The setting was casa del Castillo, a massive three-storey house on the edge of Warlington overlooking a beautiful beach. The enormous house solely built to accommodate the del Castillo family towered over the small houses of Warlington, such that it was visible from the town centre. The house was intimidating outside just as it was inside. Standing inside, Charlie felt his intestines tie themselves into a not. But it wasn't the house that was making him nervous. He'd been there many times before. It was sitting there knowing Patrick had taken a massive decision that would surely not please his parents that was making birds crash against his stomach.
Just a couple of days after telling Charlie his plan, Patrick had invited him to dinner. He had news to announce. Charlie knew what was going to be said.
Dinner started off great. Everyone but one seemed delighted to have him again for dinner. The food was delicious. Fabiola didn't leave this time. She sat there, occasionally giving Charlie looks.
Patrick thought it wise to speak after everyone had finished dinner. Dessert could wait. This was important. Maybe some people wouldn't stomach their dessert after what he had to say, but he had to say it soon or he was going to burst. He needed them to know.
"Uh...everyone, can I just have your attention please?" He spoke above Marco and Denis' bickering.
"Wait till Zeus turn..." Denis continued talking.
"Denis...two minutes and I'll let you go on arguing about your kids," Patrick said.
Denis rolled his eyes, but showed that he was waiting for Patrick to speak. There was silence around the table. Patrick swallowed thickly.
"Charlie and I have decided to move to Sydney," he informed his family.
You could hear a pin drop. Patrick didn't fail to notice the horror-look on Fabiola's face.
"What?!" Maria Valdez finally said.
"You just moved back here," Mr. del Castillo said.
"I know. I...it's best for Charlie and I to move."
"Are you running away from me? I'm leaving in two weeks," Denis joked.
"Ha-ha, funny," Patrick said. "Sydney has more opportunities, for Charlie too. Sydney is not in another country. I'll visit."
Mr. del Castillo nodded. "I can't say I'm happy about you leaving, but you have to do your own thing. As much as I'd love to have you all under one roof, we can't keep you here. Good luck in Sydney son."
Maria Valdez looked sad. "Just when I thought at least one of my sons would be with me..."
"Mama, I'll be in Sydney. I'll visit a lot more than you want to me to."
"Well I'm still sad."
Fabiola groaned. This was not how she'd envisioned things would go. This was not part of the plan. Patrick was supposed to break up with Charlie. She'd read the ethical guidelines properly before having the meeting with the director of the hospital. She'd told him explicitly the nature of Patrick and Charlie's relationship. Patrick was supposed to dump the trash he was dating.
"Can't believe you are just letting him leave," she sneered.
"Patrick is old enough to decide where he wants to live," Mr. del Castillo barked.
Fabiola gave a dark chuckle. Patrick may have thought he'd won, but she had another ace up her sleeve. "Ask him the real reason why he's leaving. Aren't you all wondering why he's leaving so suddenly?"
Everyone looked confused.
"Charlie?" Fabiola said with a cheeky grin on her face. "Why don't you tell the family why Patrick is taking such a gigantic risk?"
Charlie was unprepared for that question. He swallowed thickly.
"You don't have to say anything," Patrick assuredly said next to him.
"Well alright, I'll tell them," Fabiola said.
"Stay out of my business," Patrick said but Fabiola was already talking.
"Charlie is sick. Patrick is his doctor. According to the Australian medical board, they can't date. It's against board guidelines for professional and ethical conduct. He is once again trying to destroy his future for Charlie."
"Is this true?" Mr. del Castillo asked clearly.
Patrick nodded. "I am not destroying my future. There are other jobs. There are no other neurologists here. It's either I stop being his doctor or we break up. I chose the former. He'll get another neurologist and I'll work somewhere else."
"Patrick did you think this through? I mean, giving up your job for someone else...I just don't want you to regret it and end up resenting him," Maria Valdez said compassionately.
"Mama I've made my decision. It's not like I'm giving up being a neurologist. I'll find a job in Sydney. Breaking up with Charlie is not an option," Patrick said.
Maria Valdez nodded.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me!" Fabiola said. She wasn't done. "Did you guys ask yourselves for a second why Charlie would need a neurologist? He's got a godamm brain disease!"
"Fabiola!" Patrick's anger was audible in his words.
"He's got Huntington's disease! Soon he'll be a vegetable that Patrick will have to take care of. He's not just giving up his life here. He's giving up living, period!"
Patrick's blood was boiling. He wanted to beat the crap out of Fabiola, but fought hard to restrain himself. How dare she expose Charlie's condition just like that? Charlie already felt like a burden and she was no doubt making him feel worse. Patrick was torn between letting the anger consume him and protecting his lover.
Charlie stared at the wall. He couldn't look into anyone's eyes. He didn't want to see the hate that would not doubt be there. He didn't want to be there. Why wouldn't they hate him? Fabiola was right. He was making Patrick give up living. Patrick's parents had envisioned great things for him, no him taking care of his vegetable boyfriend.
"Is it true he has Huntington's?" Marco asked.
"What is Huntington's disease?" Mr. del Castillo asked, with a manner that suggested his question was more important.
"Dad it's not important," Patrick said.
"It's important and one of you is going to tell me what it is. Marco?" Mr. del Castillo said.
"Dad I think Patrick..." Marco started but was interrupted by a strong voice.
"That better be the start of your description."
