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Chapter 42 Part 1

Angelo's P.O.V

I could feel my blood rushing down from my head until it covered my eyes. Daniel's voice was echoing through my ears faintly. There was a hint of panic in his voice while he keeps on telling me to stay awake. I saw Alex carrying Jared on his arms as they walk away from us.

"Jared." I whispered inaudibly. I couldn't seem to utter a single words out of my lips. My head was pounding really hard and it hurts so badly.

I wanted to touch Daniel's worried face and tell him that I'm okay. But I couldn't move my hand. In fact, I couldn't feel my body.

"Stay with me babe. Don't you dare close your eyes." Daniel said, his eyes were filled with tears. "Sebastian!" he screamed.

My head suddenly pounded like there was a jackhammer boring on my skull. The pain cursed through my head like it was going to crack open. I wanted to scream in pain but I couldn't. I tried to move my body to no luck.

It hurts.

I felt my eyes being clouded by tears. I couldn't endure the pain anymore.

I could see Daniel crying but I couldn't hear what he was saying. By the looks of it, he was screaming at me. He was calling my name. However, not even a single sound was audible in my ears. The whole place was enveloped with silence.

Suddenly, a blinding light flashed in front of me. 'Good, it might be the ambulance.' I thought. 'I'm sure they have some medicine for my headache.'

Not long after, a middle-aged man looked at me and smile. "Your name is Angelo, right?" he asked.

"Daniel?" I asked. He looked familiar. He looked like Daniel but a bit old version of him.

The middle aged man smiled at me, and he's got Daniel's smile. Somehow, it comforted me. "Ah yes. They are okay. Let me take care of you." He said while looking down at me.

I did not notice that the pain have subsided until he pressed his soft hand on my forehead. "Close your eyes now. Take a rest. You've done well." He whispered in a warm comforting tone.

Soon, I felt my eyes getting heavy. I could feel them slowly closing. Silence was washing over me and I soon drifted to nothing but darkness. "It's dark." I said to no one in particular.

"Don't worry. I'll watch over you." Said the familiar voice. It was from the middle aged man.

Like a little child, I did what he told. I let myself drift off to sleep.

**********

I could hear an annoying beeping sound. And it has been going on for days. However, every time I tried to open my eyes, I couldn't do it. It felt like it was glued together to keep it shut. I kept on trying until a wave of drowsiness encourage my mind to go back to sleep.

But today, I finally managed open my eyes. I was staring at the blinding white ceiling. The surrounding smelled like rose. The smell of surrounding comforted me in an instant. I got up from the soft bed and look around.

Empty.

The room was deafening silent and no one was around. In fact, nothing was around. It was just me and a single bed where I was laying down. I was in the middle of a white room. I was expecting to see somebody but the silence of emptiness welcomed me. I was expecting to see a vase of roses beside me but there wasn't any. No sign of life existence around me at all.

"H-Hello?" I called. My voice echoed around the room.

I stood up from the bed as my bare feet touched the cold tiled floor. "Anybody can hear me?" I tried to call out one again. But it was just the echo of my voice that answered my call.

I walked out of the white room only to end up in a long silent white hallway. I look to my left and right. The path was narrow and it seemed so endless.

One again, I called for anyone as I started walking on my right direction. "Hello!? Can anyone hear me?"

My voice echoed down the silent hall. Nobody replied and I was feeling anxious every minute that I spend walking on the endless path.

After several minutes of walking that seemed like forever, I stumbled upon a slightly opened door of a room. Out of curiosity and hoping that somebody might be inside the room, I walked in. "Hello?" my voice echoed inside the white wide room, repeating the word I said several times until it faded away back to silence.

I sighed, realizing that it was another dead end. I decided to walk back to the room where I came from. Somehow, the room looks more comfortable compared to the abyss of emptiness that I was walking through.

I turned around on my heels only to find that the door was gone. Panicked rose through me. My heart was beating fast like a bullet train. Suddenly, I felt suffocated.

"Help! Help me. Please!" I screamed and pleaded to no one. My breathing became irregular as my tears began to cloud my vision. I was trying so hard to find the door that mysteriously vanished into a wall.

I was screaming for help for what seemed like forever but no one ever came to my rescue. I was scared and I felt like the room was shrinking every minute that I spend there alone. To my surprised, I realized that there was a rapid beeping sound inside the room. The sound felt so devastating and tragic. It sounded like danger.

