I said nothing after hearing his confession. I don’t know what to say about this. If he had told me about this, that he lied to me before, maybe I would have been angry, but right now, I don’t know if I could get mad with Brandon or not.
Right now, my mind’s fixed on one thing, and that is Brandon’s life in danger. I couldn’t do anything to protect him or save him from it. The same helpless feeling returned to my mind. The day when Jared died, I was helping, and now again. I’m helpless too, but this time it is for Brandon. The feeling is when you know things will happen, and you can’t do anything to change or stop them from happening.
“Say something, please,” Brandon said, after a while, holding my hands in his.
“I’m sorry for lying.” I looked at him, squeezing the hand he was cradling.
“It’s okay,” I said, staring into his eyes. “But why did you lie?”
“Because I have no one in my life whom I can trust.” He paused. “But you,”
“What do you mean?” I asked, still not understanding his words thoroughly.
“What I mean… I want you to adopt Marlene.”
“But Brandon,” I said, interrupting his words.
“Listen, I can only do an operation when I know that there is someone in this world that I know I can trust to look after my baby like her own child,” Brandon said. “And that person is you, Jane. That’s why I lied to you to make the adoption easy.”
“But Brandon, the operation can be successful, and you can return to your regular self again, like before.”
“I know Jane, but what if the surgery is unsuccessful?” he argued.
“But Brandon……..,”
“Please…., I’m lucky enough to have you in my life,” he muttered. “But you can say no. I don’t want you to think that I’m pressuring you to do something that you don’t want to do.”
“Brandon, don’t say something like, Marlene is like my child and I don’t just say it, but consider it too,” I said, “But I want you to live.”
“I want to live too, Jane. I don’t want to die. Nobody wants to die,” he said, placing his hands on both sides of my shoulders. “But I can’t change the future. I can hope and pray for the best.”
“Whatever happens in the future, Brandon, I will always be there for you,”
“I know… Jane, I know,” he said, grinning with his gleaming eyes.
I smiled at him, my eyes gleaming as I wrapped my hands around his body, hugging him tightly. “Everything will be alright, don’t worry,”
“Hm,” Brandon hummed at my words, hugging me tightly in his arms.
But we had to tell Marlene about everything. The earlier, the better. For Marlene, Brandon is her life. And she deserves to know the truth about her father. The more we hide from her, the more hurt she will get from us for hiding the truth.
I have to talk to Brandon about it. Maybe not now, but in the morning. Yes, in the morning, I would urge Brandon to talk to her and tell her about his sickness. I hope she can handle the truth. At a young age, it will be very hard. Even I, who is a full-grown adult, can’t be overwhelmed by the death of my loved ones. Then, compared to me, Marlene is just an innocent child for whom her daddy is her world.
Nearly a week has passed since the day Brandon told me about his illness. And all this time, he stopped me from mentioning anything about his sickness to Marlene.
But why doesn’t he understand that the more time we take on telling the truth, the more it will hurt when the time comes?
But not anymore. I have decided that today I’m going to convince Brandon to talk to Marlene. Maybe it will seem harsh at first, but later on, everyone will understand that hiding the truth from their loved ones can never be an option in life. The thing will be better only when we don’t hide our pain. But show them essentially to someone we care about and love so sincerely.
Now, the only thing that’s left is to start the conversation with Brandon himself. Who is at work right now? Even being sick doesn’t stop a doctor from working or caring for his patients. That is how a doctor’s life is.
I glanced at my phone. It’s nearly noon, and Brandon was on the night shift yesterday, but he hasn’t returned home yet. I even called a few times, asking, Are you Okay, and when are you coming home? But Brandon said that there was a shortage of staff and that he had to fill in for them.
I looked at the time, then called him again. But just as I was about to press the call button, I heard the front door open, with Brandon entering the house, with the same clothes he wore last, his cream-colored shirt, and khaki pants, with his white coat in one hand and his briefcase in the other. His hair is all messy. His eyes looked dazed and tired.
“Hey,” Brandon said, sitting beside me on the couch.
“Hey, you good,”
“Yeah, just tired,” he said, placing his head on my lap as he closed his eyes.
“You want something to eat,” I said, caressing his hair gently with the tip of my fingers.
“Nah.” he shakes his head lightly, snuggling close to my lap.
We stayed like that for a few minutes. No one said anything and just kept silent. Appreciate the moment of solitude that is surrounding us. With my finger unconsciously caressed Brandon’s hair as he rested his head on my lap.
“Where are the kids?” Brandon asked after a long moment of solitude.
“They are out playing with Rachel and others,”
Brandon hummed at my words. But he said nothing in return.
I should take it as my opportunity to convince Brandon to talk to Marlene about his illness.
“Brandon!” he hummed at my words. “Maybe we should talk about your sickness to Marlene tonight.”
Brandon went stern at my words as he lifted his head off my lap, looking into my eyes. “Jane, not this conversation again,”
“But you got to tell her the truth one day. Why not today?” I said, not wanting to end this conversation so quickly.
“Jane, why don’t you understand? She is just a child? She cannot handle the truth.”
“I know that’s why I’m asking you to tell her the truth now,” I said with a sigh. “The more time you take, the more hurt she will be at the end.”
“I know,” he whispered, “But…, I’m scared.”
I put my hands over his hands, supporting him, “I know Brandon… I know that is why I want you to tell her the truth now, so when things get hard in the future, she will be strong enough to hold things on her own.”
“But….” he was about to say something but stopped. “I guess you are right,”
I nodded my head in reply, “But promise me, Jane, that you’ll not leave me alone in this hard time.”
“Brandon, I promise,” I said, “And I don’t think there is anyone more important than the three of you in my life.”
Brandon nodded his head, agreeing with my words. “You three are also important to me, and that’s what makes me more afraid. I don’t want to lose my family,”
I then wrapped my arms gently around his body, embracing him tightly, “Don’t worry, everything will be alright, just don’t give up hope,”
“If you’re with me, I can fight each and every demon in my life, within minutes,” he mumbled into my ears.
I chuckled at his words, separating my body from his. “Now, demon slayer, you need some rest, so go to sleep.”
Brandon groaned at my words, putting his head on my shoulder. “But I’m not sleepy.”
“Yes you’re, I can see that in your eyes how tired you’re now, so Mister, go to sleep.”
“Okay, your highness,” he said, standing and bowing in front of me. “As you wish.”
I beamed at his words and the way he acted in front of me.
He picked up his jacket and briefcase lying on the ground, making his way to his room. But he stopped as he turned his head, looking at me, and made his way towards me. Brandon then planted his lips gently on my forehead, murmuring two lovely words. “Thank you,” and left swiftly without looking back. I touched the place where his lips touched and grinned alone at myself at his childish actions.