Chapter 17
I hadn’t told him what happened afterward, so he couldn’t have known. “He’s not okay,” I replied coldly. “He died three years ago.”
The phone slipped from Jackson’s hands, clattering against the floor. The screen flickered before coming back to life. He looked like he might collapse. “Dead? Why didn’t I know about this? Why didn’t you tell me?!”
“How do you think I feel?” I shot back. “Has anyone in your family ever cared about him in all these
years?”
Jackson trembled violently, too ashamed to meet my eyes. I remembered the first time I met his parents and cautiously asked if he had any siblings. They’d dismissed the question with a wave of their hand: “No.” Jackson himself had said, “There used to be one, but you can consider him dead.” When I pressed for details, he’d slammed a bowl down, warning me, “We don’t speak of him in this family.” He’d resented Joseph for escaping, for making him the new target.
“Save your crocodile tears. Do you really think he ended up in the Nyara Republic by choice? It’s all because of your family.” Jackson abruptly ended the call.
A few days later, his parents showed up at my door, telling me Jackson had disappeared.
They explained how he’d rushed home that day and gone on a rampage, destroying everything in sight. He’d blamed them for all the tragedies, saying if they hadn’t forced Joseph to leave, he would never have gone to the Nyara Republic, never met me, and never died. Everything was connected, he’d said, with no way out. He’d confessed that his suppressed emotions had led him to mistakenly believe he’d fallen for the unconventional Sara, making him miss his chance with me.
None of it could be undone.
After that, Jackson quit his hospital job and vanished.
“Zoey! How can you blame us?” his parents pleaded. “As parents, we just wanted our son to make more money. What’s wrong with that? We told him to stay at the hospital, but he wouldn’t listen. Now look what’s happened–he’s gone! Isn’t this all his own doing?”
“How could Jackson be angry with us? We’re his parents!”
“Please, help us bring him back! We’ve already lost one son; we can’t lose another!”
I couldn’t take it anymore. I hurled my phone down. “Get out!” I screamed. “You don’t deserve to be
Chapter 17
parents!”
Devastated, I found myself wandering back to that familiar forest. I settled beneath a massive tree, watching the sunlight dance through the leaves as I hugged my knees to my chest.
Though the Nyara Republic had given me just one chance encounter, I could imagine how suffocated Joseph must have felt in that household. He’d originally listed his partner as his emergency contact with Médecins Sans Frontières, but later changed it to me. He never wanted his family to know about his struggles. Despite coming from such a dysfunctional family, he’d grown into an incredibly kind, gentle, and selfless person.
The thought filled my heart with an overwhelming sadness.
Suddenly, a gust of wind rustled through the trees, and something hard fell from above, striking my forehead. I picked it up–a dog tag. Aid workers in conflict zones often carried them for identification in case of accidents. I assumed it belonged to some soldier, but when I turned it over, I saw “Joseph” engraved on its surface.
My heart stopped. I ran my fingers over the name repeatedly, unable to believe it. How could this be? Why would Joseph’s tag be here, of all places?
