When Baruk Tam opened his eyes, it was like he was in a dream. Everything was all in white and everything around him was something he had not seen before. He tried to move but he was feeling heavy and all he could manage to move was his hand that felt a little uncomfortable. He raised his right arm and he was astonished to see a needle pressed into his skin with a tiny transparent tube attached to it. Alarmed to the unfamiliar thing, his first instinct was to remove it but even before he could hurt himself, Suma suddenly appeared and stopped him."Suma what is this thing?" He hollered with fear "Help me remove this now!"
"Little Baruk, this thing keeps you alive," Suma replied referring to the IV drip. He doesn"t really know what it was for but he knew it was very important to the Baruk"s health.
"That"s just something that can help you recover," Ziggy who was watching them explained. Prior to Xhemin"s journey to Manggan island, she had managed to teach the two the native tongue of the Manggan Tribe—Huzey and Ziggy "Not a life support,"
"Who are you?" Baruk Tam asked immediately. Ziggy came not only a surprise to him, he came as a mystery too as he was all in white.
"I"m the one who saved your life," He said straight to the boy"s face. Darryl had told him who the boy was and how he acts so maturely and so he decided to treat him as an adult.
"What are you talking about?" Baruk Tam asked confused and turned his head to his servant, "Suma explain to me what is happening!"
"You got bitten by a snake during the red moon. The Devil"s child decided to take you instead of our livestock," Suma started. "You were dying and there was no more antidote in the island. No one was there to help,"
Suma"s words. .h.i.t something in Baruk Tam"s head. He remembered the red moon and how he was having hard time sleeping. That was the only thing he remembered and so Suma"s words made sense.
"What happened next? Why am I here? Where are we?" The boy flooded Suma questions.
"You are in the main island," Ziggy blew it off for Suma. He had seen that the servant was having hard time revealing to his master their location so he gave him the favor.
"What?" The boy"s expression darkened as if he was loathing the whole situation. "Suma what have you done! Why did you bring me here?"
Suma only lowered his head. He was already expecting this thing from his master and he knew no matter how hard he reasoned, he will never understand.
"It was not Suma, it was me!" Maru came in the middle of their conversation. She was at the door, still holding the k.n.o.b while Darryl was at her back.
"You!" Baruk Tam was even more surprised to see Darryl with Maru "I know you,"
"h.e.l.lo Baruk Tam," Darryl answered with his usual cool, "How are you feeling?"
When Darryl came into the picture, Baruk Tam had already an idea what happened. But instead of feeling grateful, he felt betrayed by all that transpired.
"You lure Maru to bring me here? Didn"t you?" He accused and his anger was all over him.
"No he didn"t. I went to him," Maru entered the room. She knew Baruk Tam will hate her for this but she had already prepared herself for his fury "I went to the bridge voluntarily. I asked Suma to carry you and bring you with me,"
"Maru you don"t need defend this—"
"I am not defending him!" Maru shouted and her tears started to fall, messing her once bright face "It"s the truth. No one in the island wanted to help. The elders gave up, the central village didn"t do anything, everyone was waiting for you to die and I can"t…. I can"t… I cannot… let you die…"
Maru cried and sniffed for a while as everyone was silent. Then she continued "They said the antidote ran out already. Nothing can save you right then so I decided to crossed the sea and asked for help… brother Dee just helped me… he helped me when no one else did… he saved you when no one was willing to…"
There was silence in the room and Ziggy and Darryl could only look at each other quietly. Darryl asked for the youngest sire"s help again yesterday and explained the situation. They had kept Baruk Tam"s ident.i.ty away from everyone"s scrutiny and no one in Hamps.h.i.+re new that the patient in this room was from the Manggan Island.
"Maru…." Baruk Tam spoke after much contemplation.
"I know you will hate me for this and I am ready for any punishment. You can behead me for my betrayal if you want, I don"t really care as long as you are safe and our people can still remain in their homes," The girl said. She had lowered her head out of shame for what she did. "Just please behead me in here and not at home. I don"t want my family to see me die,"
"Maru…." Baruk Tam called onto her gently this time "What kind of husband I am if I"m going to punish my wife for saving me…"
That was the first time that Baruk Tam referred Maru as his wife and Maru"s tears increased. This time it wasn"t a cry for sadness and fear but for joy and love.
"Baruk Tam…." Maru wailed as she ran to her beloved"s arms. The two little lovers hugged in front of the adults and although it started a little rusty, Ziggy thought it ended cute. Baruk Tam comforted Maru for a while and wiped her tears away. For the first time, he appreciated Maru"s concern and love for her. What she did was incredible and at that time, he was confident that Maru will always be faithful to him no matter what. She had already proven the fact even before they had been legally married.
"I apologize for my hostility brother," Baruk Tam turned to Darryl. "I had always hated roux blood because my people suffer every red moon because of a roux blood"s cursed. However now, it was the roux blood who saved me and my people. I am in great debt"
Darryl only smiled at him and bow to give him respect. There were so many lessons Baruk Tam learned by then and he decided to become lenient and open minded moving forward. Even his perspective with the roux blood changed and his annoyance with Maru disappeared.