Christopher's plane doesn't land where it was supposed to. Instead, It crashed laned miles away from the airport on approach. The pilot, co-pilot, and flight attendant were in very bad shape. They were in hospital getting treated. But there is no evidence of Christopher, Pia, or their daughter on board the aircraft or among the wreckage.
Twenty-four hours have been passed since they have received the news. And no one had rested, or gotten a wink of sleep. Especially not Forrest and Valentino. Forrest was sitting in the chair next to Reva's bed who was still very much under the influence of sedatives.
He was afraid of how he was going to break the news to her. Knowing how fragile her heart is, he didn't know how he was even supposed to deliver the bad news to her. The good news is no one can find their bodies.
So, until the confirmation of the bodies been found comes, I can assume they are not presumably dead¸ Forrest said to himself.
He didn't know what to do, Valentino told him to rest, go to his house, and sleep because he hasn't slept very well in the past two nights. But his heart doesn't let him leave Reva alone here. He cannot go and not think about the consequences of this alleged disappearance or the attack on Reva in his own house.
Why cannot he have a break from getting bad news after bad news? He does not want to receive them. Quite frankly he was very tired of this vicious cycle he was stuck into. He wants to be out of it and for once want to live a peaceful life.
His phone rang and he picked it up. "How is she?" Valentino asked. "same as before. I don't know how much more I can take Valentino. You know how all the media and detectives have been swarming in, I hardly have any time to breathe, let alone check in on Reva." Valentino sighed.
"I know how you feel when everyone thinks it was you who did it because if something happens to Pia and Christopher, Woodlands will be officially yours." Forrest couldn't believe when he heard it first. There was a hidden Will, Christopher's lawyer approached him hours after the news of it got out. And told him, since he was presumed dead, Forrest shall be the new owner of everything Christopher has.
That is not something you want to have to listen to after they all think your best friend is dead. No, he wanted to search for him to scour the area, he wanted to find them. "They are not dead, we haven't found them yet, just this, alright. I will put more men into it. I don't care what anyone else says, my friend is not dead. Do you hear me? My friend is very much alive and I don't care what anyone thinks. He cannot die" Forrest said.
"Yes, I too feel this, my brother is very much alive and he is somewhere trying to come back to us," Valentino said sharing the same vision as Forrest. "But you should think about getting some sleep. It is bad if we too have to hospitalize you at such a crucial moment, my friend. Go home and rest"
"I will once someone come to keep an eye on Reva, Disha would be coming in, until she does I will be here keeping watch on Reva myself," Forrest informed him. "Ok, but do not over exhaust yourself that your body begins to shut down." Forrest chuckled.
"You need not think about that, I am sturdier than I look." And he cut the call sighing. "Where you are Chris? You picked the wrong time to vacation." He whispered looking at Reva. And then his eyes begin to close on their own accord.
Someone shook him. He woke up abruptly preparing himself for more bad news. But then he saw Disha looking at him. "Up you go Dr. Lyte, this is the end of shift for you. Go home and take a rest, I will be with Reva until you come back. And I have your number on speed dial if I needed you for anything and I have the emergency button here, if anything seems wrong, even a little I will press this. Don't worry I have it covered. You should go home, take shower and relax; you do not want to look as a homeless person to her, do you when she wakes up?" Disha told him softly.
"no, I don't want to look bad, I want to look good for her. I don't want her to blame herself for my condition. Certainly not." He said to himself. "then go home and sleep, if anything changes, I will call you." He nodded and turned around to leave. But then stopped and looked at Disha.
"She confessed of loving me, just before she passed out, you know how it makes me feel? I couldn't able to hear those words from her mouth ever again and it scared me. I may be a heart specialist Miss Seth, but even a heart specialist needs the selfless truest kind of love in his life." It made Disha confused than it explained things to you. "And I am not ready to lose it for anything." With that said he left her alone.
Forrest walked into his empty apartment. He was not very keen on returning here without her. But Reva is comatose on her bed and Christopher, he was still nowhere to be found. But that is not all, now everyone around him sees Forrest with suspicion something he cannot handle very well. How can anyone even think that he can harm someone he loves like a brother? And that too just for a property?
"Why you have to make me the owner of everything after you? How can you even do that to me? I hardly can manage one thing in my life, how can I take care of all Chris?" He stood under the shower wishing Reva was here. He could have discussed this all with her, she would have listened, she would have given him input of her own ideas.
Forrest laughed thinking she would have been running all around his house trying to find a solution worthy of his time. And then the tears came. Why always he had to be the one be alone? He didn't want to return, but now, he had no choice but had to stay alone. He needed Reva by his side. Their life had just begun and now this had happened. He cannot take it anymore.
"Reva, why are you still sleeping?" Forrest asked as he sat down beside Reva. "Do you wish to punish me so bad? Can you not see how lonely I am without you?" he asked. But he got no answer. As usual he met with a silent room.
