Music To My Ears | 2gether Short Stories

Say Something - Chapter 02

"P', can you come home right away? Something's wrong with Delta.

He's been throwing up since we came home and he hasn't stopped crying. I think he has a fever" said Echo, sounding absolutely distraught.

Tine got down at the very next stop and took a taxi home. He asked the driver to wait while he rushed inside and carried Delta out.

Echo was already ready with the emergency cash and a small backpack with Delta's things.

Tine rushed with Delta to the hospital while Echo stayed home with the rest of the children.

Tine was in an utter panic. Delta looked pale and seemed to have difficulty breathing between his heart-rending sobs. He kept throwing up, dry heaves with nothing to bring up from his already empty stomach.

Tine watched with tearful eyes as the doctors pumped the baby's stomach and inserted a tube through his nose, and an IV needle in his tiny fist. Delta's screams made him want to cry just as badly.

"Your brother seems to have contracted food poisoning somehow. Has he recently had anything that was spoiled or left out for too long?" asked the doctor.

Tine ran through everything Delta had eaten that day. He paused, shocked.

"I think his formula may have gone past its expiry date" said Tine, miserably. He couldn't believe that he hadn't checked and replaced it in time.

"That may have been the cause, though we wouldn't know for sure. Don't beat yourself up about it. Happens to the best of us sometimes.

Why don't you go home and get some rest? We will keep Delta overnight for observation. You can take him home tomorrow" said the doctor kindly.

Tine shook his head. "I'll be right here, doc. I'll go home with him in the morning. Could you please let the night-shift nurse know that I'll be in the waiting area if she needs anything at all?"

The doctor nodded and patted Tine's shoulder.

Tine slumped on a chair. The sight of his baby brother with needles and tubes coming out of his tiny body flashed before his eyes every time he blinked.

He called Echo and told him that Delta was out of danger and that he would spend the night at the hospital.

His next call was to Sarawat, agreeing to sign a one-year contract with him on the terms already discussed.

He would sell his soul if he had to, but the kids would have the best of everything from here on out.

*

Delta was home and back to his rambunctious ways as though nothing had happened.

Tine had not expected it, but the very next morning after he agreed to the contract, he found that his account had been credited with THB 50,000.

The first week's retainer, paid in advance.

Tine used the money to stock fresh and healthy food for the children, deposit Echo's kit fees at the school, clear the backlog of the last two months' rent and put the rest in a different savings account for emergencies.

It had been a very long time since Tine had seen a surplus of cash after having spent on essentials.

He decided to buy himself some inexpensive but decent looking clothes. If he was expected to go to social events, he needed to have at least one set of clothes that didn't have a stain or a patched up rip in it.

Tine wasn't sure about the protocol. Was he supposed to check in with Sarawat? Was there a calendar to coordinate over?

In the end, he decided to sit tight, keep his phone charged at all times, and wait for Sarawat to call.