Chapter 2:
The final hours of the 29th of September go by in a blur. Dr. Fredrick goes on and on about how sudden and inexplicable Christopher’s recovery is before leaving, and the red haired nurse pops her head in to complain about not being able to contact Christopher’s mother. Okimoto eventually grows tired and goes back home with eyes reddened by joyful tears.
Christopher sits on the edge of his bed with the Diary open on his lap. as the reality of his situation finally sinks in the corners of his lips curl up into a smile, and in his mind he wonders if fate maybe isn’t so cruel after all.
Looking down he can’t help but be entranced by the mystery of the book in his lap. Aside from the first page the other pages are all blank, and perhaps even stranger than that they are all white as opposed to black. Christopher doesn’t know what to make of it so he places it back in the drawer and lays down. He thinks that whoever the owner of the mysterious book is will surely return to claim it in the following days.
He sees another one of his old music videos playing on the television screen above him again. Despite knowing that he will survive, Christopher still hates the boy. This boy doesn’t just represent a future that was promised to him, but one from which he can no longer escape. Christopher knows that it’s only a matter of time before the staff contact his mother, and thus only a matter of time before he’s made to dance for the hyenas again.
His eyes widen suddenly as a terrifying possibility goes through his head. He eyes the drawer and wonders if the identity of the person that the diary belongs to is that of an obsessive fan. It wasn’t unlikely as he had dealt with such people before. Even though his illness was never publicly disclosed and the press were simply told that he was on a hiatus, it shouldn’t be impossible for particularly persistent fans or paparazzi to find him. He wonders if it’s really possible for the writing on the first page to just be the deranged rambling of a stalker. He figures that it’s probably the most rational explanation even if it would make his recovery one hell of a coincidence.
His pupils constrict when he realises that If this hypothetical person managed to sneak into his hospital room undetected once then they’ll definitely be able to do it again. Christopher closes his eyes and thinks about the new chance at life he’s been given to calm his unease.
The night passes without any nightmares this time and Christopher finds himself waking up feeling even more energetic than the previous day.
He stands up immediately and observes that his ribs are almost invisible now. His muscles are no longer weak and are now bursting with energy, though he’s still not quite back to one hundred percent.
He swiftly slides over the bed to the other side where he retrieves the diary from the drawer. It’s probably for the best that he hands it in to lost property.
Christopher exits the hospital room and feels the cold tiles of the hospital floor on his bare feet for the first time in months. He glances into each passing room briefly, gazing at the other terminally ill patients that weren’t as lucky as him. Fate can be a cruel thing, but fortunately for Christopher he was no longer an example.
It’s strange how euphoric just walking could be when you only just regained your mobility. He thinks back to his mother’s words about everyone deserving their place in the world. Was all of this god’s plan? If so then what about the rest of the children in the hospital that would never grow to reach adulthood? What was god’s plan for them. Christopher wonders what his mother would say if she was by his side. Would she also tell them that this was their destined place?
Christopher comes across the red haired nurse pushing a young child in a wheelchair towards him. Upon seeing him her mouth opens as if surprised before she says. “Christopher! You shouldn’t push yourself too much, you’ve only just started the recovery process. If you need to go somewhere then you can call for one of the nurses to escort you.”
Christopher thinks to himself for a moment before smiling and asking. “What’s your name again?”
“You seriously forgot my name?” The nurse pouted in an exaggerated manner before chuckling and answering. “It’s Nurse Joyce.”
“That’s right!” Christopher laughed.
The child that she was pushing observes Christopher and says. “You’re… famous. I know you! My sister was obsessed with you a year ago.”
Christopher directs the attention towards the child in the wheelchair. The young ginger boy was at most seven or eight and was not someone Christopher recognised.
“A year ago?” Christopher scoffs in self deprecation. “I’ve been forgotten that fast huh.”
“Cheer up.” Nurse Joyce says. “I’m sure you’ll take the world by storm again once we feel you’re ready to be discharged.”
“If only my sister were here to see this.” The boy says in awe.
Nurse Joyce leans forward, her eyes peering down at the ginger kid as she made a serious face. “You can’t tell anyone that isn’t either a patient or a staff member about Christopher being here.”
