Love Redux: Fated to the Handsome Doctor

Those words were the last thing Lara remembered when she opened her eyes, feeling pain coursing through her body.

Darkness. That’s all Lara could see. In truth, she couldn’t see anything. Her head hurt badly, and strangely… so did her stomach!

“W-what’s this?” Lara checked the pain in her abdomen. The pain felt very strange. Lara truly missed something. “Stitches?” she murmured.

Very strange, why were there stitches on her stomach?

Lara only realized one thing… “My child! Where is my child?”

The stitches seemed to be the way out for the little baby who disappeared. Lara truly didn’t remember anything. The last thing Lara remembered was that she was in the hospital and about to divorce her husband. After that… Lara just fell asleep and… dreamed!

Lara dreamed of being moved to a strange, dark room with the smell of disinfectant and the sound of machines buzzing in her ears. Some medical staff accompanied her in that dream… and… the sound of a baby crying was heard.

“Dammit!”

Lara only realized something was wrong with her dream. It wasn’t a dream at all. Lara had been swept away in delusion, it seems… she had been given a high dose of sedatives.

The strange events experienced by Lara then, were just waking up in this dark room. It seemed like this room was in an uninhabited paddy field. There were no human voices, only the sounds of crickets and owls making the atmosphere even more eerie.

“Ergh….” Lara began to groan, enduring the pain that was spreading. This time, not only in her stomach but all over her body. There was no light help there, only the faint light of the moon that could provide information about how dark the atmosphere was there.

The clinking of chains startled Lara, apparently, she was also chained!

“W-who’s doing all this?” Lara cried and cursed whoever dragged her into this terrible incident. Indeed, no human could be cruel enough to treat their fellow human like prey.Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.

Lara was very thirsty and hungry. However, she couldn’t reach anything. Even… Lara couldn’t see parts of her body.

Clang!

The clinking of the chain continued to signal that Lara had to be satisfied with living trapped in silence. No one could help her in the horror she was experiencing.

Lara was truly desperate.

“Help….”

However, Lara had to try. If she couldn’t find out who was doing all this, at least… she had to keep living.

“Help me! Help! Get me out!”

Lara continued to scream in panic! However, there was still no help from anyone to ease her burden.

Until finally, Lara cried out again. Her wailing voice was ear-piercing. She didn’t know what was happening to her.

“Argh….”

Suddenly, Lara groaned in pain. Her whole body seemed to be crushed as if hit by a large boulder by several people. She couldn’t feel anything but deep pain.

“My child. Where are you, my child?” Lara looked here and there, searching for the child who suddenly disappeared from her womb. Her tears hadn’t dried yet, nor had the stitches that took away the presence of her beloved child.

What was really happening here?

“Seno… where is he?” Lara muttered, looking for traces of her husband. He should be around, encouraging her, protecting her, and… carrying their baby. Then, where is he?

Lara’s stomach still hurt so much. The last thing she remembered was really just a strange dream that seemed to be a real event. Then, why did they snatch her child and… make Lara suffer like this?

“Oh… no!”

Lara stopped crying and now felt even more frightened. However, she felt powerless. This time, Lara had to surrender and await the remaining age with such compassion.

“Lara, you’re so foolish.”

After trying to release the chains on her hands and feet to no avail, Lara finally gave up. She no longer fought for her life. Her hope was dashed when her child was gone. The pain in her body was not comparable to the pain in her heart. As a mother, Lara couldn’t continue living without her child.

“Uhuk! Uhuk!”

Stuffy. Dark. Hopeless. Lara seemed resigned to the painful reality she faced. Somehow, by someone who did this to her. Lara never expected to experience it.

Lara was chained and locked in a cage for no apparent reason. Lara didn’t know why. One thing she remembered was when Lara was struggling in the operating room. That memory just flashed faintly, more like a dream.

After that, Lara lost consciousness. When she woke up, this reality was what she got: chained and apparently tortured almost to death.

Lara truly didn’t remember anything.

But, she started to wonder. What’s the connection with her husband? Is… this a retaliation for Lara’s words about divorce?

***

The night grew older. Darkness began to dominate the horizon. The moon slowly disappeared, and the sound of Lara’s breaths and moans indicated that her life was no longer valuable.

“Because I’m foolish, I’ll surrender my life,” she said, as if making a promise. Lara spoke to herself. All her efforts to escape from the iron bars failed.

Lara was tired and no longer tried. She would accept her fate if this was how it was.

There was nothing she could do but pray. Hopefully, the prayer would reach the sky and bring help. But, Lara couldn’t even hope. Since earlier, nothing was heard except her own voice. Surely, outside this building was also deserted.

Let alone residents, humans might not be around here. The sounds of crickets and frogs chirping indicated that this building was far from the village.

“Am I in the middle of a paddy field?” Lara mumbled when she realized this phenomenon. She had never been here before. Somehow, the hospital room she last saw turned into a dark, stuffy room with bars chaining her body’s movements.

Lara was truly hurt.

“Seno. Where are you?! Seno!”

Lara kept calling her husband’s name. Only Seno, she thought, had the answers to all her questions. Her husband should be near Lara. If he didn’t want to divorce, it should be discussed. Why did it end up like this?

What was Lara’s mistake, actually?

“Lara!”

Suddenly, a voice startled her.

The voice boomed as the wooden door in front of Lara collapsed.

“Lara!” the person called again. Lara squinted. Who is it? What is that person doing?

Behind the darkness that enveloped her, Lara finally saw clearly the face of a stranger who called her. That person.

“Mahya?”