Chapter 7

Ivan really was a genius.

He had to be.

There was no way he could've figured the whole thing out in less than three minutes.

Or maybe Chad was the problem.

He couldn't believe he had missed that.

He had gone over the damn thing god knows how many times.

It had been as plain as the nose on his face and he hadn't seen it

He really had been too distracted with the whole Chastity thing.

Who was he kidding?

There had been no distraction.

He just didn't have what it took.

Who cared about winning that stupid Novel prize he had won the year before?

Everyone but him apparently since no one would shut up about it.

No one had ever come before to inquire about Sonny's health before.

Ever.

Oh, no.

But he wins a lousy Novel prize and suddenly his living room is full of strangers coming to congratulate him and wasting his precious research time with pointless talk.

He was drifting away from the subject at hand AGAIN.

He needed to focus on the research.

God, it has been seven years... he thought.

"Seven years, God, and I haven't found the stupid solution" Chad said looking up at the ceiling almost crying from the frustration. "Why does this happen to me? Is it because I was a selfish being? Is it because of how many times I broke Sonny's heart without noticing? Is it because I left her behind that day? Haven't I suffered enough already? Aren't seven years enough?" he paused. He shook his head. "No, apparently it hasn't been enough since here I am whining to prove it. I haven't changed a bit. I am still the same stupid boy that seven years ago the most wonderful thing happened to and he was so stupid he didn't see it there all along. I really was shallow" he started pacing around the room. "I meet the most wonderful person in the world and I have the chance to win her heart and yet I stand her there and kill her with my own hands. No, you're right. It hasn't been enough. ETERNITY would never be enough to pay for what I have done. Even if I do bring her back I still couldn't forgive myself. I took so many things away from her. I took seven years of her life, probably the best. She never got to go party on the night of her eighteenth birthday when she was finally an adult. She never got to drink her first margarita when she turned twenty. She never got to see her best friend Tawni win an Oscar for best actress of the year. She never got see Nicco and Grady get their own comedy show at last. She never got to hear "I love you" from the most worthless person in the world..." and it was too much.

He fell on the floor of his lab losing all strength and started crying.

Like many times before.

He felt his stomach do all kinds of flips inside of him.

He felt the walls start go round.

He felt dizzy.

Oh not again.

And everything went black.

The next thing to wake him up was a knock on the door.

A hard one.

He slowly came back.

Yup, a great, big, fat headache again.

Just my luck!

He slowly looked at his watch.

It had been three hours.

He had been out three freaking hours?

Damn it!

Three more intense knocks.

He breathed in trying to recover the strength to get up.

More knocking.

"I'm going, goddamn it! Gosh!" he exhaled deeply.

He slowly got up and started walking towards the door.

"Tawni?" he asked confused.

"And Nicco" she said.

No Nicco.

She looked back confused.

"Nicco! Where are you? God he was right behind me. It's like being with a five year old. Mark my words. Never. Ever. Get Married." and she realized what she has just said.

Awkward.

"Nicco! Where the hell are you?" she yelled for support.

"Oh! I'm sorry, babe" he said. "Chocolates" he said trying to excuse himself. "You don't mind, Chad, do you?" he asked with his hands full of chocolate candies.

"No, but I do!" yelled Tawni. "Get over here this instant!" she said pointing at the spot beside her.

She turned around with a smile on her face.

"Hi, Chad. Sorry about him. It's like having a kid" she said rolling her eyes.

"You mean another one?" asked Nicco playfully raising his eyebrows.

Chad opened his eyes wide.

"Nah... You're kidding right?" he asked smiling.

Tawni shook her head sideways with a grin on her face and touched her belly.

"Oh my god, you guys!" Chad said hugging them together. "It was about time!"

"Wow! I know! I was telling Tawni the same thing but she kept worrying about getting ugly" Nicco said looking at her. "Like that's possible..." he said dreamily lost in her eyes and she lost in his.

