"PCP?" Ali was surprised.
"A few years ago Jothar's military did drug experiments on soldiers to enhance strength, stamina, reflexes and durability. I've seen many soldiers show the same symptoms as Her Highness Puteri. But the side effects were devastating. The experiments were finally banned by the Sultan, but it doesn't mean that private laboratories didn't continue with it."
"Doctor, will there be any permanent effects of the drug on my fiancée?" Ali asked worriedly.
"Not likely, she was exposed to a high dose, but not overdosed, and it was a one-time administration as opposed to a prolonged one." He paused, "I will prescribe some pain killers, I'm sure she will be in pain when she comes to. One reason, that PCP is perceived to increase strength, is because it is a strong analgesic, suppressing the user from feeling any pain when reaching their strength limit enabling them to continue using force."
The Doctor finished stitching her forehead and dressed it with a bandage. "You will need to clean the wound every day and change the bandage, look out for signs of infections like redness or swelling." He looked at Ali closely for a few minutes and continued. "It will be a good idea to put some ice on your jaw and neck, I will also prescribe an anti-inflammatory for you."
He sat down and wrote the prescriptions. When he finished he handed it to Ali. "You should send somebody to buy these as soon as possible." He said. "One more thing, she might have another psychotic episode, I recommend avoiding giving her any more medication for this and try to calm her and subdue her, it would usually pass after five minutes or so. Here is my cell phone number, if anything gets beyond control, make sure you call me as soon as possible."
"Doctor, we thank you very much," Raden Nabilla said to him.
"Thank you, Doctor, please let me know the result of the blood test once you have it." Ali shook his hand.
"I will, Your Excellency. Please excuse me." He replied.
"Maya will show you out." Said Raden Nabilla.
Raden Nabilla turned to her son and took a deep breath, "I will tell the maids to prepare the guest room for you." She said.
"That won't be necessary Mother. I will be personally taking care of her until she recovers." He replied.
"But that would be indecent. I know that she's sick, but this is not a hospital, this is your room. What would people think?" She reasoned. "Maybe it would be better if I stayed here instead."
"That won't be a good idea, Mother. Trust me, the Doctor said that she might have another psychotic episode, and somebody has to subdue her. Look what she did to me." He said while pointing to his face and neck.
"Ummm...., you're right. I want to live long enough to get to know my grandchildren." She said rubbing the goose bumps on her arms.
"Mother, don't worry. Don't you trust me? You taught me well. You and Father made me a decent man. I won't disappoint you."
Raden Nabilla smiled, she caressed his head. "I know you won't. Don't mind this nagging old woman who's worried about everything."
* * *
Raden Hamza sat on the couch in his son's room. His eyes looking with concern at the young woman lying unconscious on the bed. "It was a good idea for you to bring her here. At least she would be safe." He said. "Colonel Anton thinks that this has something to do with the attempt against her life last week."
"What did they find out about the incident?" He asked.
"The NGO was cleared, the Royal Guards confirmed that they weren't involved in anything, neither was the village chief, he was clean. Surprisingly the girl was actually a part of the group, she is the daughter of the group leader. She was ordered to take Ananda Puteri near the cliff. The orangutan was actually provoked and agitated before she got there, they had planned for the fall to kill her since the bottom of the cliff was rocky. They never expected her to get away with only a sprained ankle. Since that didn't work, they attacked directly, but you know how that went."
"Why did they try to kill her?"
"They were paid to. They said that a man came from the capital, they don't know him but could identify him if they see him, and he gave them a photo of you and Ananda Puteri. Can you believe they offered five hundred US Dollars if they succeeded."
"That's a lot of money for those villagers," Ali concluded. "This is strange Father. Very strange."
"You know we initially suspected Pangeran Bashir to be the mastermind. But this doesn't fit his behavioral pattern, he's the type of person to use arms and confrontation, why drug her like this?"
"Father did they find out how Mita ingested the drug?"
