1 Fate

"Ssttttt..."

The grilling plate was sizzling as the strips of meat were getting cooked. The smell was appetizing. The smoke was almost invincible but it wouldn't be a BBQ place without the smoke. The place was crowded. Laughter and chatter filled the place. Families, friends and couples were enjoying their night.

" Here, eat more !" a caring guy said to his crush.

" Thank you, Nathan," the girl replied with her sweet voice.

Nathan had crush on the girl ever since he saw her from the University's cheerleader team. Sadly, the girl treated him not more than a friend. A pretty girl with beautiful hair, scented with a sweet vanilla fragrance. Every guy's dream girl in the university. No one could possibly deny her beauty that radiated from her heart to her face.

" Nathan ? " the girl was about to eat the grilled meat when she noticed Nathan was smiling and stared at her.

Nathan was flustered. He realized the girl noticed his gazed. His face turned red suddenly. Probably embarrassed. Not to mention, this was just another date night for him but not for the girl. The girl thought this was just a normal eat out night with her friend.

" Umm.. Yeah ?" Nathan stammered.

" Are you okay ? Why did you stared at me while smiling like that ? " the girl scoffed and asked the man.

Nathan gulped. He knew that he should confess to her but this was not the right time. He was still waiting for the perfect time. Perhaps after he confirmed that the girl really like him. His eyes turned to the grilling plate.

" Err .. Nothing. You just look beautiful tonight," Nathan tried to shot his first hit.

The girl giggled. She was glad to hear that from a friend. She thanked the man and continued to eat the meat strips. Nathan thought it was a successful hit on the girl. They had a wonderful time together. They talked about their current struggles. Just like any other friends would do on an eat out night.

" That was great ! " the girl seemed to enjoy the conversation she had with Nathan. She took a glance on her phone and realized it was a quarter past 9. She gasped.

" Oh no ! I need to go home now.. I promised my parents to be back home before 9 !" the girl said nervously.

" Let's go to the counter to pay then, " Nathan suggested.

Both got up and walked towards the counter to pay for the food. Nathan took his wallet out and paid for the meals. The girl also wanted to pay. Nathan, being a true man, he insisted to pay everything.

" Are you sure ? " asked the girl.

Nathan nodded and smiled. He felt like the coolest man in the room when he did that. It's really hard to impress a girl especially when she doesn't know you are hitting on her. Nathan suddenly felt the urge to pee.

" I need to go to the toilet first. Wait here," Nathan said slowly.

The girl nodded. Nathan made his way to the toilet and released his urge. After he was done, he washed his hands. He looked at himself in the mirror to check on his appearance. He fixed his hair. He smiled to himself as he was so happy that the girl he had crush on was enjoying the night.

Then, he walked out of the toilet and bumped into a man with crutches. The man almost fell but Nathan grabbed him quickly. The man must had an accident happened to him. Nathan was anxious as he was not paying attention to the way he walked.

"Uhh.. Sorry man, my bad," Nathan apologized. He helped the poor man to stand properly.

" Nah , It's fine man. Thanks," the man thanked.

Nathan was relieved he didn't hurt the man. Nathan felt like he knew the man but no names in his mind clicked. Since the man was okay, Nathan walked towards the girl.

" Rosie, let's go back," Nathan said.

- At Rosie's house -

Nathan slowly hit on the brake pedal to pull over his car opposite of Rosie's house. He pulled the handbrake. Rosie didn't want her parents to see a man sent her home.

" Thank you Nathan," Rosie thanked the young man.

" You're welcome. I hope you enjoyed," Nathan replied.

A silhouette was standing by the gate of the house. Staring straight to the car. Rosie saw the figure and she quickly got out from the car. Nathan noticed the presence of the figure too. It was a middle-aged man. Must be Rosie's father.

" Get in !" barked the uptight man.

Rosie nodded, keeping her head down. She knew she was in trouble. She walked in. The man stared deathly to the car. Nathan got nervous about the stare. He just moved the car forward as he felt bad for Rosie.

" I hope her father won't lecture her," Nathan talked to himself.

***

It was early morning on Saturday. A young man was up early for his morning routine, Jogging. The sun was not even up yet. The stars were still shining clearly in the sky. He put on his running shoes. He walked out of his house to the gate. He looked around and started to warm up. He stretched his muscles to wake them up.

Then, he put on his earphone and played a calming songs to kick start his morning jog. For an athletic young man, early morning jog is an essential routine for maintaining his stamina. He jogged around the neighbourhood.

