Category : Books-Fiction

Sub Category : Romance

Chapter 22
          Chris could feel the scorching rays of the morning sun on his skin, grazing the back of his neck, the only place that wasn't covered by clothing, prompting him to get up. He struggled to open his eyes.
          Chris went through a temporary memory lost and was genuinely confused when he found himself at his desk, his history textbook laid open on the table. 
          Chris started backtracking, he recalls not being able to sleep after the dream he had. Every time he was about to fall asleep, his mind would wake him up. He fumbled and tumbled in his bed for hours at end but still couldn’t sleep a wink.
          At around 4, he gave up even trying to sleep, and for the first time ever, he studied, in the wee hours of the morning! Something he never thought he would ever do in his entire life. He just never understood how some people managed to wake up early to study. His hand reached into his bag to pull out the first book his hand grabbed onto. And low and behold, it was History! The one subject he can't stand more than Mr. Higgs's lectures.
          Not in any position to argue, he flipped open to a random page and started reading, thankfully, it was able to take his mind off the dream. Soon enough, his eyelids grew heavy and somewhere around the introductions of one of the Kings he ended up falling asleep on his desk. 
          Chris checked the time on his phone, his eyes almost popping out of its sockets when he saw the time displayed. 7:55am, 5 minutes until class starts.
          In record speed, Chris washed up. He hurriedly flung his tie around his neck, slapping himself in the process with the fabric, his hand already ready to tie his tie when he looked up in the mirror, taking in the sight of his messy hair, dark circles around his eyes and the overall tired look he had on, he wondered if he should even go to school. He could try sneaking in and risk getting caught just like the last time or he could just skip the day. 
           He looked at the time, 8.15am. He was late already, what's the point of even going to school at this point?
          In the end, Chris lossened his tie and laid down on his bed. 
                       XXXXXXXXXX
          John was on another one of his daily strolls along the school grounds. He was having so much fun, he was humming. He was starting to get used to it, scratch that, he was loving it! Originally, way before he took up the job, he thought he would not be able to adapt, after all, he never had a normal high school life. However, he relish in the way students and teachers greeted him and the student’s laughter. He was growing attached to his job. Somewhere in him, he knows he shouldn't but one can't control feelings, can they?
          John would look into classrooms through the window occasionally, he has never done so on his previous strolls but ever since Eric's dissappearance incident, he made it a point to drop by Eric's class at least once a day to check up on him. 
          Looking in through the window at the door, his eyes met with Eric's for a brief second before Eric turned away so quickly, reverting back to ignoring him.
          John frowned when he noticed an empty seat and recognised it to belong to Chris. 
          Was that boy late again? John wondered. So far, the most problematic student he has had is Chris. 
          John still remember clearly the day Chris transferred about 5 months ago, it didn’t take him a week to start skipping classes or turning up late. The only reason why John was willing to close an eye towards his misbehavior was because Chris has managed to maintain his grades. 
          Sending several light knocks on the staff door, he didn't wait for an answer before opening the door and inviting himself into the room. The first person he noticed was a back facing  Catherine talking to two other female teachers, next to the coffee machine. 
          The moment John entered the room, all the teachers who were chatting scattered and went back to their respective seats. The laughter and chatter died down almost immediately and the air tensed. 
          Catherine seemed to be the only one who didn’t notice John's arrival. She looked surprise as everyone started running back to their seats and acting busy. 
          Finally turning around, she noticed John at the door. Unlike all the other teachers, her eyes lit up, she placed the half finished cup of coffee on her desk before walking up to him.
          “Good day, Mr.Principal.” She greeted him with a bright smile. 
          “I don’t think I have told anyone that fun was not allowed at the workplace. Why is everyone so afraid of me?” John asked. 
          Understanding her colleagues all too well she answered, “This the first time you entered the teacher’s office without notice, we just didn’t expect you."
          John nodded, trusting her reason. 
          "Is there anything you need?” Catherine asked. 
          Remembering the reason why he came in the first place, he asked, “Can you help me pull up the list of students’ details from class 6?”
          “Sure thing!” Catherine answered enthusiastically, eager to kill her lazy morning. She swiftly sat down at her table, powering her laptop on, she started running through files on the device.
