~Beyond Words~

Down the Memory Lane, located a big, luxury villa owned by a pair of husband and wife. Both were well-known lawyers, handling big and serious cases, Mr. and Mrs. Desmond. The parents of five were always busy with their works, leaving their children with a maid. The eldest, Barry took over his father’s role as the family leader when they were not around. The second child was me, by the name Cathy, followed by Daryl, Evelyn and Gordon. Three boys and two girls had been living together under one roof.

People like you would be thinking that this family lived happily and peacefully with harmony around. But this was a total no-no perspective towards us. Well, why would I say that? Fights and wars from day to night, I skipped classes from January till December, Daryl went loitering from dawn to dusk, Evelyn and Gordon, the twins would be hanging out with their friends twenty four seven. Every day, you could hear Barry kept on repeating the same sentences again and again.

“Would you guys be more obedient?”
“Listen to me, please.”
“We need to stay together as one when daddy and mummy are not around.”

Who cares? It was such a headache to listen to whatever he said. Plus, daddy and mummy wouldn’t know what we were doing. They went overseas most of the time, we were just nothing to them. Freedom! Freedom in doing what we want now was the most important thing. When I saw Barry’s disappointed and desperate expression, I was even happier. It was fun to see him being tortured. Daryl, Evelyn and Gordon had the same point of view with me. Great!

Sounded evil, right? But now, I totally regretted in what had done to him. If I could predict the future, I would definitely not do these to him. Tears rolled down for litres, but it was all useless. My brother, my only eldest brother. Now, he was gone, gone to the other world where we couldn’t reach. How I wish I could bring him back from there and start all over again in peace and harmony. I believed everything would be different now. I asked myself, “Why? Why I don’t listen to him?”

Gordon was the naughtiest among us. We knew that he involved himself in illegal motorcycles racings, but we did not care about it. Only Barry, Barry was the one who would advise him always. But Gordon did not listen to him, just like the three of us. Just a few days back, a tragic accident hit Gordon. He went racing with his gang of friends, not knowing that his motorcycles brake was made faulty by his ‘friends’. Ended up, when he reached a sharp corner, he lost his control and banged into a deep forest.

Luck was at his side, where there were passers-by who called an ambulance for him. He was rushed to the nearest hospital. Barry went pale once he received the phone call from the hospital. So, all of us rushed to the hospital. We tried contacting daddy and mummy, but it was all in vain. We rushed to the emergency area and we told to wait outside the operation theatre. Gordon was in there for three hours already. We waited patiently outside, and we saw nurses and doctors rushing in and out from the theatre.

Suddenly, one doctor rushed out and asked for Gordon’s family members. He needed many packets of blood with O+. We were all of O+, but only Barry was willing to donate. He was so shocked to see that Daryl, Evelyn and me to be so selfish. He finally lost his temper. He scolded the three of us loudly and burst out.

“What’s wrong with the three of you? During other days, I don’t mind that you don’t listen to me. But now, this is a matter of life and death. It’s your brother’s life you are saving. A little sacrifice for him will not cost you anything.”

He cried and knelt down begging us to save our little brother’s life. In a second, I realised, all this while, I had been doing the wrong thing. Yes, unity is important among siblings in building a strong family. I quickly went to Barry and promised him. So did Daryl and Evelyn. While donating our blood, we read out our prayers to bless Gordon. Our blood was sent into the operation theatre and now the blood of four of us were flowing in Gordon’s body. A small unity we could see at least.

After about 30 minutes, a nurse rushed out and said, “The patient now is experiencing serious blood loss due to his liver damage, all of you are compatible is donating part of your liver. Anyone? Who is willing here?”

Barry nodded without even thinking for a second. He was then brought into the operation theatre. Little did I know, that would be the last time I see him. Three hours passed, the doctor walked out and said, “The patient was now safe. You may see him later.” The three of us were happy to hear this news but we dropped down from heaven to hell when we heard the next sentence. “Unfortunately, the donor had passed away due to a sudden heart attack during the operation. Sorry.”

My mind went blank. Heart attack? How could that be? Nothing I could do but cry. We settled all the procedures and our parents rushed back from England for the funeral. At home, Daryl, Evelyn and I decided to clean Barry’s room so that we could always go in there when we missed him. While cleaning, I found a medical report. It was Barry’s. I opened it up and looked into it together with them. Gracious, Barry had heart attack since two years back, but we as his siblings did not realise it.

We regretted so much, but it was all too late. Barry sacrificed a lot until his life was taken away to teach us a lesson of unity. Deep down in our hearts, we promised him that forever we would remain united. The death of Barry would never extinguish the flame of our heart. We knew we would remain as one not only now but in the life to come.

Author : Yee Cheeng
(Copyrights reserved)