A Summer’s Tragedy

Callisto was panick-stricken as he helped his father carry his bloodied girlfriend towards their car. Then, Sebastian hurriedly drove to the nearest hospital. The buzzing of trepidation jangled in Callisto’s ears; he couldn’t sit down there and wait.

“Can you just calm down, son?” Sebastian asked. “You’ve been walking back and forth since we arrived here. Someone might think you’re insane.”

“How can you say that, dad? How can I not be insane if-” Callisto paused.

“If what? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“Brother, maybe this is the right time,” Ruth interrupted.

“The right time for what?” Sebastian furrowed his forehead.

“Okay, I’ll tell him, so that you’ll not bother me anymore.” Callisto took a deep breath before saying that, “I and Stalin have a relationship. I’m sorry, dad, if I didn’t inform you about this. I didn’t mean to hide our relationship from you.”

He don’t need to worry about it, Sebastian thought. His son doesn’t need to explain anything, for he understand if Callisto was thinking that he don’t like that crazy girl because he really don’t.

“What you need to worry about is how you will manage everything. Your studies and, are you still going back home with us?” Sebastian asked.

“Go home with you? After all what happened to Stalin? Do you think I can leave her like that?” Callisto responded, thinking that his father didn’t consider him and he doesn’t know what to do now.

“Sorry son, but I can no longer stay here,” Sebastian apologized. “Everything will only make me remember those misfortunes.”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“Dad, I know you can’t, but please, give me some freedom to decide on my own, even just for now,” Callisto begged.

Sebastian sighed and with brooding eyes stared at Ruth, who was listening soundly to their conversation. Even this time, he still considers the safety of his fake daughter, but how much more of Callisto’s?

“You two may go back home, but my decision is final. I won’t leave Stalin as long as she’s not fine,” Callisto told them.

“I understand, but maybe you’ve made an instant decision. Please think about it first. Think about those things which could be affected if you didn’t go with us.”

Callisto sat down on the floor and leaned on the console. His studies, his future, he knew he didn’t have a future if he stayed with Stalin, and he was too young to apply for a job, and those things brought him into a dilemma, as he didn’t even know if Stalin could survive.

“I think you should not stop schooling, because that’s the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world,” Sebastian advised.

Callisto thought that his father’s mentor version showed up even in the worst situation, but he already knew what he wanted to convey, so he asked him if he could transfer in a public school in the town, so that he can’t abandon his studies in case his girlfriend survive the ordeal.

“Well, but you’ll surely feel difficulty with that, and we’ll also stay here with you if that happens. Ruth can also study here, although I can’t endure seeing Mount Octover again, we will do that for you.”

“Thanks dad!” Callisto stood up and went towards them. He cuddled his father, which he really didn’t expect to do since he had never done that before.

“Can I have a hug too?” Ruth spread her small arms around them.

“Okay, it’s not the right time to be emotional. We need each other’s help. Your mother is now gone, so we must not be separated.”

When the man in the white suit got out of the emergency room, the three hurriedly got near and asked if Stalin was just fine.

“I’m sorry, misters, we already did our best, but the girl, it’s—” He hadn’t finished saying his words when Callisto interrupted.

“What?” Callisto exclaimed, then cried, “Please, withdraw what you’ve said. Withdraw it. Stalin isn’t dead yet! She’s not!”

“Calm down, son. He’s not telling us anything yet. I know your girlfriend will be alright.” Sebastian tried to convince Callisto with the thought that his girlfriend is such a strong girl who can survive all the difficulties in life.

“Yup. And it’s incredible that when her heartbeat stopped, it continued beating again. There might be a reason why she keeps fighting,” the doctor added.

“Huh?” Callisto’s mouth opened pendulously. He couldn’t believe what he had heard. “Her heart continued beating after it stopped?”

Callisto made some steps towards the door. He glimpsed through it and saw Stalin lying on a cot. She looked like she was sleeping and he didn’t know when she’d wake up. He entered the room and sat down beside her.

“What?” Sebastian exclaimed in surprise at what he saw when he followed his son to the room. “This is unbelievable!”

“Why? What you can’t believe, dad?” Callisto queried.

“Didn’t you see that? I didn’t realize it until now, but she’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen!”

“Of course I saw it and, can you stop exaggerating? Have I already told you about this before? Have you forgotten again?” Callisto asked, then wondered if how Stalin gained her real identity, although it’s currently midday and nothing drew her to their house.

“Perhaps the curse was destroyed?” Ruth interrupted.

“Mom? Mom? Mom!” Stalin moaned and shivered as if she were dreaming. She then held Callisto’s hand and tried to embrace him while asking, “Why did you leave me? Mom! Please come back!”

“What’s happening to her?” Callisto asked without moving, for Stalin might fall from the bed. “Please, what’s happening?”

“Nurse? Nurse!” Sebastian shouted, calling for the running nurse, who also went towards him and asked why. “Your patient needs help.”

The nurse entered the room and injected Stalin with something, such as a drug to calm her up. She explained that, “she might be facing a problem, it’s because of her subliminal fear. Don’t worry, misters; she’ll be fine after she wakes up. Just stay here always and take care of her.”

“Thanks,” Sebastian said as the nurse got out of the room and went somewhere. “Don’t be so worried, son. If she even survived the hands of death, how much more this one?”

“Easy to say, but we don’t even know what she’s facing right now.”

“Don’t worry, brother, I’m here.” Ruth winked as if she was thinking of an absurdity again while walking towards her brother. “I’ll help her wake up. You shall amuse your father first.”

“Thank you,” Callisto whispered back, then he stood up and patted Sebastian’s shoulder, bringing him out of the room.

Callisto undoubtedly trusts his sister more than those doctors, because he saw many miracles she did before, and he hopes that she can help Stalin wake up from a comatose state.

“Why did you bring me here, son?” Sebastian asked, then stared down from the second floor of the building.

“Nothing, I just want to ask about your plan. You know, your work is far from here, and so I can also help you if you need it,” Callisto replied.

“Me? You’re asking me that? Your talented father?”

“I know that you are, dad. You can easily get a job, and I also want to learn something from you, especially because I have someone to support.”

“That’s what Dorothy told you: don’t enter into a relationship as long as you don’t have work, but you still did.” Sebastian seemed to pinch Callisto’s thigh; he never listened to his mother’s counsel.

“Don’t do that, dad. What can we do if I fall in love with the most beautiful girl in the world? Are you not proud of me?”

“Be mature first before having a girlfriend. Don’t let that itch decide your future. Don’t imitate me, who hadn’t finished my studies because I fell in love with your mother too early.”

Callisto was bored of his father’s persistent advice, so he left him all alone at the building, still talking as he thought that someone was listening to him, although the world left him all alone.

Where did that stubborn boy go? Sebastian thought. He’ll surely pinch his ears if he saw him. Sebastian continued taking the stairs down to the building. As he enters the hospital’s emergency room, Sebastian is surprised, not because his son is there sitting beside the crazy girl, but because Stalin is already awake and she breathes well like nothing happened.