Chapter 24
Keifer's point of view
Flashback;
I opened my eyes with a terrible headache...
Everything was blurry.
Everything cleared.
Sounds and images returned.
Beep, beep, beep...
"Keifer..."
I looked and saw it was Yuri. Her leg was in a cast...
"What happened?"
My voice cracked.
"W-we had an accident," she said, her voice trembling.
W-what?
"Where are Aries and Percy?"
"Aries is in another room, but Percy..."
I suddenly became serious.
"Percy? What happened to him?"
"Keifer—"
"What happened to him?!"
My voice echoed in the room.
"He-he's dead..." she said, her eyes filling with tears.
What? N-no...no...it can't be...no...
I didn't say anything.
I quickly pulled the IV out of my hand and got up with great pain.
I forced myself to go there... to Aries' room...
"Keifer! Stop!"
I ignored Yuri.
I quickly left the room and ran towards it. I didn't care about the pain or the discomfort.
"Keifer?"
When I looked, I saw it was Angelo.
"Where is Aries' room?!" I shouted.
"Upstairs, room 503, but...why?"
I ignored him and pushed him aside, running upstairs.
--------------------------------------
Author's Point of View
Yuri limped after Keifer...
He was writhing in pain.
"Yuri? What's happening?"
"Angelo...never mind...just go after him! He'll hurt Aries!"
"But se-"
"Go!"
Angelo looked at him one last time and followed Keifer.
Meanwhile, Keifer had already entered Aries's room and thrown the first punch.
"Damn it! It's all your fault!"
Aries's breathing became irregular.
Keifer kept punching him.
He didn't care if he lived or died...
"Percy! You killed him!"
"I-I...I-I didn't...do...anything..."
Aries spoke, covered in blood.
"Liar! You killed him!"
At that moment, Angelo entered the room and pulled Keifer away from Aries.
"Keifer! Calm down! It's not what you think!"
"Let me go! He's a murderer! He killed Percy!"
Angelo held Keifer tightly in his arms, trying to calm him.
Yuri entered the room in tears.
"Keifer..."
"Yuri! Look after Aries!" Angelo said.
Yuri forced herself to go to Aries's side.
Aries's breathing was very shallow.
"N-nurse!" Yuri screamed at the top of her lungs.
Two nurses quickly entered.
One gave Keifer a sedative while the other looked after Aries.
Keifer's screams had subsided, but she was still having a seizure.
The nurse struggled to give her a sedative injection, and Keifer fainted within seconds.
Angelo slowly loosened his grip and leaned against the wall, catching his breath.
ONE HOUR LATER.
Yuri was still reeling from what had happened.
Percy...he was gone...
Angelo didn't know what he was doing.
He was furious with all of them.
Soon, the man lying in the hospital bed opened his eyes.
"Percy..."
Yuri and Angelo approached him.
"Keifer...how do you feel?" Yuri asked anxiously.
"Nothing...I feel nothing..." he said calmly.
Silence ensued.
"Are you sure? That he's really dead?"
Keifer broke the silence.
"The police have been searching for about 14 hours...but...the body still hasn't been found..." Angelo said.
"Is Aries to blame for this accident?"
Yuri and Angelo looked at each other.
"We don't know. But there's no single culprit here. Everyone is guilty..." Yuri said, looking down.
"Will you leave me alone?"
At Keifer's question, Angelo and Yuri calmly left the room.
As soon as they left, Keifer's tears fell.
Not just one... but many tears...
The flashback was over...
---------------------------------------
Keifer's Perspective
I blamed him all these years. But it turns out... no one was guilty...
Aries left the room, and silence filled it.
"I apologize to all of you again," Percy said.
"Will your apology... change everything?"
Everyone looked at me at my question.
"No..." he said.
"Then don't bother apologizing," I said and left the room.
I punched the corridor wall with all my might.
A loud sound came out.
The nurses and patients looked at me.
My gaze shifted to the window next to the wall...
Aries?
He wasn't himself... he was walking towards the path...
I started running quickly.
Damn it! Is he going to commit suicide?!
I reached the garden, breathless... and he was already in the middle of the path...
"Aries!"
I shouted at him with all my might and ran towards him.
His gaze shifted to me.
I stood beside him...
Our eyes locked...
Tears streamed down his face...
The last thing I heard was the loud sound of a car horn...
With a great jolt, we were both thrown upwards and soon fell to the ground...
I looked at him... he was about to lose consciousness...
My hand was right beside his...
I forced myself to hold his hand...
And then we both lost consciousness...
Good night, old friend...
---------------------------------------
Jayjay's Perspective
The room was silent.
