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When we are inside the room, we indeed see Aziel lying on the bed.
It's like he hasn't bathed or shaved in days. He lies there snoring like a sailor.
Damian grabs him by the shoulders. “Aziel, Oooh My God! No, man, no!” he exclaims. He gently shakes Aziel until he opens one eye. He looks at Damian blankly and closes his eyes again. “Aziel, we're here, you can't sleep any longer, wake up!” Damian insists. And another eye opens. A hand goes up slowly. “Damian? Aren't you a dream?” he asks hoarsely.
I quickly get a glass of water and give it to Damian. He puts it against Aziel's lips. “Drink something, it will make your throat feel less coarse”, he encourages the obviously absent-minded Aziel. There's a sip and another. I go to the other side of the bed and help Aziel sit up straight. “What have you done to yourself? Why didn't you come to me like you always do, Aziel? Running away from problems doesn't solve them, my man," his friend reprimands him.
In the first aid cabinet I get some aspirin and give it to Damian as well. Aziel swallows them in one go. The tablets are going to help him up for the next few hours. We help him to the bathroom, where he takes a cold shower. When Aziel is back in the room, he is totally sober. Archer has in the meantime been busy packing his clothes, throws him a pair of sports shorts and a sweater.
We move to the sitting room and sit around him. “Aziel, Loraine is in the hospital. She fights for her life after Andre finds her half unconscious in bed. Basically, the same situation we just found you in," Damian lets him know. He stiffens at first, then tears begin to flow uncontrollably down his cheeks. He trembles like a leaf against Damian's shoulder.
We're all having a hard time now, seeing Aziel letting himself go as a broken man hurts. “Oooh man, we failed you big time. We didn't even notice the pressure you were handling. No one could handle what you've been through these past few months. Forgive us, Aziel, please" Archer begs hoarsely.
“But you have to be strong now. We are right next to you, nothing can go wrong”, I swear now. “Aziel, we have to save Loraine now. She seems to have given up now that you are gone.” He puts his hand over his face, only now recognizable words come out of his throat. “It was too heavy, man. She drifted further away from me. And the trial is in a few weeks, Clairy is now seven months pregnant. And we have lost our own children.” He shakes his head defenselessly. “I just couldn't take it anymore. And Fellogan…”.
We're all holding him now, transferring some of our energy to him. "It will be better. We're going to handle everything in the right order. We are right next to you, you are not alone in this, Aziel”.
Archer brings a cold towel with which Aziel wipes his face. “Listen, we're going to handle everything in small steps. Everything will be fine, you are the strongest between us, this is just a dip. Get yourself together, Aziel”, Damian encourages him. “We're going to get Loraine through first. She must live for all of us. That is your most important task at this moment.”
Damian picks up the iPad on the table and makes video contact with Kaylah.
A few seconds pass until she comes into view, tired and distraught. “Hey, I see you have found Aziel”, she says softly. “I'm not going to beat around the bush. Loraine doesn't want to live. I talk to her, but she has given up. She mentioned Aziel's name a few times, but that's about all."
Again, Aziel begins to tremble. “No. I can't live without her. She cannot die. I can't handle all this without her," he exclaims. Kaylah's face twists with anger. “Then you shouldn't have run away. You could have turned to one of us for help. You know how dependent she is on you spiritually. What have you done, Aziel?!”
We should have expected this. When it comes to Loraine, Kaylah bites around like a dog looking for victims. But this is not the time for personal grievances. “Go inside and show her Aziel. We lose time if we have to drive back first. Let her see Aziel or at least hear him."
As fast as her legs carry her, Kaylah stands next to Loraine's bed. Aziel looks closely at his fiancé, she is connected to all kinds of tubes. “Loraine!” it sounds desperate from his mouth. “Loraine!” he yells at her now. “Angel, look at me. You must be strong, I'll be back," he says loud enough for her to hear. “Angel, please, open your eyes, NOW!”
We all hold our breath.
And miraculously, Loraine's eyes open slowly. At first she looks up confused to the ceiling, then fixes her eyes on Aziel on screen. “Angel! I am so sorry. Hang in there, I'll be with you in a few hours. I love you so much". As he touches the screen, a watery smile comes to her lips. Without sound, we also see her say 'I love you'. Time to speed up back to New York.
“Kaylah, we'll be right back. We make contact every hour and then you bring her back into the picture. We have to convince her. In the meantime, help her through until we get there,” Archer says urgently. “Hire a private nurse if you have to, to help you take care of Loraine. Whatever, as long as she's better than now when we get there”.
“Archer, do I look like the female Jesus? I can't cure anyone. But I'm doing my best to make her feel better," she says, rolling her eyes. Kaylah is clearly back in shape now that Loraine shows signs of life and Aziel is on his way. But we don't have time to figure that out either.
We help Asiel to stand firmly on his feet and take some steps. He is clearly weakened after days of lying down drinking and sleeping. When he feels strong enough after some exercises, we leave the room. Damian does the settlement with the hotel and we go.
On the way to New York. To Loraine...
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