“I won’t!” The boy insists as he nods aggressively before asking. “Is it alright if I ask him questions?”
“Sure.” Christopher answers before Nurse Joyce had a chance to answer for him. He squats down over the tiled floor to meet the young boy at eye level and asks. “What is it that you want to ask.”
“You shouldn’t reveal too much about yourself.” Nurse Joyce says in a somewhat nervous tone. “Your mother was quite serious about not wanting any information about your circumstances to be leaked.”
“I’m sure this guy umm…” Christopher pauses and motions towards the boy.
“Oh!” The boy suddenly jolts and says. “My name is George.”
“I’m sure George here can keep a secret.” Christopher says with a chuckle. “He doesn’t look like a snitch to me.”
George shakes his head aggressively, his ginger curls dancing around like a loose bundle of roses. He says sternly. “I’m definitely not a snitch. I just want to know if the Disney channel is really run by a bunch of child predators? did you get molested? If so then are you still sore from it?”
“GEORGE!” Nurse Joyce yells.
Christopher is at a loss for words as he watches the little boy almost fall from his tiny wheelchair in the midst of laughing his ass off, clearly finding himself to be the most slick of comedians. This type of disrespect wasn’t something Christopher was unfamiliar with, most boys naturally hated him.
“Enough about that George!” Nurse Joyce grew visibly upset as she yells. “Do you know how awful it is for kids to go through that? If you don’t have anything constructive to say then we should continue on back to your room.”
“Chill out I’m just joking!” George yells defensively.
“Say sorry or else your parents will be hearing about all your little jokes.” Nurse Joyce threatens as she looms over him.
George crosses his arms and mutters. “I apologise.”
“Sorry about that Christopher, I don’t know what’s wrong with him.” Nurse Joyce says frowning.
Christopher who is still riding the high of his recovery, stands up and responds in a joking manner. “It’s fine. He apologised at least, so I won’t have to call the heads of Disney to come and pick him up in a van.”
George mutters something under his breath while flipping Christopher off. Nurse Joyce growls and he quickly lowers his head obediently.
Nurse Joyce’s eyes then lock on to the book Christopher was holding, She then asks. “You like to read books? What’s that one about?”
“This isn’t that kind of book.” Christopher says as he holds up the diary to show her. “And before you ask, No it’s not mine.”
“I see so it’s Okimoto’s right?” Nurse Joyce enquires curiously. “It seems like something an emo kid like that would have.”
“No.” Christopher shook his head. “I just randomly found this in the drawer beside my bed. What’s weird is that whoever wrote in this was able to predict my recovery.”
“What do you mean?” Nurse Joyce asks, both her and George leaning in with equal curiosity.
Christopher opens up the diary to show them the writing from yesterday. He accidentally opens it up awkwardly and has to flip back to the front page. As he does this, he comes to the second page and notices something that sends an overpowering chill down his spine. There was now writing on the second page, and the second page had also mysteriously turned black.
“What the hell?” Christopher mutters as he takes a step back.
“What’s wrong?” Nurse Joyce asks, her twenty something year old voice cracking as her amateurish professionalism gives way to youthful curiosity.
George starts to sway slightly, his face turning a sickly colour suddenly.
“Hold on…” Christopher says as he reads the page to see what was written.
The paragraph was formatted in a similar way to the one on the first page, it read. “Wednesday the 30th of September, 09:32: Nurse Veronica will slip over George Jefferson’s regurgitated breakfast as she races to the bathroom. This event will be witnessed by Christopher Marcus and Nurse Joyce.”
“I don’t feel too well…” George says as he starts to double over in his wheelchair.
Nurse Joyce instantly reassumes her adult demeanour and is about retrieve something from behind the wheelchair but is too late. George projectile vomits straight towards Christopher who tries and partially fails to dodge in time.
A small amount ends up getting on Christopher’s barefoot as he face plants into the hospital wall. The shock of that is quickly washed away however as Christopher’s mind immediately snaps back to the diary.
As Nurse Joyce frantically tends to George, Christopher’s eyes scan the surrounding turquoise walls. He searches intensely for a clock amidst the pinned hospital posters and cartoon drawings. He finds a clock right behind him and the time is thirty one minutes past nine. His mind goes blank. It’s happening again! Christopher’s eyes dart around again, this time looking for Nurse Veronica, who if he wasn’t mistaken was the tall Mediterranean woman.
