Chapter 30: Chapter 30

True love is to be selfless and want the best for the object of your love whether it is reciprocated or not.

- Grace Chanbee

[Author's POV]

Gilbert Sanders bit his fingers nervously as the driver spun across several kilometres to his family's hospital.

After receiving a call from Justin that his daughter was in a terrible state, he had left the exhibition he and his wife had been seeing at an art gallery, informing her that he had urgent work to attend to.

He knew his wife very well. She was going to make a scene and be terribly worried about everything that she could even collapse, making the whole situation worse than it already was.

He was scared as well. His only daughter was experiencing a series of turmoil without anyone knowing what the main issue was. Neither Justin nor the doctor had even been honest with him about how the situation of things actually was.

What if Amber was badly damaged? Her brain was already dead, his only consolation so far had been that at least, she was okay. Although he had wanted her to regain her memory, all he wanted now was for her to be alive and healthy.

The car screeched to a halt in the parking lot of the hospital and for the first time in ages, Gilbert opened the door by himself and hurriedly walked towards the entrance of the hospital, much to the amazement of the onlooking guards who were following his personal car behind.

All that was on his mind was to see his precious only child and nothing else could bother him presently; except for a particular devilish obstacle which he bumped into.

"What's wrong with you? Can't you see where you're headed?" Gilbert hollered.

"Hey, watch it," The man he had bumped into yelled, and immediately regretted his words as soon as they had come out on recognising that he had in fact, yelled at his boss.

"Sir, sir, I'm so sorry," He said.

"Helios, what's your problem? Is this how you talk to people?" Gilbert asked his personal assistant.

Helios hung his head low. "I'm so sorry sir, I had no idea you were the one," He apologised.

Gilbert shrugged his shoulders. "And so? Is that an excuse? What if it had not been me? Does this mean you would have not given a hoot had it been someone other than me?" He retorted.

"I'm sorry, sir," He said.

"By the way, what's wrong with your eyes?" He asked, noticing the strange yellow glow in his eyes for the very first time.

Helios shuddered. How the hell had he forgotten to take off his contact lens?

"Give me an answer," Gilbert gestured.

He stammered, "It's umm...just something I was trying out," He said.

Gilbert snickered. "Who tries out something so weird as yellow contact lenses? What are you even doing here?" He asked.

"I heard what happened to Amber, I came to check up on her," He lied.

He was confused as Justin had informed him that he was the first person to be called and he had asked him not to reveal the news to anyone else. Still, he just shrugged his shoulders and decided to ignore his gut feeling.

"So what are you up to now?" He asked.

"I...err... I want to get something," Helios replied in a stutter.

He sighed, disbelieving him, but just decided to let it go.

"I have to check up on my daughter, we'll discuss soon enough," Gilbert responded and walked away from him, finally going into the hospital.

Helios grinned evilly and walked in slow but comfortable steps away from the hospital. His boss didn't even suspect a thing. Once again, he had gotten away with his crimes. The servants at home had informed him of the good news of Amber being in the hospital. Sure, she seemed to be in a pathetic state as she was in the ICU, but he was still not satisfied. All wouldn't be at rest with him till she was actually dead.

*******

[Justin's POV]

I panicked and paced around the lobby, fiddling with my quivering fingers, my heart was racing in fear, my teeth was clattering, my entire existence was terrified.

Amber had been rushed into the Intensive Care Unit on a hospital stretcher with oxygen stacked around her nose and an IV drip injected into her wrist.

I cried as I watched her body tremble and the doctor could only perform resuscitation on her till she was stable.

I had been asked to wait outside as he continued carrying his examinations on her and as the nurses stitched up her head, much to my increased fear and horrified state.

I kept on running my hands through my hair, dipping my hands into my pocket, folding my arms, sitting for a while to offer some prayers then standing up and pacing to tone down my worried state.

All I wanted was for Amber to be fine. She hadn't seemed fine when we had last seen each other...No, she hadn't even looked okay to say the least.

I was terribly scared and negative thoughts clouded my mind and although I tried to stay optimistic and positive, all that engulfed me was pessimism and negativity.

