Beyond the Horizon

by Ace Campillo

‘Well, that’s good. At least, we know that he is in safe hands.’

  ‘That's true. I don't know, though if I completely trust him.’

  ‘All we can do is hope that he is enjoying his time with his grandmother.’ A part of me was relieved that Andre was alright, but it does not answer why he had not contacted me. Ever since we became friends, we made a promise to each other that we would not keep any secrets. I had broken that pact a few times, but he was more compliant to it. He would message me or talk to me personally about almost everything that happened in his life, and it became even more frequent when he lost his parents. I guessed he was looking for someone who he was close enough to share his day with.

  I was already preparing myself with the fact that I might not see him again tomorrow, although I still found it quite odd that he would do it. He was always quite serious with his studies, and he was always quite fearful of missing out any class, but I realised that having his grandmother probably was another story. And as I expected, he did not go to school again. I spoke with Erin about what happened, and she reassured me that Andre was alright. She pointed out that I might be the one who was not okay. What the hell does that even mean? Of course, I was alright. I was just worried.

  The day at school was rather busy but enjoyable, especially that the Easter Holiday was fast approaching. We were caught up trying to finish our projects on time. I did not have problems with individual assignments. I was more afraid to know how the progress of our group project. There were the three of us: the director, who just kept on telling us what to do; the actor aka myself who did almost everything; and the most important person, the financier. It angered me that they would probably get the same grade as me, but I could not also afford slacking off. With all those in my head, I forgot about Andre. I did think that he's also an adult now, and I probably need to focus more on myself. I did not also want people to feel that I had a motive for being too close to him.

  We were sent home early because of the faculty meeting. It also meant that there's also no varsity meetup for the day, but it did not stop us from practising though. I met with Erin, and we hang out below the bleachers. I finally asked her if she could be my girlfriend, and I was so happy when she said yes.

  ‘Really?’ I was dancing and jumping like crazy.

  ‘Yeah, but you can stop now.’ She laughed as she tried to hold me down.

  ‘I'm just happy, you know.’ I looked at her thoughtfully. My heart was racing, and I could feel it thumping as if it was going to explode.

  ‘I know,’ she smiled.

  ‘So, what endearment would you like to use?’ I asked.

  ‘We can just call each other by our own names,’ she answered.

  ‘That's a rather unromantic statement babe.’ I held her hand and let our fingers intertwined.

  ‘You’re so gross.’ She giggled and covered her mouth with her other hand.

  ‘I love you, babe,’ I cheekily said.

  ‘Stop it.’ She became flustered, and she tried to hide it.

  ‘But I love you…’ I prolonged the last word to emphasise what I was saying. I kept on repeating as she giggled and repeatedly asked me to stop. The entire cheesiness got suddenly disrupted when someone from out of nowhere shouted, ‘Babe, I love you too.’

  We looked up and saw a couple of passers-by. We both laughed, and we decided to move along. But before doing so, I asked her if I could at least have a kiss. She initially refused, but she later agreed to have a peck on the lips. That was my first, but I did not tell her, though, because I was quite embarrassed. I could not even remember if I told Andre about me being a virgin. Thank god for porn. I internally laughed.

  My attention was ultimately diverted to my new-found relationship with Erin. I finally formally told my parents about it. My mother even wanted to dine out to celebrate. However, I declined the offer for a celebratory party because I thought it was ridiculous. I wonder how they would answer people if they get asked why we're having a party. I also planned to finish one of our homework, which was to memorise a part of one of the Shakespeareans plays I chose and later present it in class. I imprisoned myself in my room, and I thought that it would be a peaceful night, but I was wrong.

  Chapter 6

  It was ten o’clock, and my mother was already urging me to go to sleep soon. I looked at her and did not mention anything. It's not like I was still a kid that needed a regular reminder of what I needed to do. I was almost eighteen years old, finishing my 12th grade for goodness sake.

