"Makes me miss him and then comes to me in nightmares!" - Rayhan Wardana.
***
Ouch! William grimaced when he accidentally cut his finger with a knife while cutting carrots.
Suddenly he remembered about his brother and suddenly felt uneasy. As if there was a stone blocking his heart, William ignored the stinging feeling of his finger which was dripping with blood, his mind wandered looking for an answer as to why his feelings were becoming uneasy.
"Oh my God! Your hands are bleeding!" Rose screamed when she saw William lost in thought while holding his injured finger.
"Why are you standing still instead of quickly cleaning your wound! Do you enjoy being hurt?" said Rose who immediately pulled William towards the sink and washed his hands.
"Are you ok?" Rose asked, worried because William still looked lost in thought.
"William... What are you thinking?" Rose asked once again and this time managed to get William out of his daydreaming world.
"Felt hurt..."
Rose didn't understand William's words. She saw William holding his chest and Rose immediately panicked.
"Are you okay? Do you have a history of heart disease? What hurts?" Rose asked repeatedly while touching William's chest.
"My heart hurts." William replied.
Rose was stunned to hear William's answer, why was this man suddenly hurt?
"There won't be anything bad, right?" William asked, his eyes filled with tears. William felt that maybe something bad had happened to his younger brother. Hopefully this premonition he felt was wrong. William didn't understand what he was feeling, he just felt like he suddenly wanted to cry and his body felt weak.
"Are you alright?" Rose asked carefully, William didn't answer, instead he hugged Rose tightly, causing Rose to only remain silent in resignation and slowly return the hug.
"Everything will be fine, calm down... Nothing bad will happen." Rose said calmly.
Hopefully... William prayed in his heart that his little brother would be okay.
***
Rayhan was not fine, he had lost consciousness when he arrived at the hospital and now the doctor was treating him.
Sammy waited in front of the operating room, praying that Rayhan would be saved.
Nurses went in and out of the operating room where Rayhan was being treated.
With a trembling body, Sammy reached for the cell phone that was in his pocket.
He tried to contact Rose but Rose could not be contacted.
"Hang in there Ray..."
Not long after, Sammy's cell phone rang, a number with an overseas code came in to contact him.
"Sir..." Sammy said stutteringly, someone on the other end of the phone sounded displeased, "What's wrong with your voice?"
"Rayhan... Rayhan..." Sammy couldn't bring himself to say it, he was afraid that his life would end if his 'Master' found out about Rayhan's current condition.
"What's wrong with that kid?"
"He tried to end his life and is currently in critical condition."
It wasn't an angry voice that was heard but instead a laughing sound which made Sammy very surprised to hear it because it was his 'Master' who ordered him to help and care for Rayhan all this time and make sure that Rayhan was okay but suddenly everything turned upside down.
"Just prepare a funeral for him. Finally this day has come."
"What do you mean sir?"
"Nothing, I hope he doesn't survive, but if he does, keep an eye on him and accompany him."
The phone call was cut off, Sammy's hands went limp, the guardian angel suddenly turned into a devil. The master who he had always considered to be one of Rayhan's family but did not want Rayhan to know his identity was the man who had always asked him to ensure Rayhan's safety, suddenly wanted Rayhan not to be safe.
What kind of cruel world has Rayhan been surrounded by?
Sammy, who already considered Rayhan as his own little brother, now couldn't hold back his tears crying over Rayhan's misfortune.
"Hang in there Ray, don't let the people who hurt you win against you."
****
The sound of the pen tip touching the surface of the table broke the silence of a room with slightly dim lighting.
A very large photo frame was displayed in the room. From behind the table, Jackson smiled at the framed photo of his family.
"I warned you, live like William Alexander, be my son and your life won't be as messy as it is now."
Jackson couldn't stop smiling, ever since he took William and made him his biological son to replace Mark, Jackson had warned William many times to forget his past but William remained adamant and the older he got, the more unstoppable he became in finding Rayhan, his younger brother.
Even though at first he only used William, gradually he couldn't deny that he slowly started to love William like his own son and he didn't want to lose William, so he planned all this so that even though William and Rayhan finally met, Rayhan would still reject William's presence because Rayhan definitely hated William more because William had stolen his lover and William would still be his son.
What a perfect plan, he muttered happily.
"Nothing should divide our family."
"As much as you hate me William, that's how much I will make your brother hate you..."
****
"When I was little I was very afraid of monsters hiding in wardrobes, every night before going to bed I always locked all my wardrobes and put the keys under my pillow only then could I sleep soundly after that." Rose's story broke the silence because William was busy with his reading book which was very thick and looked boring.
"What about you? Did you have monsters when you were little?" Rose asked, she was actually curious about the meaning of the answer William said yesterday when he asked about his childhood, Jane's words about the wound William had and earlier William suddenly felt anxious, there must be a reason for all of this, Rose knew that if she told him, she could get rid of his burden, she wanted William to also tell him about the wounds he had.
"William, hey I asked you and stop reading those boring pages. Let's chat before sleeping, you can tell me anything." Persuading Rose with her sweet smile, she didn't even hesitate to move closer and tug on William's sleeve.
"I don't have an interesting story." William answered without turning around but Rose kept tugging at his sleeve and made William finally put down the book he was holding.
"Just tell me about your life." William said, he was happy because Rose wore clothes that looked too big on her body but actually made Rose very cute and also helped him to restrain himself from doing things that were out of line with Rose.
"I've told you many things but I don't know anything about you."
"You sound like a girl who is trying to find out information about the man she is targeting." William teased as he brought his face closer, making Rose immediately reflexively pull her head back.
"Well, if you don't want to tell stories, who else is curious?!"
"What's so interesting about a stiff man like you!" Rose continued but William continued to get closer until Rose was lying down without realizing it.
"Should I change to a sweet and gentle man?" William teased, smiling as he ran his finger across Rose's face and it was clear that all of this made Rose tense and her face turned red.
Seeing that Rose was even holding her breath, William then sat up straight again, leaning back. Rose could breathe a sigh of relief now and sat back down right next to William.
"Monsters? When I was little there was a monster that made me depend on him, at first he looked like an angel but then for some reason I felt he turned into a scary monster. I couldn't sleep well, every night I felt restless and scared, I was afraid if I fall asleep and I will forget who I really am." William's story.
Hearing what William said, the monster figure did not seem to come from his imagination but was a real figure.
"He left my body free but my soul was imprisoned." William continued smiling sadly.
"Luckily you've grown up, does that monster still haunt you?" Rose asked trying to smile even though she could feel the sadness that William radiated from his blank gaze.
"What do you think?" William asked, suddenly turning his head and their lips almost touching.
"Do you think that monster is still haunting me?" William asked.
"You can fight it, I'm sure you are no less cruel than that monster." Rose answered.
"Is it true?"
"True, you are cruel, cold-hearted but..."
"But?"
But sometimes it's so warm that it makes me feel comfortable...
"Rosie..." William called because Rose was suddenly lost in thought.
"I'm not afraid of you." Rose replied casually.
"Really?"
Rose nodded slowly but she was already taking steps to get out of bed.
"Are you sure, babe?" William teased, smiling mischievously by brushing his thumb over the surface of Rose's lips.
"Of course!" Rose answered after slapping William's hand away and then quickly got out of bed but unfortunately William managed to grab her wrist and stop Rose from moving.
"You can't run away, babe." William muttered as he approached and slowly hugged Rose from behind.
"God created you to make me feel comfortable when I hug you." Said William, tightening his embrace.
"You should be afraid of me, because if not, it would be very easy for you to fall in love with me."
.....