Turbulence

Chapter 16

"Serkan, have you eaten your lunch? You look pale, don't you have a fever? Drink this." Aydan pushed a glass under Serkan's nose while simultaneously trying to check his temperature and cover him with a sheet.

"Mom." Elif hissed, pulling her mother by her elbow but to no avail.

"It's breakfast time." Serkan grumbled, fighting Aydan's attempts to tuck the cover around him. "Mom, I'm not thirsty."

"You should eat