Me Without You

by Rona Go

  And it helped a lot to receive a phone call from the hospital announcing the good news that Jemmah had woken up for a while and was out of coma. The three of them were in high spirits. And it made them even bolder to confront the priest about what they discovered.

  Although Jane's back was so stiff and her chin was up in the air, it was still very obvious to both Jonah and Jervais that Jane was containing her nervousness, when they were seated in Fr. Ulysses' office.

  The priest was his usual bubbly self, chattering about some of the events prepared by the church for its devotees. He even mentioned a few times about the foundation that Jenssen was leading.

  "I am sorry about Jenssen," Fr. Ulysses said gravely. "I include her in my prayers everyday. She was a very hardworking and a good leader. I was looking forward for her to lead a few of our volunteers in Africa to learn more about our endangered predators. It is so sad that this had to happen. I hope that the authorities will find her soon."

  It seemed to be just the right moment that Jane was waiting for when Fr. Ulysses mentioned about Jenssen and the foundation.

  "I think you can shed light on the matter to the police, Fr. Ulysses," Jane spat out at the priest ominously. "After all, Jenssen had told someone the foundation knew of people who caught smugglers of wild beasts."

  "What—" Fr. Ulysses stammered. He was clearly surprised at Jane's words.

  "Could the wild beasts be the hyenas which were found in the warehouse?" Jane interrupted the priest.

  "You are on a dangerous ground here—" Fr. Ulysses replied. His voice had increased its tone. His face had turned red and the muscles on his temples were tightening a little.

  "Would you know what the foundation knew? Surely—" Jane argued leaving the sentence for Fr. Ulysses to interpret on his own, pushing a little more.

  Jonah and Jane kept their eyes on the priest just watching his reaction. They were glad that Jane had not given him the chance to say anything. The expression on his face was enough to tell a lot. Although, they still didn't know the exact details— they had revealed the truth that the priest had known.

  "Jane, don't tempt me to—" Fr. Ulysses warned. He rose from his chair. His hands were planted on the table and he looked like he was about to prance at them.

  "To what, Fr. Ulysses?" Jane said. She also stood up briskly from her chair and met the priest's eyes. "Are you threatening us?"

  "You know—" the priest started to cry out.

  "I know that you are involved in this!" Jane cut in. Her voice was almost screaming, matching Fr. Ulysses' tone. She raised her hand and the belly chain coiled around it flashed before everyone's eyes. "I am warning you! And I want you to tell whoever you are working for that your hunting days are over. I am the new one. And I have sealed it through Jemmah! You can check her out for yourself, alive and well. So don't touch any member of my family from this day on."

  Jane stomped out of the office with Jonah and Jervais following her heels leaving Fr. Ulysses with his mouth hanging open. They have reached the end of the corridor that led another door towards the exit when the priest went out of his office and shouted at them.

  "You're not going to get away with this, Jane. You know it!" Fr. Ulysses' voice rang out distinctly.

  When the three were inside, cramped in Jervais' car, they all heaved a huge sigh of relief out of their mouths.

  "I have never been so shaken in my life!" Jane said. But she was smiling triumphantly and looking pleased. She wiped the sweat on her forehead down to her temple. She ran her fingers through her neatly-pulled ponytail. Then, she exhaled more air out of her lungs.

  "But that was brilliant!" Jervais said, banging her hands on the steering wheel. She turned to look at Jane who was seating at the backseat of the car. "Just brilliant, Jane! And how you told them about being the new one and sealing it—God, they will be staying away from us from this day on."

  "I certainly hope so!" Jane said.

  "Oh, they will!" Jonah said. "You were so convincing as the new one! You could easily fool anybody. Even Aunt Judith will have no doubt."

  "Ditto. You were even more convincing than me when I had to act it out in front of Gilda Byrne," Jervais chimed in and laughed out loud.

  "You were just acting?" Jane asked.

  "Just acting," Jervais confirmed and gave Jane a childish grin. "What did you think?"

  "I was thinking you were the new one," Jane said searchingly. "The night you came to my room and Aunt Judith also came in afterwards—I thought it had something to do with the habak."

