Defiled chapter 3
Defiled (episode 3)
No matter what you are going through, suicide should never be an option. It’s true life can sometimes be unfair and unjust but no matter what, your presence is still a blessing to this world so you are highly needed. In Belinda’s case, it’s highly understandable why she would want to take her own life even though it was a wrong move. Imagine having to go through the rest of your life with a haunting memory of being raped by four armed robbers right in the presence of your newly wedded husband. Just imagine the torture, pain, heartbreak and frustration she must be going through by still being alive every day after the incident. No one deserves to go through such pain; absolutely no one!
It’s such a relief that God blessed Belinda with an understanding, empathetic, mature and strong husband like Sam. Not every man would stand by their wife after such horrible incident. The fact that he was man enough to be there for her and never for once made her feel unloved or neglected, is highly commendable. Despite being frustrated most times, he never let it get to him too much.
Immediately Sam saw his wife lying almost lifeless on the cold floor, his heart skipped several beats. For a split second, he thought he had lost her and was never going to see her again. The first thing his instincts told him to do was check her pulse to ascertain if she was still alive. Without hesitating, he checked her pulse and could still feel life in,side her. In order not to waste another second thereby making her chances of survival slim, he carried her to the car and drove off immediately.
As Sam drove Belinda to the hospital, he prayed every prayer known to mankind for God to keep his wife alive. That period he drove to the hospital was probably one of the most draining periods of his life. It was nothing like he had ever experienced and for a split second, he thought he would lose his dear wife.
Immediately they got to the hospital, Sam carried Belinda in,side and she was whisked away from his arms by the hospital officials. That was the same hospital he went to after the robbery incident so majority of the nurses knew the couple. Without wasting time, treatment began on Belinda as they tried to dilute the poisonous substance she had taken. Sam was made to wait in the waiting room this time around. While he was there, he could hærdly sit down but was rather walking around. He was tensed, mentally stressed, drained and scared at the same time. He didn’t know what else to do other than pray.
After a while of moving to and fro, Sam sat down and began to sob. He bent his head downwards and held his forehead with his hands. “Dear Lord, I know you can hear me. Please help me because I don’t know what else to do. Please bring my wife back to me. She has suffered so much and deserves to be happy. It kills me to know that she isn’t living up to the happy woman I promise to make her when I asked her to marry me. I want to make things right but don’t even know how to do that. Life can be so unfair, this wasn’t the life we planned together. I don’t know if I will ever be normal again if anything ever happens to my wife. She’s all I have got so please keep her alive. I don’t want to experience life without her because I know I will never be ok. Please help me Lord, bring my wife back” Sam quietly prayed.
Few minutes after Sam’s prayer, a doctor walked into the waiting room to inform him that Belinda was doing ok. The manner at which Sam jumped for joy gladden the doctor’s heart and that of everyone at the waiting room. “Oh thank you Lord” he scre-med and later on held the doctor’s hands; “Thank you so much doctor, I can’t just thank you enough” he happily said.
Since Belinda was still unconscious, the doctor asked Sam to follow him to his office so they could talk. Without hesitating, Sam followed the doctor to his office and after they have taken their various seats, a conversation began.
“How have things been since after the robbery incident?” The doctor asked and Sam took a deep breath and sighed afterwards. “Honestly doctor, things has been frustrating. I watched my wife’s mental health go from bad to worst and I don’t see things changing anytime soon. My wife is suffering and our house feels nothing like a home due to the sad atmosphere. I want to help her but don’t know how” Sam sadly said.
When Sam was done talking, the doctor was quiet for few seconds before speaking. “Have you both considered going for therapy?” He asked and Sam was mute. The sudden quietness of Sam gave the doctor the answer he needed. Without hesitating, he continued; “I want you and Belinda to start therapy as soon as possible else things could get more worse than this. If you were 20 minutes late today, your wife would have died of poisoning. She is suicidal and won’t stop till either she dies or gets the help she needs. I know an experienced licensed therapist which I can recommend to you both. Her name is Lara and she has helped so many people overcome their problems. Please don’t take what your wife did today lightly because she will definitely do it again and who knows, you might not be there to save her” the doctor said.
Without a reasonable doubt, Sam knew the doctor made huge sense and suddenly began considering therapy. There and then, he agreed and gave the doctor the go ahead to book their therapy session. He paid for a full month session for Belinda and booked for a week for himself. The doctor was quite impressed as to how swift Sam responded to seeking for help and silently prayed that the therapist would give the couple the healing they dearly needed.
