CHAPTER 227: HANG IN THERE, POOKIE.

"What?"

"Charles!"

Both Freda and Augustine froze, their expressions blank with disbelief.

The weight of Charles’s words struck like a hammer to the chest, and for a moment, neither of them could move nor speak.

They wished desperately that it was some twisted joke, something that could be undone with a laugh and a shake of the head.

"Pookie..." Augustine’s voice cracked as he forced a trembling smile, trying to mask the storm brewing inside him. "You know that what you just said isn’t funny, right?" he whispered, his lips quivering as he gently pulled Charles’s face into his chest, holding him like he was trying to shield him from the truth neither of them wanted to accept.

Charles scoff dryly. "I... I have always... I have always thought about how I would tell." Charles began, his lips quivering in fright as he close his eyes.

He was getting more weak than he expected.

"I... I’ve gone to different doctors while you were away in China," Charles explain, his voice barely above a whisper.

His eyes fluttered open, glistening with unshed tears as he looked up at Augustine, who was staring at him with a gaze so intense it felt like time had stopped.

"The... the doctors I’ve seen... they all said the same thing."

Charles paused, swallowing hard as his lips trembled. "The cancer... it’s spread throughout my entire body."

The words left his mouth like a death sentence, and the silence that followed was louder than any scream.

"Noooooo!" Augustine cried out, his voice breaking as he shook his head furiously from side to side. "You’re... you’re not just saying all this because you’re exhausted. You don’t mean it, Charles. Let’s just get to the hospital first, okay?"

His voice trembled, laced with desperation, his fingers tightening around Charles’s hand as if holding him tighter could keep the truth at bay.

Augustine was in denial. None of this could be real.

"Reginald, please... drive faster," Augustine commanded, his voice cracking.

Without hesitation, Reginald shifted gears and stepped harder on the accelerator, the car slicing through the road like a bullet, the silence inside now filled with the pounding of hearts and the weight of fear.

"Charles." Freda called out, stretching her hands towards him from the back seat. "You’re going to be alright, okay." She whispered as tears streamed down her eyes.

She could see that the blood from Charles nose wasn’t stopping and he was opening his mouth wide open to breathe properly.

"I... I have..."

Charles opened his mouth to speak up but his words trailed off as he lean away from Augustine’s chest and immediately began to cough.

Blood could be seen coming out of Charles mouth as he cough.

STUNNED!

A cold chill ran down Augustine’s spine, locking his limbs in place as his eyes stretched wide in disbelief.

For a split second, it felt as though his brain had completely shut down... like every cell had gone numb.

The scene before Augustine was nothing short of horrific as his breath caught in his throat, refusing to come out.

The weight of the moment slammed into Augustine like a wrecking ball, paralyzing him with fear and dread.

Freda, stunned by the sight of Charles coughing uncontrollably, began to tremble, her body betraying the fear she tried so hard to hide.

Deep down, she was terrified that Charles might actually be telling the truth... that the nightmare unfolding wasn’t just exhaustion or panic, but something real.

While Freda and Augustine sat frozen in shock, Reginald kept his eyes glued to the road. He didn’t dare glance back.

Every second mattered now, and the only thing that mattered was getting Charles to the hospital fast.

"Babe... can’t Reginald drive us to where we had our first date? I don’t..."

*Cough*

Charles words trailed off as he cough, placing the napkin on his hands in front of his mouth which gave way for the blood from his nose to freely flow.

"I don’t want to spend my last moment fighting for my life in an hospital room since it’s... since it’s of no use."

"Charles," Augustine cried out, wrapping his hands across the neck of Charles. "You... you’re not going to die. Stop..."

He sob, burying his face on the neck of Charles. "Stop saying things that won’t happen, okay." Augustine pleaded.

Charles opened his mouth wide for breath as he opened his eyes also. "I love you so... I love you so so much ba..."

Once more, Charles was unable to complete his sentence as he coughed, more blood spilling out of his mouth as they now stain the body of Augustine. But he didn’t seem to care.

All that Augustine was worried about was to make sure the Charles was fine.

"Pookie, I can’t leave... I can’t leave without you, Charles. You’re my world. My everything so please... please hang in there okay, we..."

"Babe, I have lungs cancer." Charles cut Augustine off with his words which sounded cold and serious. "I know that I can’t survive this stage. I was told by doctor and... and I’m so scared." Charles sobbed, tears streaming down his eyes none stop.

The loud ringing sound in his head was becoming unbearable and his vision was so blurry that Charles could feel all his body muscle die with each passing seconds.

It also felt difficult for Charles to breath.

Months ago, while Charles was dating Anna, he had paid a visit to an hospital and was told that he had stage four lungs cancer, and that if he decided to take treatment, it would give him some few more months to be alive.

The news alone felt like a bomb to Charles ear and that had made him collapse on the road while making his way back to his house.

Doctors had informed Charles that lung cancer ran in his family.

From the stories he’d heard growing up at the orphanage, he learned that his father had died in a car accident, while his mother had succumbed to an illness... an illness that was later revealed to be lung cancer.

The truth had haunted him ever since.

Sigh!

Currently, the eyes of Charles rolled upwards and before he knew what was happening, he collapsed.