The idiot was still asleep when we got back.
"Nathan seems to be doing fine, according to his doctor," Louie told us, "I'm more worried about his hormones. I doubt he could last long, now that they're apart due to some fight."
"Actually, Reubert's going back to the States."
Louie stared at me with a frown. "What? When is he leaving? How long does he plan to stay there?"
"At least a month. Maybe more."
"Ha?!" He from where he was seated and paced across the room. "He's gonna leave Nathan just like that?! Didn't Winston only last a month before he..." Louie trailed off.
That's right.
Winston Heuer only lasted a month. He was Kuya Jonas' true fated pair who took his own life a month after he and my brother separated from each other.
"You don't need to worry, Nathan's different from that guy. You're son's a strong dominant alpha. I believe he can get over the withdrawal symptoms with some help from us. Or he could at least, last longer."
"But... just why did that bastard have to leave?" Louie asked, throwing his frustrations at his son's mate. "And why didn't he inform us about this earlier?! Didn't Nathan mean anything to him at all?"
"He seems to have his reasons... maybe he could explain himself some day, but for now, Nathan would have to wait for his return."
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Now he directs his anger at me. "Why are you even taking that bastard's side? And why does it feel like you're hiding something from me?"
"Look, we're both extremely pissed about this, Louie. Believe me, I would love to wring his neck right now, but fixing this moron in front of us comes first."
"If I may suggest..."
The both of us look back at Aahmes, silently jotting down notes from a corner of the room.
"I may have a way to severe his connection to his fated pair."
"Severe his connection? And just how do you plan to do that?" Louie asked.
"Dr. Abdel has an experimental theory on how to separate marked pairs," I explained. "It's a surgical operation that would disable connections in the hippocampus and reset the imprinting process, but he hasn't actually tried it on humans yet."
"Then... it's never been proven to work?" Louie asked.
"It has worked on lower primates, but I have not found a human volunteer, yet," replied Aahmes. "It is still experimental, after all, but surgery is not necessary to – "
"Aahmes, you would NEED surgery if you want to do it the PROPER way," I glared at him with eyes wide open. "You wouldn't want to get into trouble, now, would you?" I added.
Aahmes looked back at me with his usual deadpan stare. He should know that he can't just use his dominant omega pheromones. Not even if it's for my nephew.
"Ughn..."
The three of us glance at our patient who probably woke up from the loud discussion.
"Nathan?"
The idiot finally opens his eyes.
"Nathan!" Louie practically jumped at his son. He held him in a tight embrace, his voice trembling. "How are you feeling?"
"What is it now...?" Nathan tried to push him away. "Where am I...?"
"You're in a hospital for dehydration and low blood pressure," answered Aahmes.
"Why didn't you eat anything?" Louie asked. "Don't you have an appetite?"
Nathan looked around the room, glared at me, and had the gall to tattle to his dad.
"Tito Eric locked me up in a room!" he wailed as he pointed at me.
"Yes, I know, I told him to look after you for a while," replied his dad.
"Take care of me? Do you think I'm still a kid?!"
"With the way you're bitchin', a kid would've acted wiser!" I snapped at him.
"Eric." Louie glared at me. Seems like he's planning to spoil the kid rotten again.
"Nathan, you should have asked us for help if you're having problems, you know you could always talk to us. You won't be able to solve anything by running away."
"Who said anything about a problem?" his son said with a snub and a pout. "I was doing just fine, until Tito Eric decided to interfere in my life!"
I was about to shout at the ingrate, when Louie suddenly started laughing.
"Nathan, did you know that your Papa Jonas used to snub me and pout like that whenever we have an argument?" he said, rubbing his eye. "When he agreed not to see Winston Heuer, he started to have mood swings and would start fights with me for the most trivial things."
Nathan actually fell quiet. Even I was surprised to hear him share something about Kuya Jonas.
"I was actually the one who forced Jonas to stop seeing that man," he continued his story. "He agreed since he loves our family so much, and since he knew how jealous it made me, but his personality changed right after William left the country. He lost a lot of weight due to appetite loss, became very irritable, got lethargic during the day, and was very hard to satisfy at night."
"Ugh, Dad, too much info!" Nathan grimaced.
I, on the other hand, was surprised to see my idiot bro-in-law laughing happily while reminiscing about my big brother.
