| Fan Fiction |
by Chandra
At this moment, his mind wandered to the wretched soul next to him in the car. Her face looked peaceful, and Ron felt the guilt mounting high in his heart. Ron blamed himself because if not for him, the poor girl won’t be in such state.
And as he closed the door of his vehicle and carried the weightless body on his back, Ron realized that the raindrops had quickly fallen from the sky. The weather seemed to get worst and nastiest by the minutes. He had to get inside of the hospital as soon as possible before thunder and lighting struck both him and Rain.
Ron sighed in relief when he reached the entrance of the hospital. They were soaked a bit but no harm was done. Consequently, someone jumped out of nowhere and startled him. Ron looked up and was flabbergasted at the hatred in another man’s eyes.
“What did you do to her?” Bosco growled, his fists clenched tightly at the sight of Ron holding Rain. Bosco dashed forward, seizing the unconscious girl from Ron.
Wind rushed through the street. Lightning flashed across the sky. Thunder crashed overhead, booming so loud it almost shook the whole hospital. Spectators were apprehensive at the weather, trying to rush off to somewhere safe as they ignored the commotion in front of them.
“We need to get her registered into the ER.” Ron shouted despite the mad man beside him.
__
Tavia didn’t believe, because any other explanation chipped away at her sanity. And she was angry with her mother because … what? Because she thought her mother was dying and her father was going insane, and now everything turned out the way Tavia had never imagined would happen. Her dear mother was in the arms of another man. How forbidding the reality could be? Was her mother playing with her father’s emotions, mocking his grief?
Ruby didn’t blame for what her daughter felt, but there was anger in Ruby as well, and she didn’t know how much longer she could handle it in silence.
“Tavia, I’m sorry.” How could she begin when her daughter had seen everything? It wasn’t supposed to be like this. At this second, Ruby needed her family to be there to support her physically and mentally, not for her daughter to witness her disgraceful affair.
Yet words of apology did not seem to be appropriate at all. Instead, it only conveyed the shamefulness and humiliation Ruby had brought upon herself. Moreover, it fueled the wrath in Tavia’s heart, deeply and profusely.
“Mother, how can this happen? How can you say sorry when you’re with another man while father is terrified of your sickness?”
Her heart thudded with wretchedness at the harsh words. “Tavia, please, let me explain.” Ruby insisted desperately, tears now blinding her haunted brown eyes, her lower lips quivering pitiably.
“There’s no need for explanation. You disgust me, mother.”
Her heart screamed in pain. The truth of Tavia’s words was like a knife stabbing Ruby’s heart. Sharp. Deep. Painful. She had disappointed her daughter. No matter what. Ruby glanced away from the beady, accusing eyes, ashamed.
As Tavia made her last utterances, she stared intently at the pair again. The elder man was no longer holding Ruby and the distance between them seemed to be farther apart. Apparently, he was about to open his mouth and defend her mother’s actions, Tavia was so revolted, she quickly stepped out of the room and slammed the door. She didn’t bother to hear his words nor her mother’s denial.
__
“Rain!” She came back to herself with a jarring abruptness. Light flooded her vision, and the sudden cessation of the sounds of someone’s voice made the quiet environment seem almost deafening. And the familiar voice that had been in her head, its vibrant personality still incredibly strong despite the distance and despair and suffering, was gone as though it had never been there.
Even more than miserable, she looked … exposed. Completely vulnerable, stripped of even the few defenses she had managed to erect since waking up with the dizziness in her head.
“Bosco.” She said, her voice subdued than Bosco had yet heard it, her gaze fixed on Ron.
Rain had forgotten. In the excitement of fitting puzzle pieces together, of seeing Bosco again, she had forgotten what this was really all about. She had forgotten her cruel destiny. She had forgotten the rape, the loneliness, and the sorrow.
Rain gasped, muffled a groan of pain, and buried her face in her hand.
“Tell him to go away,” Rain whispered. Tears filled her eyes but didn’t fall. Her shaking hands twisted together in her lap, and she breathed as though struggling against an oppressive weight crushing her lungs.
Before Ron could intercept, Rain was trembling violently, her tears spilling over now to stream down her cheeks. A furious voice that came from beside Rain, drawled softly, scornfully, to Ron.
“Why don’t you take a hike some where? Like off a steep cliff, maybe.” Although Bosco sounded serious, sarcasm and annoyance could be heard.
Ron felt the need to defend himself. Who was Bosco Wong to order him what to do? Yet, in the urge of the moment, he knew he should leave the two alone. Ron wished to disappear, to go back in time and undid those mistakes, because right now, his mind was in chaos and his heart was full of turmoil. Infuriated at himself, Ron opened the door and walked out.
After the lad was gone, Rain relaxed. The tears she had tried to hold back, streamed down her face. Bosco wiped it away.
“Come here,” Bosco commanded. Rain knew she should resist, and some part of her feeble brain probably did give that order. But her body didn’t comply. Instead, she settled into his embrace as desperately as a toddler to its mother. It was a physical comfort she hadn’t experienced in decades, and as the warmth of his touch enveloped her, she realized with a rush just how much she had been starving for it.
And somehow Rain had craved to share her feelings with Bosco. All the torture, the betrayal, and the suffering, Rain had endured, she voluntarily revealed her soul to Bosco, whom had been with her since childhood. He was the only one she can trust, the only one she can depend on, and the one to be there for her.
