C5

Do you believe in fate? Believing that God has Written everything about your life, Then what if there is no coincidence in this world. Maybe everything that happens and everyone we see is predetermined and always has some meaning in our lives even if it's a brief encounter or just passing through on the street?

***

The dawn sun was shining again, the birds were singing sweetly, welcoming the dawn. The wind was swirling gently, whistling and shaking the leaves of the tree. Alex sat on his hospice bed staring out the window. It focused his eyes on the dawn sun as if he had been reborn upon seeing the soft orange rays of the dawn sun.

After several days of being treated in the hospice, today Alex will return to his home. His parents took him home, but they allowed Alex to enjoy his own while watching the sunrise. Mr and Mrs Maxwell just stared at Alex, who was so lost in thought while staring at the sunrise.

"Alex, it's time to go home." Said Mr Maxwell after checking his watch.

Hearing his father call him, Alex got out of bed and approached his parents who were standing at the door. Even though he was a little unhappy with his gloomy face, Alex still followed his parents like a very obedient child.

Alex stepped down the hospital corridor with his parents. He went while lowering his head as if the tile floor was so attractive to him. He only saw the feet of the passersby and the nurses running past him.

At first, Alex didn't pay much attention to his surroundings and just wanted to get out to return to his house. But the voice of crying sounded loud as he passed the radiotherapy room. The crying voice was so familiar to Alex that he felt curious, then Alex peeked through the window.

Alex was quite surprised when he saw Ruby, who he knew was very cheerful and very playful, lying on the bed with several tools attached to her body and Ruby also screamed very loudly as if she was in great pain.

Seeing a side of Ruby that was so different from what he knew made Alex feel something, something inside his body was starting to waver, but Alex himself didn't know how he felt. This was the first time he had felt this way. He who always doesn't care about other people now starts to be attracted to a strange girl who suddenly greets him when he wants to be alone.

"Alex, what are you doing there? Let's go. " Said, Mrs Maxwell.

"Um, I just …" said Alex with a confused face

"Come on, hurry up, we have to go back home now. Mom and Dad have to work. " Said, Mrs Maxwell.

Alex lowered his head and went straight to his father and mother. Alex glanced at the room and then walked away with his parents. He looked a little worried about Ruby who was still screaming in pain, but all of that immediately left Alex out of his mind. He sighed while reassuring himself that he didn't need to care about strangers whom he had only met once by chance at the hospital.

Alex firmly believes that his meeting with Ruby is just a brief encounter that will not affect anything in his life as much as the people he meets on the street. Alex is indeed the type of person who is not that interested in other people because he never thinks his meeting with other people are something important enough to remember, and that's how he considers Ruby. He just considered Ruby the same as other people, not so necessary for him to remember, think about, and not even so important to pay attention to her.

***

Once at home, Diana and Gina greeted him immediately, who gave him a welcome card back home. Gina immediately ran towards Alex and hugged her eldest brother so tightly that Alex smiled. The closeness of the brother and sister was very visible when they looked at each other and smiled happily.

"Welcome back to the house. Don't be sick anymore, I missed you when you weren't around. " Gina words we're like healing medicine at that point.

"Yes, I won't be sick again. I promise ... "said Alex while showing his little finger to tie the promise to his younger sister.

Alex and Gina tied the knot by linking their little fingers. They both smiled and at that time Alex forgot all the problems that had previously been weighing on his mind. Gina's brown-black eyes looked obvious and there was no shadow in them making Alex feel pleased when he saw those clear eyes looking at him with a smile.

Then Diana, who is usually freezing and never interested in other people, also approached Alex while giving a gift with a greeting card. Perhaps because she was not used to showing her soft side like this, Diana seemed hesitant and shy when she gave the gift to Alex.

"Is this a present for me? Thanks. Can I open the gift now? " said Alex with a big smile.

"Whatever, I gave it to you so it is yours. Whether you want to open it or not, it's up to you. " Said Diana with a cold attitude.

Alex smiled, and he was very touched to get a gift from Diana who rarely talked to him. All this time Alex thought that his relationship with Diana was very distant because they rarely talked and rarely spent time together. Diana always builds a wall between them and Alex doesn't know how to break down the wall.

But today Diana gave him a present, and it was so touched for him that Alex could not stop the tears that had filled his eyelids. A gift that made the wall between them collapse. Then Alex opened a greeting card that Diana wrote herself. The card contained a message that Diana could not tell directly.

"Brother, welcome back home and thank you for getting better soon. Several days my brother was not at home, I missed you, especially when Gina came into my room and bothered me studying when she was bored. Don't get me wrong, I don't miss you just because I don't like Gina to bother me when I'm studying. But I miss you because I miss you. Thank you for recovering quickly and welcome back home"

The contents of the message were so sincere that Alex could no longer hold back his tears. Alex also cried, and then he hugged Diana tightly with his tears flowing freely. Their distant relationship is now approaching with tears. It was as if the wall that separated them had now collapsed.

"Yes, now Alex has to rest so you don't make a fuss and stay quiet like good girls so Alex can rest." Mrs Maxwell took her two daughters away so Alex could rest

 Alex went back to his room. The room with plain white walls decorated with small shelves filled with books felt completely different when he saw them after several days of staying at the hospital. The room that used to feel so boring to him now he looks at it with sparkling eyes and a racing heart and excited.

Alex also lay on his soft bed, watching the ceiling of his room. Suddenly, he thought back to Ruby's face he saw from the window. Ruby's face in pain and screaming and the tears that dripped from the tail of her eyes were visible in Alex's memory.