âIâm not confident, to begin with. Christopherâs family is just too good for me,â I said bitterly, âIâve thought about it a lot of times. I wouldnât mind if he were an ordinary man from an ordinary family. I donât need a fancy house or bottomless cash. All I want is a man who I can come home to every day after work and spend my life with.â
âNo one gets to choose the family they are born into, so thereâs no use thinking about it. Youâre not bad yourself. Youâre a Tanner.â Sabrina nudged me in the arm.
âYeah, I wonder who said I was the worst among all the children in wealthy families. I didnât even have the money to buy clothes for myself. You had to pay for everything for me.â
âI donât care about the past. What matters is that youâre with Christopher now. The picture is already out there on display at the art exhibition. Both of you have just undertaken another important milestone in life when yâall got married, so donât you even dare think about quitting. Iâll be the first to give you a good lecture before Christopher does.â
I sigh, thinking about the drawing. âI donât think I can do that anymore. I canât see a thing now.â
âCan you please stop being so pessimistic, Yvonne Tanner? Youâre driving me nuts! I wouldâve left you all on your own so you could wallow in your tears if not for Zach.â I felt like she was on the verge of beating me to a pulp, but she held her anger in seeing me in dire straits. I had a bandage on my hand, after all, and I probably looked weak and frail.
I burst out laughing, imagining the expression on her face.
âYouâre so cute, Sabby. Youâre even more agitated than I am.â
âOf course I am!â she cried out.
I cleared my throat and held my head high. âYou should stop having unrealistic expectations about Christopher. He wonât fall for you. Donât you even go near him. Iâll get together with Zach and get pregnant with his baby if you do.â
âLike youâll really do that.â
Both of us laughed out loud as we bantered.
Sabrinaâs visit lightened my mood. I had been caught in limbo after I lost my sight, but I felt much better with her around.
âDonât worry, Zach only has eyes for you. Heâs not my type. I prefer someone passionate and dominant,â I teased.
âIt seems like you know yourself well. Donât worry; you might get to see someone like that in a few daysâ time. Itâs just a matter of time before you regain your sight. Thereâs nothing to be afraid about. Youâre not even afraid of death.â
What Sabrina said was true. There was nothing that unnerved meânot even death.
It turned out that no man was an island. We all needed someone to support and listen to us at some point in our lives. With Sabrina keeping me company, I felt better. I did not even refrain from going over to see Christopher when his parents were around. I even held his hand and talked to him when they were around.
The doctor informed us that Christopher was recovering quickly and that he would be awake latest by tomorrow morning. I was exhilarated when I found out about it and told Julia I would come again the next morning.
I overheard her talking to Darius when I was out in the corridor. She told him I was a good woman. If it were not for my reputation and my divorce, she would have fully supported Christopher and my marriage.
After taking some medication in the afternoon, I felt dizzy and uncomfortable. I figured I might have stayed indoors for too long, so I went to the garden to get some fresh air.
When Darius saw me in the garden, he came over to talk to me, but I felt my head was spinning around and could not hear a word he said. I soon blacked out as he was still talking.
âThereâs something wrong with her brain nerves. I suspect that she was infected by a virus on the island. She will consistently lose a lot of blood and may even develop brain cancer. Thereâs no cure for it.â
I could vaguely hear someone speaking as I tried to shake myself back to reality. Are they talking about me? Am I dying?