He stumbles up to his feet in a flash, his eyes darting between the clock behind him and both directions of the corridor.
He sees the clock strike thirty two minutes past nine in the morning in the corner of his eyes as the tall Mediterranean woman b-lines around a nearby corner towards them in a hurry.
“Watch out!” Nurse Joyce yells a second too late.
Nurse Veronica’s two feet are propelled in opposite directions of each other by the khaki coloured substance on the floor that was too thick to be liquid but too thin to be mush. She is pulled into an awkward split as her momentum carries her legs forward while her head goes backwards. She sprawls and slides towards a stunned Joyce and sickly George stopping just before the two.
“¡Dame un maldito respiro!” Nurse Veronica mutters with a scowl on her face.
Christopher who was off to the side had already completely checked out from the scene mentally. His mind is like a book flipping through its pages at one hundred miles an hour, each page a new question, each answer leading to more questions. Just what the hell happened just now? Was this Diary really supernatural? Were the words written on the cover really true? Was everything written down in it really fated to happen in real life? Who wrote on the second page and when? Did they sneak into his hospital room as he slept? Is he going insane and is this all an illusion?
Christopher snaps himself back to reality with a slap and looks at the book again.
Nurse Veronica gets up as quickly as she went down and continues on her way towards the bathroom frantically, not wanting to ruin her already ruined nurse uniform.
Christopher leaves Nurse Joyce and George and quickly returns to his hospital room where he cleans his foot with a towel.
He reaches under his pillow and retrieves his phone. Not knowing what else to do he dials Okimoto’s number hoping his best friend would be of help in this situation.
Okimoto who is riding a bicycle down a steep Los Angeles street towards the hospital picks up immediately and is about to say something before Christopher cuts him off.
“There’s something seriously weird about this Diary.” Christopher explains urgently. “This might sound crazy but I think it’s magic.”
“I’m not gonna lie.” Okimoto replies with a smile as his dyed hair flutters in the racing downhill wind, the hot September sun tanning some life into his pale skin. “That does sound pretty crazy. I will be there in less than ten minutes.”
“Hurry up beca-“ Christopher’s words come to an abrupt end as he witnesses something truly extraordinary.
The diary is currently on the bed open on the second and third pages. Before Christopher’s very eyes, tiny letters appear on the third page one after another. It was as if an invisible person was writing something down.
Christopher hangs up instantly and starts recording this with his phone. New words continue to emerge, spelling out another one of those strange paragraphs.
“September the 30th, 10:47: Dr. Fredrick will propose to Nurse Veronica in the main reception.” Christopher reads the words as they appear and wonders how this is even possible.
Once the paragraph is complete the writing gradually lightens in colour while the page itself darkens. Christopher’s mouth falls agape as he records the page’s transformation. In mere seconds it looks exactly like first two pages with black paper and white ink.
Christopher immediately sends the video to Okimoto via text message and thinks to himself. This means that there was likely nobody sneaking in to his room to write in the diary while he was asleep. Perhaps the book has a mind of its own? And what the hell was that paragraph all about? We’re Dr. Fredrick and Nurse Veronica really an item?
Christopher checks his phone and sees that the time is thirty seven minutes past nine, the event described in the diary would occur in just over an hour. He figures that he should get ready and wait for Okimoto to arrive before staking out the main reception to see if Dr. Fredrick will really propose. Christopher wasn’t a romantic at all but he needed to see this happen in order to see if everything written down in the diary was really fated to occur.
No longer needing a nurse to help him with his hygiene, Christopher retrieves his toothbrush and a fresh towel from a bag under his bed and makes his way towards the door. On his way out he sees that Nurse Joyce and George are gone, a frustrated janitor now lampooning in their place over George’s mess.
By the time Christopher returns from the shower he finds Okimoto waiting for him, dawning an all black outfit this time.
“You’ve sent me one hell of a video.” Okimoto says. He half sits on the bed tapping his black painted nails against the leather cover of the diary that now rests in his lap. His eyes meet with Christopher’s as he says. “I didn’t know you could CapCut edit this well.”
