Chapter 4: Help from above

Etienne turned in shock around to see his beloved uncle and a smile paused on his face.

"Andre".

The excited lad run and jumped on his uncle showing great love to him. Andre de Villiers is Etienne’s uncle from his mother’s side, her name was Chantal de Villiers until she married into the Arnulphy family. Andre was the last born in a family of 5 children and Chantal was the fourth.

"Andre, oh I missed you so much…you didn’t mention to us that you were back in town, how’s the residency going at Edenvale Gen?"

"I know right it’s been so long…the residency is going well, I was thinking of just staying in the emergency unit, but I know my heart is with pathology. I’m actually here because I heard what happened to mom…I just wish I was there for her, and how are you doing?”

"I'm fine Andre ‘sobbing’ I just hope she’s going to be okay...she can't leave me, leave us like this".

Andre took a quick glance at his mother on the bed…how far time had flown, he remembered the day Et came to stay with them, the day he left for medical school, the day he moved far to another state to complete his residency. He felt disappointed in himself, had he been there would things have been different, would it?

"Don't worry Et, everything is going to be okay, I'm here now, we’ll get through this together".

Andre was one of the children that his mom felt proud about, as well as his late sister Chantal. Whenever he looks at Etienne he would be reminded of his sister’s sweet nature, her smile that was passed on to her child, her ability to make a person smile even in the most dreaded situations, her laugh, her soft hugs that would melt one's heart.

"We are going to save mom".

"How?"

"We are going to move her to Edenvale, that way I know I will be there with her, and I know she would receive better medical care".

The joy that came upon Etienne was enough to ignite the entire Eiffel tower.

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Natalie’s disappearance really struck Bryson, he started to feel down, his work was slacking, and he rejected all calls from his family, he had even hired a private investigator to try and find her, not to take her back but to at least apologize for what he did.

Currently has was sitting in his home office drowning on a bother of Johnny Walkers Black Label.

"Bryson, for the love of everything, you can't keep doing this to yourself, I mean look at yourself, what is this, you’re practically wasting your life on alcohol over a stupid girl whom you never loved". said, Seth

Seth Watson was Bryson's best friend since their kindergarten days, they have another friend Andrew Mizzell but he’s mostly traveling.

"Seth why? I don’t give a damn that she left, what f*cks me up is that I actually care about it, I feel concerned, sadness for that woman…damn it’s eating me inside?"

“Listen, dude, of course, it’s going to sting you spent valuable time with the lady even though you didn’t love her your used to her presence, give it some time and take it easy…this isn’t you. I won’t allow you to damage yourself lime this.”

"You know Seth sometimes proper stuff does come out of that air hole of yours…just teasing, you’re right, I can't continue like this, it’s going to take some time but it's going to be easy, f*ck her leaving me, I finally have the peace I wanted, the damn woman was a headache anyway.”

"That's my bro".

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"You know Andre, I can’t believe we’re going to Sandton, I’ve wanted to go there for the longest time." Said a very excited Et and they were boarding their plane.

His granny would be transported to the National Medical Transportation Authorities, where a trained medical team will be with her to look over her during the trip. Once she arrives in the city we will be taken to Edenvale where she will be admitted. All this made arranged by Andre and a few of his medical friends.

"You know something Et, you were actually born within the city…your father was a big businessman so when he married your mom he took her with him to the city, there in Netcare Milpak Hospital was a little angel born, an angel named Etienne Lindsay Arnulphy, he lived there with his parents till then".

Etienne was taken back by the story, they're never told him his background story because one would figure it was to protect him from the sadness of hearing his family’s story.

Sandton is the great metropolitan city, a place of dreams, the city of lights, the city of love, dreams, stars. A place that Tae could see but would never be able to touch. With a population of over 200k people, it was home to the Stock Exchange and many prestigious international retailers. Every living being would enjoy a simple visit to Sandton city.

As the two stepped out of OR Tambo International Airport they boarded the Gautrain on a one-way trip to Sandton. Et looked in awe at the architecture around him, please lights and scenery were all just amazing. It made him remember that story Andre told him about his parents, he can barely recognize their pictures, but he can never forget the sounds of their voices, how his mother used to sing a beautiful song to him every night.

Below is the tragic story of what happened to the Arnulphy family. 

That faithful day the jolly family was on their way to the monthly field trip, singing to various songs, eating snacks to their heart's content, and sharing pure laughter. Etienne was only 5 years old at that time. His dad was the owner of a large enterprise known as THT Corporation that sold and supplied construction goods and services to various parts of the world. His mother was a social worker in a children's home of pediatric cancer patients.

Singing loudly and with so much joy. Suddenly....their car lost control.

“David, what is going on!!!" screamed Chantal as the car swayed from left to right.

"Mummy, I'm scared".

"It's okay my child mummy is here".

Their car went left to right before plunging down the hill.

"Ahhhh!!!!!". The screams of fear were all that could be heard as their car ricocheted down the hill. In the fit to save her only child, mother wrapped her arms around him, tucking him strong that he could not even be seen.

As they saw the actions before them knowing well where and how this was going to end, the couple locked their hands together as they stared into each other’s eyes. The last words that could be read from their lips were a simple but heart-breaking 'I love you.

It took a whole 10 min for the incident to occur. A once happy and loving family tore apart by utter grief, sadness, and tragedy.

When the ambulance finally arrived at the scene, they were horrified. At that instant, they knew they could be no survivors in this horrific scene. To their greatest shock they saw a 5-year-old boy tucked in the arms of a woman with blood all over her body, legs broken due to the impact of the crash, he was still, eyes closed, the paramedics feared for the worst. They were on the way to bring a jack when a heard a faint groan.

"Quick bring the jack and the stretcher!!!"

Bringing himself out of his thoughts, he wiped the tears in his eyes, Andre stared at him knowing very well that he was thinking about his parents, he did nothing but have a faint smile for the helpless lad. There was a disturbing silence until Etienne spoke:

"Andy (Andre for short) let’s do it, let’s go to Sandton"...