I received a notification on my phone.
From Tita Gemma:
"Jayjay, your grandmother has arrived. Come with us."
To Tita Gemma:
"Okay. I'm coming."
I hung up the phone.
"Um... I need to go home. Get well soon, Grace," I said, looking at them.
"Thanks, Jay... Goodbye," Grace said, smiling.
I smiled, and just as I was about to leave the room, I heard Ella's voice.
"Jay, can we go together?"
"Okay."
She nodded and, after saying get well soon herself, headed towards the door.
She opened the door, and we went outside.
We walked side by side down the hallway without saying anything...
I looked at her... She was absolutely beautiful...
Rakki's words came to mind.
Did she really cheat on Keifer with Aries because she was afraid of Keifer?
"Can I ask you something?"
Oh my, Jayjay! Just keep your mouth shut!
"Of course..." She replied.
"Why? You cheated on Keifer with Aries?"
She paused...
"Why do you want to know?"
"I heard some things. I just wanted to confirm whether they were true..."
She paused.
"Maybe you've heard... Keifer and Yuri are her ex-boyfriends... Keifer was violent towards Freya... He did terrible things to her... I was so scared, Jay... That he would do the same to me... Aries was the first person who came to mind... I went to him... I asked for help... At first he refused, but when I insisted so much, he agreed... I cheated on him with Keifer... It was my fault that their friendship was ruined..." she said.
She looked very remorseful...
And it was true, she really did it because she was afraid of him...
We continued walking...
"Can I trust you?" she said, her voice trembling.
"Of course."
"I don't know... I think I'm in love with Yuri... Actually, I've been in love with her from the very beginning... Since the first time I saw her... She was so different... Unlike Keifer... So much better... One day Keifer and Yuri asked me out... I didn't know who to choose... I was so in love with Yuri, but something happened... Yuri's mother told me to stay away from her son... She told Keifer to be with me... I had to choose Keifer... But I was always in love with Yuri... Yuri changed a lot back then... She became very quiet... She constantly skipped school and mostly didn't come home... I heard from her mother that she came home drunk every night... I felt very strange when I heard that... I was happy when I was with Aries... Because I got rid of Keifer... I thought I was in love with Aries... But I guess I'm still in love with Yuri... I don't know... I can't listen to my heart... I don't know, Jay..."
He... Is he in love with Yuri???
We left the hospital.
"How do you feel when you're with Aries?" I asked.
"Safe...peaceful...comfortable—"
She stopped mid-sentence... She was looking somewhere...a crowd...
"What's happening?" she asked, looking at the crowd.
"It's best to just look," I said and started walking towards the crowd.
Ella followed me.
"Please move aside," I said, trying to get closer to the front.
When I reached the actual scene...I collapsed to the ground in shock...
Aries and Keifer...
Ella covered her mouth and collapsed to the ground like me...
Both of them were covered in blood...
Tears streamed down my face.
"Nurse!" I shouted.
Ella started sobbing.
I heard some noises.
"What's happening?"
"What's this crowd?"
"Was there an accident?"
"What are they waiting for? Where's the nurse—Keifer?!"
Chapter E...
"Jayjay...what happened to them?" Ci-n said, approaching me.
"I-I don't know. I think they had an accident."
Soon after, the nurses' voices were heard.
They were coming.
They quickly approached us.
They gently laid Aries and Keifer on the hospital beds.
Ella was with Aries, and I was with Keifer, and we somehow managed to get into the hospital.
I held Keifer's hand tightly, tears streaming down my face.
"It's nothing...you'll get better..." I said...
IN THE HOSPITAL.
Keifer and Aries were taken to surgery...
I looked at my phone; there were thousands of messages and missed calls...
They were from Angelo and Tita Gemma.
My phone rang again.
It was Angelo calling.
I looked at the people.
Ella was silently crying in a corner.
Mica was trying to comfort her.
Rakki was waiting silently on the side.
The E section was deep in thought, anxiously watching.
I got up from my seat and started walking.
"Jay?! Where are you going?"
I heard Rakki's voice.
"I'm just going to check my phone," I said without looking at her.
I continued walking without hearing or saying anything.
When I heard an empty seat, I answered the call.
"I've been calling for hours, and now you suddenly think to answer?!"
"A-Angelo..." I started crying again.
"Jay?" Tita Gemma called out.
"Come here... Aries and Keifer are in surgery..."
"What?!" Angelo's loud voice was heard.
The call ended.
I continued sobbing.
"Jay?"
When I turned around, I saw Trippi.
I ran and hugged him.
"Tripp..."
