The Lovers Survivors

9. False Alarm

Madeline and Tyler freeze before the TV. Their hearts beat so fast that it sounds too loud through their ears. The middle-aged woman nearly falls and her adopted son catches her. He looks at her with wide eyes and tries to help her breathe properly.

"L-Leighton,” she sobs. "No, it can't be."

Tyler covers his mouth and stares at the screen again, he keeps reading the name list until his eyes get tired, his tears fall on his cheeks, and his heart dies little by little.

He shakes his head and holds Madeline against his chest. He's breathing slowly and with difficulty. He still can't believe it, he can't swallow the fact that Leighton is on the list.

"I can't believe it." he shakes his head again.

Before the woman can say anything, the phone started ringing. She closes her eyes as she guesses it's Evelyn. "What should I tell her?" she sobs, "That he's gone now?"

Tyler presses his lips and holds his tears. He grabs the phone and takes a deep breath before he answers. His heart shatters when he hears Evelyn’s cries, he loses control of his tears when he hears her shouting Leighton’s name.

He keeps asking her to calm down, to have faith and hope that he's still alive, but he isn't even able to believe his comforting words. He wishes someone would tell him the same thing and give him hope that Leighton is still breathing somewhere in this world.

Madeline grabs the phone and cries along with Evelyn. Tyler watches her with tears covering his

eyes. He looks at the frame placed next to the TV, a picture of the three of them during their last trip together.

Tyler and Leighton surprised Madeline with a trip to her hometown after saving money for months. She was very happy to be out of town with them. They spoiled her during the three days they spent outside the city, they enjoyed seeing her smile and joke around, they loved seeing her happy.

Tyler closes his eyes, thinking that those moments will never be able to repeat.

Leighton has disappeared weeks ago and now, the news is saying that he's dead, but Tyler can't believe that he is. He has a feeling that he's still alive, that he's still waiting for someone to rescue him and bring him back to his family and his fiance.

He goes to the bathroom and washes his face quickly before he grabs his keys and leaves the house. He runs to the nearest bus stop and takes the one that stops near the NIS building.

People give him strange looks because of his outfit, he's still wearing his pyjama pants and a wrinkled t-shirt. He has dark circles under his eyes and his lips are bleeding from biting them a lot.

He arrives at the agency a few minutes later and walks to the building with quick steps. The security guards try to stop him again, but this time he resists and manages to push them away and get inside.

They follow him but he doesn't care, being arrested is the least of his concerns, he just wants to know the truth, the fearful one.

"I need to talk to Robert Johnson!" he shouts.

The security guards grab his arms, "You can't be here!" They try to drag him out but he falls on the ground and shouts, "Where is Robert?!"

"I'm going to call the police." he hears a woman say, but he doesn't care, her words don't threaten him. "Robert, where are you?!"

Later, Robert Johnson appears with at least five guards behind him. He frowns when he recognizes Tyler and looks away with an annoyed face. He stares at him from head to toe with disgust, he can't believe that he came to one of the fanciest buildings of the country wearing a pyjama.

"Is the list real?" Tyler asks impatiently, "Is it true that my brother is dead?"

"What list?" Robert asks with a lazy tone.

"The one on the news, I saw my brother's name."

"Well, if his name is on the list it only means that he's dead," Robert shrugs, "You just wasted your time coming here again instead of preparing your brother's funeral."

Tyler gulps. Robert's harsh words hit him right on the weakest spot of his heart. He looks at him with wide eyes as he feels his chest tighten more and more. He can't believe how someone can be so cold, so indifferent and insensible to death.

"Your brother is dead," Robert repeats. "Now leave us."

Tyler shakes his head and resists the guard's grip. "I'm not leaving until you check twice. I know my brother isn't dead!"

Robert rubs his chin, "Are you a medium or something? Can you see what's happening in the world?" he scoffs, "You're the only one who comes

here every day to annoy us while we're working on serious business. You always bother us and ruin our day! You're the only one who doesn't want to accept that your brother lost his life during the plane explosion!"

"Shut up!" Tyler screams with all his strength.

He wants to run to Robert and fight him, but the security guards grab his arms forcefully and make him faint on the floor. He starts sobbing and shouting his brother's name. Some agents start feeling bad for him and others just shut their ears to stop listening to his annoying cries.

