HIS SUICIDAL GIRL
❝I met the guy with his smile when my pen started to phlebotomize, and my fate has begun writing a new story.❞

19 - The Final Choice

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•THIRD PERSON•

When Bernadeth and Richard saw that Cj already left, they promptly locked the door as Richard said to his wife, "Check on Zachrey in his room and see what he's doing. We need to arrange the papers so that we can leave the soonest possible time."

Bernadeth nodded but before she went to check on Zachrey, she asked her husband a question.

"Hang on, why are we such in a hurry? We should be the one controlling our time," she said. "Let's take it one at a time."

"We need to go because I noticed that Zach's friend is starting to doubt us. Who knows, maybe our cover will get blown up, and we'll come out as the one with abject intentions," Richard answered.

"Besides, you have a point there. Even I lied to Zachrey, but I rue it. God knows I just did it for his own sake." She forced a smile on her husband and motioned to the stairs. "Okay, I'll go upstairs and check on Zachrey."

Bernadeth knocked on the door, but not a single soul ever answered. The door was not locked, so she took advantage of entering his son's room. There, he saw his son sleeping peacefully.

"I pity you, Son." A rainy expression registered on Bernadeth's face. "I know you're hurt, but we have to do this for your greater good."

She hurriedly went back to her husband after checking on her son and said, "Zachrey must've worn Zachrey out that made him fall asleep."

"Is that so?" Richard nodded. "I think it's better if we should go out together, we'll visit the embassy so that we can take care of the documents. After that, let's go to Kamiya High to process everything we need."

"What if Zachrey will take advantage of leaving the house when he wakes up?" Bernadeth asked. "I know that he will not even a second just to leave this house when he realizes that we're out."

"No, I believe he already kept in his mind the warning I gave him," Richard replied with a serious tone. "I know that our son is a kind and obedient man. He doesn't want us to fully lose our trust in him."

"Okay, fine. I'll go change. Just give me thirty minutes."

"Yeah, me, too."

When Zachrey woke up, he noticed that the house was so quiet. He immediately went down and confirmed that he was the only one left. He watched the clock and it was almost three pm already.

"I must have slept pretty well that I wasn't able to notice the time," he said and yawned. "Since Mama at Papa aren't here, now's the perfect time for me to go to the hospital."

It was almost four pm that he was able to get out of the house and went to the hospital. Before he could get too far, he heard a voice calling his name. When he turned around towards the source of a call, it was just his neighbor.

"Zachrey, your mother and father asked me to watch over you and to never let you leave the house while they are gone!" The neighbor shouted. "Where are you going, anyway?!"

"A-Ah, Mrs. Angela, I know about that because Mama and Papa told me that you'll be the one to watch over me!" It made Zachrey run his fingers through his hair and scratch the back of his neck. However, he immediately found an alibi to back him up. "But Mama also ordered me to buy some food for tonight's dinner!"

That made his neighbor massage her nose bridge.

"Your parents never told me a thing about it!" His neighbor yelled again. "All they told me was if I see you outside, I should prevent you from leaving and will bring you back inside your house!"

Zachrey tried his best to keep his composure and calmly said, "Oh, okay, Mrs. Angela! If you insist, I'll go back to the house, and you'll be the one to buy dinner! Wait, here's the money..."

Zachrey acted as if he was getting money from his wallet.

"A-Ah, fine! You go and buy the food that you need since I don't know what your parents have told you! Just be sure to come back right away!"

It was like a thorn has been lifted from his hearing, and he promptly dashed off and waited for a cab.

While at the hospital, only the two cousins were there since there was no class that week because of some school events. To their surprise, Zachrey suddenly entered the room.

"Z-Zachrey?!" Hindi napigilan ni Les na mapatayo sa gulat dahil sa kanyang nakita. "Saan ka ba galing?! Panay tawag kami and text sa'yo pero 'di ka man lang sumagot kahit minsan man lang! Ano bang nangyari?!"

