His Eyes

HIS EYES: Chapter 28

WHY? OF all people why them? Did I hurt them that much which made their decision to kill me? To torture me? To make me suffer in the hardest way? I almost lost my voice when I shouted. I used all of my force which drained my remaining energy.

I bumped to him as hard as I would like a heavy truck could do. I grabbed his shirt and it was the opposite of my expectation because I wasn't able to raise him up. When I was about to strike the dagger on Neo's chest, two consecutive gunshots stopped me from doing it. It felt like my feet were glued on the floor and my body was paralyzed. I ran out of breath and I needed oxygen as fast as possible when I looked down. Blood was all over on my shirt. Neo... It couldn't be.

"Carthik! Remove his eyepatches!" a familiar voice shouted, it was Hendre. He wasn't holding a gun and was running to us. It was Orlstein who did it. I looked down and saw Adolf, bathing on his own blood. I did what he told me to do.

In my surprise, I saw Adolf's eyes. He had eyes. That's why he could still see. And his eyepatches were different. There was a small hole that was tinted with black. I stared at his eyes to make sure that he's already dead.

I felt a light hand on my weak shoulder and it was Orlstein. She helped me to stand up. My mind was telling me to never look at Neo's cold dead body but it turned the other way around. His face was ruined, a headshot.

I lost my strength and allowed myself to lie down on the floor, arms spreading as wide as I could. The pain that I had forgotten signaled my brain to feel it. And now it was eating my whole body.

"Carthik, I'm so sorry. I swear, I was having second thoughts----," I cut her off. Then I laughed like I won the battle. It's over! Adolf's gone as well as my brother, Neo.

"Where are the others?" I asked weakly.

"I told Xamra to call them and check them if they are still fine," Hendre said while making sure that Adolf was already dead.

"I see. Xamra is on our side. That Conrad deserves to die anyway. How's your hand?," I said, my voice was getting softer.

"It still hurts but I don't mind it," he said, showing his hand covered with cloth.

"We won," I said. "We won! It's over!"

"You're right. We won," Hendre and Orlstein said together.

~<>~

The stars, as well as the moon, had taken over the horizon. The smell of the damp earth, old fallen leaves, fresh air, the sound of a nearby bank which I didn't notice when we first arrived in the forest helped me to recover from the pain but not totally. Flashlights were the only source of light we had.

Fifteen officers were wounded, two were in a critical condition, and one died. None of the bandits survived. All of them weren't just ordinary bandits they were also members fro9m the gang called Kill2Death which was the most famous wanted gang in the city. Adolf was their leader and founder. He was the one who taught them and was responsible for the crimes in the city and other towns. The old warehouse was their headquarters.

I stayed in the hospital for almost three weeks already. The doctor told me to wear a splint on the knee. My arm was also fractured. It took me a couple of weeks to treat my swollen parts of the body. Orlstein was taking care of me and Hendre, though he was not my doctor, kept on visiting me. Moving was my greatest enemy because my muscle still hurt. Hendre fixed the eyeglasses he gave because it was broken during the incident.

"Carthik," Orlstein said who had just entered the room. The back of her head was covered with a small bandage. She got it from the platform that Adolf used to hit her head. She still took care of me despite her condition and I really admired her because of that.

"You have some visitors," she said. I realized I was smiling the whole time.

"How are you?"

I was speechless and at the same time, I was ashamed of myself. I couldn't afford to look at them. Asion and Christina.

"I'm still recovering," I answered politely. Christina smiled without showing her teeth while Asion remained serious. "I'm sorry."

"Thank you for protecting our daughter. We don't know what to do if something worse happened to her," Asion said, giving me a light hug. I glanced at Orlstein, she was staring at the floor.

"There's no point on blaming you for what happened. The important thing is that you and my daughter are safe," Christina added.

"We're bringing Orlstein back in our hometown since Auren's case is finally done. She needs to work and we care about her future," Asion said.

I wanted to object but I didn't have the right to do it. All I ever did was cause trouble to Orlstein and her family. Just like what I had thought, I would be alone after everything.

"I understand," I said even though it hurt. Both of them nodded and left the basket of fruits on the desk beside my bed.

The door closed as they went out of the room. I was silent for a moment, absorbing what they said earlier. Orlstein was still with me, not talking too.

Though Adolf's gone and Fraux's dead, something seemed to be lacking. Or should I say, someone? Was he still alive or the bullet had pierced his cold heart?

"Carthik," Orlstein called, sitting beside me. "Be strong, okay?"

"Neo? Can I see his body?" I asked, maintaining my tone. She looked down and sighed. "Don't be sorry, Orlstein. Neo's with Auren now, at peace."

"His body was already buried, Carthik. Do you still hate him?" she asked, looking at me. There was a long pause after she told me that Neo's body had been buried already.

Answering her question was as difficult as answering what is the purpose of living. Although the answer was just a simple yes or no, I thought about having a beautiful change to myself. In fact, I was the reason why he was successfully manipulated by Adolf because I didn't tell him the most important word. It was the word, sorry.

"I hated him for several years but it didn't change anything, it only made things worst. You're right, I know it's too late but I regret all the things that I had done. After all, he's still my brother," I answered. 

The answer I had given and the long pause coalesce into the heavy ambiance earlier. The sunlight shone through the window, turning my face into tan hue. With my sunglasses on, the light didn't hurt my eyes.

"How about you? Are you mad at me? At my whole family?" I asked, looking at her. Was it just my imagination or not? I saw her eyes glowed. How wished I could see those eyes without sunglasses.

"No."

One word but I could feel her sincerity in her answer.

"When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow."

Literally, my jaw dropped and my saliva almost fell down.