Confrontation

"Then that's a pity!" he answered, without the slightest trace of remorse. “But try to see where I'm coming from. My father came with a very beautiful woman whom he did not fully know but then he was able to entrust his whole life. Not only that, he came from a very distant place, in another country and my father agreed to watch over and take care of him until he was completely healed. In fact, there are enough nurses qualified to take care of him in this country. So, tell me, if we reverse our situation, won't you at least doubt it?”

"No." she replied warmly. “Before I jump to unworthy conclusions or before I judge her professionalism. I will ask this stranger to show me her profile and if I am not satisfied with the information she provided, I will call her previous employers to verify if the documents she presented are true.”

“Well, there is no need for many explanations. Your point is well taken and that being the case, I am ready to put aside my speculation and let’s stop talking about this and let’s just enjoy this very fine champagne. I picked it up from my father’s cellar. It's embarrassing if we just spoil it.”

She plunked her glass on the table so abruptly that its contents surged over the rim with an indignation that almost matched her own. “If you think I’m about to share a drink with you, or we can eat together, think again! I would rather be hungry.”

She stood up, acting quickly to leave, but she had only taken two steps towards the door before he caught up with her and slammed it closed with the flat of his hand. "I regret that, because I am worried about my father's condition, I have offended you," he said calmly. "Trust me, I take no pleasure in having done so."

"Really?" She shot it with an evil look. “You could have fooled me. I'm not used to being treated like a criminal.”

He shrugged. "If I insulted you, I apologize, but I'd better make a mistake in being careful."

"Meaning what, exactly?"

"That my father was previously targeted by people only interested in taking advantage of him."

"He may not trust other people very easily if he feels safer in his relationship with you."

"Possibly not, but ours has never been a typical father and son relationship."

“I understand what you mean, but I suggest the time’s come for you to bury your differences and stop butting heads. All he needs is your concern.”

"I'm not here right now, if I don't care."

"Would you die if you told him that?"

An accented sound released him from the suppressed laughter. "No, but he might be shocked when he hears me say that and could be the cause of his death."

What is between these two that they remain apart from each other, she wondered. Do you two know how painful it is to wait so long but it’s too late to say to each other “I love you?” because I know. Often even though I don’t want to remember, I’ve witnessed the grief and regret that tears families apart because time ran out on them before they could have said the things they should have said.”

He looked out the window at the other end of the room in the garden with the strange plants in bloom. “We’re not other people,” he said.

"You are not immortal either." She hesitated, conflicted once again as to just how much she could say, then decided to go ahead and reveal what she knew, because she wasn’t sure if she would be able to survive if she didn’t do that.

“Look, Chris, your father will definitely kill me for what I’m going to tell you, but your father isn't just fighting because of his broken hips. His heart is not in good condition either.”

“I’m not surprised. He got that because of a few years of smoking and hard living, but no matter what his doctor said he still wasn’t able to change his habit. He’s a stubborn old goat.”

She knew that thing was true. Rocco left Vancouver General at his own discretion even though it was against the doctors’ advice and insisted that he wanted to fly back to the Philippines, simply because he didn’t want to be constantly monitored by nursing staff. ‘They don’t let a man breathe,’ he complained, when Lara spoke to him to stop him from traveling. ‘I’ll come out with a cold corpse if I stay here any longer.’

“Well, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, Chris. You know what this family’s problem is? You are both stubborn.”

He swung round and watched her from the other side of the vast room; a critical look that seemed like a sharp arrow to pierce her. He probed too deeply beneath the surface. Saw things she was not yet ready to accept to herself. "Perhaps before you start leaping to unwarranted conclusions," he said, approaching her like a hunter preparing to kill a captive, "you should also hear my side of the story."

"You're not my patient, just your father," she said, she backed away and she was almost out of breath at the determined gleam in his eye.

“But isn’t modern medicine all about the holistic approach — curing the spirit in order to heal the body, and whatnot? And isn't that what you've been fighting for since you came here?”

"I suppose so, yes."

“How are you going to do that, if you can only solve half? Beyond this point, what will you lose if you let me fill that vacancy?”

'My soul, and everything I am,' she thought, full of intense concern unless she could remove herself from the shroud of attraction that gave her the fear that might envelop her being, human destiny, by Christian Imperial would take control of her life, and possibly never to regain it again. Although she may run away like a frightened rabbit straying from his habitat like exploiting Rocco. So, she stood her ground, put aside the wrong thoughts from her thoughts and said with deceptive calm, "Absolutely nothing."

"Really?" he leaned over her, the voice dropping another half octave and latched his fingers around her wrist. "Then why do you seem so scared?"

She swallowed and ran her tongue over her dry lip. “I’m not,” she said.