My Guardian Love

Chapter XVII

The next morning, Chan desperately tried to calm me down. I was angry. I didn't want to see anyone, I just wanted to be alone. "Thank you for letting me stay here."
"You can stay for as long as you need to. You always have a place here." He patted my back. "Are you hungry? You didn't eat anything last night."
"No, I'm not. I have to go." I quickly put my shoes on.
"Where are you going?"
"I have to check on Felix. I left in a hurry without letting him know where I was going. He's probably worried sick." I kissed his head and went out the door. "I promise, I'll talk to you later." I didn't drive here, so I was forced to walk home. It had been a while since I was able to walk places by myself. Normally, I can only walk so far until I collapse.

When I arrived, Felix was waiting for me. He was sleeping on the porch. I walked over to him. "Did you sleep here all night?" He looked at me, still half asleep.
"Just in case you decided to come home."
"I'm sorry. I needed some time. If I had known, I would have came back." I helped him up. "Let's go inside." We walked through the door, still staggering from how tired he was.
"Where did you go?" He put his blanket on the couch.
"I stayed with Chan last night." I put my coat on the rack and sat next to him.
"Mom called the house. She wanted to talk to you."
"I don't want to speak to them right now." He handed me the phone, but I refused. "Did you not hear what they said to me?"
"I did and it wasn't right. You don't owe them anything." He went to the kitchen. "Do you want anything?" I shook my head and went to my room.
I stared at my list of things I wanted to do. I felt as if I wasn't allowed to continue anymore. I was getting weak and I was soon to be hospitalized for good. All of the things I wanted to do seemed unbearable.
I called Chan to let him know I got home safely. The phone rang, but he never picked up. I sent him a quick message, assuming he was busy. "I made it home. Call me when you can." I sent it and laid my phone next to me on the table.

Hours went by and there was nothing from Chan. The phone never made a sound, he never read my message. I felt sick, almost as if a part of me was missing. I stood up and immediately felt dizzy. I heard a faint voice in the background, but I couldn't make it out. I blacked out and hit the floor. My ears were ringing, but I could hear a man call out to me.
When I came to, I wasn't home. It was a dark, cold room with no way in or out. I walked around, slowly panicking. "Hello!" I screamed but it echoed across the room.
"Do you want to live?" The lights came on and a man walked towards me.
"What?"
"I can save you." I backed into a corner, trying to get out.
"Who are you?"
"Someone who can help you." He was holding a book in his hands. "Read this." He handed it to me. I read the first few pages and it all felt so familiar.
"What is this?" I held it in my hands.
"Your life. Your fate is undecided which is why the last few pages are blank." I opened the book and flipped to the back. They were blank. "You have a choice. You can live and the book writes itself or you can stick to your original fate and it'll end here."
"I don't understand."
"You will die soon. Your fate is up to you." I stared at him, trying to figure out what was going on.
"What if I don't change my fate?"
"You will die in the next 10 days." I wasn't set to die that soon. I still had a month left.
"I want to change my fate." He smirked.
"Are you sure? In order to change it, I need something from you."
"What do you want?" He came closer.
"Chan." Hearing those words made me nauseous. "He will be taken out of your life and assigned to someone else."
"I can't." Tears formed in my eyes. "He needs me."
"You will never remembered he existed. It will be like erasing him from your mind." I couldn't lose him, but if I die, he'll lose me anyways. If I change it, we both get to live and maybe we can find our way back to each other.
"I'll do it, for his sake."

When I woke up, I could hardly remember what I was doing before. Felix ran into my room. "Are you okay?" He helped me off the floor.
"I don't remember what happened. My head hurts." I rubbed my head.
"Let's get you to the hospital." He rushed me out the door and into the car.
When we got there, I was checked in for treatment. "Did you hit your head, miss?" The doctor asked.
"I think so." My brain was still a bit fuzzy.
"You seem perfectly fine. Thank you for coming in, it could've been worse." She smiled and walked out of the room.
I grabbed my things and met with Felix in the waiting room. "Everything was fine." He sighed with relief.
As I walked out the door, I couldn't help but feel like I was missing something. "You alright?"
"Yeah, I just feel like I forgot something." I looked around for a bit. "It's probably nothing." I stepped out the door, passing a man. He bumped into me.
"I'm so sorry!" I apologized. We stared at each other for a while
"Do I know you?" He asked. "I feel like I've met you before."
"What's your name?"
"Chan, and yours?" He stared.
"Nina. It's nice to meet you." I shook his hand. "I'm sorry, I don't think I know you." We parted ways.

When I arrived home, I kept getting this weird feeling about the man I met. Maybe I've seen him at the hospital before? But I don't think that's it. I feel like I should know him. Almost like there's roots between us. Maybe it was the illness, but there was something about him.