Chapter 111 - 111: Chance

'Calm down April. Don't panic!' She reminded herself.

April was now staring anxiously at Bryan. She tapped his shoulder while calling his name.

"Bryan! Bryan!" 

He was not responding. He was lying there unconscious. April looked at her surroundings but she couldn't see any car passing by. She didn't waste any more time. She grabbed her phone and she called for an ambulance.

After the phone call, she focused her attention back to Bryan. She checked his vitals. She felt relieved when she felt his pulse and he was breathing. Then she searched for his gunshot wound.

April's brows locked when she didn't see any wound.

"In what part of his body he was hit by the bullet? I can't see it! There is no blood!" April mumbled as wondered. She continued looking for his wound but she couldn't find one.

Minutes later, April found a small dart buried in the left side of his neck. April's eyes widened as she saw it.

"Tranquilizer! The robbers did not use a real gun but instead, they used tranquilizer pistol! This explains why Bryan fell unconscious right away." April exclaimed as she discovered something.

She couldn't believe it that those robbers brought a tranquilizer gun instead of a real gun. Now she felt more relieved.

She looked helplessly at Bryan. "You were lucky! I was also lucky that you came."

Then the ambulance arrived. She decided to bring him to the hospital to make sure if the tranquilizer used is not fatal for his health.

...

Meanwhile, Elle and Charles already arrived in the Falcon Cafe. Phantom was also there, waiting for them.

Charles had a gloomy expression when he entered the cafe while Elle couldn't control herself from laughing.

"Are you that happy Elle? I just got beaten by that girl and still, you are laughing at me." Charles complained to her. He was looking at her with disbelief as he was massaging his face.

"By the way, why did you shoot Bryan? It was not part of the plan right?" Charles asked her curiously.

Elle rolled her eyes at him. "Because you ruined my plan. Our original plan is for you to attack April then Bryan will come to her rescue.

"You will lose to Bryan in the fist-to-fist combat then swoosh... he will become a hero saving the girl he likes. Then I will come to the picture to help you escape from them."

"However, we are still in phase 1 and you already got beaten by April. April did not look like she needs Bryan's help."

"So I revised the plan and execute plan B wherein I needed to help you. Of course, I won't waste my time pretending that I was losing to Bryan in a fight so I decided to shoot him."

"Different method but the same outcome. He was still a hero for catching the bullet for her. Besides the gun I gave you was just a tranquilizer pistol." Elle explained to him.

"It won't happen if for the first place you are the one doing my role!" Charles rebutted.

They were both arguing when Phantom approached them. 

"How is your mission? Did it go well?" Phantom welcomed them with a smile.

"Everything went well except for Charles who got beaten by the agent." Elle laughed out loud. Phantom joined her from laughing at Charles.

"It's all up to Bryan now, how he can gain April's sympathy after what happened," Elle added. Phantom nodded.

"This is your fault. You know you can do the job but you push everything to me! You did nothing. You just stood there and held the gun." Charles mumbled as he vented his unhappiness.

"Blame your foolishness. You waste your advantage when you got closer to her. You fool, you are holding a gun not a knife." Elle said as she gave him the icepack. 

"Here, use this to cool your self down. Haha. I mean for your bruise."

Charles's unhappiness disappeared when he was touched by Elle's thoughtfulness. He gladly accepted it.

Phantom just shook his head seeing Charles's reaction. "He has simple happiness," Phantom mumbled to himself.

"Master Phantom, train Charles again. It seems like he forgot everything that you taught him." Elle requested Phantom.

"Sure, why not. Since I am here. I can do that." Phantom said as he agreed on her suggestion

"I don't want to! Master Phantom is really strict when he trains someone. His method is brutal!" Charles exclaimed as he didn't agree on the suggestion.

Elle stared at him intently which made Charles keep quiet.

"You need to enhance your combat skills. I don't want you to be beaten again like this. Remember also what happened in the white room. You need to train for your survival and protection." Elle said to him with a serious tone.

"Besides, how can you assist me if you can't even protect yourself? We have so many enemies right now, Dark Knight, Skull Gang, Black Shadow, and even the task force. Aside from them we will about to face my true enemies."

"As my partner I want you to be prepared and ready. What if in the end, I am the one who needs to be rescued? What will you do if you can't fight them?"

After Elle said that, the atmosphere became silent. Charles and Phantom could feel the weight of her every word. Elle was right.

After a few seconds, a soft chuckle could be heard inside the Cafe.

"Hey, what's with the serious faces here? I am just trying to encourage and motivate Charles to train." Elle laughed at the two men.

Charles and Phantom looked with each other.

Both men were thinking the same.

'Elle has a very unique way of encouraging someone!'

They were having this kind of conversation when someone entered the Cafe. It was Erick. He came to pick up Elle.

"Good evening!" Erick said as he greeted the three persons inside.

Charles's unhappiness was evident to his face as soon as he saw Erick.

"Good evening to Mr. Lee. We meet again!" It was Phantom who greeted him.

Erick nodded at him. After that, he averted his gaze to Elle. They smiled at each other as soon as their eyes met.

"You came on time. I am about to call you." Elle said to him as she was glad to see him.

"When it comes to you I will always be on time. I won't let you wait that long." Erick softly said to her.

Phantom was just smiling while watching the interaction between Erick and Elle. On the other hand, Charles wore a sour expression in his face.

