A Sulawesi Romance

Chapter 29

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Mark's POV

Of course I could understand why Gun had a sudden change of attitude towards his stepdad. I had come running to look for him in the hospital parking lot after the critical change in condition of his mom. There in the parking lot I saw him having some kind of argument with a man who later turned out to be his own father.

 I grabbed him to let him know that we had to be at his mom's side because the nurses had announced a code blue on her.

When we got to her room, to our big surprise, his stepdad was already at his mother's side ahead of all of us. Unfortunately, Gun's father had also run with us to the intensive care unit.

When Gun's father saw Gun's stepdad, Boat, at first, Gun's father had kept a distance and just stood by the doorway but when he realized that his ex-wife had passed away, he suddenly rushed forward and grabbed Boat out of the room, and right there by the nurses' station, he gave Boat a hard punch in the stomach.

The blow made Boat lose his balance and although he tried to grab the edge of the nurses' station's counter top, he fell to the floor.

The nurses immediately surrounded both men and one of them ordered Gun's father to leave the hospital or she would call security.

Thankfully, Gun's father walked away without causing further trouble.

I looked around for Gun. He was standing wide eyed by the doorway of his mom's room, watching the whole incident unfold.

I walked up to him and placed an arm around his shoulder. Suddenly he burst into tears and buried his face into the crook of my shoulder.

"I don't know what to believe anymore, Mark," he sobbed into my shoulder.

I held him tight saying, "Don't think of anything right now, Gun. Let's help your stepdad. He needs your help badly at this time."

I was mildly surprised when Gun lifted his face from my shoulder and said in a firm voice, his eyebrows meeting in a frown, "I don't know if I wanna do that."

I sighed but did not voice my disagreement.

I watched as Boat lifted himself from the floor and approached the nurse in charge behind the counter of the nurses' station.

The nurse asked him if he wanted her to call the mortuary to pick up Gun's mom's body.

Suddenly Gun left my side and rushed over to the nurse.

"I will be the one to take charge of the mortuary arrangements," I heard Gun say firmly to the nurse.

That was when I realized that somehow, after Gun's encounter with his real dad, Gun had suddenly developed a hostile attitude towards Boat. I wondered what Gun's dad had told him during that parking lot encounter.

I heard the nurse inform Gun that in the hospital records, it was Boat who was listed down as the patient's husband and responsible party and most importantly, as the patient's primary decision maker.

The information made Gun very, very angry. He poked a finger at Boat's face and said, "My father and I will make you regret that you messed with our lives."

I immediately noticed the hurt and the worried expression in Boat's face. I felt sorry for him but naturally I was going to take Gun's side. However I was going to do so by guiding him to avoid any further complications in his life.

"Come," I said to Gun, taking hold of his wrist. "Let's go and find some quiet place to calm you down."

"I feel exhausted," Gun confessed to me. "I wanna go home."

"Let's do that," I agreed with him. "Do you want me to drive your car for you?"

"Oh my gahd!" he suddenly exclaimed, breaking into a run. "I left it in the parking lot still running!"

We both made a run for the parking lot.

Thankfully we found Gun's father guarding it. He had parked his own van in its original parking spot and had parked Gun's car right beside his own. Someone had left and had made the space available for Gun's car.

Gun ran towards his father and Gun's father held out his arms for his son.

They held each other tightly, sobbing into each other's shoulders.

My own tears fell as I watched the emotional scene. At least Gun had me and his father to give him emotional support.

Suddenly, I remembered Boat who was all by himself back at the nurses' station having to deal with the mortuary arrangements of his deceased wife. My heart was torn between Gun's father and Gun's stepdad.