Marco scratched his head. "It's um... it's a brain disease, genetic and incurable. I don't know the mechanisms; I'm not a neurologist or a doctor for that matter. I just know some of its symptoms. They include changes in personality, uncontrollable movements, sleep disturbances, mood changes and progresses to difficulty doing sustained motions like chewing, speaking and walking."
Charlie felt like he was the in the centre of a comedy about him, specifically ridiculing him. He was just waiting for the rotten vegetables now. He wanted badly to leave, but forced himself to stay in his seat.
The table was quiet after Marco's words.
"See daddy? Patrick is selling himself short, again!" Fabiola broke the silence.
"How long till it gets that bad?" Mr. del Castillo asked.
"I don't know that. Like I said, I'm not a doctor," Marco replied.
Mr. del Castillo looked at Patrick.
"Does it matter dad? Would a year make my decision even more terrible? Would 10 years make it better? Would 20 years justify it? I don't care about when. I'll still love him even if he can't walk tomorrow or ten years from now," Patrick argued.
"Charlie could you excuse us?" Maria Valdez said.
Charlie was about to stand up when Patrick held his arm. "You can say anything you want to say in front of him mom."
"I just...I wanted to make sure you know what you are getting yourself into," Maria Valdez said.
"No one here knows this disease better than Charlie and I. Of course I know what I am getting myself into. I know it won't be easy."
"Can I say something?" Denis said.
No one said anything.
"Mom, dad...I understand why you are worried about Patrick, but I think Patrick is old enough to make this decision. Like he said, he knows more about this disease than we do. He's not making a blind decision. Even though Patrick and Charlie only got together now, they've loved each other for a long time. Just as many of us here would stick it out with our wives or husbands, Patrick is merely doing the same thing."
According to Patrick, Denis wasn't just older. He was wiser. He's said the words that Patrick wanted to say, but hearing him say them assured Patrick there was someone in his corner.
"If that's your decision then we support you," Mr. del Castillo reluctantly said and Maria Valdez nodded in agreement.
Fabiola felt her house of cards crumbling down. She couldn't hold it up anymore. She had no aces up her sleeve. She realized she had nothing. She'd failed.
This couldn't be happening.
"What the fuck just happened?"
"Watch your words young lady!" Mr. del Castillo reprimanded.
"No! I am tired of Patrick always getting whatever he wants. He was supposed to fucking get his heart broken again or lose his license. He still fucking gets whatever he wants. From a young age he was the golden boy. You loved him more. Even the town loved him. Everybody sang his praises! It's not fair. Even when I was standing next to him no one acknowledged me. It was all about Patrick. He got all the good grades. He was good at every sport. He got all the attention. All the girls wanted him. All the boys wanted to be his friend. I made sure Charlie broke up with him so he could for once in his life lose something he really loved! I sabotaged his relationship and here you are still giving him whatever he wants. It's always about Patrick! I fucking hate him with everything that's in me. I wish you were never born."
Fabiola was enraged and there was no stopping her. She was spilling her deepest secrets, tired of bottling them inside.
"How dare you?! I knew you were sabotaging his assignments and homework, I just thought it was a bit of sibling rivalry. I never thought you'd stoop so low as to want to hurt him so deeply. He's your brother for fuck's sake!" Maria Valdez said.
"He's not my brother. He's nothing to me!"
Even though Patrick and Fabiola weren't close, he felt a little hurt by her words. He knew she wasn't a saint, he just didn't know she hated him that much. He didn't feel any ounce of guilt though. Fabiola was the one who'd tried to sabotage his life, not the other way around.
"You know, if you weren't so rude and so high-almighty, people would actually like you. You have no right to complain that no one likes you. You brought that all onto yourself. No one wants a friend who is going to be judgmental about everything and thinks herself the queen of the world. Patrick doesn't make people worship him; he is friendly and helps them out. You could try that sometime," Charlie finally said something, displaying courage he didn't know he possessed.
"I have half a mind to disown you right now! You wanted your brother to lose his license out of jealousy?!" Mr. del Castillo said. "Let's see how long you can survive on your "job" without an allowance from me."
Fabiola's eyes enlarged. "Papa no!"
"You will earn your living Fabiola. Maybe that'll teach you to be humble."
Fabiola stood up, with her eyes as hard as granite. She looked at each and every person's face as if issuing a threat before pushing away her chair and walking away.
"I can't believe I've raised a monster," Maria Valdez lamented.
"It's not your fault querida," Mr. del Castillo said. "If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. I'm the one who spoiled her even when she bullied other kids".
"No one could have foreseen this," Denis said.
"No. I could have foreseen this. I gave her whatever she wanted. I showered her with gifts whenever she felt down. I should have seen what the real problem was and dealt with it sooner. None of this would have happened," Mr. del Castillo said.
"Dad honestly, Fabiola fooled all of us. We all knew she was cunning and not the most down-to-earth person. We should have known just how devious she could be when things didn't go her way," Denis said.
Chat centered on Fabiola's deeds for a while as everyone insisted on blaming themselves for what Fabiola did. Even though Fabiola had deliberately tried to hurt her own brother, she was still family and the del Castillo's held family above anything. They were not going to forsake her. Everyone was hurt that Fabiola had wounded one of her own, but most of all, the family sought to make Fabiola repent her ways.
That was not Patrick's concern at that moment. His only concern was moving to Sydney with Charlie and Ariel. His family had given their blessing. There was now so much to do to get ready to move.
"So when do you plan on leaving?" Denis asked after a dessert of chocolate cake was finally served.
*