Lean On Me [COMPLETED]

Chapter 4: Toughen Up, Kid

"Look. Tina. I have something to tell you," Charlotte takes a deep breath, ready to tell Tina how she feels.

"I ha-," Charlotte's reply to Tina is cut short for Charlotte hears her mom and her brother panic from downstairs.

"What was that, Charlotte?" Tina asked.

"Sorry I gotta go. It's my mom and Zach," Charlotte puts her phone down and goes down immediately.

"Mom! What happened?" Charlotte exclaimed as she reached down stairs.

"Your dad. He's having a difficult time to breath," Mrs. Yaleman says.

"What?! What...what happened?" Charlotte exclaims in fear.

"He...he just took a nap and when I woke him up for dinner, he started to have difficulties breathing," Mrs. Yaleman explained.

"Call 911, Zach," Charlotte advised Zach.

"On it, sis," Zach heads to the living room and calls for an ambulance.

Fifteen minutes later, the ambulance arrives and the Yaleman Family all rush to the hospital. When they reached the hospital, Mr. Yaleman was quickly confined and surrounded by nurses and a doctor.

"What's happening to my husband?" Mrs. Yaleman asked the doctor.

"It seems like he's trying to catch his breath," The doctor replied.

"His heart condition. He's having chest pains again," Zach added.

"Does he take his medications?" The doctor asked.

"Yeah. Yeah. He takes it everyday," Mrs. Yaleman responded nervously.

"It looks like dad's condition has gotten much worse," Charlotte remarked.

"Just let your husband rest, ma'am. Let's hope he'll feel better in a meantime," The doctor noted as he left the family.

"Hey! Anybody wanna eat dinner?" Zach asks.

"Zach, we can eat later!" His mom exclaims.

"Mom, calm down. Dad's gonna get better," Charlotte says.

"Sorry. I just have too much on my mind," Mrs. Yaleman apologized to her children.

Their mom sits down and they have dinner. Time passed by and everyone was sleeping except Zach. Zach was determined to stay awake in case that his father needs something. Zach set his chair beside his father's bed and held his hand.

"Everything's gonna be alright, son," Mr. Yaleman suddenly spoke.

"Dad. You're awake," Zach replied.

"Zach. Listen. If I'm gone...you'll need to protect your mom and your sister just like I did when you were young," Mr. Yaleman said as he coughed.

"Dad. Don't you say that. You're gonna be fine," Zach replied in tears.

"You can do this. Promise me? OK? Please, Zach...toughen up for your mom and sister," Mr. Yaleman added as he smiled.

"Anything for you, dad," Zach replied with a smile.

After their conversation, Mr. Yaleman fell asleep, which made Zach panic, quickly checking his father's pulse, which was thankfully, still beating.

"Phew. I thought you were gone," Zach said moments before he also fell asleep.

   The next day...

"Zach, wake up," Charlotte wakes his brother up.

"Oh hey, sis. What time is it?" Zach asked.

"And where's mom? Dad too. Where are they?" Zach asked anxiously.

"It's ten in the morning. They're...mom's with...dad," Charlotte replied whose voice was breaking.

"Mom's with dad? What do you mean?" Zach asked hastily.

"Dad...he already...he passed away, Zach. He died at seven in the morning," A tearful Charlotte replied.

"No. NO. That can't be true!" Zach exclaims in sadness.

"I'm so sorry, Zach," Charlotte replied.

"Wha...what happened?" Zach replied as he was wiping tears from his eyes.

"Mom. She woke up to check on him and he wasn't breathing anymore. So she called the doctor to confirm it," Charlotte explained.

"Where's mom now?" Zach asked.

"She's in the morgue with the doctor right now," Charlotte replied as he hugged Zach.

An hour later, Mrs. Yaleman comes back, crying and hugs her children. Funeral is later arranged with the help of other family members. Charlotte's friends were the first ones to come to her father's funeral.

"I'm really sorry about your dad, Charlotte," Prince expressed his sorrows for his best friend.

"Everything's gonna be alright, Charlotte. I'm always here for you," Tina says as she gives her best friend a hug.

"Where's your brother?" Tina asked.

"Oh. He's in that room. He won't talk to anyone," Charlotte explains.

Zach, who was grief stricken, won't talk to his friends or anyone, which made it hard for his friends and family to comfort him. However when Charlotte and her friends came to talk to him, he tried to warm up.

"Hey Zach, someone's here to see you," Charlotte says as she knocks on the door.

"Zach. Please. Let us in. Tina and Prince are here," Charlotte added.

"Fine. You can come in," Zach replied.

Charlotte and her friends quietly come in and tries to help Zach.

"How you doing, buddy?" Prince asked. 

"I'm fine. How bout you guys?" Zach smiled.

"We're fine too. It's you we're worried about. Are you sure you're doing alright?" Tina replied.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I promise," Zach acknowledged.

"Anyways if you need us, we'll always be here for you," Tina said as hugs Zach.

However, as Charlotte and her friends were about to go, Zach was able to open up and told them to stay.  Despite Charlotte and her friends' effort to console Zach for days, it was no help because he became depressed and unable to cope with what he felt. During these tough times, Zach became short-tempered, rarely spoke and often had nervous breakdowns. Although, Charlotte always helped her brother come through any problem he had. His depression heavily interfered with his school for he wasn't able to do his school works properly. It also became a burden for his mother.

   One month has passed since Mr. Yaleman's death, Zach now participates in a mental therapy session for adolescents every weekend, which was able to decrease his trauma. In one of those weekends, Zach met a girl, who was also in the therapy group for she was also suffering from the loss of her older brother, who died of car crash. Her name was Jenna Marie Arden, she was also an eighteen year old girl. She was a bit of a tomboy but she still wore makeup every time she goes to therapy. At first, Zach and Jenna were too shy to talk to each other but in the meantime they become quick friends. As their friendship progressed, they agreed to go to therapy together every weekend. Their newly formed friendship somehow helped each of them move on from their family member's death. After two months of therapy, Zach was finally at ease and was finally able to accept that his father was gone. However Zach's personality had some drastic changes. Some of those changes were he retained his quick-tempered attitude. He also often stresses out causing panic attacks. But for Jenna, who was now alright too, got her fun-loving personality back that she was formerly known for by her friends and family.

   Now that both Zach and Jenna are freed from their burdens, Zach constantly invites Jenna to movie night to his house and introduces her to Charlotte and her best friends.