Dusk In Moorea

HR#81

"For Uncle !" Zack handed over a cup of coffee he held to Duke Xander. The man who was sitting in the waiting chair received the coffee Zack gave him after gazing long at the young man first. I don't know what he was thinking when he looked at Zack's face.

"Sit down !" Duke Xander patted the empty bench next to him.

Zack nodded and sat a little awkwardly near his biological father. This was the first time that Zack could sit this close and level with his father. It feels too foreign for Zack to describe.

"Thank you for keeping your promise to keep Leon !" duke Xander said without turning his head in the direction of Zack. His neck was locked so tightly that he could not sway anywhere.

The young man next to him looked directly at the face of the father who still kept his eyes fixed towards the front. There was a sense of disbelief in Zack when he heard that thank you from Duke Xander's mouth. The father who never even wanted to stare at her lingered all this time.

Despite sounding as flat and cold as ever, Zack could feel the sincerity within the sentence Duke Xander had just uttered. Happiness immediately filled Zack's chest cavity so he could only duck and resist the urge of tears that asked out because of the feeling of haru.

"I still failed, Uncle ! I still can't prevent something this bad from happening to Leon. I'm sorry !" shrewd Zack.

Duke Xander glanced at the bowed Zack staring at the white floor of the hospital before returning his gaze forward again. The cold man let out a weak breath. Feeling something begin to melt in his frozen heart. He began to think. Is all this really his fault ? Is everything he's done so far not the right thing ?

In the end Duke Xander just sat still. He doesn't know how to comfort Zack because he never did anything like that to anyone. Only Duke Xander's hand moved to pat Zack's shoulder. Making the young man again feel in disbelief that the person who is doing this is really his real father.

* * *

Time has passed for 12 hours. The brunette-haired young man who was lying down postoperatively started to slowly open his eyes. The first thing that greeted him was of course a room that felt foreign to him. The young man's nanar gaze already knew and had even understood where he was now without needing to ask anyone.

Leon's blank gaze only stared at the sunlight that broke into the VVIP room where he was treated. The disappointment was present without asking. Disappointed as to why God still let him live when he had given up on doing that. For what life if breathing from second to second just feels so hard to do ?

Everything that was the source of life for him was destroyed. From my mother to Arumi. Everyone left without saying goodbye first. Everything went without hugging and saying a sentence that could keep Leon afloat. Everything went away when Leon still needed them as his reason for being grateful day by day.

"Leon ! You're conscious ?" Zack who had just arrived immediately approached Leon.

Seeing his sister's eyes open, Zack immediately came out and called the doctor to check on Leon. He himself was waiting outside while telling the news to Duke Xander and Frederick in a phone call.

"The patient's condition is stable. There's nothing more to worry about" said the doctor in charge of Leon's condition.

"Thank you, Doctor !" zack said, bowing his body.

The doctor nodded with a smile. After patting Zack on the shoulder for a while, he paid his respects to check on the other patients. Zack then goes back into Leon's nursery. Sliding a chair near Leon's bed and sitting there with a happy, haru and worried expression mixed into one.

"Why ?" ask Leon weakly.

"Of course it's because we all love you" Zack replied smiling.

"Why don't you just let me die, Zack ?"

The smile on Zack's face suddenly subsided. It turns out that Leon's question was different from the intent he thought.

"What the fuck are you talking about ? How could I do such a crazy thing ? Let you die ? You think I'd do that to you ?"

Leon was mute in the pain that was undermining his soul. In reality, Leon is indeed a man who is too weak when dealing with love affairs. Caged for decades with a chain of rules that are always held by Duke Xander inevitably weaken the soul of the young man without ever asking. Dissenting violently never succeeded in breaking down the ice wall that had imprisoned his father's heart. He thought that Duke Xander's eyes might have been blind to see what his son really wanted.

* * *

About two hours later, Duke Xander just arrived at the hospital. He rushed to Leon's ward with his steps swaying impatiently. Arriving there, he immediately opened the door and found Zack asleep on the sofa.

He then stepped slowly towards Leon who seemed to have also returned to sleep.

"Uncle has come ?" zack's distinctive waking hoarse voice greeted Duke Xander's auditory senses.

The man looked over for a moment while nodding. Afterwards, he refocused on Leon who was still asleep. His fingers moved to touch the son's hand. Gently stroked her while watching the young man's pale face.

"How is he doing ?" duke Xander asked Zack.

Zack stood up and walked over to Duke Xander. Join staring fixed on Leon's face that increasingly looks sunken from day to day. Her body began to lose weight since Arumi's departure. That added to the pain in Zack's heart as he watched with his own eyes how Leon slowly collapsed.

"The doctor said his condition had stabilized. But, it still needs supervision on the scars of its operation over the next few days," Zack explained.

"Where's Uncle Fred ?"

"hasn't arrived. He said there was still business to be done" Zack replied bluntly.

"What business did Frederick have that delayed seeing Leon ? Does that irresponsible man have any plans to derail my plans again ?