Finding Love Abroad

Sayonara

Trigger for abuse

"What happened?" I ask, trying to act rationally. Ryder suddenly comes and hugs me. I sit down on the chair and take him in my lap, and he is sobbing and sniffling.

"What happened, buddy?" I stroke his hair, trying to calm him down.

"A...Andrew w..ent downstairs to.. to make some popc..corn for me and... I.. and... I.. suddenly heard a loud noise from the kitchen..I.. I ran downstairs and found him unconscious with a broken bowl near his feet," Ryder informs me, his voice breaking.

I try to calm him down while Raven takes care of things with Andrew. Ten minutes later, Raven comes with a water bottle.

"What happened?"

"He is awake, and the doctors took him to take a CT scan. He told the doctor that he had chest pains. He also told him about what happened during prom. The doctors will inform us what is wrong with him after taking a look at his scan results," I simply nod. This day has really taken a toll on my mental and physical health.

The doctor treating Andrew comes to us with the report shortly after Ryder falls asleep on my lap. The whole family is here.

"From the CT scan, I was able to tell that the boy was abused. Andrew did explain to me in detail about it now. I am sorry to say this but, after I took a look at his heart, I was able to find a lot of broken pieces of glass in his heart," the breath catches in my throat.

"We will have to perform surgery on him to remove the pieces of glass. But it is a very risky process. There is a chance of heart failure during the surgery. We will have to arrange for a heart transplant for the surgery to be successful,"

"If I can get your consent, I will arrange for a heart and keep it ready for the surgery in case something goes wrong," the doctor informs us.

"Yes, please, please perform the surgery as soon as possible," Raven pleads. The doctor nods and leaves to get ready for the surgery. I hand Ryder to Raven and go to see Andrew.

The worst part about this whole thing is that both my brothers are admitted to the same hospital and in the room next to each other. I feel like laughing at my life now.

I knock and enter the room. Andrew looks up and smiles.

"Hey, Kiara,"

"Hey, Andrew," I take a seat beside his bed.

"You should have told me sooner," I whisper.

"I am sorry, Kiara. I didn't want to be a burden,"

"When will you realize that you are not a burden, Andrew?" I question, feeling exasperated.

"You are a part of my life now. I can't lose you too. Everybody close to me leaves me eventually. They all leave, making me chase after their shadows afterwards. That's why I never befriended anyone after Anna and Divya back there in India. But after coming here, I found four best friends who became close to me and a family and lastly you,"

"I should have told you sooner, but I didn't want you to worry about me. He often hit me with alcohol bottles after breaking them in half, and glass pieces would enter my body, and I did my best to take them out. But there is only so much I can do,"

"Don't worry, Andrew. You will go through surgery, and the doctors will remove all the pieces, and you will be alright,"

"I hope so. But I am not stupid, Kiara. There is a chance of my heart failing during surgery" he chuckles, a pained one.

"I don't want to die, Kiara. I finally found a family and sister who saved my life, a beautiful girlfriend, who I want to marry and have a family. I want to prank more people with you. I want to swim with all of you again and look at the beautiful stars. I want to fight with your friends on who is going to become your future child's godfather. There is still so much more I wanted to do," he finally whispers.

"I am so tired of losing people close to me, Andrew," I finally break.

"I know,"

"In the future, if by any miracle, I am still alive, let's marry the people we love and have a family that we deserve, Kiara," he informs me, smiling through his tears.

"Fight for me during the surgery, ok? Fight your fate. Let's create our fate. Together," I smile to show him that I am strong. He nods, crying.

I hug him tight, not knowing whether this might be the last time I might hug him.

"Thank you for making the past year in my life memorable, Kiara. I am so happy that you decided to save me,"

"I love you, Andrew,"

"I love you, Kiara," I place a kiss on his forehead and leave the room. I will see him again after the surgery.

"Kiara. Keith wants to see you," Reed informs me. I nod, and he pulls me into a hug.

"Reed, will I lose them both?" I question him crying.

"You won't sparkle. Everything is going to be fine. I promise that I will be with you and so will they. Till we have grey hair and when one of our ears stops working. Till I die, I will be with you. You won't lose either of us," he kisses my forehead.

"I love you sparkle always have and always will,"

"I love you too, Reed. Don't leave me," I grieve. I break from the hug and go into Keith's room.

"How is he?" he questions about Andrew.

"He will have his surgery soon, and he will be fine," I assure both myself and Keith.

"I am sorry, Kia, for making you worry," I shake my head.

"You are an idiot. It's not your fault that you are here,"

"You always keep your feeling within yourself. You don't tell other people. You are so mentally strong. You will get through this," he smiles.

"We will get through this, Keith. I am not letting you go. I need you to walk me down the aisle during my marriage. I need you to threaten my future husband that you will kill him if he ever hurts me. I need you to be there for my kid's first birthday. I just need you in my life," I plead.

"Yeah. We," he shakes his head and smiles sadly.

"How foolish of me to think it's only going to be you," I chuckle.

"It's late, go home, and I will see you tomorrow, ok?" I nod and wish him night. Blake takes us back home, and I spend the night recalling happy and sad moments I had with my brother, occasionally crying and cursing life for doing this to me. Then I remember life is not a fairytale. This is what makes me stronger. This pain, this situation, is what makes me stronger. This is life.

The next day I wake up and rush to the hospital to see my two brothers. I enter one of the rooms and greet him. He looks at me and smiles sadly, and he also looks sorry.

"Live for me, ok? Don't ever hate your life,"

"I am sorry for doing this to you," He starts crying but smiles through his tears and continues,

"I love you. Remember that. Tell my girlfriend that I love her too. I am sorry for not going to be there for you. Thank you for making my life memorable," I look at him, confused as to why he is telling me that. We are going to live a long happy life together with the family that we deserve.

"Sayonara, Kiara," he smiles widely, tears running down his cheeks. Then I heard it.

Beeeeeep.

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There is only one more chapter left and the book will come to an end. It's been a long happy journey. Let me know what you think about this chapter. Remember Jesus loves you.

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