17/XVII. The Day You Went To Save Me (Remastered)

“I’ve prepared tea.” Arthur’s British accent was impeccable, a natural beauty of sound, a masterpiece his vocal chords produce when he opens his mouth.

“Thank you so much, young master.” The doctor adapted how the elder spoke to Arthur.

He turned away, quite a bit shy, and rebuked the doctor, “Arthur, my name’s Arthur.” He looked right back at him in the eye.

Jackson glanced away, he couldn’t bear look at his father bowing to a boy just to get some money for the hospitalization of his mother.

“Oh, yes, uhm, Arthur, your phone, thank you so much for letting me speak to your father.” Zack handed over the flip-phone to Arthur as if trying to pass a hot potato – nervous and uncoordinated.

“No worries.” Arthur smiled sweetly as he got hold of the phone and put it in his pocket. He also prepared the tea in their cups carefully as the water was still piping hot.

SFX: tok, tok, tok

A knock on the door startled everyone as it was raining, as Edward entered with his keys, everyone’s tensioned shoulders calmed down.

“Father.” Arthur greeted his dad with the warm drink. “Warm yourself.”

Edward gladly got the cup and- “Thank you, Arthur, go to sleep.” His fast rhetoric and instruction might have added to Arthur’s doubts and puzzles in his mind, but he went along, unquestioning, and obeyed.

Perhaps, it was a habit of him to obey unquestioning since he is a soldier of Heaven, the captain, to wit, but, in his mind, he wanted those questions answered.

The room went quiet for a while, as Arthur went up the staircase, and went inside the bedroom door and closed the bedroom door.

“Are those rooms soundproof?” Edward asked Matthew about the rooms, his sudden interests in the soundproofing in the house made it more suspicious for Arthur, who lay beside Johnny on the bed.

“Yes, Sir.” Matthew replied.

“You have other means, I already told my men never to send someone here on my home.” Edward’s terrifying face and gurgling voice surprised the doctor, his sweet talk in Arthur’s phone definitely was a mask hiding the true monster.

“Master Edwards, please, I have no other choice but to track you down… I- I need money, large amount of money.” The man was desperate, as he brought his son as a safety measure, or rather a deposit to his loan.

“Fine, Matthew, bring me my check, I’ll give you a blank one, I know that you’re not that foolish to request higher than what you need, but you know the price of paying me back, right?”

The price? What is father talking about? He laid his head on the bed, along with his body, tensed, and unshaking, listening to every word that comes out of the living room.

“I know. That’s- that’s why I brought my son along.” The doctor replied immediately.

“Your son?” Edward took a good glimpse of Jackson, and examined him from afar. The man-child felt protruding eyes all over him, and he just looked away.

“What exactly do you mean by that?”

“Young Sir, I am old, even as a doctor, I can only serve you for a few years, not enough for the money that I will borrow, but my son, he- he is studying medicine right now at Harvard University, as a scholar, he can serve your family in the many generations to come.” The words that came out of Zack’s mouth truly astonished Edward, and Jackson was taken aback.

“Dad?” His crying eyes versus his father’s determination to get his mother out of the hospital were clashing with each other but-

“Your mother carried you in her womb and we nurtured you for years. It is only right that you return the life that we have given you.” The words of his own father stunned him that he sat down with his weak flailing legs on the soft couch.

“Interesting.” Edward dreaded as he heard Zack betray his young child, but as an undercover agent, all his grieving emotions are to be kept in tact, and hidden from potential enemies.

“Then, I’m willing to pay the price.” Jackson’s determination made Edward more anxious about this child’s future. I will take you in, in exchange for what your father did.

“I’m sure he will be helpful with your family as a doctor, and your mafia.” Zack’s words enraged Edward more that he lifted his hand in response, but Jackson saw and predicted it early that he sprang from his feet and shielded his body to protect his father.

“You-!” Edward couldn’t control himself anymore, the thought of Jackson’s selflessness, and Zack’s selfishness swallowed the cap of the bottle of his emotions and his eyes flared at the father, but calmed down as he heard Jackson’s words, “I do apologize, Sir, my father misspoke, please forgive him.”

The steam coming off from his nostrils, and the hand he lifted he curled and bit by bit calmed down but a loud thud from upstairs startled all of them in the living room.

Everyone in the living room turned their faces and eyes to the sound that came from the bedroom.

“Matthew, go check that out.” Matthew staggered in climbing the steps of the staircase as he hurriedly followed Edward’s orders.

“Yes, sir.” He shuffled on the staircase and ran towards the bedroom door and barged in forcefully.

“Fine.” His tone’s as if he got inconvenienced by the payment, but really, he just wanted to save the kid from the selfishness of his father. “I’ll adopt your son. He will be under my household. You are only allowed to visit him as long as his mother lives.”