  "I heard something," Jervais told Jane. "But Jonah—"

  "Fr. Ulysses!" Jonah cried out suddenly.

  Jervais and Jane looked in the direction Jonah was pointing and saw the priest hurrying outside to the parking lot towards his car. Once in a while Fr. Ulysses would scan the area suspiciously.

  "Let's follow him," Jervais said excitedly.

  "Let's not!" Jane said.

  "Yeah, let's just go home!" Jonah urged.

  "Don't you get it? I am pretty sure that Fr. Ulysses will go to the hunters now to tell them what just happened. We might find Jenssen there!" Jervais replied.

  Chapter 32

  The Lion's Lair

  Jervais had won over Jonah and Jane and finally followed Fr. Ulysses. They were not led to the hunters. Neither did they find Jenssen. They never expected that the priest will end up driving to Xavier's house.

  Although, there was one healer inside the house and that was Gilda Byrne, they couldn't fit two and two together to solve the puzzle. If the hunters were after the Blood siblings and Fr. Ulysses was involved somehow, why would he be working side-by-side with a known healer like Gilda?

  Hugh met Jonah and Jervais in the driveway. He had been expecting for them to arrive a couple of hours ago but they came in late. When they finally made it, Jervais had looked like a soldier dragging a prisoner down a lion's lair. In which case, Jonah was the prisoner. With the manner Jervais was looking at Jonah, it was as if she was holding a whip and making Jonah moved.

  Jonah had other reasons for being reluctant about coming to the Lively mansion. She did not want to be in the same room with Hugh and Xavier. Although, she knew she had to see Xavier. But she did not trust herself not to betray the way she felt deep inside, which was not so clear to her yet.

  "Fr. Ulysses knows something alright," Jervais blurted out even before taking the first step on the front porch. "And guess what, we followed him earlier and he ended up here. Did you know that?"

  Hugh looked uncomfortably behind him checking if somebody heard Jervais. "Yeah, he did show up. He personally comes around to get her monthly donations. Then, he announced earlier he was travelling to Rome and his request for a re-assignment has been approved. Then, they had a closed-door meeting afterwards."

  "What? He's leaving?" Jervais asked. "Then, he's clearly guilty! He won't be running away if there was nothing he's hiding."

  "But we don't have anything to prove it," Hugh argued.

  "What's your—er Gilda got to do with this?" Jonah asked.

  "I really don't know," Hugh said. He took her hand and led her inside the house. Jervais was following closely behind. "And I wish I could just ask her. But I can't."

  Jonah looked at Hugh sympathetically. There were a few things that even a regular mother-son relationship could not share, how much more with Hugh and Gilda? Jonah was not even sure if Hugh shared anything mundane with Gilda—even perhaps the most mundane of calling her by her name. Jonah had not heard of Hugh spoke of her other than referring to Gilda in the third person. Without thinking, Jonah squeezed Hugh's hand comfortingly, which made him stop on his tracks to stare at her peculiarly.

  "You don't have to," Jonah said and disengaged her hand from Hugh.

  "But I bet X can pull it off," Hugh said and grinned mischievously. He continued walking upstairs.

  "How is X, by the way?" Jonah asked just as they were turning the corner to Xavier's room.

  "You'll see for y
ourself," Hugh replied cheerfully. He opened the door to Xavier's bedroom and the two girls entered.

  Xavier was sitting all propped up with pillows behind him. There was shadow of hair growth in his face and dark rings around his eyes. But he looked cheerful enough as he smiled from ear to ear when he saw Jonah.

  "Hey, you!" he called out.

  Jonah saw various bottles just hanging above Xavier's bed with the fine tubes like a spider's web dangling limply downward instead of being attached to Xavier's Port-a-Cath. The bottles contained medicines ranging from antibiotics, saline solution, plasma, to platelets all ready to be infused inside Xavier's body. But the containers appeared unused. She was almost hesitant to approach Xavier in his condition thinking she could make things worse for him than it already was.

  "It's a miracle they say!" Hugh said happily. He gave Jonah a little push towards Xavier's bed. "The doctors were ready to bring him kicking and screaming to the hospital where he belonged. They were pretty sure he had a sepsis attack and he needed to be in the ICU for at least 48 hours. But as you can see, the guy is as strong as a bull! Even Dad could not explain what happened."

