Chapter 1

Beard grew dark, noodles, and strong. It formed slowly under the skin, grew slowly toward the skin, and never leave to its holding skin. It is natural for human anatomy, to let it grow has no color, and nothing fruit to reap. Timeless cutting was not the solution, for whatever mechanism the mind could create, it was all part of the human body that nothing could take. And, with a life that is so meaningful to live and to die which has no room from the heart, it was distant to someone who suffered from the wrath of God and wished for something else. So, as it was from the beginning of his time and so the ending has never ended, the life of Felix Madis was cursed by an undefined fate against his will.

Felix had achieved everything he ever wanted as a doctor. He was one of the most renowned and successful surgeons in the South of the United States in the 1950s, respected by his peers and admired by the young and aspiring doctors who looked up to him as a role model. He was smart, charismatic, and glorious, with a charming smile and a confident voice. He owned a hospital in Houston and held the biggest share of its profits. He had dedicated his life to saving others, giving everything he had, doing the best he could, and serving as a blessing to his patients and his community. But then, everything fell apart in his hands. With a single mistake, one fatal error, he lost everything he cared about. His authority, his reputation, his love, his dream, and his happiness all turned their backs on him and left him alone.

Whiskey and cigarette are his friends. They are his bonds during his distressing times while handing them the authority to kill him slowly. His room was shrouded by butts and glasses along the floor and to the table. Without them, for him, joy and peace are impossible to gain. So whenever the whiskey fell him asleep, he was completely terrified to escape away from reality. However, the sunbeam still reaches his eyes. It became his wake-up timepiece in every 7 am from the punch of the light - straight to his window that shattered it into a piece of a fist up to his face.

He let his beard grow for seven years which covered his whole face and became anew. A new look means a new identity. He left Houston and moved to Orlando, where he lived for almost two years. Then he decided to leave the States for good and start a new life in London. He changed his name and his appearance, hoping to erase his past and his troubles. He was no longer a renowned person, but rather, a simple man who is trying to survive and find out what is the best of life that remains for him. After escaping the world of darkness of his past, it was time to face the untried world - where everybody has no idea of who he was.

After settling in the city, he made friends with many English people and established a new business. Felix was not only a surgeon, he also had a talent for fixing watches that he had learned from his father as a teenager. He opened a watch repair shop and expanded it over the years, becoming a trusted and respected service provider in London.

During that time, he also met Windy Wellington, a young and intelligent lady from the city of London. She was a scientist who had a keen interest in physics and chemistry. She had long blonde hair that she often tied with a silk scarf, blue eyes that sparkled with curiosity, and a slender figure that she dressed in the latest fashion trends of the 60s. She wore mini skirts and striped T-shirts in bright colors, flared pants, cozy sweaters in groovy patterns, and colorful earrings, bracelets, and rings. She looked like a modern-day Brigitte Bardot, but with a brain to match her beauty. Felix was admired not only for her ability but also for her fashion. He was attracted to her witty, adventurous, generous, and kind personality. He loved to travel, read, dance, and learn new things with her.

A year after they met, they developed a romantic relationship with each other. But Felix had a secret that he hardly kept from her. A secret that could endanger their relationship and their lives. A secret that he hoped she would never find out.

"Do yow think I can go drive out of London?" she asked Felix in her backseat while driving her daddy's motorscooter along the highway.

"Oh sweety," Felix said. "How I loved to ride in the train to keep myself safe."

"Bastard," she said as she laughed at him. She took that American insult from Felix as he spoke it almost on any affair to his friends. "Yow don't trustin' me, aren't yow?"

Felix was going to respond when suddenly she insisted. "Look", she meant at the chaotic scene ahead of them. The street was jammed with cars honking and drivers cursing. People were waving flags and holding signs with slogans, chanting and marching along the road. They had blocked the entire traffic, creating a massive gridlock. It looked like a political rally that had turned into a protest. "There's no way we can get through that mess", she said hesitantly. "Let's find another route to the bridge." She changed her way to the other side and went in the other direction.

Windy had been practicing the motorscooter for merely three days around the spacious Hampstead Village - where the usual middle class stayed. It was a peaceful and rural place, where the roads were empty and the traffic was minimal. She found it easy to drive on the open road without any obstacles or distractions. However, she was confident enough to drive all the way to the city. Felix was opposed to the idea, but she persuaded him with her stubbornness and determination.

She was satisfied to pass the bridge for the first time. Down along with the London Bridge, where people were walking sideways, she could see the River Thames flowing under the granite arches of the 19th-century structure. The bridge had stood for over a century and survived the bombings of World War II, but it was now sinking into the water and struggling to cope with the modern traffic. Windy looked to the side mirror and saw the bearded face of Felix displayed on it with a white helmet that crowned himself. "How about shaving yowr face?" she asked him.

"I'm good for this."

"But yow look -"

"Look what?"

"I just want to seey your face", she said, "Besides, I didn't seey yowr scoured looks since we met."

"Possibly soon." he took away his picture out on the side mirror and sit up straight behind Windy's back.

Windy's happy face altered into disappointment and her shoulder back lowered which was visible to Felix. However, he didn't mind it as he don't want to continue the conversation about his appearance.

