*The Wedding Day*

It wasn't hard like he had thought. He just had to learn to move on. And even though he hadn't moved on completely, he was over waiting for Emily. She wasn't coming back. Ever.

He didn't have a best man because he didn't know where Gabriel had gone since he had asked for them to meet that evening. Neither had he bothered finding another person. What was the essence when he didn't have the rightful bride?

He was in his room wearing his suit when his mother came into the room. She was wearing an emerald green dress, black heels and bag. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail. She had on her signature red lipstick.

"You are the epitome of handsomeness," the Misses complimented, helping him with his necktie. "You don't know how happy I am to see my son finally getting married. You never cease to make me proud." She placed her palms on his shoulders and smiled.

"I'm not going to regret this, right?" He asked his mother, staring into her eyes.

"You're not going to regret anything that will happen today. After today, you'll be the happiest man on earth," the Misses replied. 

"Thank you, Mother. You made all of this possible for me. You're the best mom. I love you very much."

The Misses was speechless. She gave Jonathan a tight hug. She straightened his suit after the hug.

Finally, he was out of Emily's spells.

"See you at the church," she said and walked out of the room.

Jonathan looked at himself in the mirror. He knew he would have looked a lot better if it had been Emily that he was getting married to.

He went to his bed and sat down. He took his coat off and released the tie a bit. He didn't feel ready to leave. He wasn't in the mood to make another hasty decision.

Even what happened between Emily and him had been in a rush. He didn't want to make the same stupid decision. He didn't want to feel the way he felt all over again.

Perhaps it was his heart not ready to move on. It was controversial. His mind wanted another thing, and his heart wanted the extreme opposite.

A knock came on the door. The Mister opened the door before Jonathan could tell him to come in. He walked over to Jonathan and sat next to him.

"Do you feel pressured?" He asked after they had sat silently on the bed for a while. "Be honest."

"Just a little bit," Jonathan replied. "But this is for the best for the family. Mom calls it give and take. And if this is what I need to give to the family, I'm going to," Jonathan stated.

"I just want you to know that your voice matters. I know I've been a bad father, but all I want is the best for you. And if you feel this is too much we are asking of you, you can quit right now. I'm not going to hate you for it," the Mister said, staring at his son like a real father for the very first time, after a long time.

Jonathan thought for a while, then shook his head. "No. I'm doing this. For you, and for mom," he told his father.

"Thank you." The Mister thought about giving a hug, then changed his mind. It wasn't necessary. "A hug?" He asked when he couldn't hold himself back.

They embraced each other. There was nothing much to talk about, so the Mister decided to leave.

"Don't keep your mother waiting," the Mister told him before leaving the room. 

Jonathan sat on his bed for a while. After he was tired sitting, he went for his phone and deleted all the messages he had sent Emily. He thought of it as a start.

He threw his phone on the bed, grabbed his coat, and went back to the mirror to get ready. He knew how important the day was to his mother. He didn't want to keep her waiting.

A knock came on the door as he struggled to get the knot of his tie in the right place.

"I'm done already," he said, thinking it was one of his parents.

It was Sam. He was already dressed for the wedding. He wasn't wearing one of his daily suits.

"Oh, Sammie, it's you. Tell them I'll soon be down," Jonathan said when he saw Sam.

Sam entered the room. "They're gone. It's just you and me that's not there yet," Sam said, going to help Jonathan, who always had a problem with fixing his necktie.

"You didn't go with mom. That's strange."

"I'd just wanted to talk to you before you walked down that aisle. Are you sure about this? Is it really what you want?" He asked Jonathan when he got done helping him fix the tie.

"This is for my family. It's going to make them happy. I'm sure about that," he replied.

"We all know it'll make 'them' both happy very much. But, what about 'you'? Is it going to make you happy?" He asked Jonathan.

"Eventually," Jonathan retorted.

"I was here from the beginning. I watched you and Emily fall in love with each other. I'd known you two were going to from that morning at her house. You shared a lot. Are you willing to let all of that go because you want to make your family happy?" Sam asked him, reminding him of what he had had with Emily.

"I love Emily very much, I'm not going to lie. She made me feel like a real man. Every moment with her was the best, but I have no choice here, Sammie. I was willing to forget what she did to me, but she left me," Jonathan explained. "Shattered," he mumbled.

"She never left," Sam said in a low voice.

Jonathan looked at him, confused.

"She never left you, Jonathan. She's still here. She was involved in an accident. Right now, she's in the hospital, fighting for her life."

Sam knew he was going to regret telling Jonathan, but he had to. It was the right thing to do.

"This isn't April. Stop lying," Jonathan said, smiling wryly.

"I'm not lying. Benson Hospital. Room ninety-seven. You can go and check for yourself," he told Jonathan whose smile faded.

"When did it happen?" Jonathan asked, anger taking over.

"The night you found out she had a deal with your mother. The night you had her searching for you while you were having drunk sex with Olivia. That was when."

Jonathan held the lapel of Sam's coat. He pushed him to the nearest wall and held him there. "You knew this all along and didn't tell me. Why?" He yelled the question out.

"Your mother. She didn't want Emily in your life. That was why we got rid of all her things that very night. She thought it was the best way to get Emily out of your life— make you believe that she left. Emily never left, Jonathan."

"So this was all orchestrated? And you knew all along, Sam, and didn't tell me. I was stupid to ever trust you because I know damn well it was you who also told mom I was obsessed with Emily, the very first day I saw her. You helped with this entire thing." He moved his hand up to the colar of Sam's shirt.

"Stop acting childish and go find Emily. Your mother already paid her mother to take her out of town and never come back. She could be in an ambulance to another town as we speak."

Jonathan immediately let go of Sam. He looked at him apologetically. He knew that Sam was making it up to him for everything.

"Thank you," Jonathan said after grabbing his phone and keys.

Sam nodded. "Don't tell your mom."

Jonathan wasn't going to rat Sam out. He knew what his mother would do if she found out Sam had been the one who told him.

He hurried out of the room to go find Emily. He hadn't felt energetic like he was at the moment.

He didn't feel guilty for ditching the wedding because his dad had already told him he could leave. As long as his dad was cool with it, he didn't care about his mother's feelings. She didn't care about his when she was making him suffer by making him believe Emily was gone.

Jonathan drove out at full speed. He didn't want to waste time. He guessed he was under Emily's spells again. She had him think abnormally. When it came to Emily, he gave his all.

*****

The doctor had refused to transfer Emily because she was still in a bad condition. But when she was in much better condition, she was finally permitted to be transferred to another hospital.

The nurses were getting ready to carry Emily out to the ambulance that was doing the transfer. Gertrude stood in the room, waiting for them.

She was startled when the door opened vehemently. She looked at Jonathan in shock. She nodded her head to him, permitting him to go closer to Emily.

With tears in his eyes, Jonathan walked over to Emily. He stared down at her and held her hand. A ball of tears formed under his chin before falling to the ground.

Emily eyes shuttered open like she had been waiting for Jonathan to wake up. Her vision was blurry at first. It gradually became clear.

"Emily," Jonathan called her name when he saw her eyes open. Her mother ran over to the bed.

Emily turned her neck slowly to look at him. She managed a small smile when her eyes met his.

"You're back," he said, whispery.