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The CEO'S syndrome CHAPTER SIXTY SEVEN: Hope
Joseph watched the ceiling intently. It seemed like he hadn't seen it before. He still couldn't believe it, his father was dying and here he lay, so full of life. He still couldn't wrap his head around it. Now that he was sober, his problems had returned.As he lay, he thought of yesterday. Yesterday. This time yesterday, he was busying having sex, so busy under sheets, pleasing someone's else's “kin” while his only family was dying. The time he ought to have spent with his father, he was busy doing only irrelevant things. He had no clue the news the afternoon would bring but who ever knew what the next five minutes would turn out? A psychic?Joseph sighed in defeat and close his eyes and fresh tears threatened to spill. A soft knock on the door reminded him that he was not alone. Joseph wiped his tears and rose to his feet. He scoffed when he checked the time. It was exactly 8:00. Angela definitely enjoyed her rest. No doubt.Another soft knock followed. Then another, a bit more he
The CEO'S syndrome CHAPTER SIXTY EIGHT: False hope
Joseph claimed the seat Angela sat a while ago. His hands clasped and comfortable between his legs, he looked around the room, anything but his father. Now that Angela had left, it felt awkward all of a sudden. He couldn't bring himself to look at his father all of a sudden. Because he wasn't acting anymore.The exact reason why no one could ever complete him like his father did. He was always honest around his father, there was nothing to hide so he hid nothing. He was angry, so angry at his father and sad too. Too sad that his father was sick and it felt so unfair. No more acting.His father looked frail, that he could tell from the few glances he stole. Joseph saw that the clinical ensemble didn't look good on his father, with one part slanting sideways. The clothes looked too baggy and ugly. And everywhere his skin showed was dry, rough and pale. His father was not doing good at all, Joseph could gather. He didn't need to be a doctor to know. Joseph closed his eyes, his father a
The CEO'S syndrome CHAPTER SIXTY NINE: Death, the inevitable
And there he sat. Like the dutiful son that he will always be. After the little episode at the garage, under the pretense of getting some air, Joseph returned to his only reason for both his unshed and shed tears of agony. Joseph adjusted the duvet that covered his father's body a few times. Afterwards, he'd stand and walk around a few times, he'd grit his teeth a few times, sometimes, torturing his poor nails as well. Only to look outside the window again, rake his hair frustratingly and then sit again. Joseph messed up the routine a few times, willing to do everything to while away time, he only wondered when his father would wake up again. He had to try again.He had to try to convince his father again. He just had to do something. His hands raked his hair again before a sob broke out. A second followed.“Son”, though hoarse, his father’s voice called out. Joseph jerked up immediately and covered the little distance between them.“Big man! Big man!!” His voice was hoarse too. May
The CEO'S syndrome CHAPTER SEVENTY: LAST MOMENTS
Joy. Ultimum joy. Not the kind you feel after bagging a million dollar deal or getting a scholarship but the kind you feel when a ray of sunshine graces your head and suffices your skin with vitamin D, the kind of happiness you feel when the calm breeze grazes the short hairs on your skin. That kind of joy that bubbles from within, that shows itself even when you have a straight face. And that was all the duo felt as they watched intently.Fits of laughter, though weak, rumbled from Mr James chest as he watched closely. Upon his request, his son had transformed his hospital room into a cinema room. The lights turned off, except the lights sourced from the machines attached to him, Mr James relaxed into his bed folded halfway to allow him see the screen comfortably. Joseph was surprised when his father told him where he'd kept all the video clips in his house. He had thought naturally, that clips as such would have been lost. His parents hadn't parted in good times and his mother clea
The CEO'S syndrome CHAPTER SEVENTY ONE: An hopeful day