“Don’t pretend to be the rational one when you’re the one that said miracles can happen in life sometimes.” Christopher says before sighing.
“You look much better today!.” Okimoto comments as he looks Christopher up and down. “You’re not as skinny as you were a few days ago…”
“It’s odd isn’t it.” Christopher says. “It has to be connected to the diary somehow, even a common cold isn’t something I can recover from so quickly.”
Okimoto flips the diary open and reads the second and third pages. He chuckles and says. “Damn! Some George kid barfed all over the floor! So that was what I saw that one janitor was whining about on my way into the room.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Just imagine reading that and then watching it play out in person.” Christopher chuckles.
“So then Dr. Fredrick will propose to Nurse Veronica later right?” Okimoto asks.
Christopher shrugs. “Maybe.”
The human mind was a total mess. When faced with reality defying situations the mind had a habit of making up rational explanations. Even now Christopher was still trying to rationalise what he had seen this morning, but the more he thought about it the less of a clue he had. He had literally just watched words materialise into the diary with his own two eyes.
“Lend me your hooded sweater.” Christopher commands seeing the black oversized hooded sweater Okimoto was wearing. “It’s for the best that I wear it to hide my face and hospital gown.”
Okimoto nods and quickly takes the sweater off before handing it to Christopher.
After throwing the sweater on over his hospital gown, Christopher notices Okimoto staring at him with a dumb giddy smile and asks with mild irritation in his voice. “What’s so damn funny?”
“Huh!” Okimoto gasps and replies in a bitchy tone. “My best friend has been cured of his cancer and I can’t smile? Would you rather I be stone faced and emotionless?”
Christopher restrains the urge to neg his friend further as he puts his tooth brush and towel back under his bed.
“Let’s head down to the main cafeteria so I can get my breakfast.” Christopher suggests. “Once I’ve eaten we can head around the corner to wait in the main reception to see if the events described in the diary will happen again.”
Okimoto nods and the two boys go on their way. It isn’t long before Christopher finds himself looming over a hospital meal consisting of some white rice and roasted chicken.
Okimoto sat opposite him playing on the Switch.
Being a celebrity and all, one would expect Christopher Marcus to be above simple hospital food, but that was far from the case. His mother had kept him on an extremely rigid diet to ensure that he always remained slender pretty and marketable to tween girls. He was never allowed candy unless he was supposed be eating it while playing a character, and he had never eaten a hamburger once in his life. His daily meals, if they could be called that, consisted of vegetables and lean meats that were never seasoned, the absolute bare nutrients the human body needed. The hospital’s roasted chicken was the first time he had ever tasted seasoned meat. It was a strange experience for him growing up, the life of a “normal” celebrity was far from the life he had lived.
As he now sits in the cafeteria Christopher sighs, realising that this was the first time in months that he’s actually gotten out of bed to get his own breakfast.
His eyes sweep across the lightly crowded cafe style cafeteria and he spots Dr. Fredrick discussing something amongst a group of doctors of various ages. They all stand silhouetted by a large window behind them, too far away for their collective rambling to intelligible. Still, Christopher could make a guess based on Dr. Fredrick’s uncharacteristically wide grin that seemed to light up the room.
“He must be planning things out with his buddies.” Okimoto says. “What style do you think suits Dr. Fredrick more? A subtle proposal or a grand gesture?”
“To be honest I expected him to be either already married or disinterested in romance.” Christopher replies. “He reminds me of Doctor House who’s not someone I can ever imagine being a star struck lover.”
Okimoto looks over at Dr. Fredrick while rubbing his chin as he responds. “You’re right, and how old is he again? Isn’t like in his fifties? What’s the point in getting married at that age?”
“If I’m not mistaken Nurse Veronica is in her forties.” Christopher sighs. “This really does seem like a pointless marriage. Like, can either of them still have kids?”
“It isn’t just about children...” Okimoto says before yawning and stretching and then repeating. “It’s not just about children, there’s also economic advantages to getting married, and Dr. Fredrick already has at least one child.”
“How do you know that?” Christopher asks raising an eyebrow.
