Chapter 68: It’s been awhile, Rose. How’ve you been?

After the brawl in the alley, the trio quickly stepped out into the main street. Even without a robe, Rosemary was easily recognized by the citizens. So while they greeted the people and chatted amongst themselves, the morning light peaked over the city walls. By time they reached the temple, the sun could be clearly seen.

“So when exactly are you leaving? For good, I mean.” EagleTwo asked Rosemary as they stood in front of tall stone building.

“That depends on what happens next. If the High Priest doesn’t make a move then I’ll just force his hand. Either way, I plan on advancing to High Priestess before I leave. I won’t walk away from this quest empty handed.” Rosemary replied confidently. She’d waited so long for the High Priestess advancement quest, and she had made too many sacrifices to just walk away. But she couldn’t wait too much longer because time was no longer on her side. A fact that had been become abundantly clear recently.

*FLASHBACK*

[202

Patient: Brandon Welding

Injury: Paralysis

Lead Nurse: Curtis Julius

Lead Physician: Dr. Alexander Dixson ]

Rose stood motionless in front of the door, staring blankly at the name on it. She’d been here several times in the past few months, but every time she arrived at the door, the scene from nearly two years ago would come rushing back. Along with all the emotions and pain.

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At first, they wouldn’t even let her on the floor because she’d been removed from the visitors list. In a hospital treating recognized athletes, not having such a privilege pretty much got her turned away at the door. After so long, she wasn’t even surprised that she wasn’t recognized by any of the receptionists. To them, she may as well have been some groupie trying to sneak into a patient’s room.

The obstacle was cleared with a phone call to her inside man. She was immediately given the admission to see the man she loved, only to find out that she wasn’t as ready as she thought she was, resulting in plenty of wasted opportunities.

She once came when Curtis was feeding Brandon his daily meal. She couldn’t make out what they were saying, but just the sound of his voice was enough to shock her heart into overdrive with it nearly bursting out of her chest with every beat. In that instance, she’d been frozen to the spot with fear. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d still be pushed away, and the image of his face, jaw locked and eyes filled with determination, still filled her with dread to this day.

On subsequent visits she’d try to muster up her courage by remembering the last part of that fateful day. She let the sound of Brandon’s agonizing cries fill her with courage and confidence. She thought that maybe, like her, he also feared a second time.

It was with that resolution that on her last visit she had knocked. Yet, the one who had opened the door was a nurse she didn’t recognize and she immediately retreated. It was then that the grim truth of Chaos Online came to light, calling her back to the game for work. As researcher from a rival company, she couldn’t ignore the opportunity to capitalize on Sonsoft’s negligence.

However, now that Jeeves was up and running, players could no longer be targeted, which gave her another chance to stand before this door.

Rose raised trembling hand to knock on the door. All was quiet inside, which could only mean Brandon was still in-game. As the door opened, she came face to face with a man that was the spitting image of his son. If not for the strands of gray hair and crow’s feet, they’d be identical. Still, the resemblance nearly made Rose jump out of her skin.

“It’s been awhile, Rose. How’ve you been?” Mr. Welding smiled faintly as he walked out, closing the door behind him. His eyes were red, and from the subtle shadows under his eyes, Rose could clearly see that the gymnast was certainly weary.

“I’ve been doing okay, I guess. The job’s pretty fun. How...are things with you and Mrs. Welding?” she asked hesitantly. After Brandon’s accident, she hadn’t been the only one that was distraught.

Mr. Welding hung his head and sighed woefully, eyes brimming with fresh tears. “She’s

a lot tougher than I am, I can tell you that. She insists we just keep moving forward. Like our son didn’t have his future dashed into pieces.” he said, with his voice fading into a whisper. When he raised his head a tear was rolling down his face. “ When they put that machine on him, you know what she said? She said, “If he’s happy, then let him be. We’ve already taken his happiness once.”” he sobbed.

“That’s not…” Rose started, but she couldn’t find the words to comfort him.