  ‘You go to bed soon,’ she reminded again.

  ‘Okay, mom. I just have to finish something for school, okay?’ I promised her that I would not be staying up late. But how early? It’s subjective. It’d primarily depend on how motivated I was, and how fast my brain worked tonight. It’s probably not the best idea to procrastinate after all. I still had two more days to prepare for my class presentation, but it’s always been difficult for me to memorise lines. I knew that if I wanted to get a good grade that I had to keep on practising for a couple of nights. I was in the middle of my supposed last practice for the night when my phone buzzed.

  ‘I’m outside your house.’

  I was surprised to see who sent it. It was from Andre. That idiot! I did not know if I was going to be happy or mad about it, but I was glad to see his message. He was alive after all. I joked. However, I realised what time it was. What the hell was he doing here at this time of the night? No more booty calls for me now. I laughed. I peered through the window, and I could only see his shadow. I called out his name and happily welcomed him back to the neighbourhood. He did not verbally answer back, which confused me, but he instead used the brightness of his phone's screen and waved at me. I went downstairs to get him. I carefully not made any noises as my mother would probably not appreciate me still up on my toes after being told to sleep hours ago.

  On the other hand, she probably would understand why. I wanted to stress the word probably as I wouldn't be able to predict how she would react. But you know, it might be something significant. I turned on the lights of the front porch and peeked through the peephole, and I was stunned to see Andre's current physical state. I hurriedly opened the door and saw how his face and visible parts of his body were covered with blood and bruises. He also had some dried-up blood in his nostrils and a busted lip. He was holding his right arm with his left, and I realised that it was fractured. I was speechless for a good couple of minutes. I stared at him as he looked back at me with that poor face. He walked towards me as he kept apologising. I was in deep shock that I didn’t know how to react; all I knew was that I was trembling. He hugged me with his good arm, and I hugged him back. I brushed my hands on the back of his head and saw blood. It was that moment when I became frantic. I started shouting; calling out for my parents to get them to wake up.

  ‘Who did this to you?’ I asked Andre. I could feel my eyes watering up.

  ‘Mom! Dad!’ I kept shouting until they appeared. I felt Andre became much heavier, and I realised that he had collapsed. I heard my mother gasp in horror. I looked at her, and I saw her cover her mouth with both of her hands. My father immediately ran to me to help.

  ‘He needs to be rushed to the hospital,’ my father declared.

  ‘What happened?’ My mother asked as she also hurriedly ran closer to us.

  ‘I-I don't know,’ I stuttered. I could feel myself slowly trembling now.

  ‘We'll talk about it later. Please get the keys, Sally,’ my father said.

  ‘Mom,’ I called her as she was not moving. We carried Andre to the backseat of the car, and we started our urgent trip to the hospital. On our way there, my mother was looking at his as she cried. ‘Who will ever do such evil to an innocent kid?’ She lamented.

  ‘You will be alright Andre, hang in there.’ I also started crying as he held him tighter in my arms. I did not know what to do. I just kept on whispering that everything would be alright. It sounded like it was more of a reassurance for me rather than for him. I
looked at him, and I felt angry at myself for failing to protect him. There were things that I could not possibly control, but I should have made sure that I was aware of what was happening. I remembered what Erin told me. I needed to ask my best friend how he was going and not just assume that everything was alright because he was not saying anything.

  ‘It’s all my fault that he’s in this state,’ I spoke as I sobbed.

  ‘Don’t say that,’ my mother reached for my knee and rubbed it before quickly adding, ‘we don’t even know what happened.’

  ‘That’s exactly where I’m at fault,’ I responded. I wiped my tears with my shirt before I continued, ‘it’s my fault that I do not know what’s been happening. I neglected him.’

  ‘Andre would not appreciate your crying. Man up, be strong for him,’ my dad said as he looked at me using the front mirror. I understood that my crying would not help the situation, but I could not forgive myself for what happened to him; much more if something worse happened to him that night. I was usually asleep at this time, mainly because it's a school night, but I was wide awake. My parents initially told me that I did not go with them, but I strongly insisted, and they were not able to do anything about it.