“I overheard him talking to his daughter on the phone.” As Okimoto speaks he leans over the table to whisper with a mischievous smile on his face. “Her name is Caroline apparently.”
“It’s just a coincidence.” Christopher responds with a cruel chuckle, as he shoos Okimoto back to his side of the table with a hand wave. “Caroline is a very common name, I think…”
“What business do you two have with my daughter!” A stern male voice thunders as it’s accompanied by rapidly approaching footsteps.
Dr. Fredrick who is now walking towards them had thoroughly hushed their conversation and claimed their attention. His footsteps come to a stop when he casts a long shadow over the round table shared by the two boys.
For a second the two boys stare at the doctor unsure on what to say.
“Quite the gossipy bunch aren’t you two.” Dr. Fredrick says, adjusting his tinted glasses as his voice shakes the room. “You shouldn’t mess with a father’s intuition.”
Christopher couldn’t help but feel somewhat nervous. “Umm… well you see-“
“Caroline was a girl I dated back in the eighth grade.” Okimoto says, carefully plotting his next words. “I… may have dumped her and if… THAT specific Caroline coincidentally happened to be your daughter I’m… sorry about that, I tru-“
“Relax.” Dr. Fredrick says, his tone suddenly lightening up. “I’m just messing with you kids, my youngest daughter Caroline is only one year old and lives with her mother in New York.”
Both boys let out a relieved sigh after they witness the potentially balding doctor’s change in demeanour.
“You seemed to be in quite a good mood over there.” Okimodo says. “I wonder why…”
“I suppose you could say that.” Dr. Fredrick chuckles, his face dawning a gleeful expression that didn’t suit his image at all.
Christopher winks at him and asks. “You’re going to propose to nurse Veronica today right?”
“What?” Dr. Fredrick gives Christopher a dumbfounded look, obviously not expecting the boy to ask such a question. “How did you know? I only told a few of my colleagues about the relationship, why the hell are they discussing my business with patients and members of the public behind my back?”
Christopher quickly thinks up an excuse when he notices the doctor’s irritation. “Umm, I just guessed it from your body language when you were talking with those other doctors over there. You shouldn’t gush so openly, it kinda makes it hard for us to take you seriously.”
Dr. Fredrick scoffs. “You’re exaggerating. And I’m pretty sure I didn’t mention my plans of proposing next week out loud. It must have been either that bitch Dr. Kinsey or that snake Dr. Chen that tipped you off earlier.”
“What?” Christopher immediately asks confused. “So you’re not going to propose to her today?”
“No.” Dr. Fredrick sighs. “Or at least I wasn’t. Since the secret has gotten out now I might as well propose to her as soon as possible before she finds out and the surprise is ruined.”
With that being said, Dr. Fredrick quickly moves on from their table leaving the two boys alone.
Christopher’s mind is racing as he wonders what the hell just happened. Did this mean that their conversation just now is what leads to Dr. Fredrick proposing to Nurse Veronica? Christopher immediately rereads the paragraph written in the diary and ponders.
“What the hell…” Okimoto sighs kicking Christopher’s shin. “You shouldn’t have said anything. Now it’s basically impossible to see how the diary would’ve made him propose.”
“It’s called a fate diary right?”Christopher asks rhetorically as he holds up the diary while pointing at the cover. “If I didn’t convince him to go through with it today, then some other force would’ve compelled him, or at least that’s how I think it works.”
“I still don’t really get it…” Okimoto sighs.
A crazy idea suddenly goes through Christopher’s head. He leans in towards Okimoto and suggests. “Let’s try to stop him. If everything written down in the diary is fated to happen then it should in theory be impossible for us to stop him.”
Okimoto’s eyes light up. “Oh! Now you’re speaking my language… like a challenge right?”
“Yes.” Christopher nods.
Okimoto springs up like a giddy little girl and tucks his Switch back into his backpack. “This is why you’re the best Christopher, you always come up with the most interesting ways to keep me entertained.”
“At least let me finish my food!” Christopher sneers. “I didn’t eat at all yesterday. Plus we’re supposed to wait until a few minutes before ten forty seven.”
“Eat my ass!” Okimoto sneers back vulgarly while tugging Christopher away from his meal dragging him on his chair. “I’m not waiting that long, he’s had a good head start already.”