Rain was half hiccupping and crying as she recapped the painful experiences vividly to Bosco. Humiliation crushed her heart yet she had no one to tell except him. She had the desire to let it all out and vent ups the distress that clouded her mind, body, and soul.
The images flashed quickly through her brain like an endless movie. Raymond had misled her all along. Those perverts who had tried to harass her. And then Ron who had come to her rescues and finally ended her motivation to live and took away her purity.
Rain tried to keep her voice even, knew she wouldn’t succeed. Her voice was broken. And she wept painfully. Her chest was aching. Her throat hurt so much she had trouble getting out the words.
Bosco looked at Rain. “It wasn’t your fault, Rain.” His voice was certain. But his eyes told her something else. Her own gaze fell, and she stared at the tissue rose he held, its delicate perfection emphasized by the blunt strength of his hand.
__
They sat in silence. They were, Ruby thought, being very polite. Both of them were acting as though nothing had happened between them, as though this tension didn’t exist. But it did. Her daughter had seen everything. And sadness engulfed her as Tavia’s words echoed in her mind.
“Jimmy, it’s time for you to go. I don’t want to suffer anymore.”
To Jimmy, she was formal, indifferent. He might have been a total stranger, a guest she suffered in her life out of courtesy and nothing else. More than once, Jimmy had the impression Ruby didn’t even see him when she looked at him. The evidence tore his heart apart at the realization.
How can Ruby spit out such remarks. She had changed. She was not the one he had fallen in love twenty years ago. He was an idiot to think that their love will survive through the barrier of time. Everything was too late. She rejected him.
Jimmy didn’t say a word as he turned his back to Ruby and left the room. Ruby was conscious of her heart beating quickly. Tears of hurt, anger, and frustration burned his eyes, but Ruby didn’t see.
___
Tavia leaned a hip against the desk and kept her gaze on Raymond who was scribbling down some notes in the folder. She had gone to Raymond’s office after she left her mother’s room. The event sickened her and Tavia knew she should not let her father know or else he’ll go extremely upset. And now, she was spilling out her heart to Raymond once again.
“You have had it rough, haven’t you?” Raymond’s understanding face mirrored the compassion in his voice. “I’m really sorry, Tavia. I wish I could help.”
“You said it yourself.” Tavia forced a smile. “All we can offer is our sympathy when someone else is in agony. Thank you for yours.”
“If there’s anything I can do to help, I will. Don’t forget that, Tavia.”
With absolutely no forethought, Tavia heard herself say, “Well, there is one thing. You can be the surgeon of my mother’s kidney transplantation.”
Raymond knew it was too late to take back his speech awhile ago. “But Bosco will oppose it. Above all that, he is also the one who knows the about the kidney donor.”
Tavia thought the world tilted. But the dizzy sensation passed quickly. “So you don’t know who it is?”
The doubt in her voice did not appease Raymond’s willingness to help. Eventually he said, “I can try to find out.”
Raymond disregarded Tavia’s presence, as he approached the desktop. After typing few words on the keyboard, Raymond clicked the mouse. In an instant, the answer on the screen of the computer appeared in front of him. He scanned the file electronically once again to make sure that it was the right one. Raymond grunted in disbelief as he stared at the name on the monitor ‘Rain Li.’
__
Ruby awoke in the middle of the day, totally disoriented. Although the room was dark, she could see her husband’s shape in the sleeping chair beside her bed. She had fallen asleep after Jimmy’s departure; Ruby hadn’t even noticed her husband in the room with her. Instantly, Ruby felt a jolt of pain and guilt at the same time. The scenes of a decade ago flashed through her mind.
Without thinking, Ruby reached out and with the backs of her fingers stroked gently down his cheek. His eyes opened immediately and he held out his arms to her, and she embraced them.
The years fell away and he was the man she had married. He was the man who had given her dear, brave Tavia, and who was human, but who would be forgiven, as humans should be if they were ever loved enough. He hugged her tight, and she hugged him back, and they once again had their world. And all around them, broken and bickering, were the enemies they had finally confounded.
___
July 1997
It was after one in the evening, and the storm was rumbling closer, when Alec emerged from the bedroom. He had retreated there soon after he and Ruby returned from her parents’ house, obviously upset by what Ruby had learned there, although she had told him it was nothing. Yet, he knew she lied.
Alec hadn’t meant to eavesdrop on Ruby’s chat with her parents. Now, he had discovered that Ruby had had deceived him all these years. Ten years of marriage, how can he be so foolish not to know that Ruby had another child besides Tavia. Most importantly, that child wasn’t his.
There was a word for it – depression. The Prozac had dulled his misery for a bit, but it had dulled him, too. Alec Su had wandered through the night like a zombie, the undead walking the earth, hardly caring, hardly functioning. Ruby had not called, and somehow Alec had expected her to as he as driving miserably on the dangerously slippery street.
At ten p.m., Alec had returned to the apartment so controlled and withdrawn there had been no way for Ruby to reach him, to touch him, even if she had dared try. Ruby hadn’t dared. That night he was drunk and he mumbled few incoherent words that Ruby couldn’t decipher.
The next morning, Ruby had uncovered the accident that her husband had gotten himself in. Last night, the storm was too strong and the rain was pouring heavily. She had noticed the scratches and broken windshield on his truck. Yet, Ruby had decided to keep quiet because it meant that Alec had found out her past and he had gone insane.
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Chandra
08/26/07