  Jonah sat on Xavier's bed facing him, with Hugh standing closely behind her back. Jervais had chosen to sit comfortably on a couch nearby.

  "I know it's you!" Xavier spoke softly. "I saw your face when I have fallen asleep. I heard your voice. It was you."

  "I'll get a soda," Hugh announced. He turned around and looked at Jervais meaningfully. "Let's get a soda!"

  "I am not going anywhere this house without Jonah," Jervais said firmly.

  "Oh, come on!" Hugh said. "Nobody's going to harm you here as long as you're with me."

  "That's what I am afraid of!" Jervais replied and rolled her eyes. She threw Jonah one of her whipping glances but she eventually conceded. "Fine, let's get your soda." And to Jonah she added, "We won't be long, so hurry up! Say what you have to say. And do what you have to do."

  "Jervais!" Jonah cried out, blushing in embarrassment.

  When the two had gone out, Jonah went a little bit closer to Xavier. She reached out her hand towards Xavier's face but he tilted his head a little away from her.

  "No, Jonah please," Xavier told her. "Unless you seal your fate as a healer, which I believe you are, you will be weak around me, until you yourself will get sick and yes, die. Aunt Gilda said."

  "So where will that leave us? You don't want me to seal it but at the same time you won't let me touch you—" Jonah answered in a small voice. "One way or another, we need to make a choice, X!"

  "We don't have to make a choice," Xavier said. "We will just let nature run its course—"

  "Are you saying, I'll just watch you die without doing anything at all?" Jonah asked unbelievably.

  "Yes," Xavier replied.

  "That is so selfish of you!" Jonah cried out.

  "I want you to live your life, Jonah! Live and die the natural way. Then, we will be together again," Xavier said.

  "That will take years and years from now. By God, if I can help it, I want to grow old!" Jonah said.

  Xavier chuckled. "Okay, then grow old by all means and I'll still be waiting!"

  Jonah momentarily closed her eyes and said nothing. She was hurting. And she couldn't even fathom the root of her pain. She extended her hand towards Xavier.

  "Jonah, no!" Jonah heard Xavier told her.

  But she held her hand firmly just a few inches above his chest. "Sssh! I am not touching you," she told Xavier. She could feel his warmth like she was somehow seeping it away. As if she could really pull whatever weakness Xavier was feeling, she continued to imagine drawing his warmth towards her. And on and on she went, until her hand felt like she was placing it under a hot plate.

  And when Jonah opened her eyes again, Xavier's eyes were closed in a soft slumber. Knowing what will happen next. Jonah stood up and went for the door handle. She was barely out of the door when she slumped forward receiving the hard punch on her stomach, leaving her out of breath.

  "Help! Jervais!" she croaked as the familiar sense of the inevitable end engulfed her. She began to crawl towards the direction of the stairs. The kitchen seemed a long way to go that it was an impossible feat to reach Jervais and Hugh in her state.

  On top of everything else, Jonah was anxious to be discovered by Gilda Byrne, whose voice and scent had gone ahead of her that Jonah was hearing and smelling from a distance coming up the stairs. With the distinctive taste of defeat, Jonah passed out.

  "Jonah!" Jervais cried out.

  Hugh immediately sprinted towards Jonah. Fortunately, he and Jervais did not have to go down to get the sodas. The small fridge he kept in his room which he stuffed with food and drinks, mainly to avoid walking into Gilda at certain times of the night when he craved for food had certainly saved them the time to find Jonah before Gilda walked into her in such a condition. It was also Jervais' idea to go to his room, which was only a couple of doors away from Xavier's bedroom, to get the belly chain.

  As if Hugh was just scooping up a life-sized rag doll, he carried Jonah back to his room just as Gilda and Helen arrived at the top of the stairs.

  Following Hugh with Jonah in his arms, Jervais had hastily closed the door behind her and began to prance around in Hugh's room.

  "Why did this happen to her?" Jervais was saying. She kept glancing at Jonah who was lying motionless on Hugh's bed among a comforter which was hanging halfway down the bed, two pillows on top of each other, a shirt and some of Hugh's stuff.