He didn't say anything and just wrapped his warm arms around me.
"Don't be afraid...they'll come out of the surgery fine..."
"What if something happens..."
"Don't think like that..."
15 MINUTES LATER.
Tripp and I returned to the others.
Angelo and Tita Gemma had arrived...
"Jay!"
"Angelo...?"
"You're going to tell me everything that happened from beginning to end. Right now!"
"Percy...isn't dead...he's alive..."
...
---------------------------------------
Angelo's point of view
What?
But how?
He's dead?
"Percy apologized to Aries, but Aries explained what he went through and strangely walked out of the hospital room. If you're wondering what we were doing in the hospital room, Grace got sick, so we came. Then, on the way home with Ella, we noticed the crowd in front of the hospital and when we looked, we saw those two lying on the ground covered in blood. I don't know how the accident happened..."
I cupped my head in my hands and sobbed.
"I wouldn't be surprised if something didn't happen for once!" I yelled.
"I'm sorry..." he said.
"Shut up!" I shouted.
"Angelo, enough! It's not his fault!" my mother tried to calm me down.
30 MINUTES LATER.
The doctor finally came out.
"Doctor? How are they?" I asked.
"Don't worry, they're both fine. It's just that Mr. Watson's leg and Mr. Fernandez's arm will be in casts for about two months. The surgery was very successful. They'll stay here for two more days, then you can complete the discharge procedures and go home. Get well soon again," he said and walked away.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
IN THE HOSPITAL ROOM.
Aries and Keifer were taken to the same room...
At least the room was quite large.
I have no idea how they're going to stay in the same room for two days.
Aries woke up first.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he looked around.
"Where am I?" he asked in a low voice.
"A hospital room," Ella replied.
"That's right, we had an accident," she said, looking at Keifer.
"I don't want to tire you, but how did the accident happen?" I asked.
"He just woke up. Is this the time to talk about this?"
Keifer said this with his eyes closed.
"When did you wake up?" Yuri asked.
"I don't remember," he replied.
As Keifer turned to the side, he winced in pain from his leg and cried out;
"Ahhhh! What's happening?!"
"Keifer, your leg is in a cast, and Aries, your arm is in a cast," I replied.
Both of them shouted "What?!" at the same time.
They glared at each other.
"By the way, you'll be staying in this room for two days," Edrix said.
Keifer's eyes widened, and Aries winced.
"Ci-n, go talk to the doctor, I'll go to another room," Keifer said.
"There are no empty rooms," Ci-n said.
"What do you mean? Are all the rooms full?" Aries asked in surprise.
"No. The hospital has 500 rooms, and 346 are occupied, the rest are under care," said Ci-n.
Keifer slapped his forehead, and Aries sighed.
I'm sure a storm is brewing in this room...
---------------------------------------
Keifer's Perspective
I never imagined I'd have an accident with this kid and end up sharing a room with him for two days 😫
Two days... 2...
Maybe it's a small number, but for me, it could feel like two years...
Everyone left, and we were alone in the room...
He tried to get out of bed.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"To the toilet. Are you coming?" he said mockingly.
"Oh no! I'm not coming!" I replied.
"Nobody asked you to come anyway," he said, heading towards the toilet.
He went into the toilet, but before two minutes had passed, he started shouting, "Keifer!"
"What?!"
"I can't pull my pants down. I'm going to wet myself, help!"
W-what?!
Has this guy lost his mind?!
"Are you okay?!" I asked.
"Oh, forget whether I'm okay or not... Just help!"
"Ugh! Okay!"
I forced myself to grab the crutches from the edge of my bed and put my foot down.
It was the first time I'd ever broken my leg. So I had to think for a moment about how to use it.
Meanwhile, Aries was screaming at the top of his lungs.
I slowly approached the toilet door with my crutches and opened it.
When the door opened, I saw the boy, almost in tears.
He looked incredibly funny. He was writhing around. Like a fish out of water. I chuckled secretly.
"Stop laughing! Help!" he shouted.
I didn't say anything and slowly went over to him.
Hesitantly, I grabbed his pants and pulled them down, looking at the ceiling.
I squeezed my eyes shut when I heard the sound of his pants falling.
Thank goodness there was a toilet...
He sat down and started to relieve himself.
"Ohhhh... If you'd been a little later, I think I would have peed my pants. You're like a turtle!" he yelled.
"Look at yourself! You're like a snake! You can't even use your hand!" I retorted.
"Stop talking so much and pull up my pants," he said.
I slowly bent down, and just as I was about to pull them up, my foot slipped, and just as I was about to fall, he caught me with his arm... his injured arm...
