Demon's Protégé

Family

My heart was pounding so heart the second I came rushing into the entrance of the hospital. When I called mom this evening, I was so dumbstruck by the news that I didn’t even notice how fast I got back to the mansion to get into my car and drove my way out of Preston back to the city. I did not even mind how long the whole ride took me, the only think playing inside my head was to get here as fast as I could. My whole body just kept moving and the adrenaline was rushing so wild as I ran my way up the stairs, not even thinking of taking the elevator, until I got to the floor at where the operating rooms were located at.

I was breathing heavily when I finally saw my brother and mom sitting anxiously by the waiting area and mom quickly saw me and stood up. She walked her way towards me, her face painted with agony and her eyes brimmed with tears. I instinctively approached her in seconds and scooped her up into a tight hug. I could feel my heart still pounding and the echoes kept ringing in my ears.

“Taiyo,” I heard mom faintly whispered this to me as she rested her head against my chest. “Where have you been?”

The guilt came crashing into me as she said those words and I could not even find the right words to answer her back. I just went silent and did not move as she pulled away and looked straight into my eyes.

“Your father…” as soon as she spoke the words, tears flowed down to her cheeks. The pain and hopelessness was very evident and I felt my body slowly giving away. “I don’t know how this could even happen, Taiyo. He might… He might…”

“Don’t,” I gently held her arms and tried to sound reassuring as I try to hold her gaze. I didn’t want to hear the rest of what she was going to say. I did not want to think there could even be a possibility that she might be right. I might not have the best relationship with my father, but that did not mean I was not going to be hurt if something happens to him.

“He’ll be alright,” I said but the words felt foreign for some reason. My chest suddenly became tight that I found myself trying to calm myself before I started hyperventilating. I gently pulled away from mom and turned my head to where my brother was standing, watching us in silence.

“I’m sorry.” The short apology was quickly accepted by my brother’s hug as he pulled me to him and as soon as we comforted each other, all the emotions that had been bottled up inside quickly began to flow out in a rush. My breath slowly labored out into puffs as tears started to well up in my eyes and they poured continuously over my cheeks like waves of guilt and pain.

“It’s going to be fine,” My brother told me in a shaky voice, and I could feel him trying to hold in his own tears as well but still failed. We pulled apart and stared into each other’s faces, and for a second, we started laughing together. It was strange but the entire situation had me trying to lighten it up with a smile.

“You look horrible,” he commented back at me and I playfully shoved him and chuckled. “But thank God, you’re back.”

I smiled sadly to that statement. It just hit so hard, I could not get any words out of my mouth at all. I resorted to silence as I stayed and waited, along with them, for the doctors to come out of the room. Seconds became minutes, and minutes ticked away into a couple of hours. I started to finally feel the signs of exhaustion as my eyes were slowly getting heavier but my mind kept me awake, filled with anxious thoughts.

And finally, like a jolt, the doors of the operating room slid open and out came a man wearing a mask and a white gown. He assessed the three of us and it felt like days before he finally started speaking.

“Madam,” he began as he glanced at my mom who was now standing before him with a frown on her face. The pause he made had my jaw hardening as I waited impatiently and as soon as the words came out of his mouth…

The whole world around me came to an abrupt stop.

“I’m sorry. We did our very best.”

I didn’t expect those familiar words would even sliced so painfully into my chest. I froze for a second, trying to gather my senses back but I was too numb to even care what happened next. The only thing I had playing inside my head was the face of my father from a distant memory in the past.

He was smiling down at me, and I don’t know when it actually happened. I don’t know if that was even an imagination I was trying to come up but it felt real. And it felt like it really happened before. And for some reason, I was holding onto it. And the tears drowned me until it felt so hard to breathe. Only then did I finally realize, my brother and mother were also in the same state.

The cries of my mom echoed across the hall as she slumped down the floor with my brother trying to comfort her. How the hell did we came to this?

And for a second, words replayed in my mind. And in an instant, my body began moving again.

“You said it was an accident, wasn’t it?” I reconfirmed but I was not sure who I was speaking to. For a few seconds, no one answered back and when I thought I was not getting any, my brother’s voice finally broke the stillness.

“Yeah,” my brother answered and his voice came out hollowed and deep. “It was a car accident.”

“Okay.” My numb reply was followed by my body standing up as I pulled my phone from my pocket and speed-dialed Hudson in an instant.

The funeral came by like a whoosh. As soon as the news of my father’s death came out to the media, stockholders and executives started to express their worry and concern for the corporation. It left me no time to even think twice as I immediately assumed the post that my father had been taking care so well for so many years. The second I was there, I could not find any time to even breathe. It felt like the dull season was starting to feel even much colder as I sat in front of the mahogany desk inside my father’s former office and stared blankly across the room. The space was too much but the air was still too suffocating.

The intercom beeped and I habitually reached to answer it. The instant I did, the secretary’s voice came in like an automatic response.

“Mr. Hudson is here, sir.”

“Let him in,” I ordered and after a few seconds, my friend came into the doors, striding into the room as he approached the couch in the middle of the place and sat with ease as he gave me a knowing look.

“Did you find something?” my question was quickly raised as I pushed a button on the intercom and asked my secretary to bring us some coffee. I walked around the table and took the seat across Hudson as I waited for him to answer me back. He took a few moments, waited for the secretary to finally come in with the coffee and as soon as she closed the doors behind her after she left, he finally started speaking up.

“I’ve hit a red,” he vaguely remarked but I already knew what he meant by saying that. I quickly sat up from leaning back on the couch and gave him a sharp stare. “Your father had been running dirty business in Preston alongside the mayor. It is crucial, and I have to give you a heads-up, Taiyo. Your position in the company might get into a risky gamble if we try to expose everything.”

I already expected that. And I already weighed all the consequences that might happen and how everything that my father had built from brick by brick could possibly be jeopardized. But I had no plans to just quietly stay back and let this go on. I had to do something and for that reason, Nari’s face kept showing up inside my mind as these thoughts continued to play.

“We’ve got to do what we should, Hudson.” I told him with earnest sincerity and as we held each other’s eyes, he gave me a little jut of his jaw as if acknowledging my response.

“Then, I’ll start with the procedure,” he said as he picked up the coffee from the table between us and took a sip. “Do you want me to rush everything or should I wait for a signal first?”

“I still might need some time.” I admitted and with that, Hudson paused and looked at me with a frown.

“Why?”

“I need to go back to Avian Hills,” I confessed back and the second the words came out, the more intense I felt to drive my way to Nari right away. “I made a promise to someone and I have to keep my word.”

“Then,” with a smile, Hudson looked at me with a glint of recognition. “Just give me a call afterwards. Hope that works out for you, though.”

“Thank you, Hud.”

“Everything for my friend.”