"Justin, Justin, how is she?" I heard Mr Sanders' loud gruffy voice yell as he walked into the lobby looking really apprehensive as beads of sweat he didn't bother to wipe off dripped down his forehead.

I want to him, grabbed his hands as I trembled in fear, glad that I could finally express my worries to someone.

"I don't know, sir. She's been in the ICU for quite some time. I..I'm scared .. I love her so much.... She looked really weak and tired, acting like we'll never see each other again... I won't survive it... If anything bad happens to her, I... I won't be able to..."

He drew me into a warm embrace and patted my back as the tears I had been struggling to hold back started streaming down as my heartbeat tremendously increased, scared to the core.

We were like father and son as he tried to make sure I was all right by patting my back continuously and although it was weird that I was showing off my emotional side to my greatest enemy, it was pretty much comforting being in his arms and I felt reassured that everything was going to be just fine.

I heard someone clear his throat.

Mr Sanders gently let me out of his embrace and gave me a small smile which was unusual but a welcome change.

I turned around and saw it was the doctor in a laboratory coat who had interrupted my special moment.

I dried my tears with the back of my hands and tried to express a calm countenance.

"Doctor, what's wrong with my daughter?" Mr Sanders asked.

The doctor gave a faint smile. "Thankfully, Amber was rushed into the hospital in time..."

"Yes! I knew she'd be fine!" Mr Sanders said in glee and I beamed happily as I mumbled a prayer of thanksgiving to God.

Unknown to us, the doctor was not done with his speech and we had rejoiced quite too early.

He cleared his throat and continued. "However, even though we managed to stabilise her condition and ensure her breathing is normal, she is still unconscious," He said and looked at us like he was trying hard to pick his words.

I was confused and before I could ask the doctor what the problem was, her father spoke.

"That's not a problem, is it? She has fallen unconscious many a time so she should be up anytime soon. Thank you doctor, for treating her well," Mr Sanders said with a broad smile.

I, however, had a feeling that something was wrong somewhere, and that, the doctor confirmed in his next words.

He heaved a sigh and shook his head sadly. "You don't understand. Unfortunately, your daughter, Amber Sanders has slipped into a state of coma. She's in between life and death and she may never wake up again," The doctor dropped the bombshell.

I staggered out of the intense shock his words had on me and fell to the floor, my eyes blinking impulsively and my ears twitching to hear if they had heard right.

Even in the midst of my disorderly state, I saw Gilbert Sanders grab unto the doctor's collar, shaking him hard as if he was responsible for the state his daughter was in.

"What have you done to my daughter? You told me she'll be all right, what have you done to her?" He yelled.

The doctor struggled to keep calm and did not even bother to remove Mr Sanders' hands that were grabbing tight to his collar.

"I didn't do anything, Mr Sanders. I tested your daughter's blood and she has been immensely poisoned with a substance capable of making her lose not just her mind, but not to remember anything from her past nor make new memories," He said, at a reasonably high voice.

I shuddered as the doctor's explanation immediately made sense to me. All of a sudden, Amber had started feeling weak, running a high temperature, falling unconscious, even with the therapy and medication.

Mr Sanders slowly let go of the doctor's collar as his eyes twitched sideways, probably trying to grasp the information the doctor had just spilled.

"Are you okay, sir?" He asked.

Mr Sanders shook his head slowly. "No...we eat what Amber eats...how could she...how was she poisoned?" He muttered, then immediately took a swift turn to look at me, who was still lost in thoughts and trying to figure out how Amber could have been poisoned.

However, as the cold stern look of Gilbert Sanders who had been previously warm and friendly to me met my terrified eyes, I felt chills in my spine as I had a clue on what he may probably be wondering.

"Justin..." He began.

I stood up abruptly and put my hands in surrender, swearing with my very being that I knew absolutely nothing about Amber being poisoned, interrupting his speech even before it properly began.

"Calm down, no one's accusing you," He said.

I was ultimately surprised. "You're not accusing me?" I asked in a mixture of surprise, doubt and utmost shock.

He walked to me and put his hands on my shoulder, trying to calm me down and erase every fear that was rising slowly within me.