"Not yet, they are still questioning the witnesses. But it has something to do with her mother because apparently she was drugged too."
"It's incredible how they dared to try to kill her in her own residence, inside the palace and heavily guarded too."
"I'm going to rest now. I will update Paduka Sultan tomorrow. You should get some rest too. Paduka Sultan wants Ananda Puteri to stay here until she recovers. But you know what people might say about it. As the ruler of the country and its religious leader, he needs to make sure that his family upholds the proper moral conducts. So he wants to do your marriage as soon as Ananda Puteri is strong enough to speak. But this is strictly confidential, for your safety and hers, we are not to mention it to anyone until the process is completed and formally announced. The wedding reception will be held as plan any changes will prompt suspicions from our opponents."
Ali's heart thumped at this news. "I don't think that's a good idea, Father. Don't you think that would be adding another burden on top of what Mita is facing now?" He answered.
"What can I say if Paduka Sultan has set his mind on it? You know how he is, not even a tornado can lift an idea when it's in his mind."
"Bang, the plan was carried out. According to our spies in the palace, the target did drink the drug and was affected, her reaction to it was actually better than our test subjects. It didn't kill her right away, but it did manage to increase her strength. She attacked Raden Ali as expected, but he managed to subdue her. She was taken away by him, so we don't know yet if she's dead or not."
"Okay, keep me informed with any updates!"
"Okay, Bang."
The younger man left the office. The man sitting at the desk murmured. "Interesting........"
Chapter Twenty
Ali wiped her face and arms gently, her temperature had gone down now. Her breathing was calm and in a constant rhythm. He couldn't believe this beautiful and tranquil woman sleeping in front of him was the same person as the one that grabbed his neck and threw him against a tree a few hours ago. He felt tired, his neck was still hurting from her strong grasp earlier. He dragged a chair and put it near the side of the bed where she was lying. He sat comfortably, stretching his legs out, and leaning his back and head on the soft cushion and closed his eyes.
He didn't know when he fell asleep or for how long, just that he needed more. But the sound of crying woke him up. He opened his eyes and turned his head to check on Paramita, she was rolling around on the bed, The IV had been pulled off her arm. He got up and walked to her side. "Mita, what's wrong?" He asked her, while gently touching her shoulder, "Are you hurting?"
She stopped, pivoted and looked straight into his face, "Help me. Help me, my clothes are on fire." She said.
Ali quickly held her down, "No...no...you're not on fire, calm down, you're fine."
"It's hot. It's hot." She pushed him and jumped out of the bed, standing on the floor she started taking off her clothes. "I don't want to die, turn it off, turn it off, help me...."
Ali was in a state of panic, "No, stop! Don't do that." He felt like crying, confused not knowing what to do. "Don't take your clothes off, please, anything but that. Why don't you beat me up or strangle me instead." He said.
He grabbed the blanket on the bed and tried to get close enough to her to cover her now naked body, he had his eyes closed to avoid seeing her. She turned and started running to the corner of the room.
"Don
't come near me, help, there's a gorilla over here, help a gorilla is loose in the city, police, police, somebody call the London Zoo." She screamed.
Seeing him stumbling, feeling his way with his hands to get close to her, she ran past him towards the door. Ali realized that he had to prevent her from leaving the room. He jumped and threw himself against the door, there was a loud bang as his body hit it.
"I'm burning...I'm burning.....help me...turn it off....water....water....get me water" She screamed while running in circles all over the room.
There was a loud knock on the door. "Ali, what happened? Is everything alright?" Raden Hamza's voice was on the other side sounding concerned.
"Abang, are you okay?" Hafiz added.
"Don't come in..." Ali yelled. "I need Mother, please ask Mother and Maya to come and help me. I don't want any man entering this room!"
Raden Nabilla entered with Maya, she was in shock to see Paramita's condition, "What's going on here?" She asked.
"Mother, she's hallucinating, she thinks that she's on fire."