“Doctor, I NEED YOUR HELP!” Matthew roared frantically as he ran out of the twin’s bedroom, Arthur collapsed upon learning that his father is leading the mafia.

“RUN!” Zack ran towards the staircase up to the bedroom to find Arthur collapsed on the carpet.

Matthew held his upper body as they try to revive his heart, his pulse is weakening by the second, and as he laid his body on the floor, the doctor tried resuscitating the child through cardio-pulmonary resuscitation.

Edward pulled out his phone calling and dialing 999, London’s emergency number. Every minute counts.

They were able to revive Arthur’s heart in the ambulance, and as Arthur revived so was his consciousness, “Fa- ther…”

Zack continued chest compressions to keep Arthur’s heart beating.

He tried to reach his father’s hands, but Edward can only imagine and deduce what Arthur had heard from the conversation.

Matthew offered his hands and tightly locked them with the child’s.

It wasn’t the shock that he saw Arthur’s attacks, but he concluded that Arthur was able to hear everything from the bedroom door and because of those words that were uttered, he was too surprised to react, and he had a heart-attack.

A few days passed, the household has been restless, Zack received the blank check, and at the same hospital has been looking at his wife’s health and Arthur’s charts – he was a cardiologist, after all.

Jackson visited the two rooms, the room of his mother, and of Arthur.

Matthew and Edward grew dark eyelids for waiting and watching for Arthur, two days without any response to any pain, but his body reacted good with the IV medicine that’s been given to him in the past two days.

The clot reappeared so he had been given blood thinner.

On the third day…

“Fa… ther?” His voice crackled as he didn’t drink any water from the course of forty-eight hours before.

“Matt, CALL A DOCTOR, NOW!” Edward’s panicked shout startled Matthew as he lay asleep on the couch across the room.

He sprang up to his feet and called a doctor to examine Arthur as he awoke from his two days slumber.

“Don’t worry, I’m here, Arthur.” For the first time, in that ambulance, in those two days, he held Arthur’s hands, warmly, and gently, Jackson in the background seeing his fatherly love, envying the kid that everyone was worried about.

Edward smiled as he caressed Arthur’s cheeks. What am I doing here? Jackson thought as he only became a third-wheel in the room.

Soon, the awkwardness ended as Matthew and Zack entered the room with another nurse.

He quickly checked for his eyes, his pulse, and the heart monitor, and the nurse also clipped a blood pressure gauging on his fingers to monitor his blood flow.

“Fa… ther…” With a hoarse voice, he wanted to get Edward’s attention.

“Yes, Arthur?” He pulled himself closer to his child, and earnestly showed interest for what was Arthur trying to say. “I… want to go home, please.”

Arthur’s inability to care about his own health surprised the whole family.

The one of the twin that was most considerate of others, the one that always considered other’s feelings, the one that kept all of their household safe throughout the years, the one that wanted to know about more of human anatomy to help him understand his health, just wanted to go home and stop all medical treatment from that attack.

Edward sighed but complied, “When can we get discharged?”

He turned to Zack. “It’s probably best to stay here for a while to help us monitor him, but I have already examined him and he’s already stable, he can go home if you wish to get discharged.” His quick answer put a relief to Arthur’s worries.

“Alright, let me sign those papers.” Edward let go of Arthur’s hands as he followed the doctor to the reception hall.

“I’m so- sorry for worrying all of you.” Arthur’s words began to weigh on Jackson’s heart, than when he met him a few days ago. I guess he’s not a spoiled brat after all.

“You don’t have to worry about that, young master.” Matthew cried like a baby while organizing Arthur’s things in his bag.

The family walked out of the hospital, along with Jackson to their London home. Jackson had nothing on him but his school bag and supplies, and he was given Mary’s room under the staircase, quite bit spacey, but there’s no natural light to enter the room, no windows from outdoors, only a tiny window at the bath-room inside of the bedroom.

“Matthew, go shopping with Jackson for his personal things, clothes, and everything. I’ll stay here with the kids.” It was almost noon when they have arrived at home, and Edward decided to order McDonalds after that heart attack.

“Dad, that’s fast food, it’s not good for Arthur.” Johnny misspoke, not knowing his father’s intention were only to bring tasty food in the house.

“I was trying to… you know, change of pace, maybe we can eat a little?” His enthusiasm and sincerity served no purpose, Arthur was simply mad at his father for doing unspeakable things, all in the name of family reunion. “I don’t feel like eating, I feel like barfing.” Arthur weakly went up the stairs to the bedroom.

Edward didn’t protest, neither did Johnny, the way that Arthur coldly answered made a bad impression again to Jackson.

He was looking at the twin’s every move. He wanted to know if it was worth staying in the household to serve the family.

If it’s not, he can always run away, since his family already abandoned him.

Matthew and Jackson went out shopping while Johnny and Edward had a quality time.