Chad looked and couldn't stop turning green inside with envy.

If he could only be like that with Sonny.

God, they would've married way before Nicco and Tawni and he imagined they would have at least three kids by now and they would look exactly like Sonny... they would be beautiful...

"But come in" Chad said inviting them inside the lab.

"So, how is everything going?" Tawni asked sympathetically.

"The 'smile' faded from his face as he came back to reality.

"Horrible, like always" he sighed running his fingers through his hair.

There was the same look as Chad's in Nicco and Tawni only Chad's was worst by far.

How did two people like Chad and Sonny have to go through so much to be together.

It shouldn't be this hard.

It should be a fairy tale.

Real true love and two people who share it should always be together.

There shouldn't be anything standing in the way.

They didn't deserve this.

How did other people have no problems even though they were evil and wicked but still everything always seemed to go right for them and then these two seemed to have the world against them being together.

Sonny had gotten lucky even if Chad wouldn't believe it.

How many men did what Chad had done?

Abandon family and friends?

Successful career?

The world?

No, Chad had given up many things but not the world.

His world was the only thing he would never give up.

Because his world was Sonny.

And he would never give up on her.

No matter how bad life treated him, no matter how many things he had to go through.

They didn't even matter.

It didn't even feel like giving up anything.

Because he was getting the best out of the deal.

He was getting the love of his life in exchange.

It seemed like pretty good deal.

Effortless.

It was like giving away a necklace to go in search of a treasure.

It was no sacrifice.

They caught up on each other's life and after a while Nicco asked Tawni to talk to Chad alone.

Why she didn't know but she went outside anyways.

As she closed the door behind her the suspense was building in Chad.

What would Nicco have to say to him?

"Chad, my friend. I don't know how to tell you this" he said looking down.

"What happened?" Chad asked worried that he was going to tell bad news like some one who had died or something.

"No, it's what will happen" Nicco said.

Chad tilted his lightly confused.

"What do you mean?" he asked not liking Nicco's tone.

"Chad, I understand it is important for you to feel like you never gave up on Sonny, man, but, the truth is you're never gonna get her back. It's been seven years. There is no way she is recovering from that coma. Even if you do find a solution she'll probably be like a vegetable. Won't remember a thing. Her brain is dying, man, and fast. You need to let go. By keeping her alive you're just holding on to something that isn't real. You're not letting her go the she's supposed to and you're not living yourself" Nicco said.

The whole time Chad had been progressively getting redder and redder.

His lips tighter and tighter.

His whole body was shaking.

It was all he could do not to punch Nicco's face off his head.

He breathed deeply and Nicco thought he had succeeded.

He smiled.

Chad didn't.

"Get. The hell. Out. Of my HOUSE." he said. "Now."

"Chad, don't do this to yourself, man" Nicco said nicely.

"Nicco, don't make me call up security, please. It would be really embarrassing for me to do such a thing" Chad said trying to stay calm.

"Chad, she is dead..."

That was it.

Nicco didn't get to finish.

Next thing he knew he was knocked down to the floor by Chad's fist and he had a strange taste in his mouth.

Like blood.

He touched his lips lightly and felt the warm liquid.

He looked at it.

It was red.

Now Chad really looked like a wild beast.

He had never seen a man look so fearsome.

"Get. Out" were the next words on his lips. "And tell Tawni I'm sorry for leaving her husband with a broken mouth. It isn't her fault" and turned around shaking his fist to alleviate the pain the punch had provided him.

Nicco's jaw WAS made out of bone after all.

Nicco only got up and started walking away thinking he would never understand his friend.

And indeed he never would.

Not until he walked a mile in Chad's shoes.

There wasn't a possible way to imagine; to understand.

He started walking slowly towards the door.

He shook his head.

"Unless you go back in time you won't be able to fix this. And going back in time is just not an option" he said sadly as he closed the door behind him...

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