We both screamed in pain at the same time.
"Ahhhhhh!"
Shortly after, the nurse came from behind the restroom door.
"What's going on there?!"
"Nothing!" I replied.
"Good... don't make a sound," she said, and then the door closed.
When I turned my head to the side...
I came face to face with his... thing...
My eyes widened in shock.
"Are you alright?! What are you looking at? Pull it up!" she yelled.
I squeezed my eyes shut and slowly pulled up his pants.
Then, without hesitation, I quickly left the restroom and washed my hands.
I really can't believe he did that!
He came out quickly and stood in front of the tap.
"Um..." he said, looking at me.
"Do you want me to wash your hand too?" I asked, surprised.
"Yes..." he replied.
"Ahhh 😫"
"Stop whining so much and help," he said.
I went over to him.
I turned on the tap and, taking some soap, began washing his hand, which wasn't bandaged.
"Hey, slow down! You're hurting me!" he yelled, but I didn't care...
After washing his hand, I dried it and went back to my bed.
"Next time, handle things yourself," I warned.
"I'm not begging you, "please wash it!" I have to," he said as he got into bed.
I looked at the clock...
23:02
I turned off the lamp and closed my eyes to sleep.
But Aries wouldn't let me sleep.
"What was your first feeling when you saw Percy alive in front of you?"
"I don't know. I want to sleep, leave me alone."
"Oh come on..."
"I felt strange... After all, that's how anyone feels when they think someone who was in a car that went off a cliff years ago is dead, and then they reappear years later. Was I happy? Was I sad? I don't know."
"Hmm..."
Silence ensued.
"I'm going to ask you something too," I replied.
"Hmm?"
"Is there a chance we can reconcile?"
...
"I-I don't know. Even if we reconcile, things can't be the same as before."
"You're right," I said.
Then, shortly after, we both fell asleep...
2 MONTHS LATER.
---------------------------------------
Jayjay's point of view
Aries and Keifer have already left the hospital...
Even though it was difficult, they managed to spend two days in the same room.
Today is Tuesday, May 26th...
Three days until my birthday... my 18th birthday!
Finally, I can be 18!!!
Angelo is organizing a birthday party for me at a villa... Preparations have already begun...
Today, Tripp and I are going dress shopping...
Tripp:
"Baby, I'm on my way, get ready!"
Tripp:
"Okay!"
Tripp is now just like when I first met her...
But every time I get close to Keifer, she reverts back to that state...
I put on a black crop top and black shorts. I wore a white hat. I put on my white shoes and carried my white bag. I tied my hair up. I was ready!
A car horn honked.
I went downstairs. Tita Gemma was preparing breakfast. The maids were off today.
"Good morning!" I greeted her cheerfully.
"Good morning! Come on, let's have breakfast!"
I took one of the small pizzas from the table and, kissing Tita Gemma on the cheek, said, "No, Trippi is waiting for me at the door. We're going dress shopping. This is enough for me. Enjoy your meal."
"Okay, fine, let's leave it at that for today. Goodbye!" she said.
"Goodbye!"
I went outside and saw Trippi leaning against his car. He looked so handsome...
He was wearing a black t-shirt and pants and black sunglasses.
I went and hugged him.
"Good morning. You look beautiful," he said.
"Good morning. You look very handsome too," I said.
He smiled and opened the car door. I got in and he closed it. He sat in the driver's seat and started the car.
"What kind of dress are you thinking of looking at?" he asked.
"Hmm... The party's going to be in shades of pink, so I guess I'll get a pink dress," I said.
"Wow! Great idea!" he said.
Shortly after, we arrived at a store.
As soon as we entered, a dress caught my eye. It was a short, light pink dress... It was so sweet, with a long, large ribbon at the back...
"Tripp... no need to bother. I think I've found the dress."
"Wow! It's beautiful! Let's buy this one," he said.
I looked at the price of the dress and saw that it was "500,000 TL"...
It was so expensive!
"Tripp, or maybe I don't like this dress, let's look at another one," I said.
"Wait a minute... you're acting like this because of the price, right?"
"N-no, what's the connection?"
"I'm going to buy that dress for you. Excuse me, could you look at this?!"
"Tripp, don't! There's no need!"
"There is..." he said.
Even though I didn't want it, he bought it...
But the dress was truly perfect...
I kissed Trippin on the cheek, saying, "Thank you, my love."
He smiled at me.
We got in the car and drove home.
When we got home, I showed the dress to Tita Gemma. She loved it too...
10:34 PM...
I went to bed early because I'm going to the party tomorrow...
I hope my birthday goes well...
I hope I don't encounter any problems...