Charles rolled his eyes before he cleared his throat to catch the attention of the two persons in front of him who were still staring at each other.

"I don't know why you can still come here after what you did to me, Mr. Lee. You don't feel ashamed?" Charles said sarcastically.

Elle shot him a sharp glare after she heard it.

Erick turned to Charles and he just smiled apologetically.

"I came here also to apologize to you, Mr. Del Rios. I know I did wrong. I acted on impulse. I am just thinking about Elle at that time. Please accept my apology." Erick explained as he apologized to Charles. He also extended his right hand to offer him a handshake as a sign of reconciliation.

Phantom and Elle were just staring intently at Charles. They were both giving him a warning look. As if he understood, he had no choice but to accept it. He sighed deeply before he accepted Erick's hand.

"Okay, I forgive you. Let's forget it." Charles said forcefully.

Erick frown when he noticed the bruise on Charles's face.

"Did I hit you that bad Mr. Del Rios?" Erick suddenly blurted out. Charles gave him a questioning look.

"The bruise in your face..." Erick pointed the red mark on Charles' face.

Elle and Phantom had the urge to laugh, fortunately, they were able to control themselves. That bruise was caused by April.

"Ahem, someone did this to my son. He often finds enemies because of his mouth. No wonder, you hit him before. Please forgive my son for the way he speaks. Sometimes he is really weird and just spouting nonsense." Phantom said to Erick with a sense of humor.

Erick just went along and smiled awkwardly. Charles decided to keep quiet. Elle didn't want this to drag for too long so she grabbed Erick's hand and she bade Charles and Phantom a goodbye.

"Boss Charles, Sir Tom I think we should go now. Thank you for today. See you tomorrow!" Elle didn't wait for their response as she pulled Erick towards the exit door. Erick was just smiling as he followed her while staring at their entangled hands.

____________________________________________

At the hospital...

April just finished talking with the doctor. The doctor assured her that Bryan was in good condition. The tranquilizer didn't have a bad effect on his body. He advised her to wait until the patient woke up.

Bryan finally opened his eyes. He felt disoriented at first but seconds later he remembered what happened. Charles's friend shot him. He immediately sat up and surveyed his body for any wound.

He felt relieved when he saw nothing. However, he felt a stingy sensation on the part of his neck. He gently massaged it. April came back to see Bryan's finally awake. April quickly walked towards him.

"How are you?" April asked him.

Bryan looked up to see the worried expression of April.

"I am just fine. How about you? Are you hurt anywhere? Did the robbers hurt you when I was unconscious?" Bryan bombarded her with questions. His face was painted with concern and worry.

April was a loss for words. He was the one hurt but he was still concerned about her.

"What are you doing there?" Instead of answering his questions, she asked him instead.

Bryan paused for a moment before he answered.

'Lie Bryan lie! You can do this buddy. There is no turning back now.' Bryan told himself.

"April I want to talk to you. That's why I was there. I couldn't take it. You were avoiding me for a long time now." Bryan said to her. Even though it was planned but what he said was the truth. He wanted April to stop avoiding him.

"Are you fool? Why did you have to use yourself to shield me from the bullet? You are lucky enough that the robbers just used a tranquilizer gun!" April started lecturing him.

'Now I get it. It was just a tranquilizer gun, no wonder I did not have any wound.'

"I just wanted to protect you!" Bryan replied.

April hit him in the head. "You are really dumb! No need to shield me. You should have shot the attacker, you have your gun with you!" 

'Yeah, I should have done that also. But that is not our plan.'

"But when I saw that robber pointed a gun at you, my body just acted on impulse. I wanted to run to you and protect you away from that bullet." Bryan said as he reasoned out from her.

April just sighed deeply and looked at him helplessly. 'This guy is really something.'

"Alright. It was all done. Thank you for saving me." April thanked him sincerely.

"April are you still mad at me? I miss you April. I miss talking to you just like how we used to." Bryan said to her with a serious tone.

April didn't respond to him. She just kept silent.

"You are driving me crazy April. Please stop avoiding me, please! Please give me a chance. I want to prove to you how much I care about you." Bryan pleaded.

"April please talk to me! Have I not proven to you just a while ago how much I truly care about you? I am willing to sacrifice my self and my life just for you." Bryan continued to speak while feeling so desperate.

"If you will just continue avoiding me and treating me coldly then I wish that it was a real gun so that my heart can be saved from the pain that I am feeling right now."

"Taking a bullet is nothing compare to being avoided by someone I really care about." Bryan sounded sad and hurt.

"Hey don't say that! Your life is important!" April said as she didn't like what Bryan just said.

April could feel his sincerity. She knew how it felt to like someone who did not feel the same. She somewhat saw herself to Bryan.

She also realized how Bryan's protected her. She was grateful to him.

After thinking about it, April came out into a decision. She sighed deeply before she spoke up.

"Alright, I want to apologize if I made you felt like that. I just felt uncomfortable after what happened between us. I promise I will not avoid you."

April paused before she continued and said: "I want to give you a chance."

Bryan's dull eyes suddenly brightened up when he heard her. "What... did you just say April?"

Bryan wanted to confirm if he heard it right. He was staring at her intently, anticipating her response.

April couldn't look straight in his eyes but she just said it again "I said I want to give you a chance."

Because of extreme joy and excitement, Bryan could not stop himself from hugging April.

"Thank you, April! Thank you! I will make sure that you will never regret it!" Bryan assured April who was shocked by his sudden action.