"I just wanted to ask if you suspect anyone or anything that may be behind this and how possible it is for Amber to be poisoned in my own home even with the loyal servants and guards I possess," He said, shocking me once again.

What was the reason for his sudden change? I wondered. I, however, positioned my mind into searching and thinking of a probable explanation for this as I scanned through likely events and happenings that may have triggered my suspicion without me even knowing.

It felt as if time paused for a while as my brain hinted on one plausible thought I had had all this time.

My eyes glinted and it was like I had struck gold, even though the chances of my thesis were likely to be wrong.

"You remember or know anything?" Mr Sanders asked, full of hope.

I nodded. "Amber only started to feel weak and get unconscious after she started taking the medication," I told him.

Mr Sanders suddenly withdrew his hands from my shoulders as if a scorpion had stung him, looking at me with utmost dismay and disappointment.

"That's crap, boy. She has been taking the medication even before you started the therapy. It was when you started your so-called therapy that things became bad for her. You want to know when you'll grow? It's when you learn to accept your mistakes and the truth," He said, almost on top of his voice.

I sighed. "I don't mean to rat Amber out but she wasn't taking the medicines because she wasn't interested in regaining her memory. It was only when I began her therapy that she began to take her medications," I countered, still in a calm voice.

I watched as he went from being confident to being overcome with shock.

"So...are you trying to say something was wrong with her medicines?" He asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know, ask your family doctor. Every time I complained, he always told me they were mere side effects, now, see what has happened," I said, eyeing the doctor terribly.

Inspite of all the drama going on, the doctor remained calm and relaxed.

"What do you have to say in your defence?" Mr Sanders asked.

He simply nodded his head. "The medicines sure has side effects, but they're not as bad as this. Someone may have tampered with them..."

"Cut that crap! I trust everyone in my household," Mr Sanders said.

"No, he's right," I agreed with the doctor.

"Why?"

"Before Amber passed out, she forced herself to remember who owned a tattoo that my friend had seen on the mastermind of the harm that has been done to Amber all this while."

"What are you talking about?" Mr Sanders asked, looking confused.

"It's a long story which I'm sure we'll all sit and laugh about one day, but for now, there's something you must know. Amber told me that Helios, your personal assistant, is in fact the one who has been trying to have her killed," I said.

He guffawed, obviously disbelieving my statement then he abruptly stopped his boisterous laughter as he flinched, his fingers quivering like he had suddenly remembered something.

"Didn't... Didn't Amber say the person who had attacked her in her room had yellow eyes?" He asked, looking really perplexed.

I nodded, giving him a positive reply to his question.

"Gosh! I'm such a fool!" He yelled.

I looked at him befuddled, not knowing the reason for his sudden outburst.

"You know what? I just saw Helios, that devil right now. I'm going to find him and kill him with my bare hands," He yelled, emitting fury in his words.

Before I could say a word, his phone began to ring and he almost tore his pocket in anger as he forcefully took out the phone and answered it.

"Hello, detective. There's something you.... Oh, really? That's fantastic news! However, the battle isn't over just yet. Make sure you find Helios, yes, my personal secretary. He's definitely the one behind all these... Are you crazy? How can you expect me to know why he is desperately after my daughter's life? Just do your job and find him before he does more harm than good!" He yelled and cut the call.

"Any good news?" I asked, curious.

"Yes. He told me the police were able to track down a van and its owner, said the man was involved in Amber's attack," Mr Sanders said.

A smile lit up my face like I had won a trophy. "That's the psychopath. Finally, he's been caught! What next?" I asked.

"I have to go and see the police. I don't think it will be hard finding Helios, he doesn't know we're onto him," He told me.

I nodded.

"I'll leave my guards here with you..."

"Me? Why? Can't I go with you to help?" I asked.

He snickered. "How will you help? The police is everywhere right now and their only motive is to find Helios, you have no use over there."

"But..."

"No buts, Justin. You have to stay right here with Amber. I can't even fully trust my guards to be with her, you're the only one I can trust now," He told me.

I was perplexed by his sudden change of attitude.