  "Don't you know? She weakens around sick people! That's why X wouldn't want her near him." Hugh said.

  "But of course, she couldn't help it, right?" Jervais said angrily. "Foolish girl! What was she thinking? Does she know?"

  "I believe she has an idea," Hugh said. "She is the new one, Jervais. However, it happened, she is it! And she will get weaker every time she heals. And she can die as well, until she seals it."

  "Stupid, stupid girl!" Jervais said again and again until she was on the verge of tears. "Plain, plain stupid!"

  Jonah was stirring slowly. Her eyes fluttered before she finally opened them. A smile gently spread through her face when she saw Hugh. However, her lips were dry and pale. She tried to sit up. But her body felt tired.

  Hugh came forward and helped Jonah in a sitting position. He had to pull one of the pillows from under her to put it behind her back.

  Jervais strode towards Jonah and scolded her, "What were you thinking, Jonah? Why give us a fright that way?"

  Jonah looked away from Jervais and grinned apologetically. "I—"

  "You what?" Jervais chided, occasionally chattering her teeth with the muscles on her beet-red face tightening with anger."Are you trying to kill yourself? Are you trying to be a healer now? Why don't you do it with your mother's habak?" she added. Jervais was thrusting the belly chain towards Jonah. And when Jonah refused to take it, she pulled Jonah's hand and forcibly handed the jewelry to her.

  "No!" Hugh cried out.

  But Hugh's warning came in too late. Jonah threw the belly chain away from her and collapsed sideways clutching her stomach. She crawled and dragged herself to every direction until she was lying again with half of her legs dangling on Hugh's bed. Her breath was cutting her off that she was lunging for air helplessly. She was feeling her heartbeat almost leaping out of her chest and yet her thoughts were running amok telling her any moment her heart would stop beating.

  Then, she saw a flash of images rapidly consuming her— Jenssen's eyes dilated with trepidation surrounded with half a dozen aggressive hyenas. Their foaming mouths and their bone-crushing canines were very prominent. She also saw a fuzzy picture of Jane choking and a mysterious hand mixing a poisonous substance of some sort.

  Although, Jonah did not lose her consciousness, she could not feel anything on her arms and her legs. And the urge to sleep was so strong. She just lay there motionless with her eyes which she kept open compulsorily.

  Hugh reached out for Jonah ginger
ly. He supported her neck with one hand and with his other hand wrapped around her body, he moved her in an upright position. Then, he gently pulled her to his lap like a child as she leaned her head on his shoulder. He slowly went through the motion of massaging her hand to her arm. Then, he did the same to the other hand.

  A tear trickled through Jonah's cheek. Her eyes were directed at Jervais, who stood rooted to her spot unable to move. Jonah was whispering, "I saw Jenssen! I saw Jenssen!"

  At that moment, there was loud knocking on the door.

  "It's her!" Hugh said in a panicky voice.

  Chapter 33

  Gone!

  Hugh lifted one of Jonah's arms and let it go. The arm just slid back to Jonah's side limply. He squeezed her right hand with urgency pumping life to it. Then, he did the same thing to the left.

  Jonah was able to feel a little bit of tingly sensation down her arms. However, from her past experience, she knew the worse isn't over yet. Before she could feel her arms and her legs again, there was still the expected rush of current which felt like volts of electricity for a minute or two which will totally render her immobile.

  "Can you at least sit?" Hugh asked Jonah.

  In response, Jonah shook her head lightly as the knocking continued.

  "What do we do now?" Jervais mouthed, horror was showing in her eyes.

  "Tell her we can't be disturbed," Hugh suggested.

  Without any sound, Jervais opened her mouth again and asked, "Why?"

  Hugh scanned the place for a moment to think of anything that will validate their claim not to be bothered. No project came to mind. Then, he found Jonah's face close to his own, inviting him closer…and closer.

  "This is why," Hugh said and kissed Jonah on the mouth.

  "Argh!" Jervais said. Raising both her hands in the air in annoyance, she hurriedly stepped towards the door to answer the banging which had become persistent.

  It was indeed Gilda who was standing outside. Her face was screwed in a suspicious grimace. Her menthol scent was coming in just as potent.