"Z-Zachrey?!" Les could not help but abruptly stand up in surprise because of what she just witnessed. "Where the hell have you been?! We kept on calling and texting you, but you never even answered at least a single one of them! What happened?!"

Les never expected to see Zachrey's face anew. She was very frantic as she stared at him.

"How many times have we visited you at your house, but your mother said you were not there. I just passed you at your house, and I even talked to your dad. He said you bought something at the grocery store. He even said that your phone and number are new, so we can not contact you," Cj said.

Zachrey was shocked to hear from two of his friends. But instead of answering all his questions, he hurried to Xiamin's hospital bed.

While watching Xiamin sleeping, he could not help but cry. He felt sorry for her and blamed himself for why it took so long before he could return. He stroked her hair and held Xiamin's hand tightly. Because of that, Xiamin woke up and opened her eyes. There, she saw Zachrey crying.

The two cousins, Les and Cj, decided to go out of the room first to give the two of them time to talk deeply.

"Z-Zachrey..." Despite the pain, the young girl felt inside, she still tried her best to call out his name. "T-Thank God you're f-finally here."

Zachrey's heart jumped for joy when he heard those words coming from Xiamin.

"X-Xia, I'm here at last! I'm so sorry that I w-wasn't able to visit you for weeks because-"

Before he could continue to elucidate himself, Xiamin signaled him to stop and said, "It doesn't matter... What's important is that you are here now beside me... T-That's beyond enough for me."

"I assure you, I promise that no matter what, no one could ever set us apart!"

The two continued talking for hours and surprisingly, Xiamin never felt exhausted. She looked as if there was nothing wrong with her. However, their moments were abruptly stopped when Xiamin's parents arrived.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Andrea was frustrated to see the Zachrey's face with her daughter. "After all these days, you showed up here as if you haven't created a situation! You didn't even bother to call or text to ask about our daughter's condition!"

Andrea cried while shoving Zachrey away from her daughter.

"N-No, Mommy! It wasn't his fault!" Xiamin shouted and tried to reach out to Zachrey.

"It should be better if you leave now, Zachrey." Scott's voice was calm, but his eyes were not. "We don't need you here. You already caused so much trouble and pain to Crystal. Please, give her the chance to be happy, and that's without you."

Zachrey was so hesitant and as he promised to Xiamin, he wants to fight his love for her.

"Sir, I know how you feel, and I know it's my fault. But with all due respect, I don't want to leave her. Please, I'm asking you to reconsider, and allow me to stay," Zachrey pleaded with Xiamin's parents.

Andrea and Scott became even more stubborn.

"If you love our daughter," Scott uttered. "you should leave her alone, and allow her to live her life to the fullest. If you continue to insist to stay, I will be forced to drag you outside." He never hesitated to issue the final warning to Zachrey.

"No, Daddy!" Andrea and Scott looked at their daughter. She struggled to stand, while Zachrey held his ground for he does not want to leave the room. Then, they heard banging at the door-Zachrey's parents suddenly arrived.

"What did you do to my son?!" Richard stared with so much intensity at Scott.

"Zachrey, why did you disobey us? What can you get out of your mania, huh?" Bernadeth has lost her cool, too.

"It would be better if you take your son with you right now," Andrea began to sound like a tiger. "He is not needed here, anyway."

Both parties were ready to explode at that moment. When suddenly, "STOP!" Everyone in the room shut their mouths up. It was Xiamin, who at that time was gasping for her breath.

Zachrey immediately rushed towards her and wrapped her around his arms. But, it was only short-lived because Scott separated the two.

Again, the calm turns into chaos as Andrea and Scott prevented Zachrey to get closer towards Xiamin. Bernadeth and Richard persistently tried to grab their son away from the girl. Cj and Les try to calm Xiamin down. Upon realizing that the situation was not getting any better, Zachrey decided to let go of his promise to Xiamin and go with his parents to avoid further conflict.

