Long Years

Alex has done everything he could for his brother.

Oliver has grown into a fine young man.

'He's my pride, I'm happy, but I feel burned out'

' ... Really burned out'

'I'm not interested in having a relationship nor starting a family, I feel like what I've done is more than enough, I don't want more'

'Girls never liked me anyway'

It was not that Alex looked bad or anything, he looked good.

He inherited his mother's beauty.

'She was fair, tall and beautiful, brown eyes and blonde hair, I look a lot like her'

'My father is dark and masculine with dark hair and dark eyes, I got my mother's eyes and skin color, and I got my father's hair, but it matched well'

'I think I'm at least average looking'

'But the reason that girls do not like me is that they always thought I'm boring'

Because Alex was never like his age mates, and he was always more concerned about the responsibilities that he had while they were more focused on having fun, he seemed quite boring, like a serious old man among kids ...

'Well, I can't blame them, they were probably right.'

20 years have passed since Oliver turned 18.

Alex is now 41, single, and lives alone ...

'Oliver tho'

He had quite a beautiful family.

A wife and 2 daughters, both of them look like a small version of his wife ...

'They're incredibly cute'

The girls often visited, and Blake was always delighted to see the two of them, especially Lara, the older sister that Oliver named after his mother.

Her younger sister is named Elisa and their mother is named Ema.

When Alex was 43, he got a call from the prison

"Blake passed away this morning, natural causes"

Alex could only sigh in sadness, but he found solace in the thought that

'At least he lived the way he wanted until the very end ...'

Blake's funeral wasn't anything special, mainly family members.

Some old men from their first neighborhood came as well ...

'It seems that some people still remember Dad until now'

Even though many did not understand why he did what he did, they still loved Blake for the good person he was.

"Father, I hope you're with Mother now"

These were Alex's last words before he put Blake in his final resting place.

2 Years later, Alex was not well,

'Actually, I've been unwell for a year or so but I was ignoring it'

Alex didn't really care much

'As I'm getting older this sort of thing is expected anyway'

But it kept getting worse, so Alex had to do something about it.

After some tests were done, Alex found out the problem ...

'It seems that I've not only inherited my mother's skin color and eyes but also her Congestive Heart Failure'

'Oh well, it's fine'

"How much time do I have left?" Alex asked

"Approximately 3 years, give or take" Said the doctor

A pretty lady with dark hair and brown eyes, she's a bit on the short side but she's beautiful

"Thank you" Alex replied

"Wait, If you apply to this program you mig--"

Alex interrupted her

"Doctor, it's okay, you've done what you can.

I'd just like to take some medicine that makes life easier for the next 3 years"

Hearing that, the doctor became confused

"What do you mean by it's okay? It's not okay, you'll die"

Alex said jokingly

"Won't we all?"

" ... You still have the chance to prevent that"

"I understand, but I'm not interested"

The doctor crossed her arms and said

"I refuse to give you any medicine unless you sign here at least, I'm not going to help someone basically suicide in front of me"

"..."

"You don't have to die without a fight, there's a chance for you, really"

"OK, give me the medicine and I promise to think about it"

"No, you should just sign first"

When Alex thought about it, he realized that it'd actually be okay to sign

'It's not like they'd do anything anyway'

"Okay Doc, here you go"

The Doctor smiled brightly

"Here is the medicine, maintain consistency and you should be fine for a while"

Alex looked at her beaming smile and thought to himself

'Is that how it feels to think that you saved someone's life?'

'I think she has become at least 2 times more beautiful with this smile'

He lightly chuckled

'Ahh, so young and naive'

'Well, it's okay, if that makes her feel good then so be it. How many times do I get to see someone genuinely smiling like this anyway'

"Thank you Doc, Hope we meet again" Alex said as he got up from the chair to leave.

'So, 3 years huh ..'

'Well, Let's think about it after 1 year from now, at least this medicine will work for a year, right?'

Alex pushed all the thoughts regarding his sickness to the back of his mind and went back to living his normal life.

'A man gotta do what a man gotta do.'

And like this, time passed.

After the year passed, Alex had a rough plan ...

'I'll inform my brother approximately 6 months from now'

'For now, I'll start to sell everything I own or transfer its ownership to Oliver'

'Everything should be ready within the next 6 months, and after that I'll move to some fancy hotel and spend the rest of my days in peace'

As time went by, Alex's condition kept getting worse.

5 months passed since he came up with the plan ...

'The medicine barely works now'

Alex went to another hospital

'Even though I really want to see that beautiful doctor again, I don't want her to remember me and know that whatever she did was in vain and that I'd die anyway'

'I'm not interested in taking someone's naivety away, let her be innocent for a while longer or figure things out by herself'

'I'll just keep the image of her beaming smile as my last memory of her, it's probably better like that'

When Alex explained his condition to Oliver, Oliver cried, so Alex tried to cheer him up

"Come on Olii, you're older than 40, why are you crying like when you were 11"

"Hmph, stop with the nonsense and tell me; What can I do for you?"

"Well I'd just like to spend more time with the kids, play around for a while, then I'll embrace my fate"

"Are you really okay with that? Is there nothing we can do?"

"Don't you know what happened the last time? There's no need to get into troublesome matters ...

Also, I'm content with the life I've lived, I'll go with no regrets"

Oliver's voice slightly broke ...

" ... Is that so?"

Oliver kept quiet for a while, then he suddenly broke the silence by saying

"I'll name my first grandson after you"

Alex chuckled

"Ahahahaha is that your way of keeping us alive? First our mother and now me, well, fine, I don't mind"

When Alex felt that his time was about to come, he went to live in a hotel and told the staff to send someone to check on him daily.

Oliver asked him to stay with him, but Alex firmly refused ...

'I do not want the last memory of me with the girls to be about finding me dead'

'It's better this way, and when my time comes, Oliver will take care of everything for sure'

When he thought of that, Alex smiled brightly

'Haha, it's the first time someone else takes care of something about me since my mother died, how nostalgic.'

2 weeks later, Alex died of heart failure in the (Purple Star Hotel).

However, Alexander's journey didn't end there, it only just began.