02. Land Of Shira

For the first time, Sieghal set foot again in his hometown, Shira—a small fishing town in North Yorkshire, England. It's not precisely sprawling but beautiful enough to be remembered as a place full of charm.

 

Shira is this quaint little town nestled among cliffs and tall hills, flanked by a few mountains and rolling hills. Shira's sunsets are top-notch, the best anyone could find anywhere. It should be a perfect place to unwind from all life's chaos. Yet, for Sieghal, Shira is the last place he wants to be.

 

After paying the taxi fare, Sieghal stepped out with his small suitcase. There it was—a peninsula with hundreds of boats lined up on the shore and a small village that was his leading destination after flying out of Las Vegas.

 

Seeing the row of moored fishing boats, Sieghal felt nothing. But as his gaze drifted to the sea, an old fear washed over him.

 

And here he was, at the house he left thirteen years ago. It hadn't changed; everything looked the same—from the window frames to the sturdy old wood beams holding up the ceiling. It seemed like his dad hadn't bothered to change a thing.

 

While he was taking it all in, the front door suddenly swung open, and a tall man stood there, ready to step out—it was Theo. But just as Sieghal was about to greet him, someone yelled his name from behind.

 

It was Yohan, his childhood friend. A friend he hadn't seen in ages since deciding to leave Shira. The same friend who had called him two days ago.

 

"Sieghal, oh my! You really come back!" he shouted, hugging and patting Sieghal joyfully. The moment quickly turned awkward when they realized Theo was also there.

 

"Come in, I'll make us some coffee," Theo said awkwardly. Sieghal and Yohan nodded in agreement.

 

As Theo led them to the kitchen, Yohan tried to break the ice by asking Sieghal many questions. But after a few questions and the arrival of coffee, Sieghal's attention shifted to Theo.

 

"Why did Yohan call me and not you?" Sieghal's question made Theo jump.

 

Instead of a friendly reply, Theo glared at Sieghal with hate, and Yohan looked down, afraid Theo might be angry because he had called Sieghal.

 

"Should I ask your friend why he had the nerve to call someone who deliberately ran away from his hometown," Theo snapped, echoing Yohan's thoughts.

 

"Stop deflecting and give me the answer I want."

 

"Huh, do you think I enjoy all of this? Do you think calling you here, and telling you about Dad's condition will change the fact that you caused all this chaos!"

 

"Chaos?! What are you talking about? If things were so bad, why did you have Yohan call me instead of doing it yourself?"

 

"Nobody told him to do it, damn it! I never intended to tell you about this mess. You and your damn friend are driving me crazy! Why did you come back now—"

 

"Theo! Theo, please stop," Yohan interjected, trying to calm the situation. He grabbed Theo's hand, about to throw a cup of hot coffee. Yohan feared Theo might spill it on Sieghal.

 

"I'am sorry, this is my fault. I decided to call Sieghal because we can't just ignore Uncle's condition." He said.

 

"So, you think I'll beg to him?" Theo's voice was loud, eyes bulging, neck veins straining with anger.

 

"At least by telling him, you don't have to sell the house and boats to pay for Uncle's treatment!"

 

Silence fell over the room. Sieghal stared at Theo, shocked by what Yohan had just revealed.

 

"What did you say? Sell the house and boats?" Sieghal repeated, looking back and forth between them in disbelief. Theo and Yohan could only lower their heads, avoiding Sieghal's gaze.

 

 

***

 

 

Sieghal thought the surgery costs would be just a few hundred thousand dollars. But seeing the bill hit seventy million dollars? That was way beyond what he imagined. There's no way he could scrape that kind of cash together, not even if he worked himself to the bone.

 

With lung damage, a leaky heart, and several other organs messed up from the ocean pressure when he fell, his dad needed a bunch of major surgeries to fix everything. And that's not even counting the meds and post-op recovery costs. Sieghal figured that seventy million dollars would be the bare minimum to cover it all.

 

"But where the hell am I gonna find that kind of money?" Sieghal muttered, raking a hand through his greasy hair after an eleven-hour trip from Las Vegas to North Yorkshire, now standing in the hospital to check on his dad.

 

Sieghal sighed, staring at his dad's body hooked up to IV drips and cables monitoring his heart and other organs. This was Sieghal's worst nightmare every time his dad went out to sea. Fishing was the family's livelihood, but something like this had never happened before.

 

Holding the piece of paper, he'd just gotten from the hospital admin; he felt like he might have a heart attack himself, seeing the total amount he owed.

 

On top of that, Sieghal had just found out his dad was washed up on an island pretty far from where he fell like something had dragged him there.

 

"I hope it's not what I think it is," Sieghal muttered.

 

"Dad was found on Houyu Island, and the rescue team immediately got him to the hospital. I didn't know he was in such bad shape. The fish we caught that night got away too 'cause something tore the net." Standing beside Sieghal, Theo explained what he knew about that night.

 

Sieghal sighed again, listening to his brother Theo. He deeply regretted not telling his dad everything and letting him keep going to sea just for a fish. But his actions had only ended up offending Theo.

 

"So what do you really want?" Theo suddenly asked.

 

"What?"

 

"If you don't care, why did you come back?"

 

"Stop this, Theo. I don't want to argue with you." Sieghal tried to stay calm, but Theo kept raising his voice, making Sieghal's head pound even more.

 

"I never asked you to come back. If you wanna leave, then leave now and don't you dare say you have to take responsibility for this."

 

"Stop this already." Sieghal warned.

 

"Why? Are you scared to admit you ran away from Shira just because you didn't want to take on the family's responsibilities, dumping them on me, and now you come back like you're some kind of hero?!" Theo kept hammering Sieghal with words that pushed him to the brink of losing his patience.

 

"You're afraid of the sea just to have an excuse to run off and have fun with your boyfriend, right?! Oh, of course! You've done that your whole life, dumping everything on me—"

 

Sieghal punched his brother in the face, and their fight could be heard by the nurses and doctors on duty that evening. Standing between them the whole time, Yohan couldn't break up the fight.

 

"You don't know anything about me, so stop babbling and just do your job," Sieghal hissed in Theo's face.

 

Seeing the nurses coming over because of the commotion they made, Sieghal decided to leave, clutching the piece of paper from the admin office. At the same time, Theo just vented his frustration by punching the wall until his hands were scraped and bleeding.