Fortunately the cafeteria is sufficiently crowded so Okimoto doesn’t cause a scene amongst the other chattering people.
The cafeteria was located off to the side from the main reception, so the two only had to turn a corner to enter it.
The main reception is a massive modern space. Beige tiles line the wide floor all the way from the hospital’s entrance to the right, and to the elevators heading up to the higher floors to the left. Directly ahead of the two boys is the main corridor that leads to the various wards, including the one where Christopher’s hospital room was. Natural lighting seeps in through two massive windows flanking the entrance from the main road.
Countless people crisscross infront of them making it difficult for them to see where Dr. Fredrick went. Fortunately Okimoto was quite tall for his age, so he was able to see above the crowd with little effort. Christopher was just as tall but chose to keep his hood up to avoid potentially being noticed, so he has no choice but to follow Okimoto’s lead.
“I see him.” Okimoto says. “He’s over by the elevators… why the hell is the hospital so damn crowded today?”
“He must be going up to the staff lounge to get his engagement ring.” Christopher replies as he dodges the passing crowd.
The two pick up their pace only to see Dr. Fredrick enter into an elevator with the crowd poring in behind him.
By the time they reach the doctor the elevator is already crammed full with unusually tall and fat people, making it impossible for them to talk to or even see Dr. Fredrick anymore.
“Head into the second elevator.” Christopher instructs. “In case you fail to reach him before he comes back down to prepose, I’ll wait here for him.”
Okimoto nods and let’s go of Christopher’s arm. His silhouette merges into the crowd as he disappears, leaving Christopher alone in the crowded main reception.
Christopher makes his way over to the reception desk that was located in between the corridor leading to his hospital ward and the main entrance.
Several of the staff members notice the hospital gown hanging out from under the sweater and immediately harass him with questions.
Okimoto squeezes past the crowd despite occasional verbal protest from among them. He manages to enter with them into the second elevator. As he looks at the various buttons he suddenly face palms, realising that he doesn’t know what floor the staff lounge is on. He’s then squashed in by the crowd as the elevator door closes.
*The maximum weight has been exceeded, please contact emergency services*
An alarm roars inside the crowded elevator causing everyone inside to become eerily quiet.
Okimoto who was pressed up against the buttons immediately slams the one to open the door. His heart sinks when nothing happens.
*The maximum weight has been exceeded, please contact emergency services*
The alarm repeats itself.
“You’ve got to be kidding me…” Okimoto immediately frowns as the unfortunate reality of his situation sinks in.
Christopher who had managed to get away from the nosey staff is now back in the Cafeteria. He spots Nurse Veronica after she emerges from the main corridor now wearing a clean uniform.
He observes her speak with the receptionists for a while as he thinks to himself. There wasn’t any point in interacting with her since it wouldn’t do much to stop Dr. Fredrick from proposing, but it was still worthwhile to keep an eye on her. If Okimoto is unable to stop Dr. Fredrick, then that’s fine because he’d still have to approach Nurse Veronica in the main reception to propose. All Christopher would have to do is intercept and persuade him to not do it anymore.
He continues to watch Nurse Veronica for a good ten minutes while keeping an eye on the time. Before he knows it the clock strikes forty two minutes past ten and Christopher looks around for any sign of Okimoto or Dr. Fredrick who should propose in five minutes.
He eventually spots Dr. Fredrick emerging from the elevator and immediately storms towards him. As Christopher brushes through the crowd it seems to thicken unnaturally as the hospital becomes abnormally busy. It gets so bad that Christopher can no longer even see where he’s going and is forced to retreat to the nearest wall.
“What the hell was that all about?” Christopher says to himself before turning to look back across the main reception.
He sees a small pathway clear up through the passing people leading to the main reception desk where Dr. Fredrick now stands talking to Nurse Veronica. The time is now forty four minutes past ten and Christopher immediately muscles his way through the opening in the crowd.
“You touched my ass!” A woman suddenly screams at a bald man walking behind her, her eyes burning with intense anger as she yanks at the coat of her boyfriend who was walking alongside her.
