For sure, there are better things in life! One very relieving is waking up from a nightmare to realize that it was far from the truth. Our Adam couldn't be more grateful to wake up to feel all the teeth still inside his mouth. He passed both hands over his shaved head and took a deep breath, realizing that he was far more stressed now than when he believed he had terminal cancer.
He tried to go back to sleep, but such an attempt was a failure caused by a mosquito that came buzzing around his ear. By the time he defeated the intruder, dawn had already started, and he was fully awake and fully aware of his misery. As he was looking at a void point in the ceiling, his life felt dull and empty.
Adam's problem was something else. The array of hard decisions that stood before him were petrifying: it was his father, from whom he had enough evidence to send to prison - not to mention that he could eventually dismantle an entire empire of religious corruption; and Debora, who still topped the list of things worth fighting for, even though he knew deep down how pointless that was.
He got up from bed to another sunny and cold winter day.
"Oh, thank you, Universe," he was relearning his faith. "For the warm morning coffee!" He looked through the window with a mug of warm coffee between his hands.
Now that he had lost the habit of praying or reading the Bible, part of his new religious practice was watching the national news. As soon as he turned on the television, there was a talk about the national photography prize. Because he was a fan of that competition, he sat on the couch excitedly, curious to know who the winner was. When he heard a familiar voice coming from the speakers, the mug nearly slipped from his hands.
"Joel..." He narrowed his eyes in envy and fury. "Fiancée!?" He was still hypnotized by the image of his former best mate on TV.
Who would the fiancée be? Of course, Adam knew the answer to that question. His fight for Debora should be over by now, but as the sore loser he was, that news just intensified his desire to win.
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Florencia had just returned from her business trip abroad. She walked into the Opera House, all wrapped in warm clothes and carrying many shopping bags, excited to see her working team. She gathered all the co-workers in the main working room and narrated the adventurous journey to Canberra. Everybody was excited for her but also to share the news about Debora and Joel. Carol was the one that kicked it off, asking:
"Haven't you noticed anything different here?"
Florencia looked around the room to see if there was any new equipment or room decor. But there was nothing blatantly new to her memory, so she just shot something at random:
"Did you add any more decoration?" She was smiling.
Carol looked at Debora and Joel and tried to mimic something, but her boss just couldn't get it.
"Please just tell me, 'cuz I got a lot to do!" She surrendered.
"Debora and Joel are engaged." Carol tried to say it as casually as possible because she knew it would be a big surprise for Florencia.
The boss frowned. The news was so unexpected that she just didn't know if she should buy it.
"Really? You two are engaged?" Florencia asked.
Debora and Joel nodded happily, exchanging a knowing glance.
"Did all of this," their boss pointed her finger at them, "happen while I was away?" She was very intrigued.
"Yeah!" Joel replied.
"I thought you were just great friends." Florencia couldn't help her skepticism. "Alright!" She tried to get herself together to congratulate the couple. "Congratulations, you guys!" She gave them a dry hug and walked away under the pretext of a lot of work.
No one expected that reaction from Florencia, but none dared talk about that behind her back. Carol left the room after her boss, for she heard the phone. Debora followed her boss and friend, intrigued by her reaction. Joel and the remaining team went back to work on the Opera House magazine; they had a tight schedule and a lot to do.
It was nearly lunchtime, and the team had advanced a lot. Debora had also returned from the boss's office, questioning the arguments Florencia raised against her engagement.
While the team enthusiastically worked, Carol walked into the room, called for Joel, and whispered something in his ear. Debora perceived that her betrothed was strangely affected by whatever Carol had told him. He walked to her, just to clarify what was going on:
"Adam is here, and he wants to talk to me. It's urgent, apparently."
"I'll come with you." Debora was very reluctant to let Joel meet with Adam.
"There's nothing to worry about." He tried to comfort her, caressing her face. "Trust me!"
He came to her for a short and passionate kiss. They were so lovey-dovey that the team was forced to call them: the mellow couple. Both Debora and Joel were aware that public displays of affection could be inconvenient. But that was one of the solutions they had come up with to avoid risking their integrity and breaking the chastity vow made to one another.
