CHAPTER 19

"Are you sure about this?" Mr. G. C. asked.

"I'm not but it's the least that I can do. Besides, if not now when is the right time? After all that had happened, this is the right time." Mr. Clements coughed.

It's been a month since the wedding at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church took place. Mr. Clements' health, likewise, has been improving drastically. Unlike before, he has been devotedly following the doctor's order since talking with Melody and Elizabeth on the day of the wedding and on the night before it. He has been responding positively with the therapies, chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy.

Mr. Clements' immune system has been gaining the upper hand in his battle for survival. There has been less vomiting. No more sleepless nights. Lesser skin itching and peeling. And non-existence of mouth and throat problem. Despite the intense pain, headaches and fatigue every after therapy, Mr. Clements has shown consistent progress.

His regular phone conversations with Melody and Elizabeth might have greatly helped him to be more motivated. In addition, his anticipation of seeing them has given him energy in his dealings with the different therapies as their scheduled visit was just luring around the corner.

A minute later after Mr. G. C. helped Mr. Clements sat on his wheelchair, they heard someone knocking on the door. They have been expecting a visitor for the day. It was a scheduled visit by someone whom Mr. Clements wanted to have a few words, words of encouragement and words of wisdom coming from experience.

Leisurely Eric appeared from the door. They have planned the visit for a long time after Eric's trip from Bremerton but due to his busy schedule, weeks have passed and it was only then they can talk. Eric in fact felt the need to update Mr. Clements about the success of his search and given a chance, to hear any information as a result of it. Mr. Clements, on his part, wanted to talk with Eric for some few issues that he believed that he's obligated to explain and also to express his gratitude for Eric's effort.

Before anyone could say a word, Mr. G. C. asked to be excused. He had already informed Mr. Clements beforehand that as soon as Eric arrives, he would leave them. It was ten in the morning. Usually, it's the time of the day that he would be at the hospital with Mr. Clements. However when he arrived at the hospital, he received a call from one of his staff informing that something came up at his shop, Jexter Café. It was something that requires his immediate presence. Usually, his shop manager resolves any problem that they encounter at the shop. But if his attention is called, it simply means that the problem is something his manager couldn't decide on his level.

"I would love to stay longer but I have some papers to sign without delay," Mr. G. C. apologetically explained.

Mr. Clements and Eric didn't try to stop him. They knew that Mr. G. C. is a busy man. He had been by Mr. Clements side more often than his family. It wasn't anymore about working for Mr. Clements. Rather, it's about caring for his second father. Besides, Eric and Mr. Clements are the ones who would actually talk for the day.

Anna, one of the private nurses and the closest with Mr. Clements, was not also around. She usually has her day off whenever Mr. G. C. is present. Furthermore, Mr. G. C. asked her to stay for the day since he wouldn't be around for long.

Unfortunately, she wasn't available. She had scheduled a week-long vacation to be with her family. It was a break she had delayed for so long. Since Mr. Clements had been staying at the hospital, she did not have the time for a break. Like Mr. G. C., she had been close enough with Mr. Clements.

When Eric and Mr. Clements were alone in the room, Mr. Clements requested Eric to accompany him at one of the hospital gardens. There were actually three gardens of the hospital. In fact, two of which were just recently constructed. They were two of the projects that Mr. Clements created upon buying larger share of the hospital. The first garden encompasses the entry and lawn area outside where wooden benches could be found along side the five-meter wide pathway.

The second garden was located at the lawn adjacent to the nursery and maternity ward at the back of the hospital. It's more of the family friendly type garden. There were perennials, bulbs, woody plants, and blooming shrubs, with an ever-changing palette of seasonal beauty similar to that of the garden of Mr. Clements' house, landscaped to enhance the view of the five-ton limestone angelic-head fountain. It has glass tiles, Corinthian capital-Doric base columns, ribbed bowl and arched hood with feather keystone center. It also has the hand-chiseled field stone semi-circle parameter-wall which creates a garden-style grotto around the fountain that is perfectly proportioned when viewed from the backdoor of the hospital building. Mr. Clements named it, angel's garden coined from the angelic design of the fountain.