"I realise that I've been wrong about your father all this time. My secretary in the office presented to me a safe a week ago which contains evidence that your father was innocent of the accusation levied against him. I've not had the heart to actually sit and watch the video nor go through the documents in the safe yet because I feel guilty. Once all these is over, I'll examine everything and disclose to the public that I was wrong in the decision I took twelve years ago," He said.

I sighed, not knowing exactly what to say or how to feel. Everything was happening so fast and it looked like I was stuck in the middle of it all.

"I'm sorry, Justin. I have to go now. I trust that you won't leave Amber's side nor let any harm come to her. Please, do take care," He told me and patted my shoulders.

We stared into each other's eyes one more time before he took calculated strides out of the lobby of the hospital.

The doctor threw a warm smile in my direction, like he was comforting me.

However, I didn't need his smile. I needed to see Amber's smile alone. Thinking of that made reality dawn on me as the pain of probably never getting to see Amber again stabbed me in the heart a billion times.

What was wrong with me? I wasn't even thinking of being happy that my father had been exonerated because I had always believed he was a good man. Instead, there I was, feeling sad about the condition of the daughter of the same man I had sworn to forever hate.

This wasn't supposed to have happened like this. My intention from the onset was to ignore Amber and rich people like her. On the contrary, I had ended up falling deeply in love with her so much it hurt.

I felt like a complete fool, a total idiot for feeling this way about my supposed enemy's daughter but still, I didn't regret loving her at all.

I walked slowly to the ICU where she was kept like I was a depressed fella which was actually going to be true soonest because depression was slowly starting to sink in.

I was scared...terribly scared as I made my way to the room.

I placed my hands on the wall and peeked into the room and saw as she lay on the bed like a vegetable with tons of oxygen masks placed around her nose and mouth. Different drips were also injected into her body and it looked like they hurt, but apparently, she could feel no pain as she was tarrying between life and death and was oblivious of her surroundings.

She didn't flinch nor move; she just lay on her back, not even lifting her littlest finger.

Why had her father chosen to leave me here? This was nothing but torture and it stung, even more painful than the sting of a scorpion.

I shivered and tears fell from my eyes. All I needed was to see her precious face jovial and active again as she swung her long hair confidently and made my heart race without her knowing what she was doing to my emotions.

I missed her and I wanted her hale and hearty again.

Even if she didn't remember who I was anymore, even if she never ended up liking me again, all I earnestly prayed for was just to see her eyes opened and know that she was safe.

That alone was enough for me.

I was still engrossed in my thoughts when the sound of two rapid gunshots interposed and I looked the other way out of mere curiosity.

He stood there holding a rifle, grinning like a thief with his fake yellow eyes emanating anger.

The doctor looked visibly shaken as he shuddered with fear and all who were in the waiting room with us looked dangerously terrified as their teeth clattered and they instantly fell to their knees, chilled to the bone.

It appeared he wasn't alone as a petite brunette in a black leather jumpsuit which I recognised as Daisy, Amber's cousin from the pictures I had seen, came inside and locked the door, making her presence noticeable with the clacks her boots made.

She gave a devilish grin and held up an injection whose contents appeared to be glowing.

"Don't for one second think any of you can alert the police about this. We don't want any trouble, all we need is to inject the girl in the ICU with this and we'll be on our way," She said in a commanding tone.

How was a seventeen-year old girl so scary? I wondered as thoughts filled my head on what next to do.

"This is the police. Open up this door immediately or you will be charged for more crimes than you've already committed," I heard what was undeniably Detective Andrew's voice yell as he banged on the door of the waiting room in the ICU centre.

"You forgot to add something, Lily..."

"For the last time, it's Daisy!" She yelled, looking really furious which made them look like a duo of clowns.

He ignored her and went on with his statement. "You all will be used as baits for our escape," He said.

I understood just like many other people in the room that he meant we will leave the hospital premises with them once they were done with the evil plans they had for Amber because the police wasn't going to shoot nor try anything funny just to protect innocent lives.

However, I was an Al-Hassan and I wasn't going to sit back and watch the woman I love get harmed because I was scared of being shot neither was I going to allow myself to be used as an escape tool for two pathetic animals.

It was time to be a hero and darn the consequences.