I looked at myself in the mirror and saw how my eyes rolled around in my head before I collapsed. I woke up in hospital; totally disorientated. My mother and Abby were with me. I could only think that it must have been a dream because I did not want to be in this hospital bed. I wanted to be with Sam, and it was the only word I could pronounce.
'That pig of a father is keeping her under house arrest, but we will tell you later. First, you need to rest more, Jordi, look at you. I am serious now. You've got to go on treatment, please. I cannot lose my only brother now,' Abby said with tears in her eyes.
The doctor came in said very seriously: 'Jordan, I need to put you on supportive treatment that will help you with your seizures, and on steroids to relieve the pressure on your brain. You need to decide quickly regarding surgery or other treatments that could remove the tumor. What I am prescribing is a very low number of steroids and anticonvulsants.'
My mind was with no one at the moment the doctor was speaking, and I hardly listened.
'We are here for you, should you change your mind to permanently go for treating the cancer.'
'Doctor, I am sure I can cope with the tumor if you prescribe medication that will give me more time to be with my loved ones.'
'Yes. We will be keeping you overnight and I will suggest you all come and see him during visiting hours tonight.' I asked my mother to draw some of my savings to buy a cheap phone for Sam, because I knew her phone had been taken away and my sister threw me a life-line.
Before the night was over, I was connected with Sam. She told me that her father had even taken leave to watch over her and she felt like a caged animal in her own house. I asked if everything from last night was a dream, because I had woken up in the hospital.
'How can it be a dream, Jordi, when I planned everything to a tee?'
'You have time to joke Sam! How are you?'
'Well, I got used to sleeping with a certain person whom I sent to hospital, because of my actions. Jordi, I felt like dying. I called the ambulance and imagined the commotion in our hotel room. Luckily, you were dressed.
I felt shameful after the look on your dad's face when I was questioned by him. Mine knew immediately and we have a lot to worry about, but even with all this happening to us now, I know I will never forget last night and this morning. But I will tell you more when I see you. It will not be long, Jordi. Remember, I love you.'
I lay watching the stars through my window wishing I did not have this burden that kept me here. Wishing I could run away for good, because I wanted Sam with me right here, hoping that she was looking at the very same stars thinking of me, too.
I got another text saying: 'I could never love another like I do you, Jordi, and only wish that you were not ill and we could be free to love each other without any of the circumstances or obstacles that are causing this divide. I am going to fight this world and everyone who is keeping us apart, as long as you promise to do the same.'
'I will,' is all I replied, crying my heart out. I felt so lost but consoled that there was someone who loved me unconditionally. I phoned my mother and said that I was sorry for scaring her and Abby because they were my world, but I love Sam and couldn't face another day without her.
'Will it be so hard for us to move in together? I do promise to look after her, Mom, but I want you all to accept us just the way we are. We know we will make it. It is ripping my heart out to be away from her, knowing she may be pregnant and living with people that are so heartless and insensitive.'
'Jordi, you are sick and need all the rest you can get. Do you think it possible to be able to care for her? I guess it's not really my decision, it's your grandfather's. It is his house.'
'Thanks, Ma, I am going to the house to ask them again to allow Sam and me to date. I will not allow them to keep her a prisoner as if she has no choices in life any longer. I am not going back to school either, what is the use now? I hope to find a job soon, so that you don't have to support me. My life has changed so much over these few months, but I will land on my feet eventually, you'll see.'
'You must decide, Jordi. I raised you as the man you are today and love what you have become. I am proud of you, son.'
'Thanks, Ma. I love you and thank you for supporting me as always, I am so lucky.'
I couldn't wait for the doctors to make their rounds the next day to declare me fit to leave so that I could see Sam. I knocked on the door and Mr. Peters opened.
'If you do not leave my house now, young man, you will be in trouble for trespassing and kidnapping my daughter. I have already made a case with the police, so please go before my anger blinds me and I accidentally kill you this time.'
'Mr. Peters, all I came to do, is asking to see your daughter with your permission. I really do not care that you have made a case against me. Please, may I see Sam, because no matter what you do to me, I am not leaving here until I see her .'
Sam came out and begged her dad to please grant her time to talk to me.
'Jordi, my dad is going to make trouble for you. He suggested to the policeman that it was all your doing and applied for an interdict on my behalf, even though I told him it was all my idea. He promised that he will make it very difficult for you, Jordi, if I were to see you again. Let's, just give him a few days to get over it? If he does not, then I will ask you to come save me, Jordi, okay? You cannot go to prison; I wouldn't be able to bear it.'
'How long will this be, Sam? You are not his fucking prisoner. You are his child, and of legal age to make your own decisions!'
'Please, Jordi! Do it for us and let this rest for a while, don't be so difficult!'
She put her arms around me and kissed me so tenderly and with so much heartache. I would do anything to at least ease her pain a bit.
'I am going to find a job soon and really hope to support us. You just need to say the word and I will take you away from here, Sam.'
'No, Jordi! You cannot leave school for me. I will not be able to live with myself.'
I told her there was no point in wasting time studying and then finding a job. Why should I not work and study part-time? That made her think, and just like that, she smiled as though we didn't have a care in the world.
Her father approached us and hurriedly she greeted me while looking at him with contempt! I couldn't believe that another human being could have such a hold on someone else. By the look of the grin he gave me he was enjoying it. My father was busy at home fixing his car and only looked at me briefly.
'So, Jordi, when are you starting with the treatment?'
'When I am ready, Dad.'
'You children just do whatever you like as if you do not have a care in the world. Do you know what you put us through when we had to open a door to policemen looking for Sam early yesterday morning? If it was not for your sister saying that Sam let her know that the both of you would be okay, your bloody arse would have been in jail. You are so fucking thoughtless and stupid, even though you are ill!'
'You actually do care, Dad? When you never around and never even show interest in me?'
'Yes! You could have been dead, because of that bloody Delilah.'
'You will leave Sam out of it, Dad. What is wrong with you and Mr. Peters, and your blaming games? Face it. We are growing up. We had such great examples to learn from, not so? Remember, you got my mother pregnant when you were my age. So stop it, really?'
'You know, Jordi, if it was not for your illness, I would have struck you and that disrespectful mouth of yours, down.'
'Dad, at this moment I do not care what you want to do with me, and please call the illness by its name. I have cancer.'
I said this in a sarcastic voice and with that, turned around and went to my room to think. Three weeks passed with no contact from Sam. When my calls did not go through, I asked Abby if she had heard from Sam, but she hadn't.