The third garden and the place that Mr. Clements and Eric were going is the rooftop garden. It's also the favorite place of Mr. Clements. He has stamped his print on the design of the rooftop garden from the trees, flowering shrubs, ornamental grasses and to the hundreds of perennial flowers that were interspersed with beds of blue Mexican cobblestones intended to represent a meadow stream, he has chosen painstakingly. Even the structural design of the garden like the wooden walkways which guide the way to the sitting areas, the fountain centerpiece and the trio of canopies made of aluminum grating, Mr. Clements with the help of Mr. G. C. and his team have conceptualized and have given life to the heavenly garden as Mr. Clements called it.

The two gardens of the hospital have been two of the places not only for patients and visitors to breathe but also places of soothing escape of the employees from the high-pressure work environment that they're in. Such was the purpose of rooftop garden intended by Mr. Clements when he had opened it up to the board of directors and shareholders of the hospital. Many of them weren't in full support of Mr. Clements' plan. Some has reasoned out the existence of the first garden. Considering from the commerce perspective, other saw it as a waste of money. Yet as a man for people rather than for profit, it didn't stop Mr. Clements from his plan. In order to execute his dream gardens, Mr. Clements had donated funds for the construction of both the angel's garden and the heavenly garden.

Upon reaching the rooftop, Eric and Mr. Clements were fortunate enough to have one of the canopies for themselves, as there were only few people at the rooftop. More often than not, Mr. G. C. and Mr. Clements just content themselves to one of the benches near the pathways going to the canopies.

"How have you been?" Mr. Clements asked Eric who has just seated next to him while looking at the view. It was not just a conventional introductory question. Mr. Clements is fond of psychological questioning and answering anybody including Mr. G. C. and his business partners. It had actually been one of the backbones of his success in the corporate world apart from his born talent in micromanagement.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that question?" Eric cracked a smile as he tried to avoid his self-being the topic of their conversation. It was only Dexter who had gained an access to Eric's so-called, "Bremerton journey." "By the way, I have found your daughter and luckily, I was able to give her your book or should I say your heart-melting letter. If I may ask, has she ever contacted you since?"

"It was not a result of luck," Mr. Clements blurted out.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Eric just stared at Mr. Clements in confusion and waited patiently for answers. He already has anticipated before that Mr. G. C. would narrate to Mr. Clements their encounter during the event at the CARE Center. Moreover what bothers him most was that Mr. Clements insisted that it was not luck. Was it then the hands of fate again? He recalled that Mr. Clements has let fate decide on his dealings with his daughter even if death was just lingering by his side. Was it an example of Mr. Clements' belief that it was fate that made Eric find the daughter? Eric wasn't sure but slowly fate had lured him into believing.

Eric has been a long skeptic of the works of fate. But after meeting Mr. Clements and his daughter who was also the only woman he had loved, Eric is currently entertaining the idea that fate is really working in his life as well.

Mr. Clements took a breath. "It wasn't luck. I actually had my hands on it." Mr. Clements glanced at Eric and then back at the horizon of the blue sky.

Then, it came instantly to Eric that Mr. Clements gave him the name of the daughter before he left his house the first time that they met. He had forgotten about it since the name wasn't really accurate. Yet as seconds passed by, Eric's heart started pounding faster and heavier. He felt that something wasn't right. He sensed that he was missing something and yet he couldn't pinpoint what it was. It was as if a bomb would sooner or later be dropped from where they are.

Instead of explaining further, Mr. Clements intriguingly asked. "So, have you seen him?"

Him? Was it not supposed to be her? Was Mr. Clements asking about his daughter? Eric wasn't sure if he heard Mr. Clements correctly. Who was he referring to? Eric thought that Mr. Clements might have just asked it erroneously. Maybe, it was a product of illness and aging. Small details like it never skips the observant senses of Eric, which was enhanced by his radio program.

"She has grown into a fine woman. Actually, the world is really small." Eric beamed. "Coincidentally, you might not believe it but I have met your daughter before way back when we were still in New York. We were both students from different universities then," he explained.

"I'm not asking about Melody." Mr. Clements mentioning his daughter's real name caught Eric off guard. He didn't expect that Mr. Clements would know the real name of his daughter. Yet after some seconds of silence, it hit him. He reasoned to himself that maybe, Mr. Clements may already have talked with his daughter as a result of the letter that he was able to give. "I was asking about Clayton, your son," he calmly uttered as he stared at Eric's reaction.

Mr. Clements saw a stunned face. He, straightaway, concluded that Eric still didn't know that Clayton is his son. "Looking at your reaction, you still don't know that he's your son." Mr. Clements paused as he felt more surprise that Eric didn't know the truth staying at Bremerton for several days. "Did you see him while you were there? Didn't you feel anything when you saw him?"

