Chapter 192 RECONCILE
1560words
"This would be fine." I check the water in the bowl and nod to Miss Celine dismissively as she leaves the room quietly and I start placing a cold cloth on Ann's forehead to lower her temperature. She is shivering from fever and somehow my heart feels painful in seeing her suffer.
I gently caress her hair which has gotten slightly wet from the cloth. She keeps frowning but her fever has still not subsided yet.
The whole night was spent in worry and my heart feels heavy with extreme guilt. My mother's words keep ringing in my ears.
"You Have To Protect Her."
"She Deserves To Be Happy."
Sigh.
No matter what she did in the end she is my sister, somehow I am becoming the same as my father, treating her as nothing to me.
Not caring about her existence and ignoring her completely.
How could I forget that time when she took care of me day and night. At the time when I was all alone after my parents left me in that disastrous accident.
How could I?
Tessa's love has changed me into a completely different person and that is why I guess Ann feels insecure about our closeness. That woman does have a strong effect on me, but what can I do? It's her who has bewitched me in her love completely. I had never ever planned to fall in love with her at all.
*****
After the long stressful night, all the complaints, coldness, and indifference washes away from my heart for Ann and I have again turned into her caring brother. How could I hurt her anymore? Tessa is gone and I have only her now.
I should be grateful to God instead of being rude to her.
Thanks to Lord, Ann finally opens her eyes, and smiles at me, Her smile lifts up a huge weight from my heart. I hesitantly hold her hand as I open my mouth, "Why are you always so irresponsible towards yourself?"
I complain lightly with my tone calm and low.
"I have a good brother to take care of myself." She says with pride and love in her eyes while I sigh with deep regret.
"I am sorry, Ann. I won't ignore you again. Please, forgive me." I apologize from the depth of my heart.
"It's ok, Andrew. I will never stop loving you no matter what." Ann says in a deep promise and I nod my head in relief.
"Thanks, Ann." I gently hugged her in my arms, caressing her hair softly. She has always lived a lonely life and today instead of being with her I too ignored her and forced her to feel the same loneliness she had before.
Sigh, what an ungrateful brother I am.
*****
"Ma… Ma…" Aaron crawls towards my phone and starts blabbering. All the hairs on my body stood in panic while staring at the little mischievous baby, he is surely going to put me in deep trouble one day.
"See…" Ann gasps in excitement beside me and I tilt my head to her while gulping nervously.
"He has just called me Ma… Ma…" Ann says excitedly and I sigh in relief. Thankfully, she didn't get suspicious about my phone.
She was beaming with happiness and I don't even try to correct her that the word "Ma... Ma..." isn't for her but for Tessa.
When I turn to Aaron I realized that he intends to eat my phone as I hurriedly take my phone from his hand and pouting his face in dissatisfaction, he starts to fake a cry.
Oh really?
My phone is not your food, little boy.
He threatens me with an innocent face and when he sees that I am not buying it he starts to cry loudly.
Waa … Waa… Waa…
Oh, boy.
"Oh, Aaron… What's wrong?" Ann picks him up and then starts playing with him while I watch them both with warm eyes. This would be the first time we all three are sitting together, happy, and peaceful after the reconciliation of my and Ann's relationship.
*****
2 Years Later
"Acute myeloid leukemia", The doctor reveals with a serious face and I and Ann look at each other anxiously.
"What is the cure?" I ask before Ann could open her mouth.
"We'll start the chemotherapy and then see the result, if it gets better or not, and when we have to go for the other option. If the therapy won't work. Dr. Leen has told me he has a twin brother. I think you should bring him too for a brief checkup." The doctor advised and again mine and Ann's eyes met exchanging silent words to each other.
As far as I know, Cyrus is completely healthy. I have seen the way he is growing into a healthy boy while my Aaron always stays so weak and unhealthy.
It's been more than two weeks since he has had a fever, blocked nose, severe headache, and finally, when we brought him to the hospital for a checkup the doctor just hit us with the greatest anxiety of our life.
Whenever we start accepting our present, our fate would always turns the table and push us back to our past.
Just now, as the doctor mentioned about Cyrus. Now, again Ann would start looking for him impatiently.
It took me so much time to make her let go of Cyrus and Tessa but all my efforts would go in vain as again she is starting to look for them, never leaving them alone at all.
"We will bring his brother to you soon," Ann says with determination and my heart starts to leap, F**k, again terrible things are going to happen in my life.
Not again.
After we leave the doctor's office, we head straight to Aaron's ward to see him. He is awake and his eyes light up when he sees me and Ann approaching him.
"Daddy… Mommy…" He exclaims while opening his arms wide to us.
"How's my little Aaron, now?" Ann sits beside him and then puts him on her lap gently. He nuzzles in Ann's arm like a small kitten and I sit beside Ann with a gentle smile on my face.
"Aaron is a strong boy, no?" I caress his hair and he nods his head with a small pout.
I know he has been in a terrible state and suffering a lot.
"Mommy, I want to go home." He says softly, pressing his face further into Ann's arms.
"We will go back home soon. Ok?" Ann tries to comfort him and he nods his head in response.
Aaron has always been an obedient child, I never remember him saying "No" to anything or throwing tantrums at all. He is such an easy child but because of his health, he stays much quieter than a normal kid should be.
Ann has created a huge playroom for him but sadly he has visited that room only a couple of times, not very much. Neither does he go to the park as he is sensitive to getting infected by others.
Ann didn't even let him go to school and has hired a tutor to homeschool him.
His life isn't near to any ordinary life of a kid of his age just like we take Cyrus's example. I have seen his pictures and he accompanies his mother everywhere, I wonder if he let her go to the washroom alone.
He is always stuck to her 24/7 while Aaron stays with Miss Martha and Selina all the time. I and Ann keep visiting him from time to time but definitely, we are not with him 24/7 like Tessa.
It makes me wonder if I am doing something wrong with Aaron, or am I failing to be a responsible father to him?
Ann pats his head to soothe him and slowly he falls into a deep sleep.
"We must find his brother. It's already been three years since we have delayed it, not anymore." Ann says stubbornly and I sigh in frustration inwardly.
"Let's wait for the chemo to work, Ann. We have waited for three years. Let's wait for a few more months. Also, in the beginning, it looks completely impossible to find the child. I wonder if now we would be able to find him. We have no idea even where to start to look for him."
I tell her reasonably, giving her as many reasons to delay it as possible.
"I know where to start." She says meaningfully and I look at her in terror I know where she is planning to start to look for him.
*****
"Here." I placed the tickets and a card of the man who would provide all the things to Tessa's parents in California. I know Ann is coming for them to trouble them again as I wanted them to leave Arvada as soon as they can.
I have arranged the doctor for Cyril too. Everything has been taken care of, they just need to leave as quickly as they can.
Her father looks at me expressionlessly and then denies it sternly.
"NO."
Instead of arguing with him, I request him helplessly, "Please."
"Tell me where is Tess, first." He demands and I sigh with deep helplessness. Why does everyone keep blackmailing me?
