HIS SUICIDAL GIRL
❝I met the guy with his smile when my pen started to phlebotomize, and my fate has begun writing a new story.❞

18 - Near-Death and Strong Warning

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•THIRD PERSON•

The day has passed in the Mizuno residence and finally, Zachrey's father, Richard Mizuno has arrived.

"Richard, I'm glad you arrived!" His wife, Bernadeth greeted him with utter excitement.

They embraced each other. Her husband was the first one to break it.

"Where's Zachrey? I need to talk to him right now," Richard said with full of authority, but Bernadeth stopped him.

"Not just yet. Why don't you relax for a moment first?" She smiled at him. "Come, let's have breakfast together. I'll call Zachrey."

Bernadeth accompanied her husband to their kitchen, and after preparing for breakfast, she went up to get her son.

"Zachrey?" She knocked on the door. "Your dad has arrived. Come down now, let's have our breakfast together."

"Okay, Ma. I'll just get changed and I'll be following you right after," Zachrey answered.

While on the table, Richard was composing words on what he should say to Zachrey. It was to prevent any violent reactions coming from his son that he had not seen for quite some time because of his work abroad. He fully understands that his son grew up without him and his wife by his side. Moreover, he does not know how to handle teenagers nowadays for it is very different from their time.

When Zachrey came down, he saw his dad waiting patiently on the table.

"Pa?"

His dad turned to face him.

"Zachrey, my son!" He quickly stood up and embraced his son so tight. "You're a grown-up man. You're so tall now. Frankly speaking, I never noticed my son was already coming of age." Richard pulled away and looked at his son closely.

"Yes, because you were always not here during my childhood. You and mom were always busy with your work," Zachrey said. "and I understand completely that you're just doing all of this for my sake."

His mother and father both went silent, and before they could answer him, Zachrey added something else to say.

"I still remember the time that I celebrated my birthdays with only my grandma with a few of my friends gathered around me. I used to envy my friends, especially Cj and my classmates at school during special occasions, they have their parents with them to celebrate." He took a deep breath and continued. "When they are sick, even for just a simple fever, they have their parents beside them. I have nothing, but at least I have Grandma and Cj."

To prevent an early heated discussion, Bernadeth stopped Zachrey and said, "Come, let's talk later. We have all day, but breakfast doesn't."

"Yes, right," his father seconded.

Breakfast happened without any further incident.

A day before, back at the hospital, Xiamin's parents were preparing to check her out.

"Are those two not here, yet?" Andrea curiously asked Scott.

"Cj already texted me, and he said that their coming. They just had some errands to attend to," Scott answered, and Andrea just nodded.

Now and then, Scott checks his phone if there is any missed call or text coming from Zachrey. He stopped staring at his phone when Xiamin called him.

"Daddy... What are you waiting for? Are you expecting a call from someone?" she asked with a tired tone. She could barely even open her eyes.

"It's nothing, Sweetie. I'm just checking if I missed a call or text from the office." Scott smiled.

He could not dare tell the truth to her daughter. He was pretty sure that once he tells his daughter the truth, she will be hurt and will surely aggravate her condition.

"How about Zachrey? Is he coming? It's been a while since I last saw him. Did something happen to him?"

The father's heart was like it was immediately squeezed out of his body when he heard those words coming out from her daughter. His feelings were mixed up. He felt infuriated to Zachrey at the same time, pity to Xiamin.

"Don't fret, sweetie, we're not taking a break from contacting him."

Even if she was struggling, Xiamin still managed to curve her lips into a smile. It was as if a spark of hope to see and talk to Zachrey again has been lit.

Later on, the two cousins, Les and Cj arrived. Scott instructed Les to let Xiamin know that they had already arrived and never mention about Zachrey. As for Cj, Scott grabbed him right outside the hospital room.

"Got any news? Were you able to contact Zachrey? Or have spoken to him already?" Scott never hesitated to throw three consecutive questions.