But before leaving, he managed to take one final glance to Xiamin. There, he saw how blue her eyes were. Without saying a word, he turned around towards the door and left with his parents.

There was silence in the room as the door shut.

It was when that Xiamin's world fell on her. She cried furiously with barrels of tears running down her cheeks. Both Cj and Les tried in vain to calm her down.

Scott urgently ordered Cj to call Doctor Fidji. "Cj, quick! Call Doctor Fidji or any doctor available at the Nurse's Station!"

"Right away, Uncle!" Cj answered quickly and ran out.

"Come on, Andrea, do something to calm her down!" Scott worriedly said to his wife.

"What do you think I'm doing, Scott?!" Andrea could not help but exclaim.

Cj came back panting and said, "T-Tito, Tita Fidji is n-not yet in, and I can't find any d-doctor available at the Nurse's Station!"

"Then, find someone else that might help, and I don't care where you find one! Don't come back without a doctor with you!" Scott was crystal clear hysterical.

Even though he was tired of running, he did nothing and went back outside to find a doctor. Les also volunteered to join the search.

Meanwhile, inside the car pf Zachrey's parents, he was silent and quietly sat in the back, while his tears kept dripping. He kept looking around as if he were looking at the hospital that was slowly disappearing from his sight.

He could not fully imagine that he could not fight Xiamin with his parents again. However, he also thought that maybe it was right for them to leave first to avoid the serious trouble that could happen.

"Zach, where do you want to eat?" his father asked as if nothing had happened.

"Yes, Son, we are very famished, and we have not been eating out together for a long time," his mother added.

However, Zachrey seemed to hear nothing. Xiamin's sad and crying face continued to play in his mind as he walked out the door of his hospital room.

"Zach, can you hear us?" Richard repeatedly asked while looking in the rearview mirror of their car. "We will eat first before we go home. Where do you want?"

But like the first, no words came out from his son.

"Son, we'll eat at your favorite fast-food chain. Somehow, your stomach will be full," Bernadeth suggested to Zachrey.

"Yes, Zach, we will eat at your favorite fast-food chain. Order anything you want."

However, Zach's only response to his parents' suggestions was, "Mom, Dad, I'm tired. Can we just go home? I'm not famished, anyway. Besides, eating can never resolve my problem."

"But, Zach-" Richard suddenly paused when Bernadeth stopped him.

"Okay, Son, if that's what you want. Let's just go home," he said. "but can we go through McJolly first? Let's just have a drive-thru because there is no food at home. After all, I wasn't able to prepare dinner."

Zachrey was speechless. He kept looking into the distance, but he was not looking at something.

When they arrived home, Zachrey immediately went straight to his room

"That! That's what he gets in his mania!" Richard said angrily. "Even the girl's parents don't accept him, how can they keep their feelings for each other in such a godforsaken plight?"

"It's also my fault. If I only allowed our son to openly express his feelings towards that girl, Zachrey wouldn't have kept a secret from us," Bernadeth tearfully said her thoughts. "It's my fault!"

"What's done is done. All we have to do right now is focus on our trip abroad."

Meanwhile, back at the hospital, everything and everyone was already calm, and the cousins have already gone home. Xiamin was sedated by her Doctor-Aunt Fidji who happened to visit her niece earlier than usual.

"What happened? Why is Crystal so hysterical when I arrived? Thank heavens, I came here early."

Andrea and Scott told Doctor Fidji everything that has happened that day.

"So, what's your plan now?" Doctor Fidji asked. "Will you continue to discharge tomorrow?"

"Yes, Doc, our decision is absolute," Andrea answered with full of determination.

Then, Scott added, "It would be better for her to be at home so that we can watch her closely, and that man will not breed any more trouble."

"Okay, if that's your decision. Anyway, don't worry because your house is about twenty minutes drive from where I live," she uttered. "I'll check on Crystal more often."

"Thank you so much, Doc! We appreciate it," Scott thanked the doctor.