"Why is she naked?"
"She took off her clothes herself, Mother. I didn't do anything, I swear! She thinks that her clothes are on fire!"
"Take them off, take off my clothes, they're on fire!" She said while clawing at her skin.
"We have to stop her before she hurts herself," Ali said.
"Maya, you approach her from the right. Mother, from the left, make sure she runs this way, so I can put this blanket on her." He said.
They did as he instructed. Seeing the women approaching her from both sides, Paramita stopped trying to take off her imaginary clothes. "Bats.....bats....I'm surrounded by bats....help me..." She screamed running forward.
Ali was ready with the opened blanket held up in front of his face. He caught her and quickly wrapped completely in it, only sparing her head. He held her tightly using all his strength to stop her attempts to free herself. She wriggled, shrugged and pushed. He was determined to hold her down, but he was losing his grip. To prevent her from escaping, he wrestled her to the floor and pinned her down with his body.
"Careful don't hurt her," Raden Nabilla warned.
Ali wrapped his arms and legs around her on the floor until he felt that she stopped moving and her body was limp again. He carefully observed her face. Her eyes were closed, and she was breathing normally again. He carefully let go of his hold, stood up and carried her to the bed. He was sweating heavily.
"Is she sleeping?" Raden Nabilla asked.
"Yes she is." He answered.
Suddenly Raden Nabilla burst into a giggle. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh at Ananda Puteri's unfortunate situation. But in my time, if you dared call your mother in law a bat, you'd be in big trouble." She said while sitting on the bed and feeling Paramita's head with gentleness. The others laughed at her comment.
"My poor child. How could anybody do this to her." She sighed.
Ali picked up her clothes from the floor and handed it to Raden Nabilla, "I think you should put her clothes on. She won't be happy to wake up and find herself naked in my room."
He was about to leave, when Raden Nabilla called to him. "Don't go yet, what happens if she goes psychotic again?"
Ali took a deep breath, "You're right." He said. He turned his back against them and stood there waiting.
"Okay, we've finished." He heard his mother saying. He turned around. Paramita was still lying on the bed where he left her.
"I think I should lay her down properly. I doubt she'd wake up again," He said. He lifted her and straightened her position. He covered her with a blanket.
Raden Nabilla opened the door to let Raden Hamza in. "She's okay now, she asleep again."
"Why does Abang have a woman in his bedroom? Does his fiancée now about this?" Said Hafiz. He peered at the bed, "Wait isn't that Mita? Why is she here in your room?"
"Hafiz, it's not what you think." Ali explained. "She was drugged, and I brought her here to take care of her."
"So what was the ruckus about?"
"She was hallucinating she thought that she was on fire."
"Hallucinating? What drug did she take?"
"PCP"
"Hah....! I know how that feels, when I tried PCP, I spent four hours in front of the TV set trying to find the power button." Hafiz said to himself.
"What did you say?" Raden Hamza yelled.
"That's not important, what's important, is that Abang shouldn't be in the room alone with Mita, who knows what could happen." Hafiz said to divert his father's attention.
Ali felt his temper rising, "Hafiz, I'm not that type of person. I don't sleep around with women, and I certainly have never gotten one pregnant and made her get an abortion."
"What are you implying?"
"Do think that I don't know about it?"
"What are you two talking about?" Raden Nabilla interrupted.
"Nothing Mother." Ali replied. "I'm tired, it has been a long night for me. I'm going to get some sleep, I want to take advantage of the time Mita is sleeping calmly."
He entered his room and shut the door, he was in no mood to fight with Hafiz. He looked at Paramita, she was still sleeping peacefully. He dragged himself to the chair and tried to sleep.
Luckily she didn't have any more episodes that night, she only sleep talked and whined, but she didn't hallucinate or get out of bed. What woke him up was the sound of knocking on the door. Raden Nabilla entered, and approached him, "Time for you to pray."
