Dora The Traveller ✔

7. The Beginning Of an Ending

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CHAPTER 7: BEGINNING OF AN END
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The author,
Is usually the finisher.
Choices presented,
The man decides.
The fate is sealed,
Yes.
But choose wisely.
~mirthykayla

"What about this one?" Hazel asked Tony.

She was looking for the perfect pair of jeans to match her white peacock blouse. She was going to meet Matthew today at Starbucks. For tea of course.

"Perfect!" Tony grinned, a little dramatic to make his sister believe him and stop making him a fashion judge.

"That's what you said with the last jeans that I tried on." She scowled at him.

"Yes, because they're all perfect!" His grin unfailing, he replied.

"uh-huh..." Hazel wasn't too believing of her brother. "So this one is also perfect?" She looked down at herself and wondered which shoes she would wear.

Tony stood from his sitting position on his sister's bed and went to her closet to get her a pair of white sneakers, "Try these." He suggested.

"How did you-" Hazel was about to ask how he knew she wanted a pair of shoes to go with her outfit.

"This conversation is always the same Haze. You pick a top, we debate the pants then you pull your hair off its roots looking for a pair of shoes to go with." Her brother just shrugged. "It's just another weekend, Haze." He added to emphasize how usual this was.

Hazel blinked in disbelief and shook her head putting on the shoes, "Perfect. Thank you iron man." She had said after she checked her reflection on the full body mirror behind her closet door.

"Cool, have fun." Tony said and went to join his pals playing basketball.

It went like this for a few days, Hazel would fuss about her outfit and go meet Matthew. Until she called one night and said she was sleeping over at his house. When she came two days later, she was fetching a few things and going back.

Tony had been a little mad about it but his father explained to him that both him and his sister were old now, their spare time away from school and work would be now divided among other people. His father asked him how he had handled it when he was eight years old and his sister was in high school with a lot of friends, Matthew included. Tony remembered that all his sister's friends had never minded him being around. He went everywhere with Hazel when he was not playing with his friends. But now things would be different. Tony was a teenager, highly irritable and protective. He wanted to know everything his sister was up to.

He nagged Hazel and annoyed her until she came back. But she still went to see Matt everyday. Hazel learned how to manage her time with two attention demanding men in her life, she did it so well that neither of them felt robbed or left out. She did this well within two weeks, her three weeks leave was splendid indeed.

She missed home the moment she got on that plane to Greece. She knew her decision to hand in her resignation was not a bad one. She was amazed by how Tony has grown and yet never lost his meekness, she was amazed how her love, Matthew, had grown too but was still self preserved as she remembered. She never understood how everything changed and yet still stayed the same.

Her weak body was soon transferred into life support. Her brain was no longer responsive to anything. Tony didn't know what was more painful, the news of her practically dead sister or watching Matthew being sedated for almost attacking the doctor. Tony noticed the dark circles around his eyes, the pale skin and dry lips. Was Matt sleeping at all? Who does he live with?

Tony felt something in him break. At least he had his parents to take out his frustrations on and take comfort in. Matt lived hours away from his parents, and it would probably feel weird for him to go cry on his mother's lap considering his age. A tear rolled down his cheek and he roughly wiped it away when it tickled him. He imagined what it felt like to watch someone you've loved for so many years been taken away from you. The love they shared for Hazel was different, he realized. To him, Hazel was someone he was born loving. There was no choice. But Matthew had chosen to love her. She had chosen him too and theirs was a love so innocent, so clear, without complications. They simply agreed to break up a decade ago in pursuit of careers, and they found each other again and agreed to be lovers again. That simple.

"We need to consider it, Caroline." Tony heard his father say.

She sighed, "I know." Her voice broke.

Being oblivious to what they were talking about, he stood. "I'm going to check on Matt."

"Okay." His mother simply smiled to him and he left to go check on Matthew in the emergency room.

Carol took out her antidepressants and swallowed them with water, she has been battling stress ever since Tony was born. She sought a therapist and got a proper diagnosis, she was depressed. She didn't argue that because she knew it could be true, she was a Psychology professor before she had Tony and lost her husband. She quit her job and started a clothing and jewelry line, a boutique.

She has been needing more and more of her medication since her daughter has been hospitalized. Now, she will be needing those therapy sessions back. She knew she had to do it, as much as she hated it. At first she did it for both her children, they needed a healthy mother. Now Tony needs both a healthy and emotionally supportive mother, and she won't be able to do it if she has a mental freeze every now and then.

"I'm not ready, Michael." She finally broke her wall, "I'm not ready to let her go." She sobbed.

Mike took her into an embrace, "Don't think about it too much, my love. Take your time."

He almost scoffed at how hypocritical he was being, advising the mother of his children not to think about the one thing that was presently tearing his heart into shreds. His daughter was not alive anymore and they had to switch off the machines and make it official. He wanted to cry too, but Carol needed him. He would rip his punching bag apart as soon as he got home.

None of these people understood why Hazel would not come back to them. Tony thought that maybe she saw that death had a better adventure than life could offer, she always loved trying new things after all. Mathew called his parents when he woke up in a hospital bed, they told him God has his own plans that are meant to do good in our lives. Carol and Mike saw this as a punishment for their sins.

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Question is, What is Hazel thinking?

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