Me Without You (32 page)

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.

Jervais opened the door just a crack,
enough for Gilda to see the back of Hugh with Jonah on his lap,
with their lips locked together before she closed it behind
her.

"I don't think they want to be
disturbed for the moment," Jervais told Gilda saucily.

What started as a pretentious kiss
became deeper as Hugh closed his eyes and held Jonah tighter. While
one hand was still supporting her from behind, his other hand went
to the side of her neck, gently stroking her there. His fingers
were moving up to the soft spot in her ear until they were buried
in her hair.

Jonah had also closed her own eyes and
became bubble-headed as she returned Hugh's kiss, oblivious of the
strong painful sensations running through her legs and arms, but
not as unaware to the little bubbles she was feeling just at the
lower part of her stomach. She moved one arm to his chest and it
wandered there, caressing its spans.

Jonah took in a lungful of air and her
senses came in a landslide. She held Hugh's face an inch away from
her, breaking the kiss. With her forehead just barely touching his
nose, she said in a raspy voice, "Hugh, we have got to stop
this."

Hugh gave her another tiny kiss on the
lips and held her face with both of his hands. He tilted her face
so that her eyes were staring into his. Then, he said, "I know. But
I can't!"

Jonah stood up and tested her legs.
Although wobbly, she knew it was because of the kiss. She slowly
moved towards the door. Then, she looked back at Hugh.

"What about X?" Jonah demanded. "Don't
you care about X? How he'd feel? Are you not thinking of him at
all?"

Hugh remained seated on his bed. He ran
his hand through his hair and took in a deep breath of his own.
Exhaling through his mouth, he met Jonah's stare.

"I love X like a brother. And you know
that. I know you love X too. We both love him," Hugh told Jonah. He
stood up and faced her then. Gesturing with his hands as if
reaching out for her with genuine longing, he continued, "But when
I am with you, I don't think of anything. There's nothing else.
There's nobody else. Do you? X and me—we are so much alike. But do
I remind you of X? Do you think of X when you are kissing me? Do
you wish it was X you were kissing instead of me?"

"I don't!" Jonah blurted out. "Oh—I
don't know anymore!" Irritated, she turned around and reached out
for the knob.

But Hugh was quick and he was at
Jonah's back in a few steps, leaning and putting his hand on the
door and preventing it from opening.

"Let me out, Hugh!" Jonah
said.

Breathing down at Jonah's nape, Hugh
said, "If you see X in me when we are together, then you won't see
me anymore." He moved his hand and stepped back to open the door
and let Jonah pass.

Seeing Jervais just standing outside
the door, Jonah yanked on her sister's hair and poured out her
annoyance towards her, "Some sister you are!"

"Ouch!" Jervais cried out and
straightened up. She then threw herself in Jonah's arms and hugged
her firmly. "Don't do anything that stupid again, Jonah." Her eyes
became moist but she quickly turned and ran towards the stairs
ahead of Jonah and Hugh. "Let's get out of here!" she called
out.

Hugh walked with Jonah towards the car
quietly. Although, their hands brushed against each other once in a
while, they continued down the driveway without saying anything to
each other and avoiding each other's eyes.

When Hugh and Jonah reached the car, he
opened the passenger door for Jonah and she got in. Bending down,
he took her pinky and linked his own on hers. Then, he said, "When
you don't see me anymore, then you won't. I promise!" Then, he
closed the door and backed away just as Jervais put the car into
gear and glided out of the driveway.

As Hugh was heading back to
the house, his steps quickened as a he recalled he had not kept
the
habak
back to
where he usually hid it. The last time he remembered, it was just
lying on the floor when Jonah threw it away earlier.

By the time Hugh was climbing the
stairs, he was almost taking the steps two at a time. And the
moment he opened the door to his room and looked at the spot where
the belly chain landed, it was gone.

There was no doubt in Hugh's
mind where the
habak
was—Gilda was sure to already have it. The menthol scent was a
dead giveaway. Thinking that it was just a remnant of Gilda's
presence, Hugh never expected to hear her voice from behind
him.

"You thought you can deceive me," Gilda
said. Hugh turned around and met Gilda face to face, standing right
in the doorway frame. "I have always had the knowing it was the
seventh child. And here you are thinking you can protect her. Well,
there you are, you never learned anything!"

* * * * *

Jerone was at home when Jonah and
Jervais arrived. Jane was unusually in high spirits. She had the
grand dining hall arranged and set up for dinner with fresh
flowers, candles and Rebecca's expensive china. She was even
wearing a nice blue dress which Jonah had never seen her wear
before.

"What's the occasion?" Jervais asked,
sizing Jane up and down with her eyes.

"The celebration of life and family,"
Jane answered and led Jonah by the hand towards the
hall.

Jonah did not really want to be with
people at the moment. She had even planned of skipping dinner and
just sleep until the next day. But it was so difficult for her to
dampen Jane's mood when nobody in the family had been happier the
past few days. So, she just obliged and went along with everybody
else.

The four of the Blood siblings occupied
only a third of the long table which seated at least five people on
both sides. Jane was about to take the seat at the head of the
table, when they heard the thumping of their Aunt Judith's stiletto
shoes moving towards the hall's direction.

"I suppose we have one more seat
available," Jane said which earned her a snicker from Jervais and
Jerone.

