Sotus Short Stories

December Special 5-6

Kongpob

When he wakes up from surgery it is his mother holding his hand. His entire body feels tired and he feels as though he has not had a drink of water in days. 

"Kongpob." Tears are falling down his mother's eyes as she hugs his midsection causing him to wince as he feels pressure there. This is different than before. The last thing he remembered was feeling a bad pain in his stomach area. He had pushed through that morning for his classes with some stomach medication but by the end of the night, he had felt like crap. That morning all he does remember was trying to make it to the fridge for some water only for everything to go black due to the pain he was in.

"Sweetheart go easy on him." His father spoke.

"Mae. Por... Why are you here?"

"Your friends called us after they broke into your apartment and found you lying on the ground. Your appendix burst due to stress, and lack of eating. What were you thinking?" Tears were already blurring his eyes as his father continued to scold him. He wasn't aware of anything else all he could think about was how long had he been there. He had already missed two days.  How long had it been? He had not noticed he was starting to get up again until his mother restrained him.

"Kongpob. What are you doing?"

"I need to get back to school. I need to finish quickly. I have just enough time I-"

"Kongpob. Please you'll hurt yourself."  Gasping his mother immediately held his hands and called the nurse as he pulled out his I.V. and stumbled up from bed.

"I need to go back to school. I need to finish quickly or else I'll be too late. I need to hurry and go. Please! Let me go" Nurses had rushed into his hospital room ready to sedate him but before he was even out the door his father held on to him as he tried to fight back. He was still a bit weak from the anesthesia.

"Enough!" He was harshly slapped by his father and the entire room suddenly grew silent. His mother was sobbing and his father spoke to him. 

"I know that you miss Arthit. I know that you want to rush and fix things after all that's happened but in order to be there and be good to him and clear things up you need to take your time and be better." Kongpob was too in his mind to register that his father was acknowledging his relationship. Instead, he shook his head and spoke as tears escaped his eyes. 

"You don't understand. What if I lose him forever? What if I can't fix it? I need to fix it Por! Please! Please!" His father hugged him tightly in his arms.

"Arthit loves you Kongpob. I'm sure after you've explained things he will take you back. You just need to give each other some time and space." Kongpob was shaking his head as he looked at his father. 

"He's never going to forgive me Por. I love him so much but I broke his heart and now... I'm going to lose him. He's going to find someone else now and I'm going to lose my sunshine. He's my world I-"

"You won't I promise you that you won't." He doesn't know why but his father's words bring him comfort. He sobs in his arms and then his mother goes over to him hugging him tightly. He doesn't realize he is being sedated by one of the nurses until he begins to go limp in his father's arms. 

"Sleep for now." His father tells him as he carries him back to the hospital bed......

 When he wakes up again, his mother and father are both talking....

"It was naive of us to think that he would be okay by himself here. Maybe we should have been honest with him. He feels pressured to measure up to Arthit, maybe to work harder so that we are more accepting."