Exquisite Saga #1: Chianti Callahan

Chapter 29: The Unfixable

CHAPTER 29

GAIGE'S POV

Dinampian ko ng magaang halik ang kamay ng natutulog na si Chianti. Even sleeping, she doesn't look at ease. It's been hours but I'm still waiting for her to wake up. Mula nang mawalan siya ng malay nang matagpuan namin siya ay hindi na siya muling gumising. The doctors tend to her injuries and said that there would be no long-term damage. But that's not what I'm scared of. Emotional scars can be healed but it won't be as fast as the physical ones.

I almost thought I lost her. I thought we were too late. We arrived just in time to stop Claire Renoso also known as Janice Cruz from shooting Dianne Samante, Exquisite employee. Sinubukan naming hanapin sila Chianti pero nakatakas na sila mula sa pinagkulungan sa kanila ni Victoria Meneses.

We were a breath away from losing both of them and we managed to rescue Chianti...but not quick enough to save Victoria. Hindi namin alam kung kaninong bala ang unang tumama kay Reynaldo na nagsanhi sa pagkamatay niya. Kung ito ba ay galing sa pulisya, sa pribadong organisasyon, sa security teams, o sa baril na hawak ko nang mga pagkakataon na 'yon. Ang nasisiguro ko lang ay hindi na niya magagawang guluhin muli ang buhay ni Chianti. And whatever he had left to torture the woman that I love...I will make sure to work all my life to free her from.

I will be forever hunted by the memory of her screaming for life...her voice full of anguish not just because from the pain of losing someone, but from the torture of dying slowly while she's still breathing.

"She'll wake up soon."

I looked up to my grandfather, Devin. Umupo siya sa tabi ko habang ang mga mata ay nakatutok kay Chianti. His own security team helped us on looking for Chianti. Akala ko ay pipigilan niya ako nang bigla na lang siyang dumating sa property ko. But in fact, he also helped on looking for her.

"I know she will. I just don't know how I can help her get through this." mahinang kong bulong. "Hindi ko alam kung saan magsisimula."

"You should start by letting go." Hindi makapaniwalang nilingon ko siya. Nananatiling kalmado ang ekspresyon niya habang nakatingin sa asawa ko. Nang bumaling siya sa akin ay direkta niya akong tinignan sa mga mata. "Let go."

I closed my hand into tight fists and tried to control my voice as I speak. "I will not."

"Hindi ko sinasabing iwan mo siya. All I'm saying is you should let her have a bit of control of her life. Let her be surrounded by the things she's familiar with as hers not yours or what you have both. That woman needs air and the last thing you should want is to suffocate her more."

Hindi ko nagawang makasagot sa tinuran niya. Buong pagkatao ko ang pilit itinatanggi ang gusto niyang mangyari. Dahil wala akong ibang gusto kundi ang protektahan si Chianti...na ilayo siya sa mga bagay na maaaring maglagay na naman sa kaniya sa panganib. But my grandfather's right. I could suffocate her by treating her as fragile and putting her inside a barricade to stop anyone from getting to her.

"I don't know if I can." mapait na ngumiti ako. "Alam ko na pinalaki mo kami na hindi pwedeng maging mahina. But she's my weakness. I can lose everything and I wouldn't mind as long as I have her."

Pinalaki kami sa buhay na komportable at walang komplikasyon. The world was handed to us. Pero sa kabila niyon ay nang makilala ko si Chianti, pakiramdam ko noon pa lang ako nagsimula na totoong mabuhay.

"It's in the Hendrix' nature to never stop on fixing things. But your woman doesn't need fixing. You might never fix her, Gaige. Ang kailangan niya ay ikaw bilang asawa niya na gagabay lang sa kaniya...hindi kokontrol. What she needs is a person she can hold on to whenever she wakes up from her nightmares in the middle of the night." mahinang tinapik niya ang tuhod ko at tumayo mula sa pagkakaupo. "Your grandmother wasn't easy to love too. She was different back then. I didn't know when her nightmares stopped...I just know that it did when I look at her while she was sleeping and there were no bad dreams anymore."