Johnny was a bit puzzled that Arthur was acting coldly, but he always did whenever they went from hospital visits.

A few days have passed and Arthur acted coldly continuously, especially to their father, Edward.

Jackson couldn’t bear it longer and-

“What the hell is your problem?” He finally confronted Arthur in the bedroom.

Johnny was researching something in his computer, and Eddie was reading some books in the corner, while Arthur was holding his big-ass looking Bible in his lap at the queen-size bed.

The two were startled on the harsh reaction of Jackson, Arthur anticipated this would happen sooner or later and he kindly responded, “I have nothing against you.”

His cold eyes, the way he looked back to the Bible he was holding, and the way he returned to reading, all irritated Jackson more. “You’re reading that, and you’re treating everyone coldly? Unbelievable.”

Jackson marched out of the room, stomping his feet like a madman, never looking back to the bedroom.

“Am I being too cold with everyone?” His words surprised Johnny, but he honestly answered, “I was going to ask you if there’s any problem, but I wanted to give you space.” Johnny replied gently.

“Arthur, we’re brothers, we were frustrated that you’re not really telling us, but I also wanted to give you space to think clearly.” Eddie offered a helping hand.

He sighed, “I have no qualms with everybody, just with father. I will make sure to get this resolved today.” It’s time to face him, I guess.

That evening, “Father, I wish to talk to you after dinner.” His words surprised Edward, that he stopped slurping on his soup, “Alright.” He smiled and continued eating.

Those words also comforted the three other brothers – Johnny, Eddie, and Jackson. It’s about time.

A few moments after dinner, Arthur and Edward entered the study room, beside the bedroom of the twins.

“What do you wish to talk about?” Edward started the talk, he wanted to confirm his suspicions but he wanted Arthur to take the first step.

“Did you agree to talk to me to confirm your suspicions?” Arthur stood calmly, unmoving. “What are you talking about, what suspicions?” His father played innocent, and for the second time, he was disgusted by this.

“You’re playing innocent? Fine, I heard everything. I heard the conversation from the bedroom. It was soundproof, but my hearing is much stronger than the average human.” He looked at him straight in the eye – unbatting, stubborn, and driven by rage, much like his mother – Emily.

“Everything?” Edward tried to look away.

“If your job was going undercover, you could have just said no, if this was the price of us being with you here, then take me back to America, I’d rather… be alone there than seeing you do these heinous crimes.” Arthur blatantly pointed out the mafia undercover mission.

You don’t know my struggles. Edward thought.

“You have no right to tell me what to do. You’re my son, not the other way around.” He only could turn the anger and answer it with anger, truly had no parental skills.

“Hmph… right. I forgot. What did I ever do to deserve being born to this family?” And to that, Arthur realized that there’s no point in arguing, and resigned out of the study room and back to his bedroom.

Edward tried to just brush it off, but Arthur’s words stuck with him for the next few days, and eventually, he bottled them up until the last month of vacation is done.

The relationship of the two never improved from that day on, but Arthur became warm again to his brothers.

“It’s your first day of College today, how are you feeling?” Edward tried to lighten the mood.

Everyone seemed to be so tense early in the morning, perhaps it was due to the first day of University for the three.

The twin and Eddie all looked age-identical, but in reality, Eddie is sixteen, and the twins are twelve, due to the Marfan Syndrome, they appear older than what their real age is.

“Excited!” Johnny shouted vigorously, this was the first time that he was separated from Arthur, since birth.

Arthur took Law Enforcement courses, while Johnny took Marine Biology and Military Discipline for Navy Officers courses.

As Matthew drove the four to Harvard, the silent angel dropped a bomb on the car.

“You should visit your mother, stay by her side for the next ten days.” Arthur nonchalantly instructed Jackson what to do about his mother’s condition.

“Do you want me to miss my classes?” Jackson retorted with angst.

“No… but, there’s no time left.” Arthur’s words angered him more. Calm down, Jackson, he’s only twelve, twelve!

“Fine, young master, I will spend time with my mother for the next ten days.” He sighed as he controlled his rage.

“Matt, drive him to the hospital today.” Arthur turned to Matthew, his eyes, swollen, and gentle.

“I will need to visit the doctor today as well, after our classes.” He added.

“What?! I’m missing my first day in classes? Are you CRAZY?!” Jackson reacted violently, but he couldn’t just slap his brother into submission.

“Master Jackson, I know that it may be unprecedented, but I think we need to follow Arthur. I will submit an excuse letter to your professors to clear up any misunderstanding.” Matthew looked intently as he also tried to concentrate on the road.

“I can’t believe this.” Jackson just resigned to the suggestion of Matthew.

“I’ll visit your mother soon, as well.” Arthur gently mentioned as they arrived and got out of the car.