Hopeless and exhausted, I seated on the very far corner of the room. The floor felt a little cold on my feet. Silence enveloped the whole room, and only my fearful sobbing can only be heard.

I was exhausted. I laid on the cold floor in a fetal position. Somehow, the cold floor felt comfortable as it lulled me to slumber.

**********************

There was the beeping noise again ringing in my ears, but this time, it was stable and calm. The sound mimics my heartbeat. As the sound beat, and so as my heartbeat.

Aside from the beeping sound, there was a deep voice of a man humming beside me. I slowly opened my eyes only to be welcomed by the blinding white light. I blinked twice to adjust my vision.

I slowly got up and realized that I was back in the room and the comfortable bed. The smell of rose assaulted my nose right away, but somehow, there was a thin mixture of familiar musk dancing around the room.

"Oh, you're awake." Said the voice beside me.

I looked at the man on my right. He was reading a newspaper while sitting on a white plastic chair.

The man regarded me with concerned look as he rested the newspaper on his lap. "I thought we lost you back there. I was just right on time." He said.

I looked at him, confused. "The song." I said.

It was the man's turn to look at me confused. I observed his appearance. He has an ocean blue eyes, a sharp jawline, thick eyebrow and a nicely curve lips that plastered a warm smile. He looked familiar but I couldn't fathom when and where I've seen him.

I slid my feet down the bed and seated facing the man. "I mean the song you're humming. I know that song." I explained, trying to remind myself the lyrics and the melody of the song.

"Oh...yes." Answered the man. "I never leave you alone...No way. La la la la..." he sung. "I heard my grandson singing it. It was great song. I like it." He said. His voice was deep and warm.

"You said 'we almost lost you', what do you mean by that?"

The man smiled at me like as if smile was his normal facial expression. "It isn't my place to tell it to you, son. My job here is done. It's time for you to meet your friend. You have slept long enough." He said as he stood up from his seat and walked to the door.

I stood up from the bed and followed him. I watched him held the doorknob as he gripped it with his strong hands.

I froze on my spot. I was scared to step out of the room again when I realised that he was motioning me to step out of the door. I didn't want to repeat that horrible experience again.

As if sensing my anxiety, the man turned to me with a warm smile. "Trust me son, I will never let anything bad happen to you. That is the least I can do for my son." He said, motioning me to come near him.

I walked closer to him as he opened the door. On the other side, there was a silhouette of a tall man. He was standing behind the blinding light.

"Carry on Angelo. Thank you so much for loving my son and my grandson. Don't stop loving them with all your heart. Please tell them that I love them and his mother. I will always be looking out for you. Thank you Angelo. Thank you." The man whispered in a soothing and warm tone. Slowly the door closed as the smiling face of the man disappeared behind it.

I was watching the door closing slowly, as if trying to remember who the man was. All of a sudden, my memory felt like an arrow that shot a small detail into my tongue. "James." I whispered, not knowing where it came from. All I knew was that the name of the man was James. I didn't know how I knew it but it felt like I've known him already. The familiar scent, the familiar facial structure and the piercing blue eyes.

"Daniel." I whispered.

"Now you remember." Said the familiar voice I yearned to hear. His hand snaked my shoulder embracing me.

I closed my eyes, feeling the warmth of his embrace. I then slowly turned to face him. "Nathan." I whispered, streams of tears flowing down my eyes. It was a tears of joy.

I threw myself onto him and he easily caught me, embracing me in his warm arms and body. "I miss you, angel." Nathan whispered in my ear.

"How? Where am I? Am I dead? I miss you so much, Nate." I cried, not wanting to brake the embrace anytime soon.

Nathan didn't complain about it. After several minutes, or hours of me hanging on him, I broke the hug and looked into his eyes. It was pure of happiness and peace. He wasn't looking weak nor in pain anymore. He was the Nathan I knew and I loved.

Nathan ruffled my hair, the thing he loved to do to me. "Now now, one question at a time. Let's walk." He said, offering his right hand to me.

I was hesitant to take it, not because I didn't want to. But because I was scared that we might get locked up on a room again. As if sensing my fear, Nathan took my hand and kissed my forehead. It somehow made me calm. "Don't worry. You will never get lost again. I will never let you go." He said, his words were comforting me.

Nathan stirred me towards a long corridor that leads to a garden. "Whoa! This is amazing." I marveled. The garden were filled with green, white and red roses. There were lots of colorful butterflies flying around the garden. The air smelt like home.

"I'm glad you liked it." Nathan said, pulling me to a bench in the middle of the garden. "Now, to your questions."

