Numbered

Chapter 8

"Rai... That's enough..." I heard Jake said as he took the small glass of vodka in my hand.

"Ha?!! Whyyyy?!" I asked as my vision becomes more blurry by the second. I took the glass back from him and drink the shot.

"Sigh...Rai... You're drunk already!" he said as I asked the bartender for another glass.

"I'm... not drunk..." I slurred as I took a shot again.

I heard him 'tch' and left saying that when he comes back, I should be done drinking but I just ignored what he said and kept on drinking.

"I have...familial dilated cardiomyopathy."

"My days are already numbered, Rai... I'm sorry."

Alice...

The memories of the event that happened earlier kept on playing in my mind like a broken player that repeats over and over again.

Familial Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

Huh...

It's an illness in the heart that is passed through genes so meaning every generation of the family has either one or more who are affected by the illness.

Unfortunately, Alice is no exception.

What's bad about this illness is that it has no cure and if you want to remove it, you'll have to wait for a heart donor.

Who knows when you'll get one? Especially in our area. All the doctors here are good but in Alice's case, a heart is needed for the operation to be successful.

Sure they could have gone abroad to search for a heart donor but knowing Alice, she'd refuse and just want to stay back here in the Philippines.

Right now, I'm in a bar. Drinking off the stress about the matter. If you're wondering why Jake is here, that's because he's working as a waiter in this bar.

Back to the story.

So.

Why am I here when I could've just stayed with Alice? I would, but... I'm also hurt by the fact that she didn't tell me earlier! Think of her feelings? I know that she's gone through a lot not to tell me, knowing that I'll do something reckless for her but how about MY feelings?! I'm selfish? Yeah... Maybe, I am selfish to only think of her condition IF she told me about her case earlier!

Sigh...

What am I doing?...

Alice...

After talking to myself in my mind which is starting to sound like I'm crazy, I took another shot of vodka again that somehow made me dizzy now.

"You're still not done?" I heard Jake asked then sighed as he sat down to my right with me ordering another shot.

I looked at him lazily as the alcohol has started to kick in again.

"What the heck?!" I shouted at him as he took the glass again, now further away from me. "Give my -hic- drink back!" I said as I tried to take it from him but the dizziness I felt earlier has worsened.

"You're drunk already," He said as he talked to the bartender to stop giving me my order and he'll be handling me.

Tss... As if he could.

"I'll be gone for a few minutes to get my stuff so don't do anything stupid," He said to me as he walked away towards the door where the sign 'Employees Only,' is posted.

Me? Gonna do something stupid? Heck I won't!

It kind of took him a while to get his stuff, enough to make me feel sleepy that I have already laid down on the floor.

A heard someone sighed a little later and started to gently kick me on my legs as to not tick me off.

"Get up," Jake ordered but I just rolled on one side and started to doze off again. "I said get. Up!" He said again but now trying to help me stand up.

Might as well do it.

I then helped myself up and let him lead me inside a car. I'm guessing it's his car. Of course, me being drunk would have caused some casualties of bumping into something or someone along the way.

Jake has known where I lived since we usually hang out with Alice when they're still together so he drove me home.

It was pretty quiet in the car and I can feel that he wanted to say something despite being drunk so asked him.

"What is it?"

"H-huh? Oh... It's just... What happened that made you like... This?" He asked a bit surprised at my question at first as he looked towards the dark road.

"Did you already know?" I slurred out as I looked at him with a pained look as he only focuses on his driving.

"Know what?"

"Alice is sick?" I slurred again then laughed like a maniac. He didn't answer. "Like seriously, she's sick and she just told me about it earlier!" I laughed again and laid back on my seat and he just sighed.

"That's it? You're drunk just because she's sick? It's just fever geez..." He said in an annoyed tone but his answer triggered me a bit that made me look at him seriously.

"Just... Fever? Just fever?? Ha... Haha... Hahaha... HAHAHAHA!" I slowly laughed hard at his comment but eventually, it died down then I looked out of the window, and with a deep voice, I said, "That's easy for you to say... You didn't know a thing... Especially the reason why she broke up with you..."

"Tss... Isn't the reason obvious? She likes you more than me ." He stated flatly but I just laughed at him.

"If only THAT is the reason why..." I said as I sighed. "... But sadly, it isn't."

He quickly took a glance at me with a shocked expression that's telling me to tell him more about the matter.

Tss... as if.

Alice hasn't told me everything yet but she was able to tell me some major parts like the REAL reason why she broke up with Jake.

"W-what do you mean?" He asked now being uneasy in his seat but I only kept quiet. "Rai... Tell me." He said while giving me glances as he drives as if looking for a place to take a quick park. "Please..." He pleaded when he found one.

Alice did a good job hiding it from him...

I sighed, "As I said, she's sick..." I paused for a bit and looked at him and see him waiting for what I'm about to say next. "But it's no ordinary sickness..." Then I told him everything about it.

Even though I hate this guy, he also deserved to know the truth. I can see that he's affected by her case as his expression changes from sadness to guilt.

I also told him to keep it a secret and he agreed with it since the secret is for Alice's sake.

With all of these happening, a feeling grew inside me. A feeling of worry...no... It's not a worry... It's fear.. Fear that what if... I... Lost her... Because of her damned ill heart?...

Alice... What should I do now?

...

I am the worst...

Nica_0811