The Lovers Survivors

Prologue. Proposal   The scrub nurses enter the operating room to gather the necessary supplies and instrumentation. They double-check everything because the main surgeon is known to be a perfectionist, she scolds anyone who doesn't do the things exactly as she wants. The youngest of the team is making sure they don't forget anything because he doesn't like the doctor to be angry at them, not because he was scared, but because he doesn't like seeing her smile fading from her face. Leighton is in love with the surgeon, he has been in love with her for five years. Dr Evelyn Bloom is heart surgeon, she's popular among doctors and nurses in the hospital of the University of Meteor City. She's a beautiful woman with long black hair and clear brown eyes. Leighton has noticed her before in the Faculty of Medicine when she was still a student there. She is eight years older than him, and yet it has never caused him a problem, or stopped him from falling in love with her. It's been a year since they've been dating since he started working in the hospital. Evelyn loved how kindly he treated her, and she prefers him over the rest of the employees because he doesn't fear her as the others do, he just admires her. Leighton wrote a letter for her and placed it inside her locker, he wrote about his feelings for her, and how much he would love them to go on a date. After a long night of surgeries, Evelyn went to the resting room and found the letter. Her frown was suddenly replaced by a smile as she read the kind and romantic words he wrote for her. A week after, they went on their first date and spent a good time together. A few days later, they started dating and everyone knew about them in the hospital. In the present time, everyone keeps asking Leighton what he likes about her because she is mostly known for her bad temper. He always answers that he knows things about her that no one knows, he says that no one sees the good in her, that he's the only one who understands her. Dr Bloom enters the operating room, and Leighton hurries to help her put on her scrubs. She smiles at him, and he tells her he wants to talk to her after they finish their work. During surgery, he helps her by handing her the needed instrumentation like the scalpel and suture. Leighton has been working as a scrub nurse long enough to know exactly what the doctor needs. While watching the surgery, he anticipates what the surgeon will need next. Also, because he has been working with Evelyn many times, they don't need to exchange words. Sometimes, he zones out and keeps looking at her. He can only see her eyes, and yet, he always finds her to be so beautiful when she's concentrated. He smiles and keeps watching her do her job meticulously. At the end of the surgery, the doctors leave the nurses to initiate the counts. Leighton counts all the supplies and sends them to the central sterile department to get cleaned and sterilized. When he finishes his work and gets dressed up, he heads to the hallway where his girlfriend is waiting. He places a kiss on her cheek and both walk outside the building. They take her car as she is the only one who can afford it. Leighton always drives them to a small restaurant before riding her back home. Tonight, he drives them to a new place they've never been before. Evelyn raises an eyebrow and asks him why he changed their destination. Leighton smiles at her and stops the vehicle. He opens her door and takes her hand. He walks them inside a fancy restaurant and gives his name to the receptionist before he leads them to their table. Evelyn looks confused and surprised because it's well decorated and it has nothing to do with the tables they used to sit in before.  The waiter helps her take off her coat and pulls out her chair. He welcomes them and places the menus on the table. Leighton gets nervous as the moment approaches. He looks around him and sees the couples talking next to them. The guys are comfortable with their girlfriends or their wives, and he's the only one who's scared to ruin the night. Evelyn intimidates him, a lot. He talks normally with everyone, but when it comes to her, he always finds himself out of words. He gets shy around her, he talks little but loves watching her talking. He admires her. When the moment comes, he asks the waiter to bring the surprise. The pianist starts playing a song that makes her widen her eyes and look at her boyfriend confusingly. Leighton just smiles to her and opens the small velvet box. He looks at her shyly and places the box in front of her. Evelyn gasps when she sees the engagement ring. She covers her mouth and looks at him with teary eyes.         Julian is sitting on the sofa, listening to his parents argue about his wedding. He rolls his eyes every time his father mentions his popularity and the increasing profits of the company. His parents want him to marry the daughter of the chairman of one of the biggest companies in the country. Their marriage is beneficial for both families. Tying their companies is only going to make them more powerful. His mother keeps talking about the wedding date and the reservations they need to make to start preparing for the ceremony. Julian sighs and leaves the room. He has had enough of his parents controlling his entire life. The only good thing his family has done for him was to help him achieve his biggest dream, becoming an actor. Thanks to his father's power, he had the chance to enter the movie industry easily, and in a few years, he had managed to become one of the top actors of the country. Julian leaves the villa and walks to his car. But before he could get in, his fiancee grabbed his arm. He turns around and frowns when he sees her fake smile. Anna isn't against the wedding, not like him. She says she'll be lucky to have a husband as handsome as him so that she can brag about it to her friends. She doesn't have feelings for him, but she's someone who values popularity and reputation more than happiness and love. "Jules, where are you going?" asks the model. She kisses his cheek and runs her fingers in his blue hair. Julian pushes her hand off him and frowns, "None of your business," he mumbles coldly, "What are you doing here?" he raised an eyebrow. "Your mother invited me," she smirks, "She wants to go shopping with me. I'm going to try some dresses for our wedding." Julian rolls his eyes. Hearing the word wedding disgusts him. He's not one to believe in long relationships or serious things. He never dated someone properly before. He's used to seeing a lot of girls at the same time, he sleeps with a different one every night and never sees them again. Julian doesn't care about falling in love, he doesn't want to get married, and he knows that no one will ever change his mind.  "Enjoy, then," he mumbles before getting in the car, leaving Anna alone in front of the villa. He turns on the radio and starts singing when his favourite song plays. A call from his manager ruined his little party. "Hey, Ed." "Hey, Jules. What are you doing? You didn't come to the meeting this morning." The actor mumbles a curse, "Sorry, Ed. My parents called me, they wanted to talk about the wedding stuff. I forgot about the meeting." He hears the manager sigh, "Anyways, the director mentioned the shooting in the Maldives. He's sending the team next week." "That's great." Julian smiles. He has always wanted to play in a movie directed by this man. He was called to be the main character in his new movie, and he has never been so happy. The movie is about two people who will meet during a party on an island, and their story will begin when they'll find a mysterious treasure. "When are we going?" Julia asks. "Monday," answers Edward, "Get ready, you only have three days." Julian hums, "You're coming with me, right?" "I'll take the Tuesday flight because I have to take care of some paper stuff." the manager sighs and stays silent for a long moment. "Everyone is talking about the wedding, Jules. I wish I could do something." Julian frowns, "It's not your fault, Ed. My father wants to keep controlling me for the rest of my life. He even threatened to end my acting career if I ever refuse to marry Anna." Edward mumbles a curse, "He's going too far." Julian stops the car and unlocks his phone, he opens the news app and shakes his head when he sees his name and Anna's everywhere. There are a lot of articles about their wedding and their love story. He finds it insane how the media have the power to create an entire story without knowing a thing about the real people.     On Monday, Leighton wakes up early to prepare his suitcase. His friends offered him a ticket to the Maldives to rest and spend his last days alone before the wedding. He thought it was a good idea to get some time to forget his present life and prepare for his future with Evelyn. His brother knocks on the door, "Are you excited?" he asks. Leighton smiles, "How can I not? I'm getting married to the woman of my life, Ty. I'm the happiest in the world." Tyler chuckles and ruffles his hair, "You deserve it, little brother. You're a nice guy, you need to be happy." Leighton smiles again and hugs his brother, “Thanks, Ty." he whispers. He hurries to wipe the tears falling from his eyes and kisses his brother's cheek. "Is mum awake?" Tyler hums, "She's making breakfast." The two brothers and their mother spend a nice morning in their rooftop home. The three of them are poor, especially after their father died. Their mother can't work because of her health. Tyler couldn't afford to go to college, so he's currently working in a music shop. Leighton was able to go to college only because he was offered a scholarship. He's the only one to have a real job, and yet, it isn't enough to feed his family and make them live a comfortable life. "I'm so happy for you, son." his mother, Madeline, rests her hand on his. "My son is marrying a beautiful woman." she smiles. "Please be happy."     Leighton enters the plane and sees a group of girls gathering in the business class. He raises an eyebrow when he realizes they are surrounding a guy. He walks closer and recognizes his face. His mother likes watching the actor's TV shows, that's why he knows many things about him. He watches how Julian Evans looks annoyed by his fans. He fakes smiles and barely accepts to take pictures with them. He asks the waitress to get rid of them. Leighton rolls his eyes and walks to the economic class. He can never understand those rich celebrities who think they own the entire world. He hates how they ignore their fans and act rudely toward people, thinking they are the kings of the universe. Leighton gets comfortable in his seat and smiles to the little child sitting next to him along with his mother. He starts playing with him while waiting for the plane to take off. An hour passes, Leighton is reading his favourite book which his friend brought to him. Oscar is Tyler's best friend, but because he's close to his brother, he has become close with his friends too. He likes spending time with Tyler and Oscar, thanks to them he learnt a lot of things, he grew up with them. The little child is playing on his mother's phone, and Leighton watches him with a smile. He loves children, and he can't wait to have one or two with Evelyn. A little later, he sees the flight attendants walking fast in the hallways. They look stressed and nervous. He raises an eyebrow and looks at the child who is busy laughing because he won the game. Leighton keeps looking around and searches for any flight attendant to ask if there is something wrong. He rests his back on the seat and looks through the window. He watches the clouds for a long moment until he spots something unusual. There was a fire on the trailing edge. Leighton gulps and is unable to speak for fear to create chaos inside the plane. He looks at the child again and he panics. Something is wrong.