Sweet Surrender: The Ceo’s Second Wife - Chapter 333
Pandemonium occurred.
Caroline witnessed it with her own eyes…the ground where the cafeteria was located collapsed and gone from the top of the mountain within seconds…Oh, God! her beloved husband was on it!
Her blood turned cold. It took her a few seconds to recover from the shock and she screamed at the top of her lungs…
“NOOOOOOOOOO…PLEASEEEE…DEAR GOD…MY HUSBANDDDDD…ALEXXXXXXXXXXXXX! SAVE HIM! GOD… PLEASE SAVE HIM!” she shouted over and over again along with other people whose love ones were also inside the collapsed cafeteria.
Trepidation gripped her entire being as strength left her body, she crumbled into the ground, the light was fading from her eyes as complete darkness took over her vision…
Caroline passed out in the middle of the chaos that was happening at the top of the mountain, as people scrambled on their feet trying to leave the place going in the direction of the stairs fearing for the aftershock that will come next.
“The woman passed out!” one of the teenagers pointed at Caroline’s unconscious form lying on the ground.
Several men gathered around her and one of them picked her up and hoisted her on his back assisted by two others as they began to descend the 100 steps in slow motion along with other survivors.
A few minutes later…two men arrived at the 70th steps carrying a makeshift stretcher made of wood and a blanket to carry any unconscious person easily downstairs. The guy who carried Caroline on his back put her gently into the makeshift stretcher as they proceed hurriedly down into the base on the mountain.
When the survivor finally landed at the foot of the mountain…the whole area was already cleared from people.
The survivors saw where the cafeteria landed… in one of the eateries!
The survivors were ushered away from the area of the tragedy and bought into a wide clearing, a hundred meters away from the base of the mountain…wounded survivors were being attended by the local residents while dead bodies were being laid down in the ground in a nearby area as the loved ones of the deceased was already crying and grieving due to the sudden passing of their loved ones.
One of the dead bodies includes a guy who was left unattended…
The atmosphere around the area was filled with the stench of death and blood.
The local residents began putting the wounded survivors into the bus to get immediate medical attention. When they are about to put Caroline’s unconscious body into the bus, her eyes suddenly opened…
“W-where a-m I?” she asked.
“You are already in the ground safely. We will be taking you back to the hotel to receive medical attention because there is a clinic there,” the guy replied.
Caroline sits upright. “No need! I’m not wounded!” she rose to her feet. “I need to find my husband quickly! My husband was inside the cafeteria when it collapsed!” she said in an agitated voice.
“Ma’am, we regret to inform you that all the people who are inside the cafeteria during its collapsed… died…” the guy said sadly.
Caroline’s eyes widened. “WHAAAAAT!?” she blurted in shock.
“I’m sorry Ma’am, there’s no survivor from the people who fell below from the top of the mountain,” the guy said in a dispirited voice.
“NOOOOOOO! HE’S STILL ALIVE! I need to find my husband!” Caroline shouted in denial.
“Ma’am, come with me, I will take you to see the dead bodies and identify your husband,” he said.
Caroline was shaking her head in despair and apprehension. “No, Alex can’t be dead!” she said aloud.
The guy was shaking his head, feeling sorry for the distraught woman.
They arrived in the area where the dead bodies were displayed for their loved ones to easily identify them. The area was filled with crying, lamenting, and deep sorrow.
“Fatherrrrrrrrr, why did you leave us!”
“Wifeeeeee…please come backkkkkkkkkk!”
“Son….please wake up..open your eyesssssss!”
“Motherrrrrr… don’t die yet…we still have to celebrate your 50th birthday next week!”
“Grandpaaaaa…don’t leave us…please don’t leave us…!” the teenage guy and girl were crying over their grandpa’s dead body.
Caroline walked in a daze trying to find Alex among the dead bodies…
They reached the end of the line yet Alex’s dead body was not among the dead.
“My husband is not here! He’s not among the dead!” Caroline said feeling relieved.
Caroline was about to rejoice but three more dead bodies were taken into the area.
She rushed to the new arrival of dead bodies and saw Alex among them!
The color was drained from her face.