After almost half an hour, he was done. He started to walk slowly back to his house. While he was walking, the sky was starting to colour itself with brighter colour with a hint of light yellow. The young man enjoyed the scenery view of the morning light. Beautiful. Calming. The sky appeared to be more stunning than yesterday whilst the sun was peeking to greet the grass.

" Good morning Sam ! Beautiful morning isn't it ?" a middle aged lady greeted the young man.

Sam turned his eyes to the greeting voice. He drew a pleasant smile as he saw the lady. The lady is his mom's close friend. Sweet and kind. Sam is very close and dear to her. She treats Sam as her own. She witnessed Sam grew up. She was watering her plants. Orchids, bongsai tree and morning glory were decorating her house compound.

" Morning Aunty Ma .. Where is Nick ?" Sam asked.

" You think that your friend will wake up early on Saturday ? Heh ! Of course not !" the lady scoffed.

Sam chuckled to the lady's statement. He was expecting those words from the lady as he knows his close friend very well. Suddenly, he felt a pain on his chest. He grasped his chest. It felt like someone pinched his heart from the inside. He fell on the ground while still holding to the pain.

" Aargh !!" Sam shrieked.

" Sam ?! Are you okay ?! Nick !!! Help !! Nick !!" the lady threw away the hose she was holding and ran towards the gate.

Another young man came out from the house to see what's going on. He saw his mother was holding Sam's head.

" Nick ! We need to bring him to the hospital !" cried the lady.

Without any doubt, Nick ran inside to get the car keys. He started the engine of the car and then helped Sam slowly to the get into the car. Sam was still holding to the pain on his chest. It was too painful to bear with. Slowly, his vision went blurry and he passed out.

- At the hospital -

A couple was panicking when they arrived in the hospital. They went straight to the counter with their anxiety. The hospital was quite crowded as it was the emergency unit area.

" We need to meet our son, Sam.. Samuel !" the lady voice was trembling.

" He's in the ward to your left, the second room," the nurse pointed to the room calmly.

The couple marched their way to the room as soon as the nurse pointed the direction. They were worried about their son. Precious son. They entered the ward room and saw Nick and his mother. Sam was on the bed. Unconscious.

" Oh Sam ! " Sam's mother sat beside Sam. She was absolutely terrified of losing her child. The man that came with the lady slowly approached his wife and patted her back slowly. He looked at Nick who was hugging his mother.

" How is he ? Did the doctor said anything ?" the man asked with his concern tone.

" Um.. The doctor said it was his heart.. Apparently, his heart is working poorly. The doctor advised for him to cut back on sports or any physical activities," Nick explained slowly.

The man sighed and turned his eyes to the poor young man on the bed. Sam has heart condition. It's called as a congenital heart. He was born with heart difficulties. It got worse during his high school because he was too active with the sport activities and it's getting weaker. He cut back his sports so much that he only jog every morning to keep fit.

A doctor came in with his paperwork in his hand. He wanted to tell something to Sam's parents. He slowly approached the man.

" Sam's father ?"

" Err.. Yes.. "

" Okay, so Samuel's heart is working poorly. We need to monitor him closely so he had to stay here until he's getting better," the doctor explained.

" Sure, We don't want to lose him," the man said slowly.

" Um.. One more thing, if you want him recover, I suggest a heart transplant. If you want that, I can proceed with the procedure," the doctor suggested.

The man looked at his worried wife's face. They were communicating with their eyes and facial expressions. He turned back to the doctor and nodded slowly.

***

-At the University-

It was Monday. The busiest day for the students as there were so many classes on that day. There were students still in daze walking to their classes. Too early to start the classes. Nathan was waiting for his girl crush. He scanned from left to right to find his crush. He knew that Rosie would come at that time as he memorized Rosie's schedule.

Still, no sign of her. It was 7.45 am. Her class was about to start at 8. Nathan felt uneasy. He took out his phone and tried to call Rosie.

" Trut... Trutt.... Trutt..... Trutt.... The number that you have dialed- "

Nathan frowned. He tried again. No answer. Then, a  dark blue pimped car stopped by the road where Nathan was facing. A girl came out of the care. The driver was a handsome man. He was smiling to the girl but the girl was not reacting to the smile that the man gave.

" Rosie ? Who is that ? " Nathan asked  the girl as she was walking.

Rosie stopped her steps. She looked up at Nathan. She forced herself to smile.

" No one. Just a childhood friend. He came to visit my family," Rosie assured the young man.

" Hmm.. Okay.. May I walk you to the class ?" Nathan tried to change the subject.

Deep in his thought, he was a bit jealous with the situation he saw. He knew that if that guy is a childhood friend , then he must knew a lot of things about Rosie. Nathan was frowning when he thought of the thing. Rosie noticed his frown.

