"Darling! Are you okay?" Gia scream managed to wake Dante up from the couch he dozed off on.
He scrambled the table for his glasses and wore them to see his father looking at his mother with gentle eyes.
"Father!" Dante called out happily standing to his feet and rushing over to their side.
"Hey there boy." His father greeted with a weak smile.
"Can you please tell your mother to stop crying, I'm finally awake now aren't I?" Donald chuckled as he reached out to his wife's face tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Idiota." Gia murmured with a smile on her face.
"Mom, you probably should go call the doctor now, to check up on dad." Dante spoke softly patting his mom's back.
His mother nodded, and stood up going out the room immediately while Dante took her seat on the stool by the bedside.
"I'm dying aren't I?" Donald asked looking out the window.
"How did you know?" Dante asked surprised.
"It's written all over your face boy, good thing your mother wasn't able to figure it out, as a businessman, not only should you be perspective you should also know how to hide your emotions."
"But-" Dante tried to argue, but his father just turned to look at him, the sunlight illuminating his sickly face.
"Son, there are some things even the most powerful man on earth cannot fight, it's fate, if I'm not going to die now, I will eventually."
"Father!"
"That temper of yours has always been the problem you know." Donald chuckled, shaking his head before turning back to look at the sun rising from the horizon.
"I'll only have one regret after I die, I didn't get to see you married, family is also a great strength for a businessman." He paused, a small smile on his face as he recollected his past.
"You don't know what great joy it brought me having to come home and seeing you and your mother's smiling face, it is the cure to any of my headaches."
"It was like the troubles from work would just be lifted, I don't want you to carry that burden alone."
"Men die quicker because of such burden, I know the company is in a mess now, but I trust you can fix it, you've always found a solution to every problem."
"You're my son after all."
Dante just stared at his father's face in silence while he spoke, he could not help but thinking how empty his life will be if his father is no longer in it.
His father has always been his best friend, they fight most of the time especially when he was teaching him, but no matter what, he loved the man with the whole of his heart.
"You didn't want me to arrange a marriage for you, I respect that." Sighing, Donald, turned to look at Dante and held his hand gently.
"I just want to see my son get married, I hope you will grant me this last wish before I go."
Dante stared at his father unable to utter a word, the only woman he thought of marriage with ended up betraying him.
He didn't even want to go near the topic of love again, not after what she did to him.
"Father, i-"
"Donald, Jake is here." Gia barged in, and Dante stopped his words instantly, he didn't want his mother to worry.
"Hey, Jake buddy, how are you?" Donald greets his old-time friend with a toothy smile.
"I see you conquered death once more my old friend." Jake replied with equal enthusiasm.
While Jake was busy running minor checks on Donald, Dante brows were furrowed together as he was lost in deep thought.
He brought out his phone looking at the pictures sent to him once more and without announcing his leave, he walked out of the ward.
He needed answers.
Furthermore, he needs to know why.
______________________
Amber sighed looking at the news, there has been no news from Dante's side.
She just hopes he is doing alright.
"Ah fuck, I'm a bad person." Amber sighed as she took the third swing from the bottle.
"That shitty sound is starting to irritate me!" Amber yelled, throwing her bottle at the window, but it ended crashing on the wall.
The sound the rain irked her the more she listened, it's either because she's drunk out of her mind or because the sound of the rain in which has originally calmed her down before could not do the trick.
Bursting into tears, Amber fell on her knees from the bed, holding her hair almost pulling them out.
The pain will make her sane.
"I'm a horrible person." She muttered once more, gritting her teeth in anger.
"And there's nothing I can do about it." She added in realization.
Curling up beside her bed, Amber tried to calm herself down in between the sobs and the hiccups.
Seeing it was a futile effort, she stretched out her hand and reached for a bottle of alcohol laying not to far away from her.
Taking a chug from it, Amber sighed before letting out a massive belch.
"Well at least he doesn't know it's me right?" She mumbled.
Her phone ringing out loud caused her to be even more irritated.
The word 'mother' read out on the screen and Amber's hold on her bottle couldn't help but tighten.
She is not in the mood of talking to her parents, at least not now.
With that, she switched off her phone tossing it back on the single bed.
Before she could sit her ass down, a knock came on the door making her frown, she sure enough didn't order room service, could it be her parents?
Stumbling towards the door, Amber flung it open, her eyes wide open in shock as her bottle fell to the floor.
Maybe she was hallucinating, she is probably hallucinating because why the hell is Dante Morales Rivera standing in front of her hotel room soaked in the rain.
"We need to talk." He said making Amber to gulp in fear.