          In less than a minute, a complete list of student names appeared on screen. Standing to her side, John leaned over to take a closer look at the screen. 
          “Is there a particular student you would like to look up?” Catherine asked.
          “A boy named Chris, he transferred here about half a year ago.” John answered. 
           Catherine scanned through the list and clicked on the name Chris. The moment Chris’s picture appeared on screen, Catherine exclaimed, “I know him!” 
          “You know Chris?” John looked at her in surprise.
          “Have you forgotten? I’m one of the discipinary teachers. This boy is famous for his elaborate excuses for not coming to classes on time.” 
          “I think he skipped class today as well, do you have any idea why he does so so often?” 
           “I call bullshit on every single excuse he has ever told me but there is one that is true.” 
          "Which one?" 
           "That his mother is hospitalised in a nearby hospital, explains his sudden enrollment in the middle of a term." 
           John was looking through the printed copy of Chris’s personal information as he walked back to his office. 
          John read out loud the details, “16, male, single child, mother: Tessa, unemplyed, aged 45, father’s information left blank...... ” Nothing out of the ordinary. 
           John entered his office and sat down at his seat, still skimming through Chris's details. 
           "......Previous school, transferred...... Hospitalised...... West Wosh Hospital?!" 
           John almost fell out of his seat. He had to double check to accertain himself that he didn’t read wrongly.
          W. W. Hospital is a private hospital, one of the upper tier hospitals in the area, the fees are extremely pricey. John himself wouldn't go there if not for Oliver being one of the doctors there. Chris’s mother is in a coma and from what he knows, Chris doesn't have any other relatives, unless someone left his mother a huge inheritance, who is footing the hospital bill...... ?
          John wreaked his brain trying to think up a valid and possible reason but no matter how hard he pushed himself, he couldn't think of an answer. After a long and unfruitful debate with himself, he pulled out his cell and dialled his brother. Within seconds, Oilver answered.
          “Oliver, do you know of a patient named Tessa?” John asked. 
          “What a coincidence, I’m on my way for her daily checkup.” Oliver told him.
          “You’re her doctor?! ” John almost fell out of his chair for the second time, he certainly didn't expect Oliver to be Chris's mother's doctor. 
           “Yes, what’s so surprising?”
           “Your patient’s son is one of our school’s students.” 
           "Now that I think about it, Chris might have told me about attending the same school as Eric before." Oliver recalled. 
           "How in the world did you end up as Tessa's doctor, does Chris have an uncle that is a multimillionaire?" John asked, looking at Chris's information. 
          "Not really, no, but he has a father that might or might not be wealthy." 
          Once again, John almost fell out of his chair, "He has a father?!" 
           "John, Chris isn't an orphan, he certainly has a mother and father. Why would you think otherwise?" 
           John let out a sigh of disappointment at himself as he tossed Chris's details on the table. "Jokes on me, that boy left out his father's details empty, I just assumed he came from a single family." 
           "Let me guess, Chris's father was the one that facilitated the transfer?" John asked. 
           “About 6 months ago, a man, claiming to be the patient’s spouse came to me. That's all I can say, the rest are confidential." Oliver explained. 
           John was about to put the phone down, not wanting to disturb Oliver's work any longer, when he heard Oliver shout, “H-Hey! Chris!” 
          “Oliver! Is everything alright? Chris is there?” John asked, concerned. He could faintly hear commotion coming from the other line. 
          There was silence apart from white noise for a while before Oliver replied. “Yeah, he’s here, he came to see his mother. I’ve to go now.”
          “Is everything alright?"
          "That boy might or might not have locked himself inside the room, good thing I came prepared this time." 
                       XXXXXXXXXX
          Chris sat up from the bed. He pulled away the tie from his neck and tucked it into his beg. He was just about to exit his room when he received a call from an unknown number. Chris ignored it as he was never one to answer any weird calls, believing it to be another scam call or an insurance company trying to sell him their life long plan. When the call went on for a whole minute despite him ignoring it, Chris genuinely felt sorry for the person on the other line that must have been desperate to sell him whatever. Chris would have answered just to at least entertain him if not for the fact that he is filthy broke and he didn't want to give the person on the other line any false hope. 
          When the call finally came to a halt, Chris proceeded out of his room and exited the dorm building. He decided that if he wasn’t going to attend classes, he might as well go and visit his mother in the hospital.