"You really got us worried, Son," he went on as he stroke Nathan's hair, "but, you shouldn't go to such extremes just to look for a replacement for your partner."
"These are signs of pair withdrawal syndrome, after all," Aahmes piped in.
"Are you still spouting about that crap?!" Nathan said in irritation.
"Aahmes, can you please step out for a bit?" Louie patiently asked him.
My Habibi looked at me and left after I nodded at him.
"I'll talk to him later," I told the father-son duo.
"Don't worry, I know you'll get through this," Louie rubbed his son's back, "even your Papa Jonas was able to forget that person, what more for a dominant alpha like you? Just remember that we're always here beside you. You can always could on us to have your back."
Nathan stayed silent. He kept his head hung low, until I noticed a tear drop from his chin.
"Dad..." he whispered, "Can you tell me more stories about Papa Jonas? Like how he was able to get through... all that..."
"Of course, Son, I'll tell you everything. And sorry, for not telling you sooner. I know I owe you and your sisters that."
He looked at me with this apologetic look in his eyes, and all I could do was nod at him.
"We can fix everything as a family. Just remember that you are not alone. You were never alone." My body stiffened as Louie took my hand and pulled me into a tight hug.
"We will always be here for you, your uncle Eric and I, as well as your sisters Blessing and Mercy, and even Joshua and your uncles Lin and Rence."
I was later hugging them back while Nathan's body shook with his sobs.
"I... I'm s-sorry... Dad..." he whimpered.
We left the hospital the same day. Aahmes wasn't able to get his pregnancy test. Nathan was in no condition for any additional shock, after all. We followed Louie's car to their house and found the rest of the family waiting eagerly for us.
There was another group hug, a lot of crying, some nagging, and heart felt apologies from both sides. Aahmes and I sat in a corner as the rest of the family drama unfolded, until everyone was finally done crying.
"Now, Nathan, you would need to take some new medication to stabilize your mood," I informed him as Aahmes placed several bottles in front of him.
"These will keep you from looking for a `substitute' mate while your partner is gone," instructed Habibi. "I will be giving you supplements aside from the suppressants."
"Woah, four bottles?!" asked Josh, his eyes round as saucers. "Would Louie and I need to drink that much in case we need to be separated?!"
"And why would we need to be separated?" Louie asked his mate with a frown.
"It's just a 'what if'."
"Don't worry, these are made specifically for Nathan, due to his fragile condition," Aahmes explained. Good thing nobody asked just what that 'fragile condition' is.
"Those meds are made from all natural ingredients, particularly that new suppressant I formulated, they are all safe for you to use," I added. "I needed to pump up the dosage a bit for your fated pair withdrawal symptoms, though, so you might feel a bit groggy or lethargic, but rest assured that these side effects are normal and won't cause any permanent damage."
"You sure it's just a bit?" asked Nathan who stifled a yawn.
"Well, that would be much better than getting foolish ideas in your head," I said with a grunt.
"Why don't we all have an early dinner so you can go to to bed early?" suggested Blessing.
We had dinner as a family, after that, his father and I sent Nathan to his room to rest.
"Nathan, Reubert has already left," his father informed him as he lay in bed. "His flight was scheduled this afternoon at three."
"Good riddance," Nathan mumbled.
"And I guess you would know what this is?" I handed him the newspaper clipping Reubert slipped in my pocket. "He gave me that when we last met."
Nathan's eyes widened when he read the article.
"Just what did the two of you fight about?" I asked. "Did it have anything to do with the news in that article?"
"Reubert..." he mumbled, "He had a fight with one of my professors... I told him not to bother when the professor kept asking me to meet outside campus. We had a fight about it and he stayed out all night and then..." he paused, his brows knitting. "He wouldn't tell me where he went or what he did."
"Then, this article..." his dad took the newspaper clipping.
"It doesn't matter anymore." He shrugged. "It's all over anyway. I just want to forget everything about him."
"Are you sure you're okay, though?" asked Louie. "This is a possible homicide!"
"Opo, Dad. I'm okay now," Nathan replied with a weak smile. "If Papa Jonas was able to leave his fated pair, then so can I!"
He grinned at us, showing us that there was nothing more to worry about. And it was all we needed to believe in back then.