Her heart died as her heart stop beating for a moment, she was devastated beyond words. “OH, MY GOD! MY HUSBANDDDDDD..! NOOOOOOOOO!” she screamed in absolute horror rushing to his side. She gathered his bloody head in her lap as torrents of tears fell from her eyes falling into her husband’s face.
Her eyes swimming in tears. Caroline checked Alex’s nose, he was no longer breathing and there was no movement in his chest. His eyes close but his body was still warm. She knows he’s already dead but she wants him back! “Husband…please come back…please…please… have pity on me…I can’t live without you! Please don’t leave me alone!” Struck by the devastating loss of losing him she had a hard time coping up at the moment, she’s sobbing again, repeating those words a million times like a prayer.
Caroline was not the only one in that distraught condition…many grieving people around her were morning for their loved ones who also passed away suddenly.
It was a dreadful sight to behold.
A flurry of activities was happening around the area as the complete body count of the dead bodies reached up to 30 people, including the ones who are in the ground eating inside the restaurant when the cafeteria collapsed and landed on their heads.
Another bus took the dead bodies to be brought into the morgue in the nearest city. Caroline insisted not to be parted with Alex’s dead body.
The six hours drive towards the nearest city passed like a blur to Caroline’s numbed consciousness.
When they arrived in the city and the dead bodies brought into the morgue, Caroline still refused to part with Alex’s corpse, the morgue staff insisted that the body will release body fluid soon and the odor of the blood will smell really bad if Alex’s body can’t be cleaned right on time.
Caroline finally let go of Alex’s body.
One of the staff was kind enough to give her a clean blouse and slacks that were sold for sale from the store across the funeral homes to change inside the bathroom because her clothes were stained with blood. After she was done cleaning herself and donning the clean clothes on her body she exited the bathroom.
She sat on the bench inside the funeral homes, it was located just beside the morgue where Alex’s body was embalmed. She ignored the calls bombarding her phone inside the backpack that she was wearing on her back. Her phone has been ringing nonstop since a few minutes ago as the tragedy and collapse of The Sea of Clouds already reached the masses and televised by media outlets especially the TV and radio stations all over the country – the names of the dead victims were already revealed to the media.
She doesn’t have the strength to answer anyone right now, her heart and mind were still numb from the sudden tragedy that hit her life.
It’s all too sudden…she and Alex were happily married for a long time…she can’t believe that her happiness ended just like that with the blink of an eye!
Alex was gone too soon!
She wondered why God is still keeping her alive?
She would rather want to die along with her beloved husband. But why she’s still alive yet?
WHY?
WHYYYYY?
WHYYYYYYYYYYY?
God, dammit!
Her heart was bleeding inside.
She began crying hard again, sobbing like a crazy woman along with the other grieving families sitting nearby. Some of the dead bodies were taken to five different funeral homes scattered all over the city.
Four hours later, after Alex’s body was embalmed, the mortuary staff asked Caroline to chose the best coffin for her husband.
Caroline chose the most expensive coffin displayed in the funeral homes, which is the gold casket coffin. The funeral homes also sell tuxedos and formal wear for dead men and women, such as long sleeves and white dresses. Caroline chose a white long sleeve polo shirt and black pants and black shoes for her late husband and handed them to the mortician.
One hour later.
Caroline finally saw her deceased husband again. His face was now clean, and the big open wound on his head was no longer noticeable. The mortician has done a good job in hiding the open wound using a pillow above his head and applying the right makeup to Alex’s face, making him appear like he was just sleeping peacefully inside his coffin.
She broke down again in front of the casket as torrents of fresh tears flooded her eyes. She wept for one hour straight pouring her heart out into the coffin.
After her tears subsided. She took her phone from her backpack and calmly took photos and videos of her dead husband inside the coffin and sent them to her daughter Jasmine and son Gabriel, then to her sister Catherine and her mother Thelma along with the message…’My husband passed away today. I’m very sad and devastated.’
She typed a message to her son Gabriel… ‘I’m okay, I’m safe. I already take good care of your father. He’s sleeping peacefully now. Take us out of here. Take us home!’ she sent the message. She sent another text message to him which includes the address of the city and the funeral homes where Alex’s coffin was being kept. After sending the text messages to her children, she turned off her phone wanting to have some quiet moments with her deceased husband.