"I'm sorry, Uncle," Cj shook his head. "We could not contact Zachrey, nor did he answer any of our calls and texts. We just came from their house. But there's no one there."

Little did they know, during that time when they went to the Mizuno residence, it was also the time that Bernadeth was playing sick upstairs and was taken care of by Zachrey himself. That is why he was not able to hear or notice someone in their gate.

Scott ran his fingers through his hair in disbelief because of what he just learned, It looked like there was no other way for Zachrey to come to the hospital and talk to Xiamin before they could check out to go home.

"Is that so?" Scott responded in a flat tone. "We already did everything that we could, but time is running out. I guess, we have to forget that Zachrey ever existed."

This time, Scott sounded so angry that he told Cj that he does not want to see his best friend anymore.

"If ever you'll see your best friend anew, tell him that I'm so mad at him because of what he did to my daughter." He looked at Cj straight in the eyes. "He's just keeping the hopes of an innocent young girl up for nothing."

"Shit!" Cj cursed in his mind. "Where the heck are you, Zachrey?! Are you an incomprehensible fool right now?! You're hurting your innocent girl, Dude!"

No matter how Cj wanted to scream what he was just thinking, he just simply could not do it.

He clenched his fists for he truly felt mad at his best friend. For the very first time since he and Zachrey met, it was the very first time that he felt anger towards his best friend.

Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted by a scream. It was Andrea and Les. The two exchanged glances and rushed back inside the room. There, they saw Andrea crying hysterically and Les grabbed and pulled Cj outside the room to call the doctor.

When Scott looked at Xiamin, he noticed that she was no longer breathing and the monitor registered a flat line.

"Oh, G-God, no!" He uttered a yelp, too. "Please, don't t-take her from us just yet! I-I beg of you!" Those were the words he let go while holding the hand of Xiamin.

Doctor Fidji and other personnel arrived and immediately conducted an emergency procedure to revive the patient. While the doctor and the nurses were doing their job, Andrea, Scott, and the two cousins were praying their hearts out at the other corner.

"Oh, Jesus! Please, not now. Let Crystal stay with us for a little longer!" Andrea prayed in her mind and clasped her hands.

"Please, revive our daughter! Don't take her from us now!" Scott begged in silence.

"Lord, I may have not been a very good child but please, save my best friend!" Les felt her tears were about to run out, but she just could not stop crying.

"God, please, give Xiamin the Yandere another chance. Zachrey wouldn't want this to happen so please, save her!" Cj was clenching his fists so tight, while he was trying to ignore the tears falling from his eyes.

Doctor Fidji promptly approached Scott and Andrea and said, "You're lucky to have a very strong daughter. She's a fighter, and I'm also lucky that she is my niece." She smiled. But eventually, her tone became serious. "But she's not off the hook, yet. We still need to monitor her condition, she's now in a temporary coma. That's normal for a patient who went that ordeal. So, it would be better if you extend your stay here for at least a couple of days. That way, we can monitor her condition thoroughly."

"So, when do we expect her to wake up?" Les asked and she was as anxious as everyone in the room.

Doc Fidji put her hands on her lab coat pockets and said, "The next 24 hours are critical. But based on our observation right now, she should be awake by morning. Hopefully, God willing."

"Thank you so much, Fidji!" Andrea thanked and hugged her cousin Fidji so tight.

"No, don't thank me. Thank the One above because I am just His instrument. Also to your daughter," Andrea let go of her cousin, and they both looked at Xiamin. "I think she doesn't want to go, yet."

"Scott, I'll go to the nurse's station to inform them that we'll be extending our stay. Les, come with me."

Before Andrea and Les could go, Doctor Fidji signaled her cousin to stay.

"No, just stay here. I'll take care of everything."

"Okay, thank you so much again, Fidji."

"No problem!" she replied and excused herself.

Scott and Andrea then hugged each other tightly.

"I thought we already lost her," Andrea told her husband.

