AGAINST THE RULES

Chapter 13

Needles. Stretchers. Blinding lights. Reporters shouting. Nurses' shoes. Doctors with checklists.

Win felt like he was still in the middle of a storm. This one was just less wet.

The hours blur into each other as he slips in and out of consciousness. He was too tired to fight any of it.

When he finally fully wakes up, it is dark. He looks around the big hospital suite, he sees his mom on the recliner next to his bed and
his father lying down on the couch across the room. They were both fast asleep.

Relief washes over him, thankful to finally be home. Well, almost home.

Win feels around for his phone causing him to accidentally snag the IV line connected to his hand. He gives a little yelp, waking his mom up.

"Win, are you okay?," she asks, immediately alert.

Win smiles at his mom and he feels his eyes fill with tears. He had missed her.

"What's wrong, sweetie? Should I call the nurse?"

"I am okay," he whispers. "Just happy to be back."

She gets up and hugs him tight. "Not as happy as I am."

She sits back down and holds his hand. "Are you hungry? I brought over some yum nua and pad gra pow. We could heat it up."

"You should get some sleep, Ma," Win says gently. "I was just looking for my phone."

Win's mom stands up and opens a drawer near his bed. She hands him his phone.

"It was ringing non-stop since you landed in Bangkok. I turned it off first."

He opens the phone up and starts scrolling through all his unread messages.

"Win, don't stay too long on your phone, okay? I demand that you rest." His mom's voice was quiet but firm.

He nods, realizing he even missed how strict his mom can be.

He scans the phone, heart warmed by the messages from friends and the thousands of tweets praying for his health and recovery.

But he was looking for something else.
Something he didn't want to admit to himself he was looking for.

He checks the call log and again there were calls from his management team, his friends, several journalists who have never respected celebrity boundaries. But that was it.

He fidgets with the phone a bit,
unsure of what to do.

"Win," his mom says, pretending to be studying her own phone instead of him.

"Yes?," he asks.

"I forgot to tell you but Bright was brought to the Intermediate Care Unit. Something about his fracture needing emergency treatment."

"Fracture?" Win's voice is tight. Every body part now tense.

"Apparently, his arm was broken pretty badly. But don't worry, Saetang told me he's stable."

"I'm not worried," Win blurts out as a reflex.

His mom continues to pretend she was intently scrolling instead of sneaking glances at Win's face - which at this moment was twitching from all his effort to keep it passive.

"Of course, you are worried. You were stranded on an island together. It is normal to be worried," his mom says gently.

Win clears his throat. "Where is Intermediate Care?," he asks, in what he hopes was a monotone.

"Unfortunately, it's in the opposite wing."

"It would be bad press if I don't show my concern and stop by, right? I mean, you did say any normal person would be concerned. I don't want to look like a sociopath. I should visit, " Win rambles, his hand tapping on his phone screen absentmindedly.

Win's mom stands up and walks over to him. She kisses the top of his head.

"Okay," she says. But the way she was looking at him made Win feel she wanted to say more.

He was not ready for what it was though, so instead of asking her, he decides to play Cars 2, until he could fall back to sleep.