in the room, I bent down to take off my heels and slip out of the dress.

I slipped on my pajamas and pulled the covers down, sliding into the cold bed. I was falling asleep when I heard the door open and slam shut. Just then, I knew tonight was going to be a bad night. I said a single prayer to whoever was willing to listen to protect this baby.

“Ximena!” He yelled as he came up the stairs and into our room. “What the fūck is that mess on the table?” He asked as he turned on the light in the bedroom.

I sat up on the bed, feeling furious. I was pissed. “That was our dinner to celebrate our fifth anniversary.” I told him, making him scoff.

“Five years of fūcking pure hell when you can’t even get pregnant!” He yelled at me, but it felt as if he slapped me across my face. I leaned toward the bedside table, opened the first drawer, and grabbed the home pregnancy test. I closed the drawer and threw the pregnancy test at him. That might not have been an excellent idea as he stormed up to me, not looking at the pregnancy test, and dragged me out of bed by my hair.

“What the fūck do you think you are doing?” He yelled as he stood me up by pulling on my hair and backhanded me, making me fall back and hit my head on the corner of the bedside table. I got a bit dizzy, but he didn’t let me talk as he pulled me back up by my hair and slammed me against the wall.

That is all I remember. Now I am here lying God knows where. I kept trying to open my eyes, but I couldn’t. I relaxed my muscles but fought to stay awake until my eyes fluttered open just to be blindsided by a white light.

“Let me turn off the light for you.” Someone in the room said as they ran to turn off the lights and close the curtains in the room.

My eyes fluttered again until they adjusted to the light. I brought my hand toward my mouth, where I had a tube coming out. I looked at the person in horror. “I will take it out now. I need you to relax, okay?” The person asked, making me nod in response.

She walked up to me as she removed the pillow from my head and pushed a button on the bed, making the bed lay flat. She began eliminating the tape around my mouth and then slowly pulled out the tube, making me gag.

“Don’t talk, Honey. Let me get you some cold water.” She said, turning around and grabbing a plastic jug of water from the table. I grabbed it from her hands and took a small sip of it. The coldness felt so good in my dry, raspy throat.

“Where am I?” I asked her as she pushed the button on the bed, making me sit back up.

“You are at Mercy Hospital. You were dropped off like a sack of potatoes two weeks ago.” She told me, making me open my eyes wide at her.

“Where is my husband?” I asked her, looking around to find Roberto.

“Honey, no one has been here to see you. No one has called. So far, you are a Jane Doe for us. Do you remember your name?” She asked me. What does she mean no one has been here to see me? Did he beat me up so badly that he thought he had killed me? I nodded my head at her question.

“My name is Ximena Rivera. I am married to Roberto Rivera. Could you please call him?” I asked her, making her nod. “What happened to me?” I asked her again just as she was about to leave the room to call Roberto.

“Honey, you came here with both eyes, blood shut. You had blood everywhere. You had a broken rib, wrist, and ankle.” She said, looking down at her hands. “You also miscarried. You were placed in a medically induced coma to heal.” She said, looking at me with tears in her eyes. I closed my eyes as I processed all this.

“Don’t call my husband.” I told her as I wrung my fingers now. If he left me here, this was my opportunity to escape, my chance to leave him and never look back.

“We have to report this to the authorities, Honey.” She replied, making me freeze on my spot.

“Please don’t. You won’t understand!” I told her as tears began to roll down my face. She walked up to me and grabbed my hands.

“Why are you so afraid?” She asked as she tapped on my hands.

“He was the one that did this. I have to get out of here, and now.” I told her as I tried to stand up from the bed.

“You can’t leave yet. Where will you go?” She asked with a worry-filled face.

“I don’t know, but I have to leave.” I told her as I formulated a plan in my head. I was going to get out of the hospital and sneak into the house. Take my passport and the cash I had hidden for this exact reason and run. I always wanted to go to Italy, so maybe that’s where I will go.