“It was an honest mistake okay!” The man says. “Someone pushed me from behind and I bumped into you.”
“Bullshit!” The woman snaps back.
Beside her, her tall boyfriend cracks his neck and says. “Don’t fucking touch my girlfriend.”
His fist arcs through the air and strikes the smaller man who stumbles back.
Christopher suddenly sees a bald headed man fall backwards onto the ground right infront of him. Before he can even react, a larger man descends upon the smaller man like a raging bull followed by a woman who films the beatdown on her phone with a gleeful smile. Seeing the woman recording, Christopher quickly backs up to avoid being filmed. He sees that the pathway has now closed up again as the crowd gathers around the fight. Christopher retreats back to the wall and circles around back to the cafeteria. From there he spots another path clearing up and he sees that Dr. Fredrick and Nurse Veronica are now distracted by the fight. Christopher checks the time on his phone again and it’s forty five minutes past ten. Surely the fight would stop Dr. Fredrick from proposing right?
“Enough!” A voice yells from within the crowd. “The situation is under control!”
The crowd spreads out and Christopher spots the bald man from the fight walking towards him. As he gets closer Christopher sees that he’s dragging the larger man behind him unconscious.
“What the…” Christopher was completely stunned, and for a moment he forgot all about the proposal.
“You bastard!” The now disheveled woman runs up behind the bald man yelling. “How dare you put your hands in my man!”
Christopher snaps his attention away from them and sees that Dr. Fredrick and Nurse Veronica are now talking to each other again. Several staff members also clear a way through the crowd as they come to take control of the situation developing in the cafeteria.
Christopher quickly moves forward, brushing past the staff members and making his way to stop the proposal. As he gets closer to the two, he suddenly feels a thunderous cramp in his stomach that’s so intense it shakes him down to one knee.
“A wah di bombo…” Christopher mutters as the pain forces out his Jamaican tongue. Cold sweat races down his forehead and immediately forms a puddle on the floor. He checks his phone again and curses. “Shit! Forty six minutes past ten…”
He raises his head and sees that Dr. Fredrick and Nurse Veronica are now laughing together, with Veronica in particular appearing to be enthralled with the man’s charm. Christopher grits his teeth as he gets off the ground to confront the two of them. Before he can even take a step forward he feels a hand pull him back.
“What the fuck?” Christopher swings his head around to see Nurse Joyce who had appeared out of absolutely fucking nowhere.
“Are you okay?” She asks with an extremely concerned expression. “You collapsed to the ground a few seconds ago.”
“It’s just a cramp!” Christopher says shrugging her off and turning back towards the main reception.
He looks down at his phone to see the time go to forty seven minutes past and raises his head just in time to see Dr. Fredrick get down on one knee.
“Oh my god!” Nurse Veronica holds her hand over her mouth in pleasant surprise.
Just infront of her, Christopher’s expression goes blank.
Okimoto slams on the open door button for what must have been the thousandth time. He scowls as the cock sucking door fails to open again.
“Give it up kid.” Some absolutely random guy says. “You’ve been doing that for god knows how long now and it still hasn’t worked.”
“Shut the fuck up.” Okimoto sneers back at the old fat geezer.
“Huh!” The old man growls. “You better watch that mouth of yours son! Pressing that button over and over has gotten you nowhere! Don’t you know what the definition of insanity is?”
Okimoto didn’t give a shit what the old man or any other hot bag of sweat had to say about it. The elevator was getting way too warm and claustrophobic and Okimoto needed to get the hell out now before he kills someone.
He slams the button again and this time everyone is met with a pleasant surprise.
The door opens and everyone pores out into the open air. Okimoto flips the old man off as he backs out of the elevator before turning around.
Almost immediately his eyes lock on to Dr. Fredrick and Nurse Veronica embracing one another passionately. He then checks his phone to see that the time is forty eight minutes past ten. He sighs, does this mean that he has failed?
He looks around for any sign of Christopher and spots him leaning against the wall with his arms folded next to the cafeteria. Okimoto quickly scurries over and asks while frowning. “What happened?”
“I don’t know.” Christopher sighs while looking at the diary. “This book sure is strange. I want to find out more about this thing, let’s head back to my room.”