" Nathan ? Are you okay ?" Rosie asked her friend.

Nathan snapped out of the deep thoughts and dragged his attention to his crush.

" Umm.. Yeah. I'm good. I'm just thinking about my assignments," Nathan tried to cover himself.

Rosie nodded. Soon, they arrived in front of Rosie's class. She thanked Nathan for walking her off to her class. " See you later," Rosie said to the man while smiling with her beautiful smile and charming voice. Nathan's heart was fluttering. He couldn't help but smiled back. Rosie entered the class as the breeze swept some of her fragrance from her hair till Nathan could smell the sweety flower smell.

Nathan held his chest with his hands as he smell the fragrance. It was making him falling madly in love with the girl. He was smiling from ear to ear. He felt like Rosie is the only girl that could make his heart thumps fast with the beat of love.

" Nathan ! What are you doing here ? Let's go to the class," a friendly voice called out at the end of the corridor. Nathan turned to the voice. The guy ran towards Nathan and noticed the man was blushing. He put his arm around Nathan's shoulders.

" Aaa~ Just sent off your beautiful girl ?" the man teased his close friend.

Nathan replied nothing but a shy smile cracked on his face.

" Let's go to our class, Tony, " Nathan rushed off to their class.

He's taking Civil Engineering together with Tony. Rosie is taking Fashion Design as her major course. That explained a lot about her appearance as she always look so presentable and pretty all the time.

As the two friends walked to their class, a man accidentally knocked Tony from behind till Tony fell to the ground. The man also fell on top of Tony. The books and papers in the man's hands flew all over the spot.

" Ack !! " Tony shrieked.

" I'm sorry !!! I'm so sorry !!! " the young man was flustered.

" What the fuck ?! " Tony was furious. He is a short tempered person. Tony got on his feet. The man was looking down to the floor. He didn't dare to look at Tony who was staring at him with the wrath of anger. Tony grabbed the man's collar and pulled him up. He was about to punch the man.

" Hey ! Stop it dude ! " Nathan stopped the punch from flying off to the man's face.

Tony pushed the man to the side. He stomped his way to the class, leaving Nathan alone with the poor man. Nathan sighed. The man was quite panicked by Tony. Nathan looked and the man and smiled.

" I'm sorry. He's a bit of hot tempered. Excuse his behaviour," Nathan apologized for his friend.

" That's okay. I knocked him. It's my fault," the man said slowly. He kneeled down to collect his papers and books. Nathan felt sorry for him and he helped him to gather all of the papers. He saw the papers was full of numbers and lines. Most probably the man is major in accountancy or business management.

" Uh.. Here .. " Nathan handed the papers he gathered.

" Thanks," the man said softly.

" I'm Nathan, by the way. First year. Major in Civil Engineering. Same goes to my friend, Tony, just now," Nathan introduced himself as he never met the man before.

" I see.. Umm.. I'm Nicholas but you can call me Nick, " Nick said with a smile. He took a glance on his phone to check the time. " Shit ! I need to go now ! Nice to meet you anyway ! Sorry.. Again !" Nick said loudly as he ran off to the opposite direction to go to his class. Nathan smiled. Suddenly, he just realized that he also got a class to attend. He started to zoom his way to the class.

***

The nurses were busy taking care of the patients. The doctors ran from a room to another room to check up on the heart-related patients with the assistance of nurses. The floor is meant to be for those patients who had a heart problem. Mostly the elders in their 50s. Sam was one of the few young patients in the ward.

With all the busy environment, Sam was in his personal ward room. Staring out of the window. He really wanted to be out there in sun. Getting himself some sunburn and sweats off. Unfortunately, the doctor didn't allow him to go out of the room and get active.

Sam had to stuck in the room while waiting for something he surely impossible to get, a new healthy heart. His parents had to keep him in the hospital for a quick action if there is any donors willing to donate the organ to their beloved child.

The room was cold, comfy and empty for the young man. Sam understands how important it was for his parents to keep him safe but he was a 100% positive that no one will ever donate a healthy heart for him. He thought of that occasionally but he tried to be positive for the sake of his parents.

" Tok Tok Tokk.."

Knocks on the door made him startled a bit. He turned around and slowly walked to his bed.

" Come in !" Sam invited.

The door knob was turned and it opened slowly. It was Nick. He always came by to visit his friend. He always update everything about college to Sam. Like a reporter. He entered the room with some fruits he bought earlier. He put the plastic on the small table and sat down on the chair beside the bed where Sam was half lying on.

" So how's the university today ? Any new thing happened ?" Sam asked Nick who was spacing out as soon as he sat on the chair.