"Alright punish me, you want to punish me go ahead punish me. I am not going to say anything at all to you or anyone. Chris too is MIA, you are sleeping, all of you have made a pact, didn't you? You want to leave me; you all want to leave me alone." He stood up and walked towards his cabin and then picked his coat and keys driving towards his house. And straight to his gym.
He couldn't stand the pain anymore. All he wanted was to stop the pain he feels inside. Why always have to be one to lose the people from his life. He started to hit the punching bag. He wasn't having any plan of stopping after the first one got destroyed. He wasn't planning even when he felt he was tired; he was down to the last bit of his strength.
He cannot stop, he has to go on. He wasn't going to give up. He cannot give up. Not until there is even a little drop of blood left in his veins. And his heart is done beating for her. "Reva," He shouted. But as usual no one answered. He fell down on the floor lying down covered in sweat and blood.
Then someone touched his shoulder he didn't even knew when he was asleep. He looked at the face and then the familiar eyes. His mouth was open in surprise He thought he was imagining him. But then he heard his voice.
"Forrest, what are you doing here, lying in the cold? And you are hurt badly were you again taking out your anger on the poor punching bags again?" Forrest has begun to laugh. "Christopher are you sure that you are here? And you are real?" He asked.
"How many drinks you had for today?" Christopher asked him. Forrest was now very much alert and awake. He can see his friend who helped him up. "Chris, it is really you. But how? Your plane had gone for a crash landing and you and Pia were presumed to be missing" Presumed dead, but that wasn't something he wanted to even convey.
"I was but then, maybe it was for the best Forrest. Now come on up, you do not wish Reva to see you this way. She will blame herself and after what had happened, you must tell her that you did not blame her for everything that had happened to you." Forrest took his hand and stood up.
"How did you survive?" Christopher helped cleaning the wounds. It was not that much. "Miracle, it was a Miracle. I thought we were done for as we almost dropped towards the ground but then the flight attendant slapped a parachute on me and strapped in Pia and the baby. She pushed us to safety through the emergency exit door. But then too, we sustain injuries, we landed safely on the ground. Pia broke her baby's fall. She got injured and we didn't know where we were" Christopher said as he has done with Forrest.
"How did you reach here then?" Christopher looked at him. "It was difficult, but I couldn't have given up on her. So, I asked for help from people. They took us to the nearest town. There we stayed until she recovered fully" He filled in. But Forrest can tell it wasn't the whole story. There is more he isn't telling him. "What are you hiding?" he asked Christopher. "Nothing what can I hide from you? You are my brother, not just my best friend.
"Am I?" asked Forrest, "Then why am I the last one to know about your hidden will? Am I just a failsafe to you Chris?" Christopher shook his head. "No of course not, why you will be a fail safe for me? I just wanted you to be the next owner of Woodlands if something ever happens to me, seeing you were the one who put the most effort to build it, so I thought..."
"You thought wrong, Chris, I do not want it, I do not want any of it." Christopher held him. "Hey, hey, hey what is wrong with you? This isn't you, what is bothering you?"
Forrest fell back on his bed with his hands on his head. "I cannot help but feel guilty. I cannot help but feel all that had been happening to all of the people around me, the people who are close to me, the people I care about and I love are in danger because of me. Someone want me to be alone and suffer in worst possible way." He looked at Christopher in his dual-color eyes which he doesn't exactly hide anymore.
"I am afraid I am failing to protect all those I love and all who love me" Christopher hugged him. "No, you are not, we all are here. We all are here for you. I am here for you. And I know Reva too will be here, once she opens her eyes again. Do you want her to see you like this? Miserable?"
"No, I don't, before she closed her eyes, she said something, she said she loves me." He told him. "I mean Reva, that wildfire loves someone like me? I am just..." He chuckled. Christopher smiled at his expression of disbelief.
"You call yourself the heart specialist and you think you cannot be loved, that is surprising even for me. And what about those flings of yours, the patients you trapped into those words of yours?" Forrest laughed. "Actually, there is something I haven't shared with you at all. And I need to..."
Both their attention got towards the loudly ringing phone which had just gone off. "Hold that thought off for now," Christopher said reaching towards the phone and picking it up. Forrest let him talk to the person on the other end of the line. And then after talking for a while he cut the call and looked at Forrest. His face broke into a smile which confused Forrest very much. He wondered what exactly made his friend smile in the face of adversity.
"Chris, you are scaring me now, why you have that creepy smile on your face?" He asked Christopher. "My friend you are going to like what I am about to tell you and it is going to lift your spirits for sure." Forrest looked at him confused. What could exactly make him happy in his current situation? He was hurting so much and wasn't sure that anything can actually make him happy at all.
"What is it Christopher? I don't think anything that can actually make me smile at this point at all." Christopher smiled. "This one will trust me Forrest. Your girlfriend is awake." Forrest became confused for a moment and almost asked how did he know about Ange. But then he realized it wasn't Ange at all. He was talking about Reva. His Reva is awake. "Can you drive me to her?" He asked. "Sure, anytime brother" And Christopher pulled his keys out from his pocket.
Word Count: 2342 Words