Okimoto nods and the two make their way into the main corridor, now mysteriously no longer burdened by the passing crowd.
When they get back to Christopher’s room they close the door and begin to discuss the morning’s developments.
“This is all so odd.” Christopher chuckles. “First I’m miraculously cured of my cancer and now the lives of the hospital staff are being manipulated before our eyes.”
“I guess you were really right Christopher.” Okimodo laughs. “We have a magical book in our possession. Aren’t you happy that your life was saved by magic?”
“Of course I am.” Christopher smiles widely, the joy of continued life surging inside of him. He was back in the living, his foot well clear of any grave, his whole future ahead of him. Even though the freedom he now has will vanish the instant his mother finds out that he’s healthy again, Christopher resolves to enjoy the limited time he’d be spending in the hospital.
“Hey Okimoto?” Christopher looks at his friend and asks. “Let’s have fun with this little book we’ve got. If we can find out as much about it as possible then we might find away to use it’s abilities for our benefit.”
“Sounds awesome!” Okimoto says as he jumps onto Christopher’s bed and kicks his feet up on the small table next to it.
“Knock that off!” Christopher grabs Okimoto legs and spins him to the side before sitting on the bedside and taking out his phone.
He searches up “fate diary” on google but all the results are completely useless. He then searches up “magical book that controls fate”, but that also leads to lacklustre results.
“What are you doing?” Okimoto asks peering over his shoulder.
“I’m trying to find out about the diary.” Christopher answers. “Surely there must be some folklore about it somewhere on the internet.”
Okimoto shakes his head. “I doubt that the internet will be of any use since this book is actually the real deal.”
“Let me try searching Reddit at least.” Christopher says as he flips through subreddit after subreddit, still failing to find any information that is even remotely useful.
For the next hour Christopher and Okimoto both raid the internet for any information that could relate to the diary. It proved to be quite frustrating as all they came across were fiction novels, Television programmes and occult gibberish that was paywalled.
“I guess we’ll try again later.” Christopher sighs before closing his phone.
“Why don’t we just try writing in it?” Okimoto asks.
Christopher pinches his forehead in deep thought before answering. “Sure let’s give it a try. It’s the only thing we can do besides just waiting around for another paragraph to magically appear.”
Christopher places the diary on the small table beside the bed and Okimoto gets up before circling around while retrieving a pen from his backpack.
Christopher flips to the fourth page that was still blank and collects the pen from Okimoto.
“Let’s give this a shot.” Christopher says after taking a deep and long breath.
He puts pen to paper and is shocked when the ink from the pen does absolutely nothing to the paper, leaving only an impression of a letter.
To make sure the pen isn’t out of ink, Christopher writes on his own hand and is successful.
“What the hell?” Christopher mutters.
“Let me try.” Okimoto suggests as if it would make any difference at all.
When Okimoto writes and fails to achieve a different result the two look at each other in total bedevilment.
“So… what now?” Okimoto asks. “Do we seriously just wait for the next time words magically appear?”
“I guess…” Christopher sighs before leaning back and half laying on the bed.
“That sucks ass.” Okimoto frowns. “And if it happens to be something undesirable then we have no way of going against it. Isn’t that terrifying? What if the diary says that everyone in the hospital will die? There must be something we can do…”
Christopher shrugs before rolling onto the bed fully and turning to face the window. He yawns before saying. “I’m going to take a nap.”
Okimoto sits down on the side of the bed where Christopher sat previously and observes the diary for himself. Just as he was wandering when or if more words will appear, he notices letters appearing on the fourth page.
It was exactly as it appeared in the video Christopher sent him.
“Christopher…” Okimoto calls for his friend while shaking him to get up.
“Huh?” Christopher slides around to sit next to him before looking at the diary and ghasping. “What is it going to be this time?”
Once the paragraph is written out and the page is in the process of turning black, the two boys both lean in to read carefully. The page read. “31st of September, 14:56: a garbage truck will crash into the reception of the East Los Angeles medical centre.”
Christopher and Okimoto are both dead silent after reading. The silence persists for around a minute until Christopher finally speaks up. He looks at Okimoto with a self deprecating smile before saying. “I guess the main reception won’t be as crowded in the coming days.”