***TRIGGER WARNING***

Domestic Violence and Heavy Language.

November 2013  

Dear Diary,

I am not even sure what is happening right now? I look at myself in the mirror, and I do not recognize who I am? The spirit which was inside of me once has faded. Each day I am terrified of what the new day will bring me. 

I am dying inside. Sadly, this is not the life I was expecting. 

I guess I should have seen this coming.

After all, Valentin was kind and gentle. We both shared the love of medicine.  He was such a good listener and became my best friend. 

I thought we would always be happy.

When he proposed, it was so romantic.

I thought nothing could change him. I thought well who knows what I thought. 

All I know is everything got out of control, and I am not sure what will happen next. 

If only I could go back… 

Elizabeth

***

Elizabeth woke up in the middle of the night, to the deafening voice of her husband screaming.

Not again, she gasped.  

Elizabeth closed her eyes and struggled to pretend what she heard was not real.

“Elizabeth, where are you?” He roared.

Oh no!  Here comes the Devil!

By now Elizabeth had gotten up. There was no sense ignoring him. She shook uncontrollably while she gathered herself together and tried covering the bruises on her body.

Elizabeth wondered when the nightmare would end. She thought of the times which he had been the most amazing and kind man.

She recalled how they had the most romantic of courtships. They met in college where they both studied medicine. Then, Valentin pursued Medical School. Elizabeth opted to become a registered surgical nurse and Valentin became a Pediatric Surgeon.

Both Elizabeth and Valentin worked countless hours at the hospital.  He was not home much, but they both made date nights to make sure they did not miss out on each other.

Life was good for both Dr. Valentin and Elizabeth Kiriakis.

Elizabeth thought her husband was happy after all they both lived in a beautiful Suburb, and they were both surrounded by a great community.

But nothing could be further from the truth. Valentin was not who she thought he was. Buried inside him was a man like no one she had ever known. He was cruel and mean.

Valentin held secrets many of them. On the one side he was a prominent doctor, and on the other, he had a drug problem he kept hidden. This is where things changed.

He became agitated.  Not long after this, the verbal and physical abuse began. Elizabeth couldn’t pinpoint it.

It had happened in segments at first. Valentin was having difficulties at the Hospital with some of his patients, and one of them had been left unable to walk.

The family filed a negligence lawsuit against him. This did not sit well with Valentin. It bothered him. He had no complaints of any type. Valentin was a prominent pediatric surgeon. This situation broke him and what Elizabeth did not know about her husband was that he had a terrible secret.

Valentin was a junkie. His addiction existed back in his college days. He began with some minor stuff to keep him alert. Then he became dependent on it and would take it when he started Medical School.

Elizabeth was unaware of any addiction. In her eyes, Valentin was a hard–working man. He never used any loans, but opted to work for his family to pay through school.

His parents came from Sicily, Italy and came to America to make a better life for all his siblings. He was the only male and the youngest of five children. His older sisters were at least seven or more years older than him. They worked at the family restaurant, and Pasta Piazza became a brand name and sold all over the United States and Internationally. The idea came from Valentin’s parents Valentin Sr. and Giana Kiriakis. They created a homemade pasta passed on by Valentin’s Father.

This wealth helped him and his family, and they could enjoy a more comfortable life.  But, Valentin was an overachiever he wanted to show he could make his way and decided on pediatric medicine because he had a love for children since his sisters had all gotten and married and between the four had twelve children. He was Uncle Val to them.

His oldest sister Gianna named after his mother had four children, his sister Olga had three, Maria had three, and Lea had two. He loved children and helping the sick was something he always wanted to do. This is why he worked in Pediatrics and chose then to become a surgeon.

Elizabeth loved this about him. He was so caring and loving, and this was one of his best qualities.

His family was kind and adored her too. Unfortunately, with the latest scandals which were plaguing Valentin, his parents placed all the blame on Elizabeth.

She tried to explain he was under stress. It was to no avail, Valentin’s mother scolded her.

How could she forget her harsh words?

“Elizabeth my dear, my son has always been on top of all he does, and now you want to blame the stress? No, No, you are not the wife my son needs you to be!”

“I can assure you I am trying Mama Gianna!” she cried.

“Well, try harder my dear!”

Then, in all the time, Elizabeth had known her she hung up on her.

Wow. Now what am I supposed to do, who will I turn too now?

Photo by Stokpic via Pexels.