Joel stormed out of the room and closed the door behind him. He was nervous, wondering why Adam was there after such a long time of silence. He found his best mate sitting on one of the top steps, near the entrance of the Opera House. He neared him, intending to take a seat, but Adam stood up and moved closer to his mate, defiantly.
"So you and Debora are now betrothed?" There was a hint of rage in Adam's voice.
"Yeah, we are." Joel stood his ground.
"When were you gonna tell me about that?" Adam tried to look at him in the eyes once, but he was both embarrassed and enraged, and he couldn't look straight at Joel. "We are best mates. I suppose I should know about your engagement, at least before all of Australia."
"I didn't plan on telling you anything, Adam." He admitted.
"And why is that?"
"You never returned my messages nor my calls, so I realized that our friendship was over."
"You are very convenient with those realizations of yours." Adam scoffed, hinting that Joel had stolen Debora from him. "You must have assumed that Debora was also yours for the taking."
"Adam," he couldn't even call him Ade like old times. "I don't have time for this."
Joel turned to walk away from his opponent, but the latter stopped him and held the collar of his bombazine jacket.
"This conversation isn't over!" Adam wasn't himself, so full of rage.
Joel had his back to the stairway, and his feet were unbalanced. If Adam weren't holding him, he would have tumbled down. Ironically, it was also Adam who had put him in that position. It was hard to believe that his best mate could be endangering him like that.
"Adam, please let go off me!" Joel had peace of mind, but he was trying to avoid an accident that could put his life in check; maybe - as hard as it was to admit - that was really what his mate wanted.
"I'll let you go on one condition." Adam was so furious that seemed unreasonable.
"Alright." Joel held onto Adam for dear life. "But first let go off me..."
Debora wasn't the least comfortable knowing that Adam and Joel were talking. From what the former had told her, the latter could be in danger. She was decided to check that alleged conversation. Walking past the entrance, the aggressive tone in Adam's voice was audible; but when she got there, she couldn't believe her own eyes.
Joel was trying to avoid a scene that could worry Debora, so as soon as he noticed her presence, he let go of Adam, expecting to be convincing enough. But she foresaw the danger and, in affliction, screamed out for her fiancé, startling Adam who loosened his grip on Joel's jacket. Joel lost his balance.
Both Adam and Debora were petrified, failing to believe their own eyes, while Joel rolled down the steps. He had descended some twenty steps. When his body finally stopped - supernaturally - at one of the larger steps, he was still in his senses, thankful to be alive, despite the pain in some parts of his body, especially his ribs and head. In an effort to self-examine his condition, he tried to reach for the sore part of his head. He realized that there was definitely something moist, his heart started racing uncontrollably. He curiously brought the hand to his sight and saw blood on his fingers. Suddenly, everything went blank.
By the time Debora reached Joel, he was already immobile. She kneeled beside him and gently removed the hair off just to find out that his face was bruised all over. She gasped at the sight. His perfect straight nose looked crooked, and blood slowly flowed from it, as well as from his prominent lips. The rest of the damage was covered by his clothes. She felt his pulse, but as nervous and shaky as she was, it was hard to tell whether he still breathed or not. His neck didn't seem broken - but what did she know about anatomy? Fearing the worst, she quickly called the emergency - that was actually one of the first Australian numbers she had added to her contact list.
As Adam drew closer to the scene, he was meant to help his mate in any way possible. But when he saw how disfigured Joel was, the shame and skepticism discouraged him. He couldn't deal with the consequences of his damage, let alone deal with Debora. If there was anything left for her to feel for him, it would be nothing but hatred and contempt. Therefore, he ran away from the scene before the rest of the Opera House working team arrived to watch the apparatus.
When the ambulance sirens resounded, Debora was relieved. Soon her colleagues walked into the scene. They were as shocked as she was to see Joel completely motionless and hurt.
The paramedics were very helpful, and despite the stress caused by that situation, they were polite to everybody who wanted to be a witness.
"Is he breathing?" Debora, out of her breath, asked one of the paramedics after explaining what had happened.
"Luckily he is!" The paramedic replied. "I don't really understand how he stopped on the broader step... Because when you are rolling down like that, gravity seems to give you an extra push to go all the way to the bottom." He clarified.
"We'll he survive?" She was prepared for the worst, even though she knew that God had a plan for Joel's life, and for that matter, he couldn't die.
