Chapter 27: The Talk

Xavier followed Zarah to Isaiah's private room.

As they reached the door Zarah looked at him and asked, "Are you ready?"

Zarah could see the hesitation and when she looked down, she saw Xavier's hands were trembling and he had no idea about it.

Zarah reached out and gently squeezed his hand causing Xavier to jolt.

Zarah looked up and saw the surprise on his face.

"Are you nervous?" She asked him and he cleared his throat and said, "Why should I be nervous? I did nothing wrong."

Zarah then let go of his hand and Xavier regretted it as it was now empty and cold.

He didn't want to admit that he was nervous. After years that he had not seen him, he would be facing him again.

"Fine. Well, I'll go in first, and then you enter when I say so. I know you have a lot of questions, but could you please tone down your temper when you're inside? I don't want Old Man to be upset."

Xavier thought that Zarah was asking so much from him. Having to talk to Isaiah after a long time had his anxiety level to went through the roof. He didn't know if he could control his temper, too.

The least that he could do was try. However, he didn't want to disappoint her and so he said, "Okay, I will."

Zarah knew that Xavier was forced to agree and so she grabbed his hand and said, "Just try. If you can not do it now, we can do this again tomorrow."

Xavier wanted to do it now and be over it. He didn't want to prolong the agony. He thought of thinking this as a business deal that he had to close.

That's right. He felt a lot better when he thought about it as a business proposal.

As she said, Zarah entered first and Xavier waited outside.

"Old Man? Are you up?"

"Zarah, come and sit." Isaiah invited her with his weak voice.

"How are you?" She asked him and Isaiah said, "I feel terrible." He could not even speak well. He had to take pauses in between words.

Zarah felt guilty because she knew that she was prolonging his agony. However, she wanted to take this last shot before throwing the white towel.

"So, I was thinking that you might want to see someone. I thought that he might be able to change your mind about this." Zarah didn't hide this from him.

Isaiah on the other hand was at the edge of his bed as he was low-key anticipating who the person she was talking about was.

"Will you listen to him, Old Man?" Zarah asked him and he cleared his throat.

He looked at the time on the wall and saw that they had an hour left before visiting hours were over.

"Okay."

Zarah then hurriedly went to the door and opened it. "Come in." He heard Zarah say to the stranger behind the door.

The door opened wide and a tall figure entered his room. Isaiah's eyes immediately moistened when he saw who the person was.

What surprised him the most was Xavier was walking on his two feet.

"My son!" He called him softly and Xavier was left frozen on the spot.

Zarah tapped his shoulder and he snapped from his daze.

"Ha?" He responded.

"Are you just going to stay there and not greet him?" She softly asked him.

"Ahm."

"Zarah, can you leave us alone?" Xavier asked her and Zarah looked at his face like she was worried for him and Isaiah.

"I'll be fine." He reassured while Isaiah nodded his head weakly. Zarah then excused herself and left the room.

"How are you, son?" Isaiah asked him while also trying to prop himself up.

Xavier hurriedly helped him to sit up. Xavier didn't know why he did it though. Maybe he felt sorry seeing him so weak.

"Thank you," Isaiah mumbled softly and waited for Xavier's answer.

"Well, I can walk now as you can see," Xavier said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Yeah. God is indeed great. He heard your mom's prayers." Isaiah said with tears threatening to fall from his eyes.

"Can you not bring my mother into our conversation? You don't deserve to call her your wife when you've never been a full husband to her!" Xavier reprimanded him and Isaiah accepted it. His son was right.

He was an irresponsible husband to his wife.

However, being confronted by that fact by his son whom he longed to see for a long time made his heart bleed.

Xavier could see that he was hurt by what he said but it was already too late for him to take it back, right?

"I'm surprised that Zarah was able to convince you to meet me." Isaiah changed the topic.

"Had it been not for Zarah, I wouldn't come," Xavier said frankly and Isaiah was not surprised to hear this from him.

"You're lucky to have her as a daughter even though I don't think you deserved her." He said and Isaiah could only smile in response.

"I'm not going to deny that. I don't deserve Zarah. When I'm gone do take good care of her and protect her at all costs."

"You sounded like a coward, do you know that?" Xavier mocked him but Isaiah looked calm and continued listening to him.

"You don't have to remind me to take good care of Zarah. Now that I'm here, I'm going to take good care of her not just as my SISTER." Xavier emphasized the last word.