“Not what? Not true? I’d have to disagree with you on that one.” He fell silent, then he turned to the door and traced his fingers over his son’s name. “Now every time I look at him, I can’t help but regret those four years we took from him. All the time and effort he put into it only to wind up here…” he sobbed quietly, covering his face with his hand as he hunched over the door.

On impulse, Rose gently pulled the sobbing man into a hug. To see a man who she’d rarely seen without a smile, hunched over and weeping for his son, she couldn’t help but lend him her shoulder. It was a few moments before Mr. Welding regained control.

“I’m sorry. You’ve got your own sob story, but here I am, crying all over you. I’m just a big softie.” he chuckled softly and wiped his eyes.

“Like father, like son.” she replied softly.

Mr. Welding straightened his back and composed himself, then looked down at her with a gentle look. “You know, he told us a week before that he wanted to marry you. But you’ve been family to us long before then. So if you need anything, other than convincing my stubborn son, then you let us know.” he said, then he made his way down the hall.

Rose turned back to the door and took a deep breath before walking inside.

“Well look who finally decided to show up!” Curtis turned from the TV. His thick bronze arms folded against his chest with wide grin on his face.

Rose glared fiercely. “You could have told me you took leave.” she said.

“Hey! Is that how you treat your number one spy!?” he protested. Rose just shook her head and walked over to Brandon’s bed.

The Dark Chariot reflected the sunlight, and Brandon’s chest rose and fell rhythmically. Upon seeing the serene scene, she let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “I’d thought he’d be a bit thinner than before…since it’s been so long.” she said softly and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Well, his appetite has increased a lot since he started playing so he’s not all skin a bones.” Curtis chuckled as he watched her.

“Good.” Rosemary whispered, then she reached out for Brandon’s hand, tracing the visible bones with her fingertips. The hand looked so fragile, but it was still warm with life. If she focused, she could faintly feel his heartbeat.

Curtis just watched quietly for a moment before he spoke again in a hush tone. “Do you want me to call for him?”

The one question was like a bolt of lightning, stunning her on the spot and overcharging her heart. Of course she wanted to talk to him. She wanted to face Brandon once more and tell him she was still here. Yet, every fiber of her being told her that a reunion right here, right now, would be completely one sided. Even if she could only chalk it up to being a woman’s intuition, she was certain of this feeling. But the desire had still caused her to hesitate.

Finally, Rose shook her head. “No. If I talk to him here, he’ll just use his disability as an excuse to push me away again. If I’m going to see him, then it needs to be in-game.”

“That’s…not going to be as effective as you think it is. At least not anymore.” A knowing grin appeared on Curtis’ face.

“What the hell are you talking about?” she asked as she turned to glare at the nurse. She had a feeling that she wasn’t going to like what he was going to say.

Curtis brought a hand to his face to force the smile from it. “You’ll find out later, after you take a look at what’s on this.” He reached into the pocket of his uniform and pulled out a transparent, glass-like card. It was a bladedrive, which was capable of storing large amounts of data. “I had a feeling you would come around sooner or later, so I always have it handy. And since the weekly update on Brandon’s condition was yesterday, you have a while to take a look.”

He rolled his chair over to the bed tray and placed the bladedrive on it while giving Rose a meaningful look. “The real question is…what are you going to do if you meet him in-game and he still turns you down?”

A heavy silence fell on the room. Rose, deep in thought, just sat with Brandon’s hand in hers.

When she spoke again, her voice was shaking. “Right before his first SuperBowl, I was in a car accident. I couldn’t always make it to the games since I was still in school, but that was a game I couldn’t miss, you know? I wanted to get to the stadium early so I could at least see him before the game to let him know that I came. I was less than five minutes away when I ran a red light…”

Her voice cracked, and she had to stop to clear her throat. Then with misty eyes, she looked deeper into the past. “When I woke up, he was at my bedside holding my hand with less than a hour before the game started. But before I even had a chance to freak out he started crying with a stupid grin on his face.

