Senator Albert cries looking at the heart rate monitor. He cannot believe what he just witnessed. His son is dead. He scoops his son, giving him a tight hug before the nurses burst inside the room and plead him to go outside. He stared at the white door, his legs feel wobbly. Finally, he sits on the floor and ruffles his hair as tears escape his eyes once again.
He heard a sound of heels coming in his direction. "Axel?" The girl asks griping the doorknob and banging the door. "Axel!" She calls once more before going to on the side, hoping to see his figure beneath the curtains.
Albert mumbles something which makes the girl turn. "What's going on?" Her voice starts to crack. Albert can see the girl holding back her tears as she sits next to him.
"He is dead." He said in disbelief. "My son is dead."
Bella walks out of the room. Seeing Albert and Mallory's state breaks her heart but as a doctor, she must keep on a brave face and tell them the sad news. "I'm sorry." Albert cannot believe those two words feels like a knife piercing in his heart. Although he knew the moment Axel's heart stops beating, no one can save him. Not even the power he has been obsessed to get can take his son's life back.
"No!" Mallory covers her mouth, fighting the urge to cry even harder. "You said he was doing okay. You said it was just a minor injury. Why?" Her voice cracks in the end. Her hair is a mess and so does her life.
"I'm sorry but before we even see that he got fatal arrhythmias. He got into a cardiac arrest." Albert shakes his head. It is done. Blaming the doctors will not bring his som back. All he can do now is stare at his lifeless body.
"I met your son in an accident. He was a good man just like you." Albert smiles. Of course, Axel is a good man. Even though Albert beats his son to death, Axel never fights back. Axel respects his father so much that he is still following his mother's promise.
Albert remembers his wife's last word to them. 'Protect each other.'
Even though she is hurt, Mallory manages to give sweet words to the Senator. "I'm sure he is proud to be your son." She taps Albert's shoulder before walking away.
Realizing his last words to his son makes him sick. Everything he said a couple of days is a lie. Albert is just too jealous to admit that his beloved son defeated him in every possible way. Axel has always been an eye-catcher in the family. While Albert is nothing but a poor farm boy who managed to make a city girl fall in love. He stands up slowly walking to his son's lifeless body. "I'm sorry I failed you." He said through gritted teeth. His hands cover both his eyes.
"I should have been a better father." He touches Axel's hand. Moving his cold hand closer to his face. "I'm glad that even though I mistreated you. You still think of me as your father."
"I am always proud of you, Axel." He kisses Axel's hand before finally letting it go. Albert stands up, head bows down as he walks. When he sees a pair of hotel-like slippers, he immediately looks up to see Axel perfectly standing on his feet.
"Dad." It only took Axel one word before Albert's world turns black.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬𝐤? 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐠𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐞?
Three days stuck in the hospital with Mallory is not bad. Yet, Axel can't eagerly wait to heal so everything can go back to normal starting with his little thumping heart when Mallory is around. "Check this out!" Lupin beams the door holding a teddy bear and foods.
For the last three days, his room is filled with gifts from fans. Now, his room looks more like the studio than a hospital. Not that he was complaining about the gifts. In fact, he is happy to see that people still care about him but there is one specific gift he is waiting for. "Who is it from?"
Lupin rolls his eyes and tosses the teddy bear in the thousand flowers on the other side of the room. While opening the food carton and quickly devouring it. "What? I bought this for myself." He said defensively.
Axel shakes his head in disbelief. He begins to walk in his cabinet to get another set of hospital gowns. He tosses it towards Lupin, who quickly finishes his food in less than a minute. "Do me a favor Lupin."
"What is it?" His friend asks excitedly. Sensing that Axel is planning to do something bad makes him energetic. It's been a while since the duo pulls a prank on other people.
"Pretend to be me for a day."
"WHAT?!" Lupin yells. Pretending to be someone is like an old fashion prank of all time. And if he were to pretend to be someone, he would choose to be something extravagant like a Prince or the President of States. Pretending to be Axel for a day is meh. In short, boring. "I won't do it."
"Why not?" Axel stops midway. Of course, he is talking to Lupin. This guy must have a thousand reasons why he doesn't want to pretend to be Axel. "Nevermind I ask. How about you just wear this gown for an hour and pretend to be sleeping?" Lupin raises his eyebrow but slowly nods after sensing the desperation in Axel's voice.
Axel heads to the rooftop, he wants to take fresh air especially now that he is still taking in a lot of things in his mind. A while ago, Mallory went to clean up the house so he is stuck roaming around the hospital. When he heard the nurses gossiping, Axel stops to listen. In his defense, there is not a lot of patients in the VIP area so they must be talking about him. "I heard the Senator is coming to visit his son today."
"I thought the rumors said he hates his son. He can't even stand the sight of him."
One of the nurses smacks her colleague. "How could you believe that? No father would hate his son."
Axel shakes his head feeling uneasy. Then he finally asks himself a million-dollar question. 'What went wrong with father?' They always have a strong relationship before but now, the two of them are like in thin ice. He thought when he loses his mother, they would be much closer.