The way he said it, he seemed to have a lot of grudges upon hearing that word.

Isaiah only smiled knowingly and Xavier looked away as he could not look him in the eyes.

"How long have you been walking?"

"Three years."

"I'm sorry if I caused you so much pain, Xavier." Isaiah apologized even though he knew that he might not get his forgiveness right away.

"You want my forgiveness? Don't make Zarah upset." Xavier said and he smiled weakly.

"How I wish I could but I couldn't, son." He paused and took a break before he continued, "Please, help her to accept that there are battles not worth fighting for. I just want to do the things that I couldn't do when I'm inside the hospital."

"Such as?"

"If God permits, I want to visit your mother's grave for the last time."

"That's ridiculous!" Xavier wanted to leave the room in an instant but Isaiah's weak pleading voice halted him.

"Please son." He begged.

Zarah on the other hand had to go down to meet Trixie at the entrance of the hospital. She received a message that she was near the hospital.

A woman whose face looked identical to Olivia's entered the hospital and saw Zarah sitting alone on the bench and looking at the entrance.

As she saw her, Zarah got up and tearily ran to the entrance to welcome Trixie.

"Shhh!" Trixie comforted her.

"Liv told me what happened. Everything will be fine, Ara," she comforted her best friend.

"I hope so, Trix," Zarah said and then chuckled as she broke off the hug. "Gosh, I'm a mess. This is not the welcome face that I wanted you to see." Zarah said as she wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

"Well, you're still pretty even when you cry so you don't have to worry, Ara. And come on! You're my best friend! I'll always be here for you. Especially now."

Zarah was grateful to have best friends like Trixie and Olivia. When one was absent, the other one was to the rescue. That's why she felt sad when these two went overseas.

"Thank you, Trix. I miss you." The thing that she missed about being around them was she could be herself. She did not have to care what others would say because she won't face judgment from them.

Unlike when she was outside. Even though she tried not to mind, every negative comment that she heard affected her.

Back into the hospital room...

After his grandfather decided to transfer her mom's ashes, Isaiah wasn't able to visit her all these years. He knew it was impossible to be buried beside her. So he just wanted to see her for the last time.

The biggest question was if his body could withstand the long hours of travel to Sterlington City.

"Your doctor won't allow it." Xavier denied his request and he could see the sadness on his father's face.

The last time he visited him, he was still in a coma. But now that he was awake, there was not much difference. He was pale and extremely tired.

It was easy to feel sympathy for his condition. The longer he stayed the anger that he felt slowly disappeared and it made Xavier more anxious.

"Oh." He nodded weakly and contemplated for a while.

"I know that I don't have the rights but can you honor my last wishes?"

Would Xavier grant him this wish?

Isaiah knew that his time was near. The medication could only extend his life for a short period but it would not ease the pain. He barely could speak well.

Xavier nodded his head and Isaiah started talking.

"Do you understand that once you stopped the treatment, you might not live for a week?"

"Yes! I do."

Now that he was here, he wanted Xavier to honor his wishes.

"You want me to be the bad guy, huh? You're impossible." Xavier hated the idea as Zarah might not forgive him.

"If I'm going to die, I want to die freely and not inside the four corners of this hospital room."

He didn't want to die on the operating table either.

Once he was discharged, he wanted Xavier to bring him to the house he and Xavier's mother once shared. It was where Xavier was conceived.

"You might not be interested in this but there's something that I want you to know." Isaiah frowned and corrected himself, "No. You should know this."

After more than an hour, Xavier walked out of the room with a heavy heart.

He did gain the answers to the questions which had been bothering him for a very long time.

Now, he felt terrible for holding grudges against his father when Isaiah was also a victim of their situation.

Every step he took felt heavier. The tears that he was holding back while he was inside the room started streaming down his cheeks.

Zarah and Trixie were waiting at the nearby bench and when she heard the opening of the door, Zarah immediately rushed to see what happened.

However, she halted when she saw Xavier who was silently wiping his tears. Zarah's feet were frozen on the ground.

Trixie also followed her and wondered why she stopped.

Zarah then looked at her best friend and she didn't have to ask as Trixie could tell what Zarah meant with her gaze.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." She said weakly.

"Okay. I'll be downstairs." Trixie said and gave Zarah a tight hug.

"Thank you."

***