"I cannot answer that."
"Can I, at least, go with you in the ambulance?" She pleaded. "I'm his fiancée." She replied.
"Sure."
"Do I have time to grab my purse?"
"Sure. We will run a few preliminary tests." He peeked at his wristwatch. "In ten minutes, we'll leave." That paramedic had seen the most revolving accidents, so he talked casually as if that accident wasn't that big of a deal.
________________________________________________________________________________
It was finally raining in Sydney. Debora was warming her hands with a cup of tea she got from a machine while looking at the heavy rain falling from the sky. At that point, she didn't know anything about Joel's health condition, and she was worried. Her lips and eyes were shut, and her mind kept mumbling prayers for her esteemed fiancé. The last time she had seen him, he had been heavily sedated to numb the pain. Hours had passed already, and she needed to eat, not because of her appetite, but for her own good.
She got up at the moment when the doctor that was watching over Joel walked to her.
"Debora," The doctor started the conversation. "You can see Joel now if you'd like."
"Is he alright?"
"Yes," the doctor nodded with a slight smile on his face. "I'll take you there." He instructed.
She followed the doctor, and he took the chance to explain to her what happened during all those hours that she had restlessly waited in the waiting room.
"We had to run a few scans and examinations to check for internal damage." The doctor arranged his glasses. "He had two left broken ribs, yet none of his internal organs were damaged." He put his hand on his mustache. "We stitched his head and did a procedure to fix his nose. Fortunately, all the damage was external."
She was so focused on seeing Joel after all that trouble that she barely heard the doctor. Her brain summed up all the information to good news, and she replied:
"Thank God!"
"He's gonna be in shape soon."
"How soon?"
"A month, hopefully! He has a good bone structure and is young." The doctor was optimistic.
As they walked further in the corridor, Debora realized that even though the decoration there comprised white and light colors, that didn't turn the hospital into an exciting place. And then, there was Joel's room. His bed was the first, and anyone who quickly peeked into it would probably be shocked at his appearance. He was unrecognizable: most of his face was wrapped in bandages, and what was left of it was bruised. His head was covered in bandages, but few strands of his hair were left out.
"I know this might be a bit shocking," The doctor tried to warn her. "but he's fine. Just don't ask him too many questions."
"Joe?" She had mixed feelings as she approached his bed. Should she feel happy that he was alive or sad that he didn't look the same? Her spirit was glad, but her flesh still cried a few tears.
"Debora!" He was smiling, but it was hard to tell with all those bandages covering his face. His voice was hoarse.
"I'm gonna leave you two to talk, but I'll be right back, as Joel needs to rest." The doctor announced. "Ten minutes, not more. He needs some rest." He warned.
Debora watched the doctor leave, eager to have some privacy with her betrothed. But looking around, she realized that there was no privacy whatsoever, as there were two other beds with patients in that room. She sighed and looked down.
"You okay?" He asked her, holding onto her hand.
"Yes." She was speechless, finding the love she nurtured for him awake by looking into his eyes.
"And Adam?" He tried to say the least possible; he was struggling to speak.
"Don't worry about him now." She didn't want to give him any more trouble. "How are you feeling?"
He was comfortable, leaning back onto his pillow, but he felt faint. Just turning his eyes or his head was more exhausting than it should. His pain was coming back slowly, so he closed his eyes, and before he lost control of his own body, he replied something to Debora:
"I'm tired." It was a little hard for him to breathe.
Joel tried to regain a little energy just to finish that conversation because he was exhausted.
"See you tomorrow?"
"Sure, Joe." She smiled. "I'll come and see you tomorrow." She reached for his lips and touched them, even though they didn't look as thick and perfectly shaped as they usually did.
She left the room even before the doctor arrived to see the patient. It was shocking to see Joel like that. His appearance that attracted her so much wasn't there; it was all covered in bandages and bruises. Yes, looks aren't everything - that is true -, but she didn't even have a taste of his lovable soulful essence. Finally, Debora understood that love was a choice. It is easy to choose love when things go right, but it is hard to take that decision when you have to go through the fire. Oh, but it's crucial to go through the fire! For fire does destroy what is weak, and it also refines what is rough.