"Yeah, me, too," he replied.

Two cousins, however, were standing like candles─still shocked at what they just experienced.

Present time, back again at the Mizuno residence, right after their breakfast, Zachrey asked permission from his parents to go to the hospital and visit Xiamin.

"Pa, I would like to ask for your permission to go to the hospital, and visit my friend," he asked politely.

"I will allow you to leave the house. But first, let's talk to each other as father and son." Richard gestured his son to sit down on the sofa.

"May I know what's it about? Can't it wait until later when I come back?"

"No, we have to talk this thing out now," His mother answered who just suddenly joined the conversation.

Zachrey could not do anything, so he just sat down and listened.

"Son, I've heard that lately, you took your studies for granted. Your mom told me that you were always absent for no reason."

Zachrey suddenly felt anger flowing through his veins, but he managed to compose himself.

"I did not do it without purpose, Pa."

Richard asked, "So, what could be the reason? Friends? Or perhaps, some girl?"

The young man was baffled and was not able to answer right away. His answers were still playing inside his mind. Without any other choice, he confessed to his father the single authentic reason why he was always absent.

"There's just this one friend of mine that I always visit in the hospital, Pa."

"Just a friend? Just how essential is this so-called friend that you had to miss class for more than twice and take your studies for granted for the sake of it?" His father's tone sparked a hint of anger.

However, before Zachrey could answer, his mother joined the scene once more.

"Just tell your father that the single authentic reason why you took your studies for granted was that you were ready to become a solid fool just for that feeble girl."

Upon hearing that, Zachrey exploded with anger and exclaimed, "Ma, don't talk to her like that! You talking dissing Xia is something that I can never slip away."

"Zachrey," His father interrupted. "is she your girlfriend?"

"No, not yet. But our feelings are legit. I assure you that."

"Son," His father uttered calmly. "my point is if you're going to love someone, choose the healthy one. In that way, you won't be hurt."

However, Zachrey refused to listen to his father.

"You're right, Pa. There are manifold girls all around the world. However, there's no one like Xia!" Zachrey could not calm down anymore. "Like I already said to Mama, I'm willing to take all my chances with that girl."

"Wow, I truly idolize you now, Zachrey!" Bernadeth uttered in sarcasm. "You're willing to sacrifice everything for that good-for-nothing girl? You must be out of your mind. You have no slightest idea what you're talking about!"

Zachrey abruptly stood up and talked back to his mother with utter anger.

"Didn't I say not to talk to Xiamin like that? Are you that desperate to separate us? I think what you just said was an abject mistake. You're the one who's not in the right mind here, not me!"

"How dare you!" Bernadeth faced her husband. "Richard, you should talk to your son. I'm tired of dealing with him. His mind has become as hard as a rock, maybe harder. Look at him, he even knows how to talk back to his mother!"

Richard nodded and issued a warning to Zachrey.

"Zach, if you continue to disobey us, I will be forced to bring you to my sister, your aunt's house, or worse, we will bring you abroad and stay with us for good."

Zachrey was dumbfounded. He could not believe what his father just said to him. So, he decided to just avoid making his parents more turbulent and fled to his room.

While he was in his room, his parents continued talking on what to do with their son.

"Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?" Richard asked with confusion to his wife.

"I thought I could change his mind because he's still young. You have no idea what I did just to stop him from going to the hospital," Bernadeth answered.

"Why, what did you do? Why is it that every time that girl's name is mentioned, Zachrey gets so frustrated with you?"

"I confiscated his phone so that he can't contact or he can't be contacted by his friends or anyone on the outside. Also, I acted as if I was feeling ill just to prevent him from leaving the house."

Without their knowledge, Zachrey was listening upstairs, and he was furious when he heard that his mother was making things up just for him to stay at home and stop seeing Xiamin.

"Is that so, Ma?"

Bernadeth and Richard were surprised when they saw Zachrey.

"H-How long have you been t-there?" Bernadeth faltered. "Did y-you hear what we were talking about?"

