She's My Sleeping Pill

“My friend is coming in few minutes but I have to attend a meeting so, I’ll leave him to your care for a while.” Stefan stated and kissed his wife’s forehead. “I’ll take care of packing our things later so, you don’t have to worry about anything else.”

“Okay.”

She no longer looked pale but her eyes still showed him the emotions that she was trying to hide. And if he can tell it, he was sure that his friend would be able to do so as well. He left her in the living room and Cayenne started to fidget on her seat. Even though she was inside her own house, she was starting to feel wary and scared.

To help herself relax, she picked a magazine from the coffee table and read it to pass the time while waiting. At first, she was able to understand what the featured story was but as time passes by, her eyes turned glassy and she was staring into space again.

When Dr. Simbajon came, he found Cayenne looking daze and blank in the living room. He didn’t want to startle her so; he asked the bodyguard to notify her of his presence instead.

“Madam?” the guard called but Cayenne was unresponsive. “Miss Yen?”

.....

Cayenne blinked her eyes several times and looked at the person in front of her. It took her few seconds to realize who she was looking at but she pretended to be fine. “What is the matter?”

“Miss Yen, sir Stefan’s friend is here to visit him and sir gave us a go signal already. However, we cannot find him.” At his word, Cayenne noticed that a man was standing behind the bodyguard. She immediately stood up and act like a proper host to welcome the guest.

“Hello. I’m Cayenne Dumrique. Sorry for not noticing you earlier. I was just thinking of some important matter.” She stretched her hand and the man took it for a handshake.

“I can tell it’s important or you wouldn’t be in a daze.” he responded without sounding so professional in his field. Stefan has told him not to inform his wife about his profession because he was afraid that it would agitate her. He just wanted to know what he can do to help her. “I’m Brail Simbajon. It’s nice to finally meet you, Cayenne.”

“The pleasure is mine. Have a seat.”

At first glance, Cayenne looked normal and acted normal but for doctors who deals with people who has traumatic experience, every little gesture is important to them. He could see that she was fiddling with her thumb and her eyes were restless.

“Where’s Stefan? I have informed him that I’m coming today but he’s nowhere to be seen.”

“He’s having an emergency meeting. He’ll be coming downstairs later.” Cayenne answered with a faint smile that doesn’t reach her eyes at all. She was also looking at his things and his hands as if she was expecting something to appear there. “How did you become friends with my husband? I have met almost all his friends in the past year except you, I guess.”

“Oh! I just returned home from my study abroad.”

It was true that he studied abroad as well but it wasn’t really a long-term study. It was to learn new treatment for his patients. He just needed to say few words without really lying to her.

Lucia brought them snacks while they talk and Brail shared his travel experience while studying. He learned from Stefan that Cayenne loves to travel and he was using this fact to get some reaction from her. Whenever he mentions about airplane, her complexion turned pale and he could see her trembling hands.

“Are you alright?” he asked and Cayenne confirmed that she was. “I see. I was worried because you seem pale to me.”

“Ah? How can that be? I am doing fine.” Cayenne reassured him but the next moment, as if she was transported back to the hijacking scenario, she screamed in fear.

Lucia accidentally dropped the tray on the floor while walking back to the kitchen and the loud crashing sound caused the traumatic incident to resurface in Cayenne’s mind. This made Cayenne duck and cover her ears in fear. She was screaming and muttering Stefan’s name with her eyes closed.

This scene shocked everyone who saw what happened and they were all looking at her. Stefan didn’t really want to expose his wife like this to them but he wanted everyone to be careful since Cayenne was still fighting with the trauma she experienced. He wanted them to be mindful of their actions and words whenever she’s around.

Not even a minute later, Stefan arrived to her side and hugged her tight. “Ayen, it’s fine. We’re fine. We’re home.” he stated while patting her back. “The tray just fell on the floor.” In truth, he didn’t really have a conference meeting. He was just observing from the second floor to see what his wife would do. “Sweetheart, look at me.” he even lifted her chin and made her look into his eyes. “I’m fine. Nothing happened to me. We made it back.”

“He killed the woman behind me!” Cayenne exclaimed. She could still hear the sound of the gunshot and she was really sure that the woman who sat beside her had died. If only she looked back and check the woman, she would have known that she was alive.

Stefan rubbed her arms and kissed the top of her head again and again. “She didn’t die. Someone saved her. Remember Olivia? She was able to stop the bleeding of that woman. If you want, we can visit her.”

During the whole conversation, Dr. Simbajon was observing Cayenne and Stefan. He can confirm that Stefan has fully recovered with the help of his wife. Now that his wife needed help, he can see that only Stefan can help as well. He pulled out his phone and sent Stefan a long message with what he had observe before standing up to leave.

“You should take good care of your wife. We’ll see each other again in the future. I’ll leave for now so that she can rest.”

“Sure. I’ll bring her to see you next time.” Stefan brought Cayenne back to their room and he checked his laptop for any messages. He was sure that Brail would leave some and he was right. The recent message he sent was about Cayenne’s recovery.

[Let her see that the woman is alive. It will reinforce the positive thoughts she has. It will also reassure her that her imagination is wrong.]

[Always reassure her with your presence. Don’t just leave her without saying anything. I can see that she was afraid of losing you. You must have done something that risks your life and she saw it.]

[Don’t travel using airplanes yet.]

[Make sure that she won’t watch or read anything about plane crash and hijacking.]

[Don’t startle her.]

[No loud noises for the meantime.]

[After two weeks, bring her to see me again.]

Stefan noted all these information before closing his laptop. Last night, she had a nightmare and that scared him silly. He was really worried when she didn’t open her eyes even after shaking her for quite some time. ‘God! Please help my wife.’

***

In Senyu Medical Hospital, Elia was lying on the bed with so many people looking after her. They were all waiting for her to wake up since they owe her their life. Instead of going back to their home, Diana and Artemis decided to stay in City B since they would be closer to Cayenne. It wasn’t their intention to get close to her but their parents want to see Cayenne and they also promised Elia to see her. They were left with no better choice than this.

“When will she wake up?” Xian asked while looking at the pale face of the woman he loves. Artemis wanted to leave him in the island but he insisted of coming along. She even kicked him angrily but he clung to her legs, begging her to bring him. It was Diana who finally allowed him to come with them.

Instead of giving him an answer, Artemis glared at him. If her sharp gazes could cut someone, he’d be shredded to pieces for sure.

When Tristan woke up and received their message regarding the rescue operation and their current situation, he warned them not to contact Cayenne at the moment. He was worried that the situation would stimulate her mind even more.

‘Sigh. Why do bad things happen to good people?’ Tristan thought before standing up to change his clothes.

Confused with the warning from Tristan, Diana and Artemis looked at each other but since it was him who said so, they didn’t dare disobey his words. They’re probably for their own good especially that Stefan clings to his wife almost every second of his life.

While they were lost in thoughts, the door to Elia’s hospital room was suddenly opened and two middle-aged people came inside. They looked worried when they saw Elia but their expressions changed when they saw Xian beside her.

“Why is this bastard here?!” the man yelled angrily and even attempted to punch Xian. Thankfully, Artemis was quick enough to stop him. “Let go of me! I’ll kill this scoundrel! How dare you show your face?!”