The Unwanted Choice | ✔️

Chapter 11

CHAPTER XI

T H E R E V E L A T I O N

"Where could she be?" That's everyone's question now. Me, Rebecca, her friends, and her classmates are all worried. It's almost three weeks since Charlotte and her family just disappeared.  No one exactly knows where she and her family are. Everyone's just guessing, "Did she move to another school?", "Did they go overseas?".  I tried searching all possible places where she could be, but still I can't seem to find her. I've been asking her neighbors where they went, they too, didn't have a single clue. Charlotte has been the top of the talk in school for days. The mystery is still yet to be solved.

Later on, I received a text and it's coming from Charlotte. She wrote:

"Hello, Brian. It's been a while. How are you? Sorry for my   abrupt disappearance. It was sudden that I didn't had the chance to say goodbye. I transferred school in Toronto and I'm doing well here. On the day of the shooting for the pamphlet, my father's business got bankrupt and we are asked to help him there. It seems that I can't go back there for now. Take care!"

I alerted everyone in school and my friends. I explained to them what happened to her and why they moved out. After school, Rebecca approached me and she asked, "Why didn't she tell us right away?"

"It all happened so quickly that she didn't have the chance to tell us right away."

"But, why did she tell us just right now? After three weeks? Hmm, something's not right." I replied.

"Yeah, I can tell something's fishy too."

"Want to go to her house?"

"Do you mean you want us to break in?"

"Seems like. Maybe we can get more information about she and her family moving out."

"Yeah. I guess we'll do it then."

We want to Charlotte's house. It seemed pretty abandoned. No one is home, lights were out and their furniture are covered with white cloths. All rooms were unlocked and were cleaned up. But, there's still one room we haven't checked yet, Charlotte's room. It's the only room that it's locked. We need to break in to her room but we have no key for it. I asked Rebecca for her hair pin. I managed to unlock the door.

When we opened the door, we were appalled. Our bodies were straight up shaking from what we saw in her room and we can feel shivers down our spine. There were tons of blood on the floor and the whole room was just a mess. "Re-Rebecca. What... What happened here?" I questioned Rebecca. "I absolutely don't have a clue, Brian. But this... This is something terrible." She responded.

"Didn't she say she's in Toronto? She said she's doing well there but these bloods don't speak she's fine."

"Yes, I agree. Does she have a kind of sickness?"

"I think so but we can't let anyone know about this. We just have to ask one person."

The day after, we went to Rachel and told her everything we saw at Charlotte's room. She seemed shock too. We also asked her things about what happened. "Oh no... Did it happen already?" She exclaimed.

"Wha-What do you mean?" I replied nervously.

"Its... It's the secret..."

"Her secret?"

"It finally revealed itself. Did she tell you anything?"

"She said that she transferred schools in Toronto. She also said that she's fine there and the reason that they moved out is because of his father's bankruptcy."

"A lie... That's a lie! Why would she go this far just to protect her secret? I guess I'll have to tell you what her secret is... In order to save her."

"Save her?"

Rachel starts to cry.

"She has Aplastic Anemia. It appeared 3 years ago. She kept this secret so hard that her family and I only knew. She didn't want anyone to worry that's why she won't spit out even a single word about it. She often has severe nosebleeds and her lower body just becomes numb. You know... That's why she showed you so much because she didn't have much time left! If you just... Never mind. I have to go now."

I was speechless. There's nothing I can say from what she told me.

Rachel walked away and said, "She's in St. Paul's Hospital now."

"O-Okay... I'll be there right there immediately."

This can't be... How did I not notice this beforehand? I need to go to her right now!

As I was rushing towards the hospital, I said to myself, "Wait, her lower body becomes numb? So, that time at the reception during Raymond's wedding where she was on the floor on her knees, was it a sign already? Did she collapse during that time? Oh my, how stupid am I?"

Rebecca and I went straight to St. Paul's Hospital, hoping that Charlotte won't give up fighting for her life, for us. The moment we arrived, we went straight to the counter and asked where Charlotte is.

"Charlotte Richards was rushed to the Emergency room, sir." the nurse answered.

"Thank you." I hurriedly replied. "Come on Rebecca!"

"She really has plenty of things to tell us about." I know.

When we reached to the emergency room, we saw her mother  crying while sitting at the bench in front of the door and her father walking back and forth the hallway. They immediately raised their heads once they heard our footsteps.

Mr. Richards first approached me and shocked by our presence, "Brian? Brian Gaidsen?"

"Yes, sir. And I'm with my friend, Rebecca Martin." the old man just nodded at her and faced me again.

"Did she ever tell you? About her condition?"

"Nope. We knew this from Rachel." I nervously said and looked closer to Charlotte who's inside the emergency room. Rebecca walks with me until we had a view of Charlotte.

I can feel my hands trembling with fear and I think I'm about to cry. This is too much to handle. I'm hurting. I just wish that if only I was in her place, then she wouldn't suffer like this. How could she not tell me? How could she not see that I'm always here for her?

Suddenly, Charlotte's mother walked towards us. "My daughter always talks about you, Brian. It's like you are her world. She loves you so dearly, I can see it through her eyes."

I didn't know what to say... Charlotte is proud to love me, even if I already have my assigned wife.

"I also love her, Mrs. Richards. She isn't difficult to be loved. Her kindness and beauty mesmerized me much. What happened to her right now isn't what I wanted, not what we wanted."

Why her? Why not someone else?

"Mr. Richards, we have to hurry and perform the bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately, your daughter's bone marrow couldn't make enough blood cells that will support her body." the doctor interrupted us with a worried face. We didn't notice him coming   because of our deep talks.

"A donor? How can we find easily a donor this late already?"

"We can give each of you tests in order to find out."

"Okay then." I replied.