Reiner - Gone

‘The number that you’ve dialed cannot be reached at this moment. Please try again later’

The female sound of the automatic machine shocked me, and my phone slipped from my hand, falling to the bed beside me. Reiner…is unreachable? How can that be?

I blinked rapidly as I tried to snap out of my shock. Grabbing the phone, I started doing what the machine had just told me to do. I tried calling him again…and again…and again. This was now the fifth time that I was listening to the same automatic recorded message but still my brain refused to believe that I couldn’t get in touch with Reiner.

Where is he?

As my thoughts were running wild in my head, suddenly the door to my room opened. My whipped my head around towards the door so fast that my neck made a cracking sound. However, the person that walked it wasn’t the one that I was hoping and expecting to see.

“Natalia…”

My eyes widened in shock and before narrowing in recognition. Why he is here? Where is Reiner?

“Zak…” I said, my voice coming out as a breathless whisper.

“How are you feeling?” Zak asked casually as he strode towards my bed.

I watched a very handsome Zak dressed in an all-white suit approach me before taking Reiner’s usual seat next to my hospital bed. Alarm bells were ringing so loudly in my ears that I thought that I was about to go insane. Something is very wrong here. Why is Zak here instead of Reiner?

“Zak…why are you here? Where is Reiner?” I asked.

I could hear the panic in my voice, and I was sure that Zak could as well. Zak turned and smiled his charming smile at me before he reached for my hand. His hands held mine and squeezed them comfortingly. It was his action that spoke louder than words every could. At that moment, I just knew that Zak was here to comfort me, and the reason was simple: Reiner is gone.

Without needing to hear any confirmation from Zak, tears started leaking out from my eyes before slowly rolling down my cheeks. Zak looked at me with a melancholy look on his face as he silently watched me cry and sob. I heard Zak sighing softly before he stood up and pulled me into his arms as he hugged me tightly to him. I pressed my face against his hard chest as I hugged him close to me and cried my eyes out.

"Why did he leave?!” I wailed like a child.

Zak didn’t reply to my question because he knew that I wasn’t looking for an answer. Instead, he softly stroked my back and then my hair as he whispered loving and comforting words softly into my ear.

“He told me that he would still be here…when I…woke up…” I said, choking on my own tears.

I knew that Zak hated it when I cried. It wasn’t because he hated it when I became emotional or that he saw me as a burden. He hated it because it hurts him whenever I cried. I knew that but I just couldn’t stop crying. Zak held me in his strong arms and let me let it all out.

I wasn’t sure how much time flowed by as I emptied my tears but by the time that I was done, I felt slightly better. Although I knew that nothing had changed and the situation had not improved, I still felt slightly better for getting to let it all out.

“Are you done?” Zak asked as he slowly let go of me.

“Yeah…” I replied in a choked-up whisper.

“Water? You cried so much I thought you would never stop…” Zak said jokingly as he handed me a cup of water.

Slowly, I took the cup into my hands and realized that my hands were shaking. Zak quickly realized that too and took the cup away from my hands before pressing it to my lips. I drank the water thinking that I thought that I would never stop crying either. I wondered how Zak turned up here and then realized that Reiner probably called him here. It all bothered me; I didn’t know that these two were close.

“Did Reiner tell you that I’m here?” I asked.

“Yup, he did,” Zak replied casually.

“Did he…tell you anything else?” I asked, feeling slightly hopeful.

“He told me that he already told you everything that he knew and that he’s not coming back,” Zak replied bluntly.

“Oh…” I muttered. That was all that I could manage to say. Honestly, I was robbed for words.

“Natalia…” Zak called my name softly.

“Hmm?” I made a questioning sound.

“I’m about to say something pretty crazy, but will you hear me out?” Zak asked as he stared deeply in to my eyes.

“…Sure…” I replied.

Whatever it was that Zak wanted to tell me, I’ll always hear him out. If Zak was referring to it as pretty crazy then it must be out-of-this-world crazy because I knew that on normal people’s standards, Zak was an ultra-handsome yet super crazy person.

…

The call connected and a deep voice started talking from the other end of the line.

“How is my boy doing?” the voice said.

“Stop calling that huge bear a boy please…it makes me feel sick…” the old man replied.

“Answer my question,” the voice said emotionlessly.

“He’s alive and well…” the old man replied just as emotionlessly.

“Did you meet him?” the voice asked.

“Yes, I did…” the old man said, keeping his responses short.

“What about the search?” the voice asked.

“He’s…found it, I think…” the old man replied, this time a little hesitantly.

There was a moment of silence as if the man on the other end of the line had paused to think of something. However, he didn’t make any comments.

“What about my special delivery?” the deep voice asked.

“It’ll be there soon. Just you wait…” the old man replied casually.

“I can always trust you,” the voice stated.

Basically, that meant that failure to deliver wasn’t an option.

The line disconnected immediately. It was rare for wishes from his monstrous client to match with another’s like this. He smiled to himself as he looked down at the letters on a black screen of the request that had just came in.

--To be continued…