A group of agents arrives at the main floor and one of them widens his eyes when he spots Tyler on the floor. He leaves his tablet on a table and runs to him. He kneels beside him and cups his cheeks,

"Tyler? What's wrong?"

"Mr Jones, you need to get rid of your friend." Robert sighs, "He's starting to get on my nerves."

Archer frowns at him and looks back at Tyler, "Why are you crying? Tell me."

Tyler tries to breathe slowly and looks at Archer’s eyes. His cries automatically stop when he sees the softness of the eyes resting on his. His breathing slows down and his pulse gets back to normal when he feels the gentle touch of his hands on his face. His tears stop when he wipes them calmly with his thumbs.

"Leighton," Tyler stops to take a breath. "They said he's dead."

"Leighton Wright?" Archer raises an eyebrow. "I can't remember seeing his name of the found corpses list."

"I saw it on the list, on the news!" Tyler says.

Archer rubs his chin and turns around to look for his team, "Who sent the list to the reporters?"

A tall man walks ahead and raises his hand, "I did, sir."

Archer stands up and asks him to hand over his tablet, he unlocks a file with his fingerprint and reads the name appearing on a list. He frowns and looks at the agent, "I see no Leighton Wright on this list. Why is it over the news?"

The agent purses his lips and gulps, "I must have confused the two lists," he looks down. "I finished tapping the list when I was on my lunch break, it must have been an error."

Archer pushes his head back and bites his lower lip. He takes a deep breath to calm himself down and not scold the agent in front of everyone. He runs his fingers in his hair and gives him back the tablet. He turns around and sees Tyler looking at him with hopeful eyes. It hurts him so much that he wanted to take him in his arms and tell him not to worry about his brother and that he will do all his best to find him.

Instead, he helps him stand up. He looks at Robert coldly and tells him that he can go back to work and that he will take care of Tyler.

Robert clears his throat and shoots Tyler another death glare before he leaves the main hall.

"I am so sorry, Tyler," Archer rubs the back of his neck, "I should have revised the lists before sending them to the reporters. I am truly sorry."

Tyler gulps and asks: "Is he alive?"

"We still can't find any traces of him, unfortunately. I tried sending other teams but there are still no improvements." Archer replies.

Tyler closes his eyes and almost faints again. Thankfully, Archer catches him this time. He holds him tight against his arms and hesitates for a moment before he put his hand on his back to caress it gently to bring his body a little comfort.

"I'm so sorry," Archer whispers again, feeling bad for causing him pain. "We should have been more careful, I'm sorry."

Tyler can't even protest and tell him that it's not his fault. The pain in his heart made him weak, he can't even move or speak. The only thing he does is cry for his miserable life and the hopeless feeling that Leighton is going to come back.

Later, Archer opens the car door and helps Tyler get in, "You need to rest, I'll drive you home."

"No," Tyler refuses calmly, "I can't go home now, I need a drink. A few ones... no, a lot."

Archer looks at him and sighs, "But you should call your mum first, don't you think? She must be worried."

Tyler nods and searches for his phone in his pockets. He sighs and shakes his head, "I left it at home."

Archer hurries to take the device from his blazer's pocket, "Take mine."

He found himself drowning in pain and sorrow while listening to Tyler telling his mother the good news. The way he lost his words and was unable to speak to her properly broke his heart. He could even hear Madeline’s loud cries through the speakers. This has never happened in his family. The Jones family has a good relationship unlike most other rich families, but they have always managed to stay strong during the toughest times.

Archer’s mother taught him not to shed tears when he's sad, not to cry and scream when he needs help, not to show a lot of affection to people in order not to be betrayed later.

From one side, she's right. People have respect for the strongest and toughest ones, they don't dare to approach them or even think about fooling them.

But from another side, it makes people further from them, it brings loneliness and frustrating calmness, it turns them indifferent to love and friendship.

Archer has always wished for the things to be different in his family and his entourage. He wants to learn to show his affection openly, to speak honest words to the people he appreciates and spend most of his time enjoying the perks of life instead of being jailed in his office reading papers and clearing schedules.

Later, he stops the car in front of his favourite pub. He opens the door for Tyler and asks him to follow him inside. The night is going to be long.