"Don't mention it." She smiled. "You know Crystal is my favorite niece. I'll be at the Nurse's Station the whole evening, and before my duty ends tomorrow, I will check on her so I can accompany you when you go home."

Meanwhile, back at the Mizuno residence, Zachrey was bored because he did not have a cellphone; no internet; or there is no gadget that he can use to keep him busy. All of those were confiscated by his parents. He tried to sleep, but his mind was so pre-occupied with all the things that happened that day.

Suddenly, he heard a beep from a cellphone. It was almost midnight, so he tried to make sure if he was awake or just simply dreaming. When he realized that he was awake, he followed where the sound came from, and it was from his jacket. So, he immediately checked his pocket, and there, he found Cj's phone.

"Why is this here?" Zachrey wondered in his mind. "It's impossible."

The phone rang again, and the call was from Cj. So, he immediately answered it.

"H-Hello?"

"Hi, Dude! Si Cj 'too! Thank you and finally, you answered my call!"

"I was also surprised because I did not notice that there was a cellphone placed in the pocket of my jacket. Not to mention that your phone is so small, Dude! It's good that it did not fall and disappear."

"If you lose that, you'll have to pay for it."

"You are full of corny jokes, Cj. But thank you, and how did it end up in my jacket pocket?"

"Thank you, too that no one noticed when I put it in the pocket of your jacket during the commotion."

Cj was stunned to find out what happened to his best friend. The two talked for a long time and there, Zachrey told Cj everything. Cj also recounted everything that happened, especially when they left.

Cj was about to tell Zachrey that Xiamin was ought to be checked out tomorrow, but suddenly there was a knock on the young man's door. To the extent of his shock, the cellphone was dropped and was eventually damaged to the core.

"Son? Open the door." He immediately opened the door.

"Yes, Ma? Is there something you need? What is it?"

"I feel like I hear you talking to someone here. Are you okay, Son?" Bernadeth in astonishment.

"Yes, Ma, I'm okay. I only have a poem to memorize, so maybe that's what you heard," Zachrey replied sarcastically.

"If you want, Son, I will bring you food here. You must not be so hungry. You might get sick," Bernadeth said with worry.

"No need, Ma. I'm okay, and I have no appetite. Okay, Ma, I'll go to sleep now." Zachrey slowly closed his door.

He even tried to fix the cellphone, but it was broken due to the force of the fall.

On the other line, Cj tried to contact Zachrey again. Sadly, to no avail. He has no idea of what happened to his phone, or Zachrey in general.

Back to Zachrey. Finally, he came to his senses and decided not to go with his parents abroad no matter what happens.

"No matter what happens, I do not want to go with Mom and Dad to the States. If they force me to come, it would be better for me to just run away from home," Zachrey said in his mind. "I will find it for the right time. I will pretend to be with them. But little do they know, I'll be gone before they know it."

The next day, Xiamin was successfully discharged and released from the hospital. They were ought to set straight to their house with the two cousins. As they were traveling home, Cj told Les that he and Zachrey had talked, and he already knew who was at fault and what happened. For the time being, they decided not to let Andrea and Scott know, especially Xiamin what they had discovered.

Meanwhile, Zachrey began his plan to pretend that he already surrendered to his parents' will.

"Mom, are you going somewhere now?" he asked.

Bernadeth answered, "Only your dad will leave after we have breakfast. I will be staying here, and I will watch over you."

"Why, Ma? Don't you trust me? Didn't I already agree with you to go abroad? After all that, you're still going to treat me like that?" Zachrey pretended to be conscientious, while Richard was still dressing up.

"It is good to be sure. The last time we were away, you ran away and went to the hospital. Fortunately, we caught up with you before that girl's father did something worst to you."

Deep inside, the young man was offended because he knew it would not have happened if his mother had not lied to him and if only he had been allowed to go to the hospital, to begin with.

Two days had already passed. He still could not find the right time, and all his parents were watching over him very strictly. However, he still has not lost hope that one day, before they leave, his plans to flee and be with Xiamin will be fulfilled.