Chapter 101: Chapter 101
Nate's POV
After I end the call with Ethan, I put my phone on silent and look at the time before placing it in my pocket. It's 4 : 17 Pm.
I think I shouldn't have attended his call now. What if he drive to the station to catch me or something ?
I hope he won't. And even if he drive, he won't be able to catch me. Cause the train departs at sharp 4: 30 PM, as it's starting point is Texas.
Within another three minutes, the cab pulls into the station and I quickly hop out after paying the driver. I had booked the tickets today morning itself, so I stalk inside and take the escalator to go to platform 3. My train was already there, ready for departure.
I take my phone and start looking at the seating chart to find my seat. I quickly find it within three minutes and leave a sigh as I occupy my seat in the second class local coach. I look at my watch and the time is 4 : 24 PM. Just six more minutes for the train to depart.
Then my phone vibrates in my hands showing Ethan's name again. I place it on the seat beside me, letting it silently ring. I don't have the strength to talk to Ethan again. He knows I'm lying. I'm afraid I'll spill the truths or give him further suspicions if I talk to him again.
The phone keeps on vibrating and my heart keeps on thudding in a wild pace until the train finally starts moving. Then I once again leave a sigh.
But there's actually nothing for me to feel relieved in. My mind is restless. As every second pass by, I only feel more and more tensed and scared. I'm going home to unravel some shocking mysteries but I still pray these are all nothing but coincidence. That Ethan looking like the photo copy of my brother is a coincidence, Ethan having same habits as Alex is a coincidence, Ethan having same blood group as him is a coincidence, Ethan sharing same birthday as me is a coincidence, Ethan born in the same hospital I was born in is a coincidence. Everything is just a coincidence.
But I know, these many things can't be coincidence. And it shakes me to the core. I feel scared, I feel my heart ache, I feel like crying out loud.
I was planning to tell Anna about Ethan and confess to her that I like him and I'm dating him. But It was then I simply happened to look at his Football form that was lying on the table. My courage all trembled down when I saw his date of birth. I was utterly shocked. And then his blood group too was B+ve, same as Alex.
And when he said he was born at St Bernard's, Arkansas, my heart almost stopped beating. I had to cough to hide the shock. But the fake coughs soon turned into real. I was feeling suffocated with shock.
I know something happened during our birth. I don't believe he is my twin brother. But I think we got......we got interchanged !
And I don't think we got switched by mistake.
I remember a night, one week after Alex's death when Dad came home heavily drunk. " I lost my both sons. I'm a pathetic Father.", he muttered and sobbed falling limp on the couch while my Mom was crying in the kitchen. Anna tried to console him saying 'Michael is still here.' But he kept on muttering he lost his both sons. I then thought he was simply blabbering after getting drunk. But now I don't think so.
My Dad never shows us his blood reports. I have wondered a lot of times why ? Feeling curious, I once sneaked into his room and took out his hospital file from the cupboard. But before I could look into his blood test result, he barged in and yanked the file away from me. He scolded me a lot that day until the point I started crying and Alex had to come and console me.
I then though he has some serious disease and he is hiding it from us. But I now think he was just hiding his blood group. He says he has A+ve blood group. But I think he is O. Anna once asked, 'But Dad, I think you once told me you are O+ve'. Dad then got angry at her and told her he is A+ve.
I've an AB+ve blood group. Anna is A+ve. Mom is AB+ve like me. But an AB together with O won't make AB. Dad should be A or B or AB. But I think he is O and that is what is hiding.
I think my parents know, I'm not their son. I think at least my Dad knows. But if they know, can they love me this much ?
No ! I don't want to find out that I'm not their son, Alex's and Anna's sibling and Instead I'm Ethan's Mom's Son and his sister's brother.
But everything really fits. I've his Mom's blue eyes. No one in my family has blue eyes. His Dad is an artist, no one in my family draws, except me. His sister has stutter, I too have stutter. Everything fits damn well !
I feel really scared. The relationship I now have with Ethan horrifies me more. What all I have done with him ? What will happen when my parents come to know about him ? And then about our relationship ?
I feel my head hurt, with all these horrifying thoughts. I don't want to find out I don't belong to my family, but I'll go insane If I don't find the truth regarding this. I need to know what happened during our birth. Not knowing the truth and living in suspicion is scarier than finding out the real truth.
I've already gone half crazy by now. I didn't sleep yesterday whole night. I was thinking and thinking. I was searching in the net, how to prove paternity without DNA test. And it was then I came across blood type matching and eye colour matching and that's how I related it with my Dad hiding his blood test results.
But DNA test is the only reliable thing to prove paternity and I've got Ethan's hair to do it. I got his locks today morning while we were kissing. I had to pull on his thick strong hair a bit too harshly to get it but I hope he didn't get any suspicions. I'm now going home to collect my Dad’s or Mom's samples to do the test.
I don't even know what I should pray now. I don't want to become unrelated to my parents, Anna and Alex. I also don't want to find out Ethan is my twin brother. What should I pray ? For all this to become a coincidence??
I'll better sleep now or I'll seriously go insane due to thinking before I reach back home.
Brushing away the few tears that pooled in my eyes, I take my phone from the seat and switch it off before placing it in my pocket and leaning against the window to take a nap. I'll only reach Oklahoma station at 5 Am. There's almost 12 hours before that.
---
I wake up at 2 Am feeling extremely hungry. Lunch is the last thing I ate and it was more than thirteen hours ago. Now my stomach is grumbling loudly. When can I reach back home and eat something?
Oh ! there's a cookie packet in my bag.
I quickly unzip my bag and take out the packet. I hurriedly tear it and take out a cookie, greedily munching on it. I finish the whole packet within five minutes and lean back on the seat closing my eyes again.
But I can't sleep. I don't feel sleepy anymore. I'm again starting to drift off into thoughts. I am thinking about me suddenly becoming Ethan's Mom's Son and he becoming my parents' Son.
I'm sure my Dad will be so happy to see Ethan and get him as Son. He loved Alex more than me. But my Mom always loved me more than Alex or Anna.
Maybe my Dad itself switched the babies at hospital, cause Ethan had brain tumour and Dad had no money to treat him. Maybe Mom don't know about this. She might be believing I'm her son.
But is it possible to interchange babies at a hospital. How can it happen, especially in a big hospital like St Bernard’s ?
Ethan's parents sure don't know about it. Or his Mom won't have treated and cured him, spending a lot of money and sacrificed a lot for him. He has real big esteem for his Mom.
Once the DNA test proves that Ethan is my Parents' son and I'm not, should I let him know ?
No ! He will be so shocked. I can't tell him.
But should I tell or ask my Dad and Mom about this ? If they don't know yet that I'm not their Son, then what will be their reaction ? Will they continue to love me ?
Yes they will ! Blood isn't the factor that decides the depth of a relationship. Now I almost know, I'm not their biological Son, but my love for them hasn't changed or decreased a bit. Likewise their love for me also won't change. The result won't make any difference.
And they probably already know.
With that thought I try to drift off into sleep. I indeed fall asleep but it's not a deep sleep. I wake up ever so often to check the time. And when I last wake up, the time is 4:40 Am. I don't sleep after that. And within half an hour, the train pulls into the Oklahoma city station.
I hurry out of the station with a few other passengers and there are cabs waiting outside. I get into one of them and tell the driver my address. Within twenty minutes, the cab pull in front of my house gate. I hop out after paying the driver.
Once the cab leaves, I take a deep breathe and turn around looking at my house.
'I shouldn't act strange in front of my parents. I shouldn't give them any doubts. I need to do this very secretively.'
I say to myself as I walk towards the front door.