COLD RAIN

CHAPTER 43

Waking up, Pon suddenly raised his head, and the hour hand on the wall clock had just passed the number twelve.

He turned his head and looked around. It was late at night, and the auntie in the next bed was asleep.

There were occasional chirps of cicadas outside the window. No one called him.

Perhaps it was the lack of sleep these days, Pon thought.

It was rare to get a full night’s sleep, but he was awakened from his sleep by a voice that came from nowhere.

Trying to relieve his aching back, he straightened and stretched out his body, rubbed his temple with one hand and reached out with the other to touch sammy’s forehead.

Her temperature was normal and he leaned over to check the thermos flask beside the bed.

When he went to fetch water, he passed by the IV room.

The TV hanging on the wall was replaying some entertainment news.

Sailub, who was wearing a mask, was surrounded by reporters. At the bottom of the screen, there were eye-catching subtitles saying “Sailub Hemmawich ceases filming ‘Mountains and Seas’. The penalty for breach of contract is more than 10 million baht. The director condemns him for having no professional ethics.”

The lines were extremely flashy.
The TV sound was not turned on, so Pon didn’t know what he said to the microphone.

Pon quickened his pace and walked back with the thermos flask. Back in the ward, Sammy slept quietly.

He filled the cup on the table with water and opened the notebook to draw for a while.

He was dissatisfied after redrawing an outline seven or eight times. He took the pen and looked at the blank screen. For the first time in days, he was in a daze.

More than ten million… a lot of money.

In the past, Pon had a well-off family, but only after he became Thanapon Kitjaruwannakul did he acquire a specific concept of money.

He knew that having no money meant that he had to work all day long to have food and clothing, which also meant that he couldn’t even afford to get sick.

Sammy’s surgery was scheduled for next week. The family’s savings were just enough to pay for the surgery. They put the charge on several bankbooks and bank cards together and when paying the bill Pon was so nervous that he counted the zeros on the monitor several times.

According to the doctor, the cost of the surgery was only the beginning, the subsequent continuous medication and nursing care were the big ones.

Pon planned ahead and started preparing the money before the surgery. He took a lot of commissions on the Internet in one go.

A netizen told him that a comic website was recruiting artists. He sent his resume to apply.

After being accepted, he got another job colouring serialized comics every day.

At first, he didn’t dare to accept the kind help of netizens.

Dora-Hum-Hum left an indelible shadow on him. He was not a clairvoyant and couldn’t know who was on the other side.

The kindness he accepted could be returned, but the feelings he gave could not be taken back.

Once bitten twice shy.

Pon was afraid of this invisible and untouchable way of communication and did not want to experience this kind of heart-wrenching torment of suddenly learning the truth again.