           Having ample time to spare he decided to walk to the hospital instead of taking any public transport. The moment the hospital was in sight, he caught sight of the one person he absolutely detested.
          His father was leaning his back against the boot of a car, effectively blocking the view of the car's number plate. One moment, he was checking his phone, the next looking around, searching for someone. 
          Chris's defensive mind came into play again. What is he doing here again? Could he be here to disturb mum? Chris was about to turn and run in the opposite direction when his actions froze at the thoughts, why should I run away? Why should I hide? 
           Building up the courage, instead of heading in the opposite direction, and ignoring the strong urge to run in his original intention to avoid the man, Chris walked right in the direction of the hospital entrance, exactly where his father’s car was parked. 
           Greg's eyes widened when he saw Chris walking pass him, he instantly dropped his phone into his pocket and ran up to Chris, one hand grabbing onto Chris's left arm, he asked, “Chris? Is that you?” 
           Chris froze at the sudden contact. He turned to see a hand bigger than his holding onto his arm. Chris could feel the area of the skin touched burning up. 
            “I thought it must be you, I couldn’t recognize you at first as you had your hair dyed brown.”
            “You never called so I called you earlier but you didn’t answer your phone. I’m glad I found-”
           “Cut that crap!” Chris suddenly shouted, effectively cutting off whatever Greg had wanted to say. At the same time, pulling his hand away from Greg's grasp. 
           Greg was caught of guard he released Chris’s hand. 
           Chris turned around to look at him. He spoke angrily, “6 years ago, when you left mum and I, you are no longer my father!” Chris yelled out each word. He hated how his words came out more hurt than angry. 
           “C-Chris, I-I never meant……” The man stammered. Looking absolutely hurt by Chris's words. His brows furrowed in distress. 
            “You dissapreared all of a sudden and reapprear 6 years later?! What do you think this is, a sick game?!” Chris cried out. 
           “Chris, I’m sorry. If you could……” Greg said, his voice shrinking. 
            Chris, on the other hand was getting bolder, “You reappear and expect me to act as though nothing has happened?! I was living just fine before you appreared!”
         “You can save your apology when mum wakes up!” Chris shouted before running into the hospital, leaving a wretched Greg completely rooted. 
          Chris ran up the stairs and almost collided into several people. The floor was freshly mopped and he almost tripped because of the wet floor. He noticed Oliver was walking towards his mother’s room from the opposite direction. He completely ignored Oliver and dashed into the room.
          “H-Hey! Chris!” He heard Oliver shout as he locked the door. Chris ran up to his mother, falling to his knees besides his mother’s bed. 
           “Mum ……I’m sorry……I couldn’t protect you……that person found us.” Chris lifted his mother’s right hand and held it in between his hands. He realised he was trembling and his words were breaking. He has never lashed out at someone that badly before. Even he was surprised at himself. 
            Chris could hear the door unlocking. He turned just in time to see the door open and Oliver walked in. 
           “Chris, if you do this another time, we’ll have to ban you from the hospital.” In his hand was a bundle of hospital room keys.
           “You were talking to that man.”  Chris glared at Oliver.
           Seemingly unfazed by the deathly glare directed at him from Chris, he asked, “You mean your father?”
           “That man is not my father!” Chris denied in between gritted teeth. 
           Oliver sat down, saying, “Legally, he is and you can deny all you want but by blood, you are his son.” 
           Chris scoffed and Oliver sighed. 
          “It seems like you don't know this and I believe it is high time you know that the one you so fiercely deny any form of relationship with is the one who decided on the transfer of your mother to this hospital.”
           Chris's face contorted into one of pure confusion as he let Oliver's words sink in. 
          “Your father has been the one paying the heavy hospital bills.” Oliver carried on saying, adding salt to the injury. 
           Chris’s mouth fell open in disbelief and he gulped nervously. This was the first time he has heard of this. He had always thought that the transfer was the previous hospital’s decision, at least that was what he was told. Chris felt tricked and betrayed. Why hasn't anyone told him about this?
          How long? For how long? Has his father known about them? 
           “Could you please leave me alone for a while?” Chris asked of Oliver, his voice almost pleading. Fighting the inner turmoil going on inside his mind. 
            Oliver stood up and grabbed his documents, he took one last look at Chris before granting his wish, closing the door behind him, leaving Chris alone. 

All Rights Reserved @ 2018 by Anne Teng

Author's notes:

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