  As we reached the entrance of the hospital, my mother ran towards the Emergency Department. It so happened that I saw the two paramedics standing beside an ambulance where we were parked, and I immediately got off the car and asked for their help. I apologised for bothering them, but I gathered all the courage and asked for their assistance in transferring Andre to the Emergency Room. They saw the state of Andre and decided to bring out the stretcher. We quickly moved him, and he was wheeled inside. We were told to wait at the lounge, and they said to us that they would be updating us from time to time about what was happening with him. Later, one of the admin staff asked my parents how they were related to Andre. They explained about Andre being an orphaned and that there's no one else to stand for him because his only legal guardian lived in London. The admin clerk then asked one of them to go with her so they could finish his patient profile. They would also want to know how the patient had sustained his injuries and his medical history. I was listening to the conversation, and I firmly believed that my mother didn't know anything about him. If they were to ask me, I would be able to answer, but I was not in a condition to be explaining. My mind had wandered off somewhere. If I had the power that let me make an astral projection, I would do it. When they walked off, I was eager to know what was up, but all I could do was wait until my mother came back. And it took her at least an hour because she reappeared at the lounge. She told us that she was needed because Andre was a minor. She stated that he was sound asleep in his cubicle now, but he was briefly conscious. She told him that we were not going to leave him, so he needed to recover quickly for us. He then fell asleep again. He had a CT Scan of the head and chest and an X-ray of the arm. It should not take long, but they were still waiting for the results when my mother went out. However, she was reassured that Andre would be alright. I was able to finally let out a sigh of relief upon hearing the news, and I was couldn't wait to see him eventually.

  I frequently looked at the clock as time passed by very slowly. My father told me that I could just wait at home and that he could drive me back. However, I was defiant of their advice and repeatedly said that I would wait until I was sure that Andre would be fine. A few hours had passed, and I saw that it was already five o’clock when we were told that Andre had been transferred to his room in the Surgical Ward for observation. We headed to that ward, but as soon as we reached the area, we were asked not to disturb him as he was resting. One of the junior doctors who saw him approached us and said that he could give us some update.

  ‘Clinically speaking, the patient is not in danger. He underwent a series of testing, including blood tests and scans, and they did not show any signs of having internal bleeding or having any internal fractures. He had a wound at the back of his head that was stitched up. It seems like it was caused by a bottle that was smashed to his head, and it was evident that there was still some debris left as we were cleaning it. There were obvious signs that he was abused because of the bruises, and we found a bit of laceration in his bottom.’ He paused.

  ‘Would he be alright?’ My dad asked.

  ‘Yeah, he has a fractured arm, but it’s already been fixed and was covered with a fibre cast,’ he answered.

  ‘When you say laceration, you mean a wound? Why would there be a wound down there?’ My mother curiously enquired about it.

  ‘It may be a sensitive topic, but it could be that someone has forcibly tried to place something in there. However, we could not be sure at this stage.’ The doctor was careful with his words, and I admired his detailed report about his condition. I looked at the direction where he was, and I could see him because a curtain only partially covered him. I could not believe that not only was there a possibility that there was an attempt to kill him, but he could also be raped. There was no way of knowing it for sure, and so, it was vital to ask Andre soon about it.

  ‘Thank you, doctor. Thanks for taking good care of Andre,’ my father said.

  ‘It’s probably better if we go home now and go back later today. You still have to go to school young man,’ my mom said as she looked at me seriously, but my dad interrupted her.

  ‘You don’t seriously expect your son to attend his classes after this, do you?’ He asked.

  ‘I'll be alright, dad. I only have one exam for my first subject in the morning, and I can probably scoot out after. I'll ask my teacher if I could be excused for the rest of the day. I also want to tell them where Andre is.’ It was not my responsibility to tell them about the whereabouts of Andre, but I thought it would be good for them not to be marking him absent if it was not at all intentional.