The moment Eric heard Mr. Clements say that Clayton is his son; he wasn't anymore paying attention on what Mr. Clements said afterwards. All his senses focused on the moments he saw Clayton namely during his talk with Melody at the shop and during the event at the Center.

"Wait! That can't be right. Keith is his father. Mr. Clements, is this some kind of a joke?" Eric confusedly asked.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Mr. Clements showed his serious face to Eric.

"Why? How did it happen? I'm sure Keith is his father," Eric refuted.

"Eric, listen carefully. I will explain it to you." Mr. Clements waited until Eric cooled off. "The letter and my story about Lizzy and my daughter weren't fabricated. Yet there was something that I purposely didn't tell you." Mr. Clements tried to get a second wind in order to narrate all the details to Eric. "Before you came to me, I have already known you." He stared at the sky trying to recall everything. "Four years ago, I found out that Melody had a child without a father beside her. The name of the baby was Clayton. I then asked Mr. G. C. to look for the father. After some excruciating months, we found out that all the evidence that we had was pointing at you as the father. Not wanting to be mistaken, we re-validated it for a year until we were ninety-nine percent sure of it. From there, I skimmed a plan to know you better. I asked my investigator to scrutinize everything about you, where you live, what you do for a living, who you are, and most of all, the reason why you're not by their side."

Mr. Clements glanced at Eric who was motionlessly staring and listening to him. "You're a good man, Eric. From there, I listed it in my bucket list that I would make a way for you to be reunited with them, if not just give you a chance to see them. I didn't want several dozen years to pass without you knowing your son. I didn't want you to encounter what I had experienced. I, at that moment, thought of a plan how you would see him while not knowing the truth from me directly. It then came to me the idea, to my advantage as well, to write a letter for my daughter. What I have written in the letter truly contained my soul," he explained.

"But how were you able to slip the book in my hands?"

"We actually tried several plans before but it didn't work out. Until one day, we found out that you were meeting a friend near the bookshop, Dust Jacket, owned by my good friend, Philip, Mr. Philip Carrizales. Knowing that you love to read, we asked him to suggest the book to you which contained the letter and thank God, you did buy it," Mr. Clements clarified.

"Wait for a second, when I returned at the shop the following day, he said that he didn't know who owns it."

"He knew all along who owns it. We also asked him not to tell you with the hope that you would read it during your program at the station, which you fortunately did. Of course, we do have other plans. If ever it fails, then, we asked him to reveal it to you through the receipt of purchase. Let us say fate has also helped us."

"But…"

"We also talked with Mr. Lu, I mean Mr. Luther, your station manager. Again, we asked for his cooperation. We asked him to do a lot of things like giving you Mr. G. C.'s invitation letter, giving you a ready made data about Melody, and allowing you to go to Bremerton for several days."

As Eric was getting the bigger picture, he asked, "Did you also know about Melody's wedding?"

Mr. Clements nodded. "I knew it. Was I in favor of it? It didn't matter to me. What's more important to me was your meeting with Clayton. The marriage was already beyond my control." He suddenly looked at Eric in his eyes and tapped Eric's left knee twice. "I did all those things because I didn't want you to undergo the same path of pain I went through. I didn't tell you directly about Clayton because I'm in no position to do so. What I believe I could only do and I did was to create the chance for you to see him."

When everything became clearer, Eric tried to blink back his tears but couldn't. Uncontrollably, they fell like raindrops. Without words, Mr. Clements comforted Eric by tapping his shoulder until he was able to compose himself again.

Mr. Clements didn't ask Eric about the wedding since Melody has fed him with the details when she called him the day after it. He wanted to inform Eric that Melody and Clayton would soon visit him in a week time but he couldn't. What's required at the moment, Mr. Clements recognized was comfort, which Eric needed the most. He knew that what transpired had opened more paths for all people involved. For Keith and Melody, a new life as husband and wife. For Mr. Clements, a chance to start something new with Lizzy, Melody and Clayton. Many of those are on the right track except for one broken heart, Eric.

Mr. Clements wanted to tell Eric what he should do but didn't. He realized that he has to believe in Eric as a man and also in Melody, his daughter that she would also make the right judgment.

Sooner and hopefully not later, Eric would be able to decide on which path he should be taking in order to mend his broken heart.