That afternoon, Julian only intended to take a short nap after keeping Donald company at the hospital. However, when he fell asleep, he woke up in a place that felt very strange.
He knew it was the school where his husband taught, but the atmosphere felt different than usual.
And there, he encountered Donald and a girl who was none other than Wilona. Assuming he had been sent there to fetch Donald so he could wake up, Julian immediately asked him to come with him so he could awaken.
"Come with me! I don’t think this is your place. And you need to return with the others."
"Maybe you’ve got the wrong person. I’m fine here with Wilona. Who are you telling to wake up?" he asked, looking completely confused.
"You, of course! In the real world, you’re in a coma in a hospital bed. You have to wake up and come back, your children are waiting for you!" he explained.
"I have children?" He asked again and turned to Wilona. "Could they be your children?"
However, the girl just smiled at him and nodded slowly. Julian wanted to explain that they did have children together, but not only with Wilona, but with other women as well.
Hearing this, Donald became very doubtful, because it was impossible for him to have children with other women when he loved Wilona so much.
"You must be trying to prank us? If that’s the case, it won’t work at all! You’d better just leave instead of bothering me and my girlfriend," he said, waving his hand to shoo him away.
At that moment, Julian felt that Donald’s personality was very similar to Arcane’s current one. It turned out that his husband’s personality was inherited from his father’s youth.
He tried to explain what was happening, but Donald seemed unwilling to listen at all. Suddenly, Julian realized that his body was starting to become transparent.
Could he be returning to the real world?
But if the world he had entered was indeed the place where Donald was supposed to be lost, he should take him back with him.
"You have to come with me! Please come with me!"
"No way! I don’t want to go with a liar like you. Besides, I don’t even know who you are!" Donald replied.
He continued to refuse to go, until Wilona finally spoke.
"You have to go with him, Donald. This is not the place for you. You shouldn’t be here yet," she said.
He turned to his lover, confused by what she had said. Wilona’s hands cupped his face, then pressed her forehead against his.
Suddenly, all his memories came flooding back, reminding him that he had a family with another woman and what had actually happened to Wilona. A death he had never imagined before.
Tears streamed down his face as his body slowly transformed back into the middle-aged man he usually was. His old eyes gazed at Wilona, who still looked as young and innocent as he had always known her.
"You still have to go back. They need you, and our son needs you too. I can’t keep you here any longer, even though I want you to stay with me, but it’s not time yet," she said with a smile.
"Wilona... No... I don’t want to be apart from you again. I beg you, I don’t want to go. I want to stay here with you! Let me stay here longer," he pleaded.
However, the woman shook her head and told him to get up immediately. She would wait until the time came, when Donald would come after her one day.
"We will meet again, my love. One day we will definitely meet again. But for now, we cannot be together again. You still have responsibilities that you must fulfill, please understand. I will wait for you, my love."
They pressed their foreheads together as tears continued to flow. Julian wiped his own tears, watching the farewell.
Finally, Donald turned to look at him, and Julian nodded. Wilona, who was still nearby, also turned to look at Julian and smiled.
"Thank you for being in Arcane’s life. I knew you were the right angel for him."
And that was the last sentence before Julian finally woke up from his sleep and looked around. He was still in the hospital, back in his previous position, but tears were still streaming down his cheeks.
"That was a pretty strange dream, but it felt so real."
However, he suddenly felt Donald move in his arms, as if the man was regaining consciousness. He reflexively turned his head sharply and looked at the man’s face, seeing his eyelids begin to move.
"Huh?! Mr. Stamford? Mr. Stamford!" he called out several times to make sure the man had awakened from his coma.
And sure enough, it didn’t take long for his eyes to slowly open, revealing the same green eyes that Arcane had. Like Julian, the tears on Donald’s cheeks were still wet.
Just like in the dream.
Those eyes then glanced toward Julian, as if they shared the same dream—or perhaps it wasn’t a dream at all?
"Thank you..." he said softly, his nose and mouth still covered by an oxygen mask.
Julian’s eyes widened, a broad smile appearing on his face, not expecting Donald to finally wake up. He felt so relieved when he saw that he had managed to bring him back. Although Julian still couldn’t believe that the dream had really been made for him.
However, for now he tried to ignore that and focus on what was happening at the moment and more important things.
"Wait here. I’ll call the doctor to check on you!"
He ran out of the hospital room, looking for a doctor to check on Donald. He also sent a message to his husband, saying that his father was now awake.
[JULIAN]
Your father is awake! Bring Sofia and Stefano here. They’ll be so happy to see this!