BETTER THAN ROMEO - CHAPTER 47&48
HOSPITAL ^^
It was black then white, black then white again but mixed with some blurbs then black before Julia sight became clear. The ceiling looked unfamiliar, she tried moving but her hand felt heavy, she had dripped on.
“Julia, I’m so glad you’re awake” A familiar voice sounded. Julia blinks repeatedly to look at the blurry face before seeing that it was Aime.
“Aime, where am I ?” She asked confusedly.
“You’re in the hospital but that’s not important. I will call the nurse to help…”
“Wait, why am I here?” Julia asked confusedly.
“Like I said, that’s not important yet. I will call the nurse to help…”
Aime was talking but Julia wasn’t paying attention as she began recalling little details that happened earlier. She went to an uncompleted building to find Jake’s mom then she saw Romeo, he was pointing a gun at her.
She remembered him punching her on the face and the woman tied to the chair wasn’t Martha. Gun shot… There was a gun shot but she wasn’t shot, blood dropped on her face, those gray eyes, the whispers.
“I’m sorry” She recalled Jake whispering to her. He was laying on top of her and his eyes were drowsy then lots of gunshots were heard and Jake slumped on her body.
“Where is Jake!” She demanded.
“What?” Aime asked.
“Where is Jake?” Julia yelled again and her eyes were teary. She hoped it was a fake memory and Jake is alright.
“Julia calm down” Aime mumbled but Julia couldn’t.
“I need to see Jake, where is he…” She tried removing the drip from her hands.
“He got shot in the back but he’s not dead. He just needs to undergo an immediate surgery. He has been taken to the theater and all we can do is hope for him to be fine” Aime replied, she was in tears too.
“I want to see him,” Julia cried.
“You can’t see him now, he’s undergoing the surgery” Aime replied.
Julia stopped pulling on her drip. She closed her eyes and cried. “If anything happens to Jake then I will have myself to blame” She said painfully.
“No it’s not your fault. You didn’t cause anything, it’s all that bastard Romeo’s fault, thank God he’s dead” Aime mumbled.
“Romeo is dead?” Julia looked confused.
“He was stubborn and kept $h00ting, the police had to $h00t him. It was a very scary scenario but you passed out the moment Jake passed out” Aime reported.
“Serves him right” Julia mumbled and remembered the woman from earlier. Romeo said that was her mother which still confused her up till now.
“There was a woman with us, how is she?” Julia asked.
“She was also rushed to the hospital, she broke her head but the doctor said she’s stable. She just needs more rest, she’s not awake yet” Aime replied and Julia nodded. She didn’t want to tell Aime anything until she’s certain.
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Later, Julia was discharged from the hospital but she still needed to see Jake. His surgery starts this evening according to the doctor, he lost lots of blood and he had been giving available blood.
“Can I at least see him before surgery starts?” Julia pleaded with the doctor.
“Alright but we don’t need too much crowd there” the doctor replied.
“Don’t worry doctor, I promise I won’t take time” Julia promised.
The doctor did what Julia asked and led her to the ward Jake was in. Jake was laying on the bed, oxygen on his nose and drops on his hands.
“I’ll leave you with just a few minutes” the doctor said and Julia nodded, she couldn’t take her eyes off the shaking. This is the first time she’s seeing him look this helpless.
She moved closer to him, her eyes teary. She doesn’t remember how badly he treated her, all she knew was he saved her life. He risked his life for her and that was enough for her.
“You’re a strong guy Jake, I know you’ll make it out alive” She whispered to him.
He couldn’t talk, the monitor was beeping and his fingers were moving. He could hear her even though he couldn’t do anything.
Julia bent to plant a kiss on his forehead.
“I’ll be waiting for you” She whispered to him before leaving the ward.
“He will be fine” Aime flashed a supportive smile at Julia.
“I pray so” Julia mumbled. “I want to see the other woman, I have questions to ask her, can you take me to her ward?” Julia asked.
Aime got confused on why Julia was asking but she nodded and took Julia to the ward.
“Thank you, just wait here why I speak to her alone” Julia mumbled and Aime could only just nod.
Julia entered the ward, the woman was awake even though her head was covered in bandages.
“Are you feeling better?” Julia slowly asked as she carefully took the chair beside her.