  ‘Don’t tell them the full details before we get to know the full story of what happened. We may put him into further danger if the culprit tracks him here.’

  ‘Don’t worry. I’ll tell them that Andre is just sick and is taking his time to recover.’

  ‘Promise us that you will not mention to anyone about him being here in the hospital.’

  ‘Geez mom, yes. I promise.’

  We made it to the car and started our journey back home. We kept our quiet throughout the trip. It's because we were probably already tired. We had not slept even for a bit. I reckoned that if I had a nap that it would only cause me to feel more miserable. I hopped into the bathroom straight away to have a warm shower. My dad also prepared for work. My mom, on the other hand, quickly prepared my school shirt and made some breakfast. It was hard getting over that horrific scene I witnessed last night. It felt like it was just a dream only that we had our eyes wide opened. Our first few minutes on the table was spent much on eating in silence, but my mother tried to break it.

  ‘Despite what happened, the real silver lining was the fact that he is now in the hospital recovering,’ she said.

  ‘I hope that the devil who did it will rot in jail,’ I said.

  ‘We need to ask Andre what happened. Until then, we can’t assume anything.’ My dad approached me and rubbed my back and quickly added, ‘are you sure you will be alright today, son?’

  ‘I think I’ll be okay. I have to visit him later,’ I answered.

  ‘Alright, just let us know if we can do anything for you. What we saw last night was not something that we normally see.’

  ‘I’m a bit shaken, but I feel alright now that I know where he is.’

  ‘Alright then, I think it's time for me to go or else I won't be able to arrive at work on time because of the traffic. I'll see you later,’ my dad said.

  ‘Are you also going to visit him later?’ I asked.

  ‘Yeah, I should be able to finish early today.’ He walked towards mom to kiss her on the lips before quickly adding, ‘I’ll be back here at home and get you hon.’ He looked at mom for confirmation.

  ‘Okay, it’ll be good for us to go there together so w
e could buy things for Andre on the way there,’ my mom replied.

  ‘I’m going there straight away after I’m able to get out of school. I’ll see you there,’ I said. My dad left for work, and I also prepared to go to school. As I kissed my mother goodbye, I asked her about what’s going to happen to Andre. She said that we needed to take things slowly because no matter how much she wanted to help him, she didn’t know what happened.

  ‘But will he still be living with his uncle after he gets discharged from the hospital?’

  ‘We need to ask him. We also need to make his grandmother aware of what happened to him.’

  ‘He can stay here with us, can’t he?

  ‘I know you’re concerned. He can definitely stay here with us, but it’s up to him.’

  ‘Thanks, mom.’

  ‘Now, off you go, or you will be late for school.’

  I arrived at school physically, but I knew that my mind was somewhere else. I waited for my teacher at the door to tell her what happened. I apologised that I could not say any more in-depth details, but I asked for permission to be able to excuse myself after the exam. Ms Gonzales was quite sympathetic about the situation. She's our mathematics teacher. She's one of the very few teachers who showed concerned when Andre went MIA. She asked me at least once or twice before where he was, so I expected her reaction to the news.

  ‘Are you sure you want to take the exam? It's just a simple quiz. We can arrange for a makeup quiz later,’ she said.

  ‘Yes, I want to take the exam, but I need to go home right after?’ I said as I rubbed my eyes and covered my mouth to yawn, ‘oh, excuse me. As you can see, I haven't had sleep yet. I also came to school to tell you about what happened to Andre.’

  ‘Thanks for that, Jeremy. I will tell the faculty that Andre is just struck with flu. I knew he wouldn't skip classes without reason.’

  ‘Thanks, Ms Gonzales.’

  ‘You're welcome. You don't need to ask me later. You can quietly get out of the room after the exam.’ I nodded in agreement with her.