I seated on the bench, still admiring the beauty of the garden. "How are you here? How am I here? Don't get me wrong, I am really happy to see you. But...." I trailed.

Nathan never broke his stare at me. He held my hands like it was the missing pair of his. I wasn't complaining at all, in fact, I missed his affection and touch. "You remember when they tortured you. Do you?"

When Nathan mentioned the word torture, flashbacks of memories suddenly flooded my mind. "Y-Yes." I confirmed. "What happened?"

"Well, you took a lot of head injuries from the beating. Gosh Angelo, why did you have to do it? I hate to see you hurting." Nathan said, as tears lined up on his eyes.

"That's the only way to save Jared." I said, thinking about Jared.

"Yes. You really love the kid, don't you?" he asked.

I nodded in reply.

"Jared is okay now. He just woke up from a long slumber. You helped him to come back, even if you are still sleeping." Nathan said.

I looked at him confused. "Sleeping?"

For the first time, Nathan broke his stare at me as he looked around the garden. "All of this is not real. At least not physically." He sniffed.

"Wait. James told me that he almost lost me. What did he mean by that? Am I dead?" I asked, fear flooded my emotions.

Nathan held my hand and squeezed it gently. "Shhh... it's alright. You are still alive." He cooed. "Remember when you got locked up on a room?" he asked. I nodded. "You almost slipped into death's hand. Luckily, James was fast enough to grab you back." He explained.

I squeezed my eyes shut as I processed all the information from Nathan. "Am I able to come back again?" I frowned.

"Yes, angel. Definitely." He answered, a smiled plastered on his face.

I looked up at him. "Will you come back with me?" I asked, even though I knew the answer to my impossible question. Tears of sadness rushed in to my puffy eyes once again.

"Angelo, you know I want to. But my mission on Earth is done. My mission is to love you with all my heart. And now, it's your time to pass the love I gave to you to others." He smiled and gently wiped away the tears on my cheeks.

"I don't want to come back without you." I sobbed.

"Shhhh. Always think that I am happy in here. And I want you to be happy too. I know that Daniel and Jared can make you the happiest man in the world." He said. "Now listen, they are calling you back. Close your eyes and listen carefully." He whispered.

I slowly closed my eyes and focused on the surrounding. 'Come back to us.' Said the faint voices.

"It's faint, but I can hear it." I said.

Although, my eyes were shut, I could feel Nathan stood up. He gently pulled me up so we are standing face to face. I could feel the warm of his breath. "Don't open your eyes, my angel. Keep listening to their call." He whispered, as he rested his forehead into mine.

'Please, come back to us' the voices said in unison, but this time, it was a clear.

"Daniel and Jared." I whispered.

"Yes. Follow the voice, my angel." Nathan said. He then enveloped me in a warm hug, my eyes were still closed. "Our time is up. It's time for you to go back."

"Will I ever see you again?" I asked, streams of tears were flowing from my closed eyes. I felt Nathan kissed my tears away.

"Someday, we will." He answered. "I will always be watching over you. Remember this, my angel: Mahal na mahal kita (I love you very much)." He said as kissed me one last time.

I felt Nathan's warm hug slowly ceasing until it was nothing but a memory imprinted on my mind and soul.

I focused more on Daniel and Jared's voice.

'Papa. Come back to us.' Jared called.

'Angelo. Please. Listen to us. Come back.' Daniel's sweet voice made my heart jump.

"I can hear you." I said. Their voices became clearer and clearer as they continued to call me.

Even if my eyes were closed, the blinding light still managed to make my eyes hurt a little. I felt a warm air enveloping my whole body as the voices were becoming cleared and louder.

"Please, come back." Daniel's voice were sad and hopeless.

Suddenly, I felt like I was falling and so I had to open my eyes as my breath was caught up in my throat.

I slowly opened my eyes, the smell of rose assaulted my sense of smell. The beeping sound were blaring softly beside me.

I blinked twice, looking at the white roof. I felt a presence on my left and right side.

Not long after I opened my eyes, Jared and Daniel were hovering above me. Jared was grinning from ear to ear. He looked different from the last time I saw him. His cheeks were sunken, his eyes were a light shade of blue and his brown hair was messy and long.

Daniel was the same. His eye bags were dark and his blonde hair was messy. His cheeks have sunken a bit too. His jawline was as strong as it was. His eyes were clouded with happiness and tears as he stares right into mine.

My throat was dry but I managed to speak up somehow. "I heard you."

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