" mmm... Today is my unlucky day. First, I woke up late. Then, I knocked a guy till both of us fell on the ground. He was mad at me and I thought I was going to die. Because of that, I was late for the morning class," Nick groaned as he pushed his face to the bed.

Sam patted his friend's back to give him a support.

" That's okay.. At least you got be out there, doing what you are supposed to do.. Mean while me .. huh..." Sam sighed and looked outside of the window.

Nick raised his head and looked at Sam's facial expression. Sam seemed to be so lonely. Nick felt bad for complaining about himself while Sam had it worse with his current conditions. Nick put his hand on Sam's shoulder. Sam needs the actual support and attention from everyone around him.

" Hey.. Don't worry, dude. You will have a donor soon enough.. " Nick tried to comfort Sam's heart.

Out of sudden, Sam flowed some tears. He cried silently. Thinking about his life. He felt like a burden to his parents. He thought that it would be better for him to not exist. Nick took some tissues on the table and handed them to Sam.

" Here.. You have to be strong. I'm sure you are going to be okay. Let's start our study. There's a lot of new topics for today's lectures," Nick tried to change to topic and took out some notebooks out of his bag. Nick always helps Sam in his studies since he couldn't go to the class. What a great friend.

About an hour later, the door of the room swung opened. Sam and Nick turned their heads to the door. Sam's mom, Mrs. Carol, walked in with a smile on her face. She brought some lunch boxes for the two of friends. Sam and Nick greeted her with a delightful smile.

" Wow ! Lunch box !! Thanks Aunty... hehehhe" Nick's face lightened up as he saw the lunch boxes.

" Hey, did my mom said it was for you ? No right ?" Sam teased his friend.

" Aow... Aunty look at your petty son.. " Nick complained.

Mrs. Carol giggled to both of the friends.

" Dear, I bought these for you two. Nick, you can have one, your mother told me you came here so I bought for you too," a kind tone of voice from Sam's mom said.

Nick quickly grabbed his lunch box and sat on the couch in front of the bed to eat his lunch. Sam shook his head. Mrs Carol dragged the patient table and placed it over Sam. Then, she put the lunch box on the table for her son and opened it.

" Eat you lunch dear.." Mrs Carol said to her precious child.

" Thanks, mom," Sam felt a spread of warmness in his heart as his mom smiled to him. Mother love, who would not be warmed by that. Sam's mother always pay attention on Sam ever since the death of his father. Sam was close to his father so much.

His biological father died in a car crash when Sam was 12 years old. It was a massive lost for Sam and his mother. The two only had each other to lean on until Mrs Carol met a new man and remarried when Sam was 17. Sam was left with little time by his mother when the man came into their lives.

Sam never agreed to let his mother remarried. He never had a one to one talk with his step dad, Mr Jacob. Any words came out of his step dad's mouth, they just make Sam mad. Sam held grudges to the man as he was stealing his mom's attention away from him. Nevertheless, his mom always beside him to support him.

While Sam enjoying his lunch, the door was pushed and Mr Jacob entered the room with his fatherly smile. Sam, who was smiling as he enjoyed the lunch, lost his appetite as soon as he saw the man that stole his mom's attention away from him. He rolled his eyes and sighed.

" Enjoy your food ?" Mr Jacob tried to start a conversation with his step son.

Sam took his phone and pretended not to hear his step dad. The grudges he held were too big that he just couldn't accept the man as his father. Mr Jacob knew that Sam wouldn't answer him.

" Sam, your father is asking you," Mrs Carol said to her son, almost sounded like she was mad that Sam ignored her husband.

" My father is dead. I got no dad now," Sam said clearly and firmly.

That caught Mrs Carol, Mr Jacob and Nick off guard. The atmosphere became so much of tension. Nick just tried to not hear the awkward encounter between Sam and his step dad.

" Sam ! Don't be rude !" Mrs Carol barked at her son.

" Carol.. That's okay.. I head out first. I'll wait in the car," Mr Jacob tried to not let Mrs Carol be mad at Sam.

" Take care buddy.." Mr Jacob added. He accepted the fact that Sam will never consider him as his dad.

Mr Jacob walked slowly out of the room. Mrs Carol stared deathly at Sam who was pretending like was not care of what was happening.

" I'm disappointed at you, Sam. " Mrs Carol said the words while cleaned the table for Sam and she stormed out of the room.

Sam sighed while he covered his face with both of his hands. A drop of guilt on his heart for making his mom acted that way. He never get to talk properly with his step dad. They always disagree on things. Sam never joined any dinner together with his step dad. He just didn't want to let the man tricked him just like he tricked his mother.