A part of the windshield had cut into my chest so it was painful to even breathe. But I was nearly screaming at him to get his ass to the field because not only had he shown up in his gear, two of his teammates were standing at the door ready to drag him out if need be.

Then he went on about how much he loved me and that he didn’t know what he’d do if…ugh! It’s too sappy to even repeat it. The whole scene was like it was scripted.” Rose closed her eyes and laughed, but tears were already streaming down her face. “But after almost ten minutes of begging and pleading him to go back to the stadium, do you know he said to me?” She said as she turned to look at the Curtis.

“What he say?”

“He said ‘It’s just a game’ with a looked that said my life was all that mattered to him. Despite everything he’d done and endured to get to that moment, he says that?” Roses face contorted in confusion before sighing heavily. “I don’t know what he’ll say when I see him, so I don’t know what I’ll do if it goes badly. But I will bring him back to reality using his own words and look him in the eye the same way he looked at me. Only then can I say that I tried my best.”

“Well, I hope it all goes well. Just watch those highlights, and you’ll have a rough idea about what you’re getting into.” With a nod Curtis rolled back to his spot in front of the TV, giving Rose a few moments with Brandon.

--

Afterwards, Rose immediately went home, popped some popcorn and curled up on the couch for a gameplay marathon. Curtis had dropped some cryptic hints all throughout her visit, so she used her stock pile of vacation time to sit and watch. To say she was anxious was an understatement.

’Just what the hell is he talking about?’ she thought while pushing the play button on her BlacRay player.

It was then she watched Thadius’ journey from the beginning, starting with the very prayer that granted her a permanent buff. The scene of Thadius on knees in prayer completely dashed any doubts she had. In less than two minutes, her love for him was broken down, melted, and forged

anew. Her plan to meet him in game was officially set in stone in that moment.

Yet, what immediately followed concerned her.

“I’m pretty sure he’s not a pedophile…” Rose muttered to herself when Thadius gently ‘educated’ Christina on the dangers of tempting grown men. Seeing that girl in Thadius’ arms made her eyes narrow, but she didn’t feel any hint of a threat in the girl, so she put her to the back of her mind.

Once she laid eyes on Corban and the quest he gave Thadius, her jaw dropped. “What kind of luck is that!?” she screamed at her TV. Watching Thadius getting a unique class quest at level one had literally made her pale with envy as a gamer. But once the training montage started, she was questioning the swordmaster’s sanity.

“Had any other player stumbled onto Corban, it would take them at least three years to complete the quest between work and a social life. The class better be worth it…” Rose grumbled for her sweetheart. The training looked simple, but she knew full well that it took everything he had every day.

In truth, she also thought it was a bit lonely. But not long after, a tiny goddess entered the picture. “Aww, little Yuna!” Rose smiled at the young goddess in her leafy dress.

No longer alone on the mountain, the training montage changed to an adventure comedy. It even had surprise Cookin’ Time episodes. Then the first twist derailed the happy period when Yuna was stripped of her godly power and cast out. “I knew that bitch Thena was up to no good! There’s always something wrong with the Goddess of Beauty!” she screamed at the sight of Yuna lying face down in the raging blizzard.

Fortunately, the calm returned with Yuna becoming a disciple and martial sister to Thadius. Even if the circumstances were terrible, the result could have been much worse.

Rose thought that up until she saw herself standing at Thadius’ door. “What the hell!? T-that’s not me…that’s not me! What are you doing!?” she screamed and jumped up off the couch, spilling her umpteenth bowl of popcorn on the floor.

When the imposter revealed herself, Rose’s jaw almost dropped to the floor. “Tegaia!? Wha-you!? You know what…I’m not even mad. I’m not even supposed to be watching this. Plus, he clearly thought it was me, right? I-I should be happy right?” she said with a quivering voice, desperately trying to convince herself. Her grip on her controller spoke volumes of her true feelings.

’Oh, we are definitely going to talk about this, Goddess!’