With the energy that she thought she
did not have, Jonah immediately vacated her own seat, which would
be at her Aunt Judith's right if she took the head of the table.
She did not want to be under the woman's close scrutiny when all
her energy seemed to be zapped and all she really wanted to do was
crawl to her bed. Jonah's quick move-about made Jervais laughed
even louder infecting everybody else. Jonah then, sat on the next
one.

When Aunt Judith entered the hall, she
did not look a bit surprise. However, seeing the little movement
from her brows and the sisters knew she was the tiniest bit curious
about what was going on. Presumptuously, she took the seat at the
head of the table just as Jane took the chair Jonah just
emptied.

"I presume this is in celebration for
Jemma's recovery," Aunt Judith said and took a sip of her
wine.

"That and to life and to our family,"
Jane announced, raising her own glass and proposing a toast to
everyone else.

"Nonsense! The threat isn't over yet,"
Aunt Judith said.

"Of course!" Jane acknowledged putting
her glass down. "But it does not mean we have to brood and forget
the good things that we have no matter how small they are, Aunt
Judith!"

"Humph!" Aunt Judith snorted. "A
celebration has its own time."

"So, how is Jemmah?" Jerone asked
changing the subject and started digging into her food.

The excitement came back into Jane's
eyes and she proceeded to tell everybody about Jemmah's progress
according to the doctors. "Any time this week, we may be able to
bring her out of the hospital. Although, she has to undergo a few
therapy sessions as an out-patient." Jane said.

As the dinner progressed, Jonah sat
there remembering that she was supposed to recall something
important and yet she couldn't tell what it was. She was looking
around her with a frown creasing through her forehead noting that
she had seen the same scene from before and yet she could not point
her finger when it happened.

"You, okay, Jonah?" Jane cut in through
her thoughts. "You seemed awfully quiet tonight." She reached
across the side of Jonah's neck and felt her temperature with the
back of her hand.

"Oh, I am just tired," Jonah said and
shook off the feeling. Trying to muster a smile she added, "Guess I
really just want to sleep now."

"Oh!" Jane said. "Then, do eat now so
you can go to bed early. What have you been doing anyway which made
you tired. You seemed feverish." She touched Jonah's arms and
forehead again.

"It must be the boyfriend of hers,"
Jervais answered for Jonah, who was grateful that she didn't have
to think of anything in response. She did not want to select from
her memory the events that she wished to share and those she did
not.

"The boyfriend is sick, is he not?"
Aunt Judith asked. She instantly sat up and became very
interested.

"No, he's doing well, in fact!" Jervais
replied trying to guess the train of thought that her Aunt Judith
was taking.

Jonah attempted to avert her Aunt
Judith's eyes and concentrated on scanning the food in front of her
and the fast emptying plates of her sisters. Until she rested on
Jane's plate and saw her sister picking on her salad. The motion of
Jane's hands mixing together the veggies and the sticky sauce
brought back a fresh memory in her thoughts.

Just as Jane was drinking her wine,
which Jonah noticed she had not touched once, the vision of the
mysterious hand mixing a poisonous substance came rushing through
her. "No!" she cried out loud.

The next moments came in a rush that
Jonah was unaware anymore what came first. She saw Jane looking at
her horrified while Jervais was sporting an exasperated look. Aunt
Judith and Jerone were equally shocked.

Then, in an instant, Jane clutched her
stomach with one hand and her neck with the other. She crashed to
the floor in both knees, dragging with her a few of the dishes and
her chair which missed hitting her back just a few inches. She was
choking and coughing at the same time.

Jonah had also stood up abruptly,
toppling her own chair behind her. She bent down to help Jane but
Jervais was already rushing to their side and pushed her
aside.

"Don't!" Jervais threatened Jonah in
between gritted teeth. She looked menacing that Jonah had to step
back.

Jervais ran towards the kitchen and in
a few seconds, she was back carrying with her a bottle of sugar.
She opened Jane's mouth and gave her a spoonful of sugar. "Will
somebody call 911!" Jervais instructed quickly and Jerone did
exactly that.

Jane began vomiting. Even with her
foaming mouth, she stuck her finger down her throat and her
throwing up continued even worse.

Double Door

The sheet was covering part of Jonah's
face as she had curled in bed in a fetal position and had slept in
that same spot the whole night through. She could barely open her
eyes with her eyelids drooping so heavily. She could still feel her
nose somewhat congested and her lips bloated. She had been crying
so hard all night until she had fallen asleep. It was just too much
to bear for Jonah. She was losing her family one by one. And she
almost lost Jane last night.

By the time the ambulance had arrived,
Jervais and Jerone had already rushed Jane to the hospital. Jonah
was left alone with her Aunt Judith once again. Although, Jervais
had called to say that Jane was out of danger and she was only
confined to prevent from dehydration due to the food poisoning,
which was not really serious, Jonah still felt concerned about her
older sister.

And then, Jonah had the nagging feeling
that wanted to explode. The suspicions she had of her Aunt Judith
were already in full bloom by the minute. Nobody from the outside
would be able to have access to poison Jane. It was just from their
family and her Aunt Judith was definitely the culprit. And yet,
Jonah had nothing to prove that it was her.

Without warning, Jonah felt a pair of
strong hands dragging her out of bed, taking her out of her
reverie. When the covers had been lifted, she was not expecting to
see her Aunt Judith. Jonah did not hear the trademark stiletto
steps and she was not quite expecting the kind of force the woman
was exerting considering her age.