“My head still hurts but I think I’m better,” She replied.
Julia nodded and licked her lips.
“I don’t know if now is the right time to ask you questions?” She mumbled.
“It’s fine Julia, I also need to tell you things” The woman gave a gentle smile. “First of all my name is Mariah” She said and Julia nodded.
“I know it’s hard to believe because you’ve lived with a woman all your life playing the role of your mom but -”
Julia caught Mariah off. “First of all, Romina never acted like a mother to me”
Mariah sighed. “She never changed or cared. I used to date your father when we were still in college even when I knew it was not really there, then we broke up and I discovered I was pregnant for him and my parents would ki|| me” Tears came out from Mariah’s eyes.
“I couldn’t tell them and Romina found out. She told me she was willing to take my place because she wanted your father so she faked her pregnancy and took the whole shame while I hid like a coward” Mariah cried as she explained to Julia.
“So you just abandoned me?” Julia asked in tears.
“I h@?? myself everytime and I beg Romina to let me see you but she would never allow me. I do watch you from afar and when I saw this opportunity, I let myself be disguised as Martha because she had agreed to help me. I was going to be the one who marries your father while she runs away with her new lover but I didn’t know I would get kidnapped” Mariah explained and Julia was crying so much now.
“I’m sorry I’m just coming into your life now. I know you won’t be able to forgive me, I can’t even forgive myself but I want you to know I’m deeply sorry” Mariah pleaded.
Julia shook her head and stood up. “I need time to process all these” She replied before leaving the ward. She bumped into Aime.
“I… I thought I should wait for you out-” Aime wasn’t done with talking when Julia threw herself in her arms and continued crying.
After she had calmed down, Julia told Aime everything.
“That’s too much, I don’t even know what to say” Aime gasped but rubbed on her shoulders. “You should worry about one thing first before we can think of the rest. Let’s focus on Jake getting better, that’s very important” Aime suggested.
“You’re right,” Julia nodded, then looked around in confusion. “I haven’t seen Bryan since I woke up. I remembered seeing him at the scene” She asked and Aime’s face changed.
“What’s wrong?” Julia asked with curious eyes.
“He got a call from home. It’s about his dad” Aime mumbled softly.
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Rico just finished talking to some officers before going to meet Bryan and his mother in the visitors room.
“I can’t believe he did that,” Rico mumbled.
Bryan didn’t say anything, he just kept hugging his mother who won’t stop crying. Earlier he received a call from her about his dad. She said she returned from work and found that he hang himself on the ceiling fan, living a letter on the couch.
In the letter he talked about how much he h@??s himself for disappointing as a good husband to his wife and father to his son. He talked about regretting not going for a treatment earlier and he wished his sons would not make his mistake.
“I know he hurt me so much but he was never a bad man” Nirvana cried.
“Mom it’s okay” Bryan consoled her.
“Promise me that you won’t end up like him. Always work on getting better” Nirvana talked to Rico and Bryan.
“I promise mom, we will start trying from now and I want to be a good man for Sydney” Rico said and Bryan gave him a confused look.
“I might have forgotten to mention but we are kinda seeing each other” Rico mumbled. “You were the one who told me to give love a chance and she’s been great so far” Rico flashed a little smile.
“I’m glad you do. I’m sad dad died but it kinda made me feel a bit relieved. Like a burden has been lifted from me, I’m not a bad son am I?” Bryan asked.
“I understand,” Nirvana muttered.
“My friend is having surgery, and I need to report to the hospital to see how he’s doing,” Bryan said.
“You don’t have friends” Rico rolled his eyes.
“Jake and his friends are my friends and you should loosen up Rico” Bryan mumbled before standing up and leaving.
“Wait” Rico called before Bryan could leave completely.
“What?” Bryan turned back.
“Tell Jake I’m counting on him to survive” Rico said and Bryan only smiled as he left.
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HOSPITAL ••
Everyone was waiting outside the theater. It’s been hours and the surgeons aren’t out yet. They all looked tense, especially Julia who kept pacing back and forth.
The theater opened and a doctor stepped out.
“How’s Jake?” Julia asked desperately.
The doctor removed his face mask. He was smiling, meaning it was good news.
“It’s a success” He announced.
💋T💋B💋C💋