As he was playing, a chubby boy let go of his balloon and watched it drift away in the air. He ran after it, oblivious to everything else, and darted across the busy street. They are still on Borough High Street, a road that connected London Bridge with the south coast of England. Windy was watching the traffic ahead, but not the surroundings. She didn't notice the boy until he was right in front of them. She braked hard and swerved to the right, barely avoiding him by inches. The scooter skidded on the rough pavement and crashed on the side of the road. They were shaken by the close call. Felix looked down at his left hand and knee, which were scraped and bleeding from hitting the ground. He felt a surge of adrenaline and shock, and couldn't speak or move for a moment.

"Felix," Windy tapped him, "Hey, sweety, yow alright?" she asked with a worried eye and tone.

Felix came back to his sense. "Yo - You have blood in your head." He places his hand on her head, with it in his fingers, and now, he started running out of his breath.

Windy begins to panic correspondingly after what is happening to Felix. She couldn't find out the reason why he acted like that. Then suddenly, somebody held her back and lift her to stand up and helped by the people who are witnessed in public.

A famous doctor back in Houston had developed a dread for blood.

"Give him a space." someone spoke behind the crowd. Then he walked forward to Felix and declared another one. "Can wey please give everyone some space for this gentleman?" he asked politely. Then the people gently provided them with a space and left the center of the accident area wide open for a meter distance. "Thank yow. Down't worry, I am a doctor, he will be fine". He downed his knee and put his hand on Felix's left pulse. He lies him aside to take more breath and talks gently to him for calming him out. Then suddenly Felix was back to his normal condition.

He looked again at Windy and saw the blood from her head. Now he is shrugging and biting his teeth. "Blood!" he screamed. Windy quickly wiped the blood that keeps flowing from her head - she didn't even feel a single pain because of Felix's reactions. And the doctor covered his eyes with a little whispering to comfort him. He knew how to stop him from being strange - an expert in handling that type of situation.

"Get off," he said to him, "Wey will take off to the hospital." At that point, he implies to Windy, "Yo tow, you needed immediate medication." He pulled up Felix and walked him towards his car, a basil Vauxhall Viva model - a few feet away from their accident area. Felix dragged his right foot while hanging on the doctor's shoulder. The people politely gave them a way whereas the young lady helped Windy walk because of her dizzy condition. The blood keeps running out of her head. As they are all inside the car, the doctor asked Windy about her feeling, "Are yow alright?" Windy nodded to him while lying her head on Felix's shoulder as she eventually looks in pain and then passed out.

That was the first accident that record in their 3-year relationship as they both fainted and were delivered to the hospital.

Felix woke up first. He looked around and saw himself lying in bed with a bandage wrapped around his head. He felt a dull ache in his skull and a throbbing pain in his left hand and knee. He saw wires and tubes attached to his body, connecting him to machines that beeped and blinked. He smelled the antiseptic and bleach of the hospital ward. He noticed Windy lying unconscious at his side, her face pale and bruised, her arm in a sling. He felt a surge of relief and guilt, glad that she was alive but sorry that he had put her in danger. He found himself back in the place where he belonged before, but this time, as a patient. He tried to sit up when the doctor came in. "How was your feeling?" he asked. "By the way, I'm Dr. David Clark, the one who brought yow here, and yow are in the Lambeth Hospital."

Felix was feeling ashamed to respond for the reason that he remembered everything. "What happen?" he just tried to deny it.

"Yow and Ms. Wellington had come into an accident and yow both fainted," he said. "However, wey will have to examine for an x-ray to find out if yow both gained fractures or not."

"How was she?"

"Shey's fine, down't worry", he said, "Shey just getting some stitches for her head wound. It's not serious, just a minor." Then Dr. Clark suddenly stop and asked Felix. "Are yow an American?"

He remained silent, but his beard failed to conceal the way he gritted his teeth in resentment and pain - his reaction to that cruel question. He longed to forget his origins and his nationality and merely wants to live like a true British.

"I'm sowrry for asking that", he apologized, "I'd just checked it in your I.D. a while ago."

"Yes, I am an American, Doctor," Felix said.

"Ow by the way", he excitedly changed the topic and took the balloon at Felix's side and the letter. There was a smiling face that was drawn in the balloon and a message in a cute messy hand letter that has a message of: I am sorry for your accident. Please accept my sorry and my balloon. Mom will help me pray for your recovery. Get well soon. - From, Jelian. He left another smiling face that was imprinted at the end of his name. He seems like a kind and happy child that was raised by her parents in a well-mannered attitude. The kid left that present to them while they are both unconscious and don't wait for them to wake up. He shows his concern and apology to them as well as his innocence to the world.

"Can you please bring me a pen?" he asked Dr. Clark.

"Sure", he said, "just fowr a second," he called up his nurse and gave it to Felix.

"How is he?"

"Down't worry", he said confidently, "The kid were totally fine. Ms. Wellington was a good driver, isn't she?" He praised and seemed dumbfounded at the driving skills that Windy earned on her 3-day practice.

Felix wrote a reply on the back of Jelian's letter and held it back to the nurse. "If he comes back", he said, "Would you please give it to him for my sincerity?" he asked kindly.

"Sure Mr. Madis", the nurse declared as she smiled, "I will hand it to him."

"And by the way", as Dr. Clark changed the topic again, "Yow had a panic attacked after the accident, do yow remember?" he continued. "Will yo -..."

Felix cuts him out. "Forget it, Dr. Clark," he said, "Besides, I don't want to find it out, and you will can not find it out." He laid off back on his bed and looked at Windy as he is worried more about her than through himself.