Catch The Rainbow

Chapter 46

Alex made a letter to Jake before leaving Kansas. The weight was heavy, thinking she could not see him anymore for years while bearing their child. She was far from him and didn't know if she could handle it.

Alex thought about what Andy had said. It was the best option for her sake and Jake's. She admired Andy so much that she let herself rely on him. Alex trusted his words as much as he was the only person who could help. She's aware Andy loves his brother, Jake.

Jake busied himself with school activities and with his daily routine. He was confident Alex was just around and believed she would not be anywhere.

It was late in the evening when Carlyle gave him the letter Alex left for him. He was curious and hurriedly read it.

"Jake, you take care of yourself always. I need to leave. I have to find myself. We'll see each other again when the time comes; I'll not return to Colorado. You can't find me there. Just go on with your life and finish what you have started. Don't worry. I'll be alright. I love you with all my heart, Jake." Alex." His fist clenched and crumpled the letter as he trembled.

Jake went to her room to confirm it. His teeth gritted, then shouted when he found out she had left. Suddenly, his eyes pooled with tears. He thought of all the possibilities and wondered why she left that abruptly. He felt guilty about what he did the last time they met, pushing her to David because of his childishness. Or she felt mad being treated rudely by the people around her during the party. He couldn't think of any other reasons for her to leave, then he knew she loved him and would never leave him. He drove off immediately to Andy and asked him about it.

"She left. Do you have any idea why she left? Tell me please, where is she? Please, help me find her, Andy, please," Jake put his hands on his face, leaning his elbows on Andy's table.

Andy saw him miserable, helpless as a child, crying before him. His heart sank seeing him with tears. He had never seen him calling for a woman before.

"You have your money. You have your men. Help me find her, please. I'll pay you in any way you like. You can take my money; all that Dad would inherit from me. I don't care. All I need is Alex, please. Andy, you could find her, right? Andy, please!" Andy just tapped his shoulder and shook his head again.

Andy closed his eyes and gently massaged his forehead. His heart was pinned as he looked at Jake, leaning his forehead on his crossed arms on the table, as tears fell in his arms. His eyes reddened, and his face seemed to have no life. Andy fixed his things and pulled Jake's arm as they drove off to a bar and had a drink, for it's a man's best friend, as they say.

Jake drank too much, as Andy tolerated him. He was prepared that it would happen soon.

"Why did Alex leave, huh? She said she loved me, then left me. She's a liar. Yes, she's a liar. A liar! She told me she would give me a dozen children, your nieces and nephews, Andy, but it would not happen anymore because Alex left without seeing me. We had our good times and bad times together. We shared a lot. Now she doesn't care about leaving just like that! She is so mean. I hate her! I hate her!" Jake threw a glass of whiskey anywhere that Andy gestured a hand to the waiter.

Jake said in a heavy heart, then cried again. He spoke like a drunken idiot, stammering in a high pitch but slower as he could not pronounce the words correctly. Andy just gulped his beer and listened to all his nonsense, idiolect stories. Then Jake laughed for a moment and kept quiet long enough. Then he drank his beer again until the alcohol smashed his mind, and he couldn't move and just slept in the corner. Andy pitied him so much; he felt so guilty about it, but he had to, for his brother's sake.

Andy checks on him every night, and he prefers going home late to be with Jake in the bar, for alcohol was one of his father's stated conditions that he would not let it pass upon learning it. Jake had almost gone drunk for weeks. He even went to school drunk and slept in his classes. Andy's University Dean's friend called and informed him about Jake's whereabouts in school. Sometimes, Andy thought of giving up and telling him the truth about where Alex was, but he remained silent as he still could handle it and monitored him constantly.

He was finding a chance to talk to him, but it came to the point that Jake got sick and was confined in the hospital.

"He had to stop drinking alcohol and smoking, or else he would suffer from ulcers. He has to take solids to gain his strength." The doctor said to Andy, then left.

It was the moment when his Dad, together with his Mom, came inside his room.

"Andy, what happened to Jake?" his Mom's voice obviously in panic.

"It's viral, Mom, but don't worry, he had been injected with anti-viral." Andy lied.

He had to make up stories not to be discovered by his Dad, the real reason for Jake's confinement. His Mom caressed his forehead, which she was so concerned about, as her face was so sad, looking at Jake sleeping.

"Andy, you take care of everything. Be sure that he has the proper treatment here, anything so that he can recover immediately." His Dad said seriously.

They waited for him to wake up, but he was injected with a sedative to gain his full sleep and rest and slept for three hours straight. Andy didn't leave him until he was awakened. He saw Jake snorting in pain from the stomachache. Andy called a nurse who gave him a pain reliever. Jake again fell asleep. Andy stood beside him, arms crossing over his chest as he observed him. Jake's lips were muttering, something he could not hear, and he leaned forward to listen.

"Alex... Alex..." As Jake whispered.

Andy felt his heart would break, so he turned his back away from him, looking out the window, thinking about what to do. But he couldn't risk him also. He couldn't stand seeing him like that. If he told him where Alex was, he would probably follow her and stop his schooling again to take good care of her and their child. And that would ruin everything they had started.

After staying in the hospital for a week, Jake regained his little energy but was prohibited from drinking alcohol and other activities like smoking and missing his meals. For the last few weeks, he didn't eat and only filled his stomach with alcohol. He has undergone so much pain that he was conscious of it. Jake suffered much, couldn't tolerate the pain anymore, and got no choice but to eat and take maintenance. he realized how Andy made an effort during his confinement in the hospital. Since he came back, Andy suffered much for him. He was so guilty thinking about it as he looked at Andy sleeping on a sofa in his room.

"I have to move on from Alex. I didn't leave her, but she did, and I can do nothing about it. I have to live without her; even if I found her, she would still leave me. It's a choice she made that I have to let her go. Maybe it's why Andy didn't have a serious relationship with other women when he and Veyron parted ways. He thought he might also suffer as he felt when Alex left.