Mr. Fate

Chapter Nine

The week passed without me seeing Christopher. Sadly, our planned meet-up on Friday was cancelled due to my group wanting to have another meeting. As much as I was disappointed, I knew that my studies will always be one of my top priorities.

It was exceptionally quiet when I entered the doors of my house. A feeling of uneasiness washed over me. Usually, at this timing, the whole family would be downstairs, hovering around the kitchen waiting for dinner to be ready. The silence felt so unfamiliar. Pushing aside all the negative thoughts, I walked towards the kitchen with hopes that my intuitions were wrong.

The kitchen was empty. But the pot on the stove contained soup. The soup was for dinner I presumed. The utensils were haphazardly arranged on the table and plates were all over the counter. I walked up the stairs, towards the hushed whispers that were coming from my parents room. The lights were seeping through the cracks of my brothers room. Knowing that they were at least safe, I knocked on my parents door.

I came face to face with my mother, teary eyed. " Hello honey, Didn't hear you coming into the house," my mother was wiping the tears from he eyes, a smile nonetheless etched on her face.

" Is everything okay?" I asked and looked towards the bed where my father laid, his face sickly pale.

" Everything is fine sweetheart, I just feel a little under the weather. Dinner will be by self-service tonight," assured my father, a chuckled followed after. I could see it in his eyes, he was trying to down play the whole situation. Something is not right and both my parents seem to refuse to admit to whatever the problem is. It didn't feel right to insist on an explanation. They were my parents. Two people whom I love the most. If they felt that it was not the time to share with me what's going on, I will respect their decision and not further pressurise them.

" Rest well then. Goodnight, I love you." I kissed both my parent on the cheeks and allowed them some privacy. It has always been a routine of mine to kiss my parents goodnight ever since I was young. It had become a basic necessity that on nights that I was unable to, I would end up having restless sleep. I've always wondered how I was gonna survive when it was time I move out and lived separately from my parents.

My heart felt very heavy. As much as I wanted to give it a rest, I couldn't just stay idle while there is a chance my parents were having problems. Knocking on the twins door, I walked in on both of them staring blankly at the ceiling. They were both clearly affected by what happened just now.

" Boys. Can I have a minute?" I took the desk chair from the table and swerved it in between their beds.

" What happened just now? Why does dad look so sick?" Both of them sat up at my question.

" We are not sure ourselves sis. We were playing games in our room when mom suddenly started shouting for us. It wasn't the usual shouting for dinner but instead it was out of panic. We came down to dad collapsed on the ground and it was just so- I didn't know what- dad has never-," Michael was choking on his words. He seems to be still in shock about what happened. I couldn't bear to see him sad like that. Sitting beside him, I put my shoulders around him for comfort. Michael was quick to rest his head on my shoulder, silently glad that I was not making him continue.

" Mom made us carry dad to the bed. Apparently dad's  colleague was already on his way to examine him. Until now, we don't know the extent of dad's condition. Mom refused to tell us anything, she kept on saying he was all right. We know it's not true though. We saw how he looked like. He didn't look fine at all," Mitchell continued.

Mitchell was always the stronger one between the two. While Michael was more expressive with his emotions, Mitchell was more reserved and reticent. He was always able to keep his emotion in check and only lets loose when he is around his family. Despite his strong demeanour, I could see that he was shaken by the incident. My brothers really do love their hero. I extended my other arm towards him, motioning for him to join the hug. I don't care how big and old they grow up to be, they will forever be babies to me.

" Don't worry guys, I'll find out what's going on. No matter what the outcome is, just remember that there is nothing we can't overcome. Because at the end of the day, we have each other and that is all that matters." I gave them one last squeeze before leaving them to rest.

Thoughts on my fathers health leaves worry and unsettledness in my chest. I guess the thought that my father could actually get sick has never ever crossed my mind. All our minds in fact. He was a constant in all of our lives. There wasn't a moment that we didn't share with him. Thinking of the possibilities of life without him brought tears in my eyes. It just seemed impossible if my dad wasn't there.

Being the only girl, I had no competition growing up. To him, I was always his princess and my happiness always comes first. He was my protector, my knight in shining armour and the very first man that I loved.

For the boys however, their relationship was a bit different. He was someone they admired dearly. He was their mentor, their friend and someone they constantly want to make proud of.

As for my mother, he was her best friend. Her lifelong companion not only in this world, but also in the hereafter.

I had to know the extent of my fathers health. I wouldn't want to look back and regret my passiveness and lack of initiative in finding out about his condition. At the end of the day, If anyone was losing anything, It would be me. I was not gonna let that happen anytime soon.

Pulling out my my phone from my pocket, I quickly texted someone whom I hope had the answers to my question.

Sarah: Hey Chris, Sarah here. I was wondering if you were free tmr? There is something that I need to ask you.

Chris: Sure, of course. I'm free anytime after 2pm.

Sarah: Great! Will text you again the time and location tmr, goodnight:)

Chris: Goodnight, sweetheart.

Let's just say, my night became a little bit better.