The two marched to the left wing for their Law Enforcement classes, and Johnny marched to the right wing for his Marine Biology classes.

“I. don’t. CARE!” Jackson slammed the door of the car, as Matthew drove away.

“You should listen to Arthur. He’s quite insightful about these things, and he is the kindest person in that home.” Matthew seemed to be protecting Arthur, or worse, trying to convince Jackson that Arthur is not a spoiled brat.

“If you’re trying to convince me that that brat is not spoiled, you’re doing a great job at that, I’m so convinced.” His sardonic retorts forced Matthew to be silent all the way to the hospital.

Three days have passed, and Arthur was scheduled for his heart checkup. Matthew drove the twin and Jackson to the hospital to get the check up, and upon finishing it, Arthur went to Rhoda’s room.

Jackson was sitting right beside his mother’s bed, as countless tubes goes on in and out of her body.

Brain tumor, seven years in the making, and they were too late to identify, too large to be operable, and her body’s too weak to survive any other type of medicine.

“A familiar boy… entered the room.” Jackson lifted up his mother’s torso for her to sit as she signed sit through sign language.

Her weak voice speaking those words touched Jackson’s heart as if it’s piercing through.

The tumor also impeded on her eyesight on one of her eyes, but her hearing and her sense of touch has improved on that note.

“You can feel me…” Arthur smiled as he entered the room. Rhoda signed, “Of course.”

“I’ve missed you, Rhoda.” Their exchange surprised Jackson that he jumped out of his chair, and-

“YOU KNOW MY MOTHER?” Rhoda signed, “Don’t be rude to Arthur. He always took pictures of you in their home and sent it here to my phone at the hospital.” Rhoda took out the flip-phone she had under the covers.

“Mom?” Jackson looked past his mother’s smile, and remembered Mathew’s words, “…he is the kindest person in the home…”

“How are you feeling today, Rhoda?” Arthur doesn’t want to intrude, but since he’s already there… “I’m feeling light today, Arthur.” She signed.

“I’ll try to visit the next few days… until…” His eyes lingered in sadness and grief. “You haven’t told me the date I was asking.” She signed. Her face also transformed into a worried one.

“What date?” Before Arthur could even answer that question, he nonchalantly changed the subject.

“Do you want to go out of this room, Rhoda? An amusement park may be, or somewhere not suffocating like this?” He earnestly wanted to know Rhoda’s desire on her last few days.

“Maybe.” She signed again. She’s getting weaker and weaker by the minute.

Her arms shook as she signed, and her lips devoid of any blood. Her eyes and complexion were getting paler and paler as the day went by.

Arthur said goodbye to the two, and headed for the ICU unit at the pediatrics floor.

Jackson calmed down and headed for the pharmaceutical window on the first floor, and he overheard two mothers talking about their children in the second floor, brushed it off, and gone back to his mother’s room.

“Mom, how do you know Arthur?” Jackson wondered as he asked his mother. “He visited me previously, I didn’t know the date and time, but he came here talking with me for a few days, in a hospital gown, then the next time with an adult with him, and this was the third time that he visited.”

She answered in sign language, barely able to make up the words through her hands, though the motor skills became poor due to the tumor, and the hand movements were more painless than opening her vocal chords.

“Why haven’t you mentioned it to me before?” He brushed his mother’s face, gently with the wet towel.

“It wasn’t important, and I didn’t know that you two knew each other.” She mouthed. “Who is he in your life?” She turned the table of questioning.

“His father adopted me as one of his sons, I guess, that makes me his adoptive brother?” Jackson smiled as if there was nothing weighing him from those circumstances.

“I’m sorry.” His mother signed, the added constraints of keeping her alive and moving put so much stress on her body.

“I’m… sorry… for worrying you.” She tried to barely get it out of her lips.

“Mom, you don’t have to say that, it’s natural for me to get worried, like you get to worry about me. For now, I’ll do my best on my studies, and I want you just to get better.” He smiled as to not worry his mother about what he feels.

“I’m just checking with my brother, I’ll come right back.” He left without saying another word, and as he followed Arthur to the second floor.

It was the ICU room, but what puzzled him the most were the sounds coming from the room that had children with comatose status.

There were giggling, and children running around the room. He remembered the two mothers in the pharmaceutical floor, “I thought my son would never wake up from that accident, but he did.”

Just as he was about to approach the door and encroached the room, a light suddenly burst out that surprised him.

“What…” He silently advanced to the door. The kids running out of the room bumped into him many times, but he was determined to see with his own eyes what the commotion was.

In his curiosity, the light that shone covered a tall man, armed with a golden armor, and four-white snow wings in his back, a sword in its sheath and hilt at his side, and the illumination faded away into one small boy as the last bed that has one sleeping patient came back and awoke from his slumber.

“Arthur?” Jackson uttered the words as the boy’s face came into view.