"Hello?" Axel doesn't have to look back to know who that voice belongs to. "What are you doing here alone?"
"I just want to clear my thoughts, Mallory."
Mallory taps Axel's shoulder. "I just want you to know I bought ice cream on the way. I thought you could use some." She said awkwardly.
The man chuckles grabbing the ice cream and a spoon. He is still in a cast so it's pretty hard to eat with one hand. Mallory senses his discomfort so she offered to help, grabbing a scoop of ice cream she feeds Axel.
Again, his heart started to thump like a drum. He gulps looking between Mallory and the spoon. "You know what I-" Mallory didn't let him finish his sentence. As she feeds another scoop of ice cream in Axel's mouth.
"What were you saying?" The man shakes his head replying a quick 'nothing.' They sit there for a while, enjoying each other's company. And for the second time, they watch the sunrise together. Birds hum in the air and sweet melody can be heard a couple of blocks from the hospital. The ice cream is long gone yet they are still sitting.
It was Axel who decided to break the silence. "I heard my father is visiting." Mallory tilts her head, remembering Axel's abusive father. "I wasn't sure if I'm ready to face him yet." He swears when he realizes that he is showing Mallory his weak side again. As much as he wants to be strong so badly, he can't. He is far from what his fans expect him to be. Axel is just a lonely guy who is good at wearing a mask.
After Mallory wipes down his tears, it was then Axel realizes that he is crying. Men are truly babies. "What am I going to do, Mallory?" Mallory has also no idea what to do. So she just decided to listen to Axel's rant. Maybe all he needs is someone so he can vent out his feelings?
Throughout the entire morning, she just holds Axel's hand. And by the time they come back, he heard his father crying. Axel looks at the window which gives them a perfect view to see what's going on. His father is holding Lupin's hand tightly saying sweet things to him. When he looks at Lupin, his heart seems to drop at the prank his friend pulled. Lupin's face is totally covered in blood makeup which explains why his father didn't recognize him. While Albert is busy crying his eyes out. Lupin, on the other hand, is wearing a tube and sleeping peacefully in the bed.
"What the heck did he do?" Axel stomps his feet marching towards the door but Mallory blocks him. "Get out of my way, Mallory."
"Listen, Axel. This could be the perfect time to hear what your father thinks about you. He is starting to be honest with you so try to listen to him." After hearing those words, the man calms down. He opens the door and watches his father's back sob.
"I'm sorry I failed you." Axel can hear his father's broken voice. As much as he wants to comfort his father and tell him that he is alive. A part of him wants to stand still and listen to his father's speech. And that's what he did. He stayed a couple of minutes, listening to his father.
Maybe all these years, Albert just also need a shoulder to cry on. The cold man in front of Axel is gone and replaced by a regretful father. In the end, they only regret the chances they didn't take. They are both saddened by the loss of their beloved girl. But now it's time to move forward and patch up the wounds of the past.
"Dad." Albert stops at his track. When he sees Axel standing still the doorway, his eyebrow twitch and looks back at Lupin. He can't believe what's going on. His mind seems to puzzle until his eyesight turns black and he lost consciousness.
By the time Albert wakes up everyone is standing in front of him. He glances at Bella. "What happened?"
Bella clears her throat and sends a knowing look at Axel. "The man you saw a while ago is a retard pretending to be me." Axel laughs. "Right from the start, Lupin knew the only way to let down your guard is to see me dead. After all, no father likes the idea of his son dead."
Lupin interrupts. "And thus, we made the perfect plan."
"What the hell were you thinking Lupin?" Albert begins to yell as he clutches his heart. "You knew I have a heart attack!"
"I know this is too much for a prank. I'm sorry, Dad." Axel moves closer to his father and gives him a big hug. "I'm sorry for not being there when you need me the most." And that was the cue to let them alone.
Bella, Mallory, and Lupin watch them from the window. "Anyone want some popcorn?" Lupin immediately asks. Bella smiles not believing she is also enjoying the live-action movie Lupin keeps bragging about.
When Axel looks back at the window, Mallory waves. Seeing the father and son back together bring tears to her as well. Axel clears his throat and signals Mallory to come over. When she did so, Axel wraps his arms around her. "Father, this is Mallory."
Albert smiles shaking Mallory's hand. "Thank you for taking good care of my son. It is unfortunate we see each other in my son's..." When he seems to be having a hard time looking for the right words, Mallory interrupts.
"It's my pleasure, Senator Albert."
Albert waves his hand in embarrassment. "Oh, please just call me Albert. Are you one of those models Axel dated?"
Mallory shifts her weight to another. "Uhm." She never experiences being introduced to one of her parent's friends. Not that she has a lot of friends, anyway.
"Now now now, Mallory is just a friend... of mine." Mallory fights the urge to gasp. 'Just a friend of mine.' The sentence keeps echoing in her mind. Her body tensed and her mind seems to go blank.