Ali stretched and stood up, "Luckily she didn't get any more hallucinations. I'm going to take a shower." He said.
"Raden, Raden, there is a guest waiting for you downstairs." He heard Maya's voice from the outside.
"Who is it?" He asked.
"It's the doctor who was here yesterday." She replied.
"Please show him up." Ali responded. "Mother, since the doctor is here, can you accompany him while I go shower."
"Yes, of course." She said.
He entered the bathroom, and the door of the room opened, as Doctor Johan stepped inside. "Good morning, Your Excellency." He said to Raden Nabilla.
"Good morning, Doctor." She replied. "Thank you for coming here so early."
"I was on call last night at the palace. I got off and came here to check on my patient.
"Last night she had another psychotic moment. Not a violent one, she was saying that her clothes were on fire, and she was screaming claiming that she was burning."
"PCP has an unpredictable effect. But a paranoia like that is a common occurrence, plus we don't know what other substance the drug that was administered to her contained, so we do not know what other reactions will occur."
He took his stethoscope and listen to Paramita's heart rate, and checked her pulse. "She's actually doing very well. Better than some patients that were exposed to this same drug." He opened her eyelids, "Her pupils are no longer dilated."
"So she's okay, Doctor?"
"Oh yes, she is. She'll probably wake up in a few hours."
Ali came out of the bathroom, his hair freshly washed. "Good morning, Doctor." He greeted.
"Good morning Your Excellency. I was telling your Mother that Her Highness' condition is better now, she should wake up in a few hours. I see that the IV has been taken off."
"She pulled it out last night during an episode." He responded.
"I see."
"Doctor, if you will excuse for a while, I have something to do, I will be back before long."
"Be my guest Your Excellency." He replied.
Not long after Ali had left, Paramita started to come to, at first she moved her head, and opened her eyes. She looked confused and dazed, not recognizing her surroundings.
"Ananda Puteri, you have woken up..." She heard a familiar voice, she turned to the direction where it came from and surprise to see Raden Nabilla there with a strange man.
"Where...where am I? What happened? My whole body is hurting, what happened to me?" She asked her speech w
as slurring.
"Doctor, why is she talking like that?" Raden Nabilla didn't immediately answer her.
"It's the effect of the drug, it hasn't been completely metabolized by her body." He explained.
"Ananda, do you recognize me?" Raden Nabilla asked her patiently.
Paramita nodded. "Ibunda Nabilla."
Raden Nabilla smiled and held her hand. "That's good, you're at my house. This is Ali's room, he brought you here yesterday because you were seriously injured."
Paramita looked at her with confusion, "What happened?"
"We can talk about it later, the first thing is to make sure you recover." She replied.
"Your Highness Puteri, your body must be in great pain right now. I will give you an injection to relieve the pain a little bit." The doctor said.
Paramita nodded, Raden Nabilla helped her turn to her side, and slightly opened the back of her pajama pants. Paramita winced as the needle pierced her flesh.
"I'm thirsty." She said.
Raden Nabilla filled a glass on the nightstand with water from a jar and helped her drink it. After Paramita was satisfied, Raden Nabilla helped her to lie back on the bed.
"Is she awake?" They heard Ali's voice coming from the door.
"Yes she is." Doctor Johan replied.
Ali came in and sat on the bed by Paramita's side. "Hey, how are you feeling?" He gently asked her while taking her hand in his.
"She's still a little bit slurry when she speaks, and she is in pain, but the doctor had given her painkiller injection." His mother answered.
Ali smiled at her and caressed her hair, "You have to rest. Give time for your body to eliminate the substances."
"He's right." The doctor agreed.
Paramita's face showed that she had many questions, but she smiled and nodded obeying them.
"I'm going to call your father at the office to give him the good news. He left early this morning to update Paduka Sultan about the situation."
"Your Excellency, I'll be leaving now," Doctor Johan said.
Princess: Nuance Of Love Book 1 Page 17
