Chapter 88: Chapter 88

As soon as Sebastian's aunt heard the news that her husband had been admitted to the hospital because of a heart attack, she burst into tears and rushed down to the hospital in no time to lay an accusing glance at Sebastian who was still sitting in tense silence with Frank as they waited for the doctors to come and give them an update on his uncle's condition. Sebastian looked up at her, feeling so guilty for causing so much pain to this woman, who had loved and raised him as dearly as though she had birthed him herself.

"You know you did this to him, don't you?" she accused, sitting beside him heavily. He had been focused only on his uncle in recent times, but now that he looked at her, he could see the huge impact that her husband's sickness was having on her, and resolved not to add to it. He would do as his uncle had asked and would not inform his wife, although he had not planned to tell her before anyway.

"I'm sorry, aunty." He said, giving her a side hug.

"What are the doctors saying?"

"They've not come to tell us anything yet. They only told us that he is alive but had suffered great damage to his heart." Frank said. Sebastian was too emotional to speak. The end to his uncle's life was drawing closer, and he had been the one who had hastened it.

"Jesus. Severe damage to the heart will kill him in no time." She said, bursting into tears. Sebastian took her in his arms, where she cried until she had exerted herself. Only then did she wipe at her swollen eyes and walk over to the bed to observe the unconscious Jessica.

"Are there any improvements in her case?" She asked.

"No, not yet, auntie," Sebastian said, coming over to stand by her as they observed Jessica together. I'm afraid that she will never come out of this, auntie."

"Hmm. Have faith. So what do you plan on doing once she comes out of her coma?" His aunt asked quietly so that Frank would not hear what they were talking about. It was a question that he had been trying to ignore all this while and not think about.

"I don't know, aunty." He answered truthfully.

"You don't mean to tell me that you still have feelings for her." his aunt exclaimed in surprise.

"I don't know, aunty. The truth is that I feel sorry for her with all that she's been through. All this while, it was only the thought of being with me again that gave her hope. I don't want to disappoint her. Jessica and I have been through so much together. We'd been together for over six years before she was kidnapped and we'd been friends for way longer than that. You can't just throw away something like that in the blink of an eye. Besides, I'm all she's got left, you know."

"So what about Carol?"

"What about her?" Sebastian asked a little irritably, knowing perfectly well what his aunt meant.

"What do you intend to do about her?"

"There's nothing to do about her. The contract will end in five months' time, and we'll part ways. Or have you forgotten that we signed a contract to that effect? She knows this as well as I do. I don't get why you and uncle keep asking me what I intend to do about her."

"But you guys looked so in love before." His aunt said sadly. Sebastian inwardly cursed himself for even agreeing to the marriage in the first place, and even worse, cursed his folly in deciding to act like he was in love with Carol and that she was in love with him just to please his uncle. It had backfired woefully. First of all, they had not been able to carry out the act to the end because he had gone to blurt out the truth to his uncle in a fit of rage over his nonchalance towards Jessica's disappearance, not knowing that his uncle was the one who had arranged for it all. But even worse than this was the fact that everyone seemed to think that Carol was madly in love with him. He hoped desperately that that was not the case, because if it came to choosing between both of them, he would choose Jessica, despite everything that had happened, and that in itself made him feel like the world's biggest jerk, which he probably was.

"I'm sorry, auntie, but it was all an act to make my uncle happy. I'm really sorry, but we did it for his good."

"Hmm. Carol seems to like you a lot more than you like her though. Seems she took the acting to heart, which is not a bad thing if you ask me."

"Did she tell you that?"

"Not in so many words, but I can easily tell these things. She's a very good girl...just the type of girl you need in your life."

"I really wish everyone can stop acting like they know what is best for me and by everyone, I mean you and uncle. It's really annoying." Sebastian said tightly. Why couldn't his uncle and his wife mind their goddamned business?

"It's because we care about you, dear." She defended. He was saved from having to reply her when a doctor entered the room. Sebastian and his aunt turned immediately and hurried to the doctor's side, the look on his face not encouraging them in the slightest.

"So, I've got some not-so-good news, I'm afraid." He said, not mincing his words.

"Oh, my God. Please, tell me he is not dead, doctor." Mrs. Sebastian said, gripping the doctor's sleeve immediately and looking ready to burst into tears at the slightest provocation.

"No, no. Nothing as drastic as that, ma'am. Your husband is a true fighter. However, the damage to his heart is very great, and normally, I would recommend doing surgery for damage of this magnitude. However, in his condition, I don't think that that is such a good idea, considering how weak he is. I'm surprised that the heart attack did not kill him in the first place. We'll try to make him as comfortable as possible, but I'm afraid he will have to be in the hospital so we can monitor him." He gave them further instructions and information and then he was gone, leaving them to stare at themselves, grief clouding their features as they realized that the end was very near.

The doctor had told them that someone would fetch them when they were allowed to see Mr. James, so they waited patiently, each person lost in their own thoughts. By this time, it was already evening and it was only when Sebastian's phone began to ring and he saw that it was Carol calling that he remembered that he had told her that he would be home early.

"Hey." He said into the phone tiredly. It had been a long time since he was so worn out.

"Hey. Did you get held up?"

"Um, yeah. I kinda did. My uncle has been admitted to the hospital. He had a heart attack while visiting Jessica. So, I may be here for quite a while. I'll come back late in the night, that is if I don't sleep over." He told her.

"Oh, my God. I'm so sorry to hear that. You should have called me." Carol exclaimed. No wonder he sounded so tired.

"I guess I forgot. How are you doing?"

"I'm okay. How is Jessica?"

"She's just there. No improvement, but her case is not worse either." He told her.

"Okay. So I wanted to tell you that I will be traveling to my parent's place tomorrow for the burial. Victoria's body will arrive there tomorrow morning, so my dad wants us to do the burial as soon as possible, probably that same tomorrow, or at least, by next tomorrow." Carol said, her voice trembling as though she might cry, and he wished he was there to give her a tight embrace. Grief was not something he had dealt with before, but he knew that in no distant time, he would know what it felt like to grieve for the loss of a loved one.

"Yeah. I might stay a while too, just for a week or so. It shouldn't be more than that, and then I'll be back."

"Oh, okay. That's alright. Let me know if you need anything." Sebastian told her, making a mental note to send some money to her. Since he could not be there, he could at least show support by funding the burial and giving her some money to cheer herself up.

"I will, thank you. Alright. I just called to find out what's up with you. Take care of yourself, okay."

"I will. You too." He said, and then they said their goodbyes.

"You can come and see him now." A young-looking and beautiful nurse said as she came into the room. "He's awake, but still a little out of it, so please try not to strain him and don't stay too long."