I fluttered my eyes open half expecting to see Angels or devils flying around, but instead I felt someone's lips on mine, and their hands pressed against my chest as the water rushed out of my lungs and into my throat forcing me to spit it out. My vision was blurred and I couldn't see much, but it was a woman.
"No, no, no Jasmine you can't die on me now please." She whispered. I'd know that voice from a mile.
"Nurse Claire?" I stuttered "please let me die. I'm just so tired of living" I said weakly as the air hadn't quite reached my lungs fully yet.
"Listen Willows, come with me to the car then we can go to my place, okay?"
Before I could answer, she helped me up and led me to her black sedan that was parked nearby. She helped me to the back seat where I lay down, cursing my fate and questioning why I was even alive in the first place. The drive was silent since I wasn't in the talking mood and Claire's certainly wasn't either. But then we arrived to her house. It was a bungalow, a relatively large one and outside it was another parked vehicle.
She honked and a young boy came to open the door for her, the boy was so glad to see her but was curious as to what I was doing in that car. Claire walked out of the car and the buy jumped on her almost taking her to the ground.
"Mommy, mommy you're back. I missed you." He said jumping in glee. I walked out of the car, as my clothes hugged my body, the cold night air caressing my skin causing me to shiver.
"Miss, are you okay?" The boy asked me when he saw me.
"Well aren't you a darling. Yes I'm okay, I just lost my balance and fell into a pool." I said as I smiled, kneeling to his level and touching his shoulder.
"I'm so sorry Miss, good thing I had prepared hot chocolate, that will keep you warm." He said smiling back. He was the sweetest thing.
With that, we all walked into the house and I was honestly speechless. It was lovely. There was a living room, a dining room, a lovely kitchen and several rooms. The room was painted a simple Bermuda blue and in the living room hung a simple chandelier. In the kitchen, there was a man making dinner.
"Hey honey, how was work today?" He said bringing food to the table, but then he saw me and i shot him a friendly smile.
"Sorry love" Claire said walking towards him and giving him a kiss, "This is my friend Willows. I work with her." She says introducing me to her husband.
"Well hello Willows, I'm Christian. But you can call me Chris. I'm Claire's husband." He says extending his hand towards me.
"Thank you so much for having me Chris, and you have a lovely family. Bless you." I say to Chris and he nodds.
"Please join us for dinner." He says. Before I could reply, Claire calls me from another room to change. As soon as I enter the room, she shuts the door behind me.
"Jasmine what happened? Please talk to me. You can trust me."
"Well, it's Rafael and I." I start and I can't help but feel tears sting my eyes.
"It's okay sweetheart, you can always tell me." She says.
I explain to her the whole situation, and she listens without saying a single word.
"I know it sounds crazy, but....." I start, insecure.
"No, no no no darling, I understand. I know it's very complicated. And I am so sorry for what you had to go through."
Just then we heard a knock and I open the door, when Chris enters and locks the door again.
"I'm so sorry for overhearing your conversation Jasmine, and I can't say that I understand. But just some advice as my younger sister, please stay away from him and give yourself some time. You deserve a lot of good things Jasmine, and maybe you made a few mistakes,but hey, who hasn't?"
For the first time in a long time, I felt like home, like I was with my family.
"Chris is right Jasmine. You just need a break to clear your thoughts. I know it's tough to say, but there is a chance that he didn't love you and he never will, and it's so toxic to hold on to unrequited love. It will hurt you. You need to let him go now. You need to set yourself free." Claire told me, and I nodded.
"We'll give you time, please change into these and come downstairs." She added, leading Chris out.
I took the clothes and headed to the shower. There I thought about what they had just said. Five years. In those five years I've been with Rafael, I've never really been happy. And even when I was I craved for more. I loved him deeply, but he had never looked at me the was I wanted, the way I needed. And Chris was right, I needed to let it go now. I knew in my heart that it would sting me like hell, but I couldn't continue living the way I was. I changed and headed to the dining room, where I found them all waiting for me.
"Oh, why did you all wait for me, you didn't have to." I say smiling.
"No miss, in this house we all always eat like family. No one is left behind, even in the smallest things." The boy said.
"Oh forgive my manners for not introducing myself. My name is Jasmine. What's your name? I asked him.
"Raymond. But you can call me Ray." He said excited.
"Nice to meet you Ray, can we please eat now?" I asked him teasingly and he nodded rushing to his seat on the table, I sat right next to him, across Claire.
"Let's pray then." Claire said, and we all held hands, and Claire prayed. We all had supper and Claire then helped me prepare the guest bedroom for me.
"You're welcome to stay here as much as you want." She said.
"I know this may be a little much, but I would like to resign from the hospital and look for work somewhere else, since I don't want to encounter Rafael, and I would really appreciate if you don't tell anyone I'm staying at your place, just for one month, then I can get some money and move into my own place, and get out of your hair. I'm sorry for this, it's just that all my money used to go to our joint account, and if I withdraw any, then Rafael will be able to track me down." I said, somehow in a hurry trying to explain myself.
"Jasmine, calm down, as you can see I have a lot of space in my house, and everyone enjoys your company, so you're not a bother to anyone. You owe me one for saving your life. And in return I want you to stop treating me like a stranger, rather I want you to treat us like family. And family always sticks together. About your resignation, send it via email tomorrow, so that I can process it for you and give you a letter of recommendation." She says.
"Thank you so much. You're an Angel sent from heaven." I said. She just nodded. The night moved fast and by morning, I woke up to breakfast and an empty house. I took breakfast and did some cleaning as I waited for the document processing. In a few hours, my resignation was all processed and I was finally able to start looking for any job openings. I thought it would take ages but surprisingly, I found one right around the corner. I scheduled an interview. Maybe Claire saving me was a good thing. Just as I was thinking that, my phone rang. I looked at the caller to see it was Rafael.
"What do you want from me?" I asked.
"Where are you Jasmine?" Jee, he was really furious, I could fell the fire in his voice.
"It doesn't matter. Is there anything you need from me?"
"Wherever you are drop the bullshit and go home." He ordered, seething.
"I'm not coming home anytime soon." I said.
"Jasmine you're my wife and I demand you come home." He said getting angrier.
"I'm not. I want a divorce Rafael. Let's just end this cycle already. You deserve someone better. Someone who will love you the way you deserve,and someone you will love back. " I said, every word stinging me, holding back tears.
"No Jasmine. You don't get to marry and divorce me as per you're own will. I will decide when I will divorce you. Understood? Now drop the act and come home." He said, and I felt something else in his tone, but I couldn't tell what exactly.
"I'm sorry Rafael. But you have to let me go. I'll send the paperwork to you in a few. Have. Nice time." I said and hung up. I stopped holding back the tears and cried like a toddler. I wasn't right for Rafael. He deserved better. He tried to call me, but I blocked his number. No, I had to focus on myself. I took a deep breath, and decided to keep myself occupied. Evening soon arrived and I was making preparations for supper. Chris had already come home with Ray from school, and he was in his room while Ray was watching TV so we were all waiting for Claire. Just then someone honked and Ray ran to the gate shutting the door behind him. Then I heard him say,
"I missed you a lot."
"I missed you too."
I froze. No, it can't be. I felt my heart race as my instincts quickly led me to my room where I shut the door. Just then I heard heavy footsteps, and a painfully familiar voice.
"Where's dad?"