Morning came, even though Joseph was sore, his whole muscles ached and he had barely even slept, he was glad that an hopeful day had come. A day, he was allowed to dream. That morning Joseph prayed. He hadn't prayed for a long time but he found himself kneeling on the floor as he prayed for a successful procedure.Omar and Fyodor, Angela and Sophia had spent the night at the hospital but Omar had to leave because he had a meeting that couldn't be postponed, he had to be there. But he promised to return as soon as he could.Joseph watched Angela quietly from his side view, he hadn't said anything to her after crying at the garage, now, they were no different from two strangers. Or that was what he thought. She was saying something to Sophia before Sophia left to take a phone call.He watched her as she rubbed her eyes sleepily and sank deeper to the seat, she raised her legs from the ground and folded them to cross one another. These past few days, he had been rough. Very rough with he
The CEO'S syndrome CHAPTER SEVENTY TWO: Horrid mistakes
Accuracy. That was definitely Dr Murphy's best word. He was always accurate. He knew the human anatomy like the palm of his hand. As a career man, he was never wrong, and has never lost a single patient during his thirty six years of treating patients. Dr Murphy was literally known as an aldonis in the surgery room.As he scrubbed in and entered the operation room, he said a little prayer to God that he’s kept his nickname this long. Inside the OR, he shook his head vehemently like a boxer ready for battle and whispered “Let's do this” to himself after washing his hands and went in where a nurse came forward to help him wear his sterile gown.A nurse eyed his scrub cap knowingly and turned to share smiles between her colleagues. They all knew Professor Murphy to be present for only very important surgeries and whenever he wore the specific cap on his head, it meant real business. That means the patient on the table would survive no matter the cost. The patient's lucky, she concluded
The CEO'S syndrome CHAPTER SEVENTY THREE: The Funeral
Mr James Wilson was buried on Friday. A very sunny Friday. It was so sunny that Joseph wished that it was raining. They had set up a small gathering, rather too small for a man established as Mr James. But still, many came to pay their respects, some even flew in that morning just to pay their last respect to such a kindhearted man like Mr James. As the priest said the prayers and Mr James' coffin was leveled into the ground, Joseph only prayed to wake up from this dream. He still hadn't accepted the news. He still remembered the conversations he'd shared with his father prior to his surgery. The words he had shared with Angela up to the time he had patiently waited to be reunited with his father once again. Alive. Not dead. But Dr. Murphy's downcast look had ruined it all. Joseph had waited patiently all for nothing. Had believed Angela's words before the surgery, all for his father's death to drive him to the end of time. He had killed his father.No. Not the doctor, at least J
The CEO'S syndrome CHAPTER SEVENTY FOUR: Grief
“Oh, I've always had a thing for grotesques but for work, it'll always be romance”, the writer chuckled to the camera as he adjusted his sitting position a few more times to look good for his audience.“What inspires your books then?”. Angela read out loud, totally uninterested. Joshua, the writer looked at nothing as he tried to form the right words or what he believes is right. “Love inspires my book”, he smiled to himself like he had just found something no one would ever find. “Love is real. Now, not the kind between siblings or relatives. The simple attraction you feel towards someone you don't even know too well”. He frowned as he continued, Angela almost thought he was already possessed by what made some writers write so well. “That wanton feeling is power. It's so powerful and beautiful and there's a lot to unravel, so yeah. That's why I always find myself writing about it”. He smiled finally, awarding himself marks for a test no one gave him. Angela nodded when she was su
Latest Chapter
- The CEO'S syndrome CHAPTER SEVENTY SEVEN: The breakup
- The CEO'S syndrome CHAPTER SEVENTY SIX: A change
- The CEO'S syndrome CHAPTER SEVENTY FIVE: The devoted caretaker
- The CEO'S syndrome CHAPTER SEVENTY FOUR: Grief
- The CEO'S syndrome CHAPTER SEVENTY THREE: The Funeral
- The CEO'S syndrome CHAPTER SEVENTY TWO: Horrid mistakes
- The CEO'S syndrome CHAPTER SEVENTY ONE: An hopeful day
- The CEO'S syndrome CHAPTER SEVENTY: LAST MOMENTS
- The CEO'S syndrome CHAPTER SIXTY NINE: Death, the inevitable