Second Chance Love

Chapter 7

Minerva just finished her 16-hour shift and she rushed home to look after Minda. She has covered the shift of a colleague as per request so she was not able to go home yesterday. Chastity is not home because she is having her vacation on the island of Patmos. Normally, they would take turns in taking care of Minda. However, no one’s gonna look after her today. That’s why she hired a nurse for a day but the nurse needs to be relieved of her shift so that she can also go home to her family.

Minda is a sick patient that both she and Chastity has been looking after for 25 years now. She has been confined in a wheelchair, unable to move, walk and talk all by herself. She cannot remember anything about her past and she has been living like a machine. If not for Minerva and Chastity, she has long been dead because her brain lacks the ability to survive the basic demands of life. She cannot even remember how to eat, let alone the names of food she takes.

“Nurse Faye?!” Minerva shouted when she got home and opened the door.

There’s no response. Minerva headed to Minda’s room. She was just in time to see Nurse Faye putting a blanket over Minda on the bed. When she got in, Nurse Faye nodded in recognition of her presence. Slowly, both of them left the room.

“I helped her get on the bed,” Nurse Faye spoke after leaving the room.

“Yes, thank you so much Nurse Faye,” Minerva responded. “You may go home now. I can relieve you from this time onward. Thank you so much for today.” Minerva handed her an envelope containing her pay for that day.

“Ok. Thank you. Until next time.” Nurse Faye smiled and took her bag.

Minerva walked Nurse Faye on the door. When Nurse Faye was out, she locked it and proceeded to the kitchen. She took some stored cooked food from the fridge and heated it in the microwave oven. After two minutes, she took it out, got a spoon and proceeded to the sala. Sitting down on the sofa, she turned on the television and prepared to listen to the news.

The first two news are ordinary. Ah, there are no good happenings today. She continued to watch. Not long after, she was able to finish her food. She was about to stand up and bring the utensils to the kitchen when the next news coverage took her full attention.

“Victoria 123, a vessel bound to Patmos Island sank yesterday. It collided with a bigger vessel and shattered in pieces. No one is expected to have survived the incident.” The words from the news reporter’s mouth made Minerva’s skin shiver. Out of shock, she dropped the utensils on the floor.

“No!” She shouted in horror, convincing herself that she heard wrong. “No.” She felt her legs shaking. Then she lost her strength and fell down on the floor. She remained in that posture for so long, tears falling down uncontrollably on her cheeks. She cannot accept the fact that her baby became a victim of shipwreck.

“Chastity, my Chastity,” she kept on repeating to herself. “What should I do if I lose you?”