Chapter 349
Mom grabbed Aunt Mel’s hands over the long, rectangular desk. She kept apologizing and thanking her while crying.
Colin and I held each other’s hand. I snuggled in his arms. As always, he was warm, but I felt cold. I fell more and more in love with him as each day went by.
But the image of Felix lying in a pool of blood and his soulless body on the bed would never get out of my head.
While Aunt Mel’s words managed to bring me some solace, what would Felix do? He trapped me with his life. He saved my life. Would he give up?
If one day, his condition was declared incurable and he chose death, how was I going to face that?
If I had to make the choice… My heart was telling me to pick Colin. Yet my mind told me that I should pick Felix because he got hurt while saving me. I wanted to repay my debt to him. I couldn’t leave him high and dry heartlessly.
What a dilemma.
And if I followed my heart and picked Colin, would we be happy living with that decision?
“I won’t be happy, Lulu. I don’t want to lie to myself forever.” The night was dark. Colin’s trembling fingers held a cigarette while he gave me his honest answer painfully.
I knew that’d be his answer. He wouldn’t be happy, and I wouldn’t either. Maybe no one would be happy.
“But Lulu, even if it means I have to live in guilt forever, I don’t want to give you up. Promise me that no matter what happens, you won’t give me up either. Please promise me that, Lulu.”
“Yes, I promise you,” I reassured Colin. I lay silently in his arms, trying my best to locate his pine scent amidst the nicotine.
broke. We didn’t cry or speak.
We felt close yet distant at the same time.
Like a puppet, Felix lay on his bed silently. He ate and drank when we fed him. And then, he would stare at the ceiling while spacing out. Regardless of what we said or did, he would not react to it. He only fell asleep when no one paid attention to him.
That became his life..
He turned himself into a living corpse. Apart from the fact that he was still breathing, he was no different from a cadaver.
Uncle Austin and Aunt Mel took an extended leave to take care of Felix. Colin went to teach at school in the morning and came at night to take over his parents
‘ duties.
23 days after the accident, the doctor said that they had already done what they could and that Felix’s wounds had healed. He could be discharged.
Uncle Austin rented a two–bedroom apartment in the residential area opposite the university and moved in. Meanwhile, Colin applied for a hiatus on Felix’s
behalf.
Originally, Aunt Mel wanted to take Felix back to Southsville to make caring for him easier. But for some reason, they agreed to let him stay in Jinovy.
Everything was over, and my mundane life returned.
I resumed my daily commute between my school, the cafeteria, and my apartment. Nothing much had changed in my life, but I hardly saw Colin now. We stopped calling each other every day too. We only met at school once in a while.
He was skinnier than before. The coat he used to wear now looked too big for him.
I felt miserable. One, I owed Felix too much. Two, I felt bad because Colin was clearly overworked.
That said, a brief embrace and a warm smile were all that was needed to make my
day.
That night, both of us couldn’t sleep. We hugged each other and sat until dawn broke. We didn’t cry or speak.
We felt close yet distant at the same time.
Like a puppet, Felix lay on his bed silently. He ate and drank when we fed him. And then, he would stare at the ceiling while spacing out. Regardless of what we said or did, he would not react to it. He only fell asleep when no one paid attention to him.
That became his life.
He turned himself into a living corpse. Apart from the fact that he was still breathing, he was no different from a cadaver.
Uncle Austin and Aunt Mel took an extended leave to take care of Felix. Colin went to teach at school in the morning and came at night to take over his parents
‘ duties.
23 days after the accident, the doctor said that they had already done what they could and that Felix’s wounds had healed. He could be discharged.
Uncle Austin rented a two–bedroom apartment in the residential area opposite the university and moved in. Meanwhile, Colin applied for a hiatus on Felix’s
behalf.
Originally, Aunt Mel wanted to take Felix back to Southsville to make caring for him easier. But for some reason, they agreed to let him stay in Jinovy.
Everything was over, and my mundane life returned.
I resumed my daily commute between my school, the cafeteria, and my apartment. Nothing much had changed in my life, but I hardly saw Colin now. We stopped calling each other every day too. We only met at school once in a while.
He was skinnier than before. The coat he used to wear now looked too big for him.
I felt miserable. One, I owed Felix too much. Two, I felt bad because Colin was clearly overworked.
That said, a brief embrace and a warm smile were all that was needed to make my
day.
+15 BONDS
I often lingered on the street Colin would pass by on his way back to his home so that we could see each other. I could hug him, and he could hug me.
I missed him so much.
No one ever gave me updates on Felix. Colin wouldn’t mention hi either. He only asked me to take care of myself.