Shortly afterwards, Sam was taken to Belinda’s room so he could see her. When he got in, she was still unconscious so he just sat close to her. It was devastating for Sam to see his wife in such condition but a part of him was happy that he had gotten the help they dearly needed which was therapy. “Hang in there babe, everything is going to be ok” he said as he gently car-ssed her hands.
After two days of being admitted, Belinda was discharged from the hospital. Sam didn’t take her back to their house but rather to a rental property he paid two months for. He felt that their home was part of the reason Belinda was having a hærd time healing because of the haunting memories associated with that house. In order to make her less suicidal and help her healing process, he had to take her away from their matrimonial home.
When the couple arrived at their temporary new house, Sam could see the sense of relief Belinda felt. It was evident that she felt more comfortable in their new house than she did in the other one. Sam was a bit happy to see his wife sitting in the livingroom and going to every other part of the house unlike in the other house where she was always locked up in the guest room. For the very first time in three months, Belinda spoke to her husband. She was hungry and asked him to help her with something to eat.
Initially, when Sam heard Belinda speak to him, he thought it was his mind playing games but soon realized it was for real when she repeated herself. “I’m hungry, please give me something to eat” she politely said. Those words sounded like music to his ears and without hesitating, he called a restaurant not far away to deliver his wife’s favorite food. When the delivery personnel arrived, Sam quickly went outside to get the food and served Belinda afterwards. She ate every grain of rice and finished her juice before taking a nap.
Deep down, Sam was extremely happy. His joy knew no bound that day and he actually began thinking of selling their old house and buying a new one just by seeing the sudden improvement in Belinda’s mental health. That was a thought to consider as he cleared the food plates and juice bottles from the living room. That day was the beginning of their healing journey as a couple.
The next day, the doctor called and gave Sam their schedule for therapy. It was a two hours session on a daily basis for one full month. Sam had a business that needed his presence so he could only do one week. This was a huge step for the couple to take but they were willing to seek for help because their present reality wasn’t a happy one and they didn’t want to continue living in bitterness, fear, pain, anxiety and anger.
The first day Sam dropped Belinda off at the therapist office, she was tensed and scared of what the outcome would be. It was a quiet ride to the therapist office and the couple barely spoke. Sam told her “I love you” when he dropped her off of which she didn’t reciprocate. She only nodded her head and got down from the car. Sam was already used to his wife’s coldness so he didn’t let it get to him. He put some money in her purse just incase she needed anything before driving off.
After waiting for a while at the reception, Belinda was finally ushered into the therapist office. The office was cozy and felt really comfortable. She took a sit and maintained a straight face. “Hello Belinda, nice to meet you, my name is Lara and I will be your therapist or say ‘bestfriend’ for the next one month” she said with a warm smile on her face. Belinda introduced herself too and that created an avenue for rapport between the two ladies.
After the two ladies had settled down, a conversation began. “Do you know why you are here?” Lara asked and Belinda nooded ‘Yes’. Lara smiled faintly and began to engage her in a conversation in a bid to get a spoken reply form her. “Can you tell me why you are here?” Lara asked, “Because I need help” Belinda replied.
That response from Belinda was an indication that their therapy season would be fruitful because a person who admits they need help have higher chances of getting the help they need than someone who doesn’t acknowledge that they need it. After Belinda acknowledged that she needed help, it made Lara’s job a hundred times easier for her to give Belinda the healing she needed.
Just so you know, Lara was already aware of the rape incident but concealed it. Lara didn’t want to make Belinda uncomfortable or inaccessible in anyway by saying things she hasn’t revealed yet. The therapist took things one step at a time because slow and steady wins the race.
After Belinda acknowledged that she needed help, the therapist began from there to broaden their conversation. “In one word, describe the help you need” Lara asked and Belinda replied “Healing”. With that being said, it opened more grounds for the conversation to broaden. “What do you want to heal from?” Lara asked and Belinda replied “Mental trauma”. After a brief silence, the therapist continued. “What is that one thing that traumatises you?” Lara asked and Belinda paused for a second before dropping the shocker “I was raped”.
Immediately Belinda said that, Lara pretended as though she was just hearing such detail for the first time and empathized with her. “I’m so sorry to hear that but I am happy that you are one step closer to getting the healing you need” Lara said. Belinda smiled faintly and nodded slightly. In order not to lose grip of the conversation, Lara continued. “When you remember the moment you were raped, what’s the most significant thing you feel?” She asked and Belinda replied “Rage”.
Without hesitating, Lara probed further “Rage for who?” She curiously inquired. Belinda was quiet for a while before dropping the shocker; “For my husband”.
End of episode 3 😉
Stay tuned tomorrow to see what happened next.
✍🏼 Written by Sonia Okehie