[lamchopz]

Chapter 7: Truth

I did not attend our family dinner that day, citing an unexpected health condition for which rest was what I needed. If there was one thing I loved about my family, it would be their respect of my privacy.

Lying in bed, I counted the time passing by, one minute, two minutes, three minutes, four minutes, five minutes… The clock seemed to turtle its way today. Perhaps, time was slowing down, eventually stretching each second to the equivalent of one century.

No, nothing was unusual.

I was.

As my head turned away from the window, the morning mail stood out from the bundle of papers on my desk. I reached out to grab it. The content was still inside the envelope.

When the paper was released, the two words I had seen formed only the first line. The neat handwriting demonstrated an admirable level of sophistication – the message must have been composed with great attention to details, perhaps suited for one’s last words.

“I apologize for not thanking you properly last night…” it went on, “Love is transcendental. If social status is a barrier, passion will break it. If fate wills our love to be broken, dedication will piece it together. We have sworn our lives to each other, so we shall walk on the same path, for our souls have become one…”

The reading came to a halt, as a guest I never expected to see slammed his way in.

My brother was a new person when he smashed in my private territory. I had always known he worked at the hospital, but a decent doctor out of him escaped me every time the thought started to tick.

“There’s an operation in one hour. Would you like to come?” he asked.

His invitation was suspect, for a normal person. I, however, accepted it without having to think it over. Given our intimacy which had dissipated into thin air, there was no reason for me to accompany him to the surgery ward – this was also unprofessional of him. There must be something he wanted to show me.

In that place… Could it be…?

“So you met him last night”, he eyed the paper in my hand.

The trip to the hospital was too short for me to unravel this web of incidents. In some corner of my instinct, I felt there would be more surprises – more to meet the eye.

“He is your friend, isn’t he?” I glanced at the busy streets as our car rolled along.

“You can put it that way.”

“And I suppose the person you are about to operate on is her”, the strand of logic led me to that conclusion which astounded even myself.

“Your intellect never stops amazing me”. I could swear I saw him smile at me for the first time.

Room 14/2, where his body had been removed for autopsy, was now equipped, and maybe decorated, for another miracle to come. It puzzled me, though, since the ward was usually for patients in recovery. Her father must have been a billionaire to influence this change.

But why 14/2? Didn’t he refuse his daughter’s love because she should marry someone better, someone wealthier? Didn’t he turn down the man’s offer to donate his heart for the operation? He wanted nothing to do with the person he loathed, so why chose the ward where the object of his resentment had lain just moments ago?

“Hey, you should greet my general manager”, my brother cued me on the boss’s entry.

I was in the twilight zone: the three-year-old image suddenly surfaced afresh. The day at the waterfall was as lively as ever in my memory.

“So we meet again, young fellow”, the wise man of those days was standing right in front of me. I was speechless.

“Oh, hi. Nice to meet you…” I employed all the remaining strength to satisfy the code of formality.

“You have changed”, he said.

“I guess”, said I appraisingly.

“Well, then, folks, let’s get down to business as usual”, he turned around, issuing commands with a charismatic tone. As his words of duty drew to a close, if one was to listen attentively, the end somehow drastically collapsed on its own shortcoming. Then he left, silently into the hallway, just like he had done in that evening.

“You just met my boss, and my friend’s father”, my brother revealed a shocking truth.

“What?” I quietly exclaimed, in the knowledge that I was in a public place. “But he told me he was poor, and the girl’s dad looked down on him…”

“The girl is also his daughter.”

My head span like a whirling wind. Nevertheless, the truth had been told. The lurid reality had been unveiled. In its ghastly dimension, there were two souls united in a horrid bond – incest, condemnable in shame and perhaps, even in their deaths.

“So what really happened? … ” I enquired apathetically – my interest in the truth was truly waning.

“The last bit of the truth is contained in his message for you”, he pointed at the piece of paper in my pocket.

“What else is awaiting me?” I asked myself; my hand searched for that last quintessence.

And here it was – his true final message.