On Finding Chance

Part 2 - Chapter 29

"Thank you", I say to him and he kisses the back of my hand. "My pleasure. Any more questions?" he says. "Is the tattoo real or was I too drunk?" I ask.

Dylan stands up, faces the other side, and takes off his shirt. HOLY COW!!!!!!! He is hot! As in Cosmo cover boy hot. His muscles are defined and the line on his back is very very sexy. Even if I have not seen it yet, I am more than 100% sure he has chiseled abs.

"Can you see it?" he asks, cutting into my perverted fantasy. I search his back and cannot find his secret.

I walk towards him when he suddenly turns around to face me.

"Did you find it?"

"No?"

He laughs. Ugh! He is such a pain sometimes.

"I'd be surprised if you found a tattoo there."

I roll my eyes.

"Why did you take off your shirt then?"

He shrugs.

"Show off."

He laughs again and moves closer. We are only a few inches apart. Is he going to kiss me right now? Good heavens, my heart!

"My secret is here", he says as he opens up his palms.

"Where?" I hold it and examine it closely. Is he playing with me again? There is nothing here.

"Can't get enough of my hand, langga?", he says with a sly smile evident in his face.

I immediately shove it away.

"You are really cute when you're frustrated.", he teases.

"Whatever."

"Ok. I'll stop now. Here is what you've been searching for."

He removes his watch and there on his wrist lies his secret. The number 808 is beautifully engraved in his flawless skin. "808?" I say, thinking out loud. "It's your birthday", he replies.

He moves even closer. OMG! Is he going to kiss me for real? I close my eyes, feeling his hand on my cheek. Our foreheads touch and my heart instantly feels like bursting out of my chest. The anticipation is killing me. What is taking him too long? I take a peek and see him with eyes intensely shut as if pleading for stars to align.

"I miss you everyday, Alex. Remember that", Dylan breathes like a prayer. Something in the way he said it pulls me harder into his orbit. Can I admit that I have fallen for him even only for today? I bargain with myself.

He kisses my forehead and asks me for a dance.

"Are you happy?" he said into my ear. "Yes", I answer truthfully. "Me too", he finishes. For what feels like forever, we remain quiet, relinquishing to the beating of our hearts.

"Dylan?", I whisper, breaking the silence. The small voice inside me yearns to find out the truth about my accident. The important questions cannot be delayed any further, it pushes. But I let my stubbornness rule and ignore it for the second time.

"Why my birthday?", I ask instead.

"Well, uh, how do I explain this? It was July 15, 2017, our supposed third anniversary. I had a terrible day at the hospital. I am used to seeing patients die in front of me but that morning I could not bear losing any of them. There was a huge road accident caused by a bus losing control on the skyway and hitting three other cars. As usual, I scrubbed in the OR for surgery. My patient was a little girl named Alex and her name reminded me of you. Anyway, she had multiple fractures and brain hemorrhage. It was a very risky operation and her chances of survival were slim. Still, we tried saving her. It was a miracle that she was alive after leaving the OR and because of that I believed she could live. But, an hour later, she passed away. And so I went to a bar and got myself drunk and went to have your birthday on my wrist."