Life Without You

Chapter 22 - Dread with Worry

It was a fresh, sunny Sunday afternoon. Hiroshi was at the open area of the garden at Ariel's house, teaching Andy how to balance on the two-wheel scooter he got for him on his birthday.

"Good job!" he clapped for the young boy who finally managed to balance and lean his posture in the right directions to manoeuvre the scooter without leaning on Hiroshi's hand after many failed attempts.

"Mum, see! I can ride the scooter on my own at last!" exclaimed Andy.

Ariel flashed the thumbs up sigh with a beaming smile from the patio as she placed the hot teapot filled with her homemade fruit tea and Nutella cookies on the garden table. She sat down and took a bite of a cookie, observing Hiroshi cheering on Andy as he tried to master the scooter. The father figure that Andy had been missing all his life was being filled well by Hiroshi, frozen in that moment. She looked intently at him, pondering on those things. After all, he was so different from Leon without all that drama - nicer, more stable and quite trustworthy.

"He's a great catch, eh?" said Rita as she joined her at the table.

Ariel rolled her eyes, betraying a shy smile.

"So tell me, Miss Beautiful. You having feelings for him?"

"I don't know. He's just so involved with me and Andy even though he doesn't need to do so."

"That's because he likes you," Rita elbowed her. "He's better than Leon."

"You think so?"

"Quite obvious, isn't it?"

"I just don't have the same strong feelings for him like I did for Leon, but he's real good to Andy like a -"

"Father?" Rita completed her sentence.

Ariel nodded.

"So are you trying to fall in love with him because he's good to Andy, and not so because of your feelings towards him?"

"I don't know. Perhaps. I look back on the men I fell for and they turn out to be bad eggs. But Hiroshi, he's different. I just...I just don't feel anything for him beyond that of a brother, sad to say," she sighed.

Rita patted Ariel's shoulder, "Give Hiroshi a chance when you're ready. And give yourself a chance when you're ready."

Ariel continued staring at Hiroshi, who smiled and waved at her, and she reciprocated the same.

A notification beep alerted both Ariel's and Rita's phones, but Ariel was not in a hurry to reply as she kept her attention to Hiroshi and Andy.

Camila: Guys! Leon fainted on stage and was rushed to the hospital! Big news!! (shows link)

Rita's eyes popped after clicking the link to the news site and saw vivid photos of Leon coughing blood on the stage and of him being wheeled on a stretcher unconscious into the ambulance. The images were disturbing.

"Oh no...no no no..." Rita gasped behind her hand.

"Anything wrong?" Ariel noticed her worried expression.

"Leon collapsed on stage and is right now in hospital!"

"What!!" Ariel sprang up from her seat.

"It's airing all over the world," Rita played the news on CNN on her phone and Ariel watched with her.

"...The singer was not in the best shape to perform and can be seen on stage faltering on his moves and convulsing..." The female narrator continued while clips of Leon's last performance played in the background. The clip then highlighted the last part where he called out Ariel's name, coughed out blood and fainted. "...so far, no word from the singer's reps has confirmed as to what might have caused his collapse."