Zachrey clenched his fists and said, "I heard it loud and clear, Ma, and I was foolish enough to believe that you have a serious heart condition yourself!"

"Zach, don't talk like that to your mom! You have no right! You're just our son!"

"Yes, I know, Pa, but you also have no right to stop me of whom I choose I want to be with!"

That statement made Richard's temperature rise.

"From this day forward, I don't want you to get out of the house without our permission! Don't dare to disobey us, or else!"

With that strong warning coming from his father, Zachrey came back to his room, and he burst all his hatred there.

"See that, Bernadeth? That's what I told you about in the very first place! We should've taken care of him instead of his grandmother!" Richard emphasized. "Just look at what happened to his sister! She almost doesn't even recognize me as her father because she never grew up in our care!"

"You know that we did it for nothing else but his sake! You know damn well that we can't work properly if we have a small child to take care of!"

"But it's not too late, yet. Tomorrow, I'll arrange our papers so that we can leave this country as soon as possible. Hopefully, Zach can move on."

"Definitely," Bernadeth agreed. "because if you ask me, I really can't afford to see our son getting hurt if ever it's true that you can now count the number of days left for that girl, Xia."

"If only you stopped him in the first place, this wouldn't have gone worst," Richard said.

"As if I know. He didn't tell you, did he? Then, how much do you expect him to tell me, too? He left his lunch box the other day, so I had to bring it to him. That was when I knew that something like that already happened."

"You take care of Zach's school papers for his transfer to another school," Richard orders. "while I take care of our papers for our stay abroad."

While Bernadeth and Richard continued talking, in Zachrey's room, he was thinking of how to make a win-win solution to his problem. He wanted to please his parents, at the same time he does not want to let Xiamin down.

"My parents are very important to me, but so is Xia," Zachrey thought, and he was beyond confused. "I know that if I choose Mom and Dad over Xia, the pain she's feeling will be doubled without a doubt. If I choose the other way around, my parents' feelings will be tripled. Which side should I take in?"

While Zachrey was very perplexed of which side should he choose, he suddenly thought of a joke saying, "I wish I have two hearts. I'll one to my parents and the other to Xiamin. That way, no one will be hurt."

He was awakened in the reality that he could not possess two hearts. Even if his tears wear falling, he still managed to wear a smile because of that crazy thought. Until Zachrey fell asleep because of thinking too much.

Downstairs, his mom heard some knocking at the gate.

"Richard, check who's knocking," she ordered to her husband.

Richard immediately stood up and went outside to check who it was by their gate.

"Who's there?" he asked.

"Uncle? It's me, Cj. I didn't know that you came home," Cj said happily to Richard.

"Oh, Cj! How have you been? You're also a grown-up now." Richard was also elated to see Cj again. "How can I help you?"

"Is Zachrey there?"

"Sorry, Kid. He's not here. His mother told him to do some groceries in the mall," Richard said calmly to Cj. "What exactly do you need from him? I'll be the one to tell him when he gets home."

Cj was being reluctant to say what he wanted to say to his Tito Richard because he smelled something fishy. Usually, when he visits Zachrey, his parents will always insist on him to come in. However, the case seemed to have changed. It was as if he was blocking him from entering their house, and his uncle would often steal some suspicious glances on his wife that he saw inside the house.

"It's not that important." Cj plastered a fake smile. "I just wanted to check on him since he was not answering all of my calls and texts."

"A-Ah, it's because... Zachrey has a new phone and number now. His old phone was unfortunately snatched out of him before I even arrived." Cj saw how sweat started to seep at the side of Richard's face, and that made him realize that they were hiding something with his wife. Before he could answer, Richard, preceded him in talking. "Okay, I'll just tell Zachrey that you came here to check on him when he arrives. Okay then, we still need to finish something in the house."

He hurriedly went back into the house and closed the door. Cj could not do anything, so he has no other choice but to leave.