[Alice]
At the hospital, the doctors and nurses commenced treatment on my mother with immediate alertness. The condition which we had brought her in demanded nothing less. Oxygen was promptly fixed on her to aid her breathing which was becoming less and less even.
I was handed the consent card since my father was not around, and scribbled my signature on it.
"Will she be okay?" Agnes asked in a sad tone. She was now positioned beside me as we stared down at our mother who laid lifeless on the hospital bed.
"I don't know." I replied. It was pointless to treat Agnes as a child when she had countless times proven to be otherwise. I looked away from my mother's pale face, and allowed my gaze settle on Agnes for some time. Even though her voice was sad, she had a peaceful expression about her.
"She seems so much in peace." Agnes started to say, and I looked back at our mother. "She must be wishing to remain in the hospital." She added.
"Don't we all wish to remain here?" I asked with a weak smile, recalling how I had refused to take my medication while I was a patient here just to prolong my stay.
"Funny enough, we are all hiding from the same monster." Agnes commented, and once again I marveled at her guts, and feared for her safety. Although the Mafia claim to respect women, but it was a facade just like many other values they claim to uphold.
"Tell me who sends us all here in the first place." I added, and we chuckled. It was a sad sound we both produced. It was bad enough that our father who is supposed to protect us from external danger is not lifting a finger to see to his responsibility. What was worse was that he was the beast and it was he who we needed protection from.
I turned towards Agnes' direction, and she was lost in thought too. I could bet she was thinking about the same thing as me. I thought about my plan to elope with Jared just then, and thought about how lonely and totally helpless Agnes would become after I leave.
"I will call Jared to call off the plan.
" I said without turning to face her. I knew what her expression would be like. Shocked or disappointed or both.
"Have you not learnt anything?" Agnes asked? There was a new firmness attached to her voice. "She was sent in here by her husband." She said, placing emphasis on "husband" and I understood what she meant.
"I might not get all the freedom I want in his house, but I will..." I was going to say but Agnes interrupted me.
"You will not get any freedom in his house." She corrected. There was a shift in her tone. Rather than disappointment or shock, she sounded angry.
"What about you?" I asked in a sad voice. "I wouldn't mind becoming one of his wives if it means you will be okay." I added, sadly.
"There's no guarantee that I will be okay, even if you sacrifice your life for the Mafia King." She explained, and I wondered how she could feel so fearless even when danger was staring right at her. She would feel my absence the most if I elope with Jared but here she is, encouraging me to go on with it.
"What if our father make you marry him instead." I asked. There were factors I needed to consider before finalizing my plan to elope. What use would my elopement be if it meant Agnes would marry the Mafia King instead? Agnes was shaking her head in disagreement, and I wondered why.
"He wouldn't wait for me to come of age, and he wouldn't marry an underage." Agnes explained. I started to say something but Agnes beat me to it, interrupting me again.
"Your plan to elope is not only a chance to freedom but also a chance to bring punishment on a man who is long due for punishment." Agnes added, and I stared at her in wonderment. The things she said freely sometimes amazes me. Our father was long due to be punished but saying that out loud was a little daring.
"How did you know all these?" I asked, and she came closer to me with a single step.
"There are boys in my school, and I am friends with a few of them." Her voice was at the lowest, lower than I have ever heard her speak. I grew wide-eyed once her words sinked in, realizing just then that she was even wilder than I thought.
"How do you manage to keep friends, and even male friends with your guards around?" I asked without hiding my surprise but she gave me a dry smile, and pulled away from me.
"There would be time for all that. Now you have to choose freedom rather than bondage, and go for it." She said in a commanding tone, and I nodded my head.
Our mother stirred for the first time just then, and mumbled incoherently. I exchanged a puzzled look with Agnes who immediately left my side.
"I will get the doctor." She said, and headed for the door while I nodded, both in surprise and confusion. I was grateful for her thoughtfulness as I was too down spirited to make a single move. Agnes' words weighed heavily on me, and so did the risks she was taking. I feared that her resilience would be beaten away from her by the monstrous men by whom we were sorrounded, and I feared I would not be around to protect her.
Agnes returned a little while later, without a doctor. I threw her a questioning look, and searched for the answer in her eyes but there was none.
She walked with an annoying slowness towards me, and I bit down on my lower lips, and waited patiently till she got to my side. She stood in her previous position beside me with her eyes narrowed in anger.
"The doctors are busy, and so are the nurses, every last one of them." She said. A crooked smile tugged at her lips, and I wondered why.
"Is it an emergency case?" I asked curiously, wondering how serious it could be to demand the attention of every medical staff in the hospital all at the same time.
"Yes, it is." Agnes replied, the crooked smile tugged at her lips still.
"Now what's with the stupid look on your face." I asked, pissed. She adjusted the expression on her face just then, and her expression turned sad. I was suddenly sorry I spoke harshly to her.
"The fifth wife of the Mafia was rushed in, at the brink of death. Do you want to guess what happened to her?" She paused and looked at me. Her lips were curved into a sneer.
I shook my head in disbelief. From all that Agnes had said, I could tell just where the conversation was headed. But Agnes didn't need me to guess because she continued when I said nothing.
"She was beaten by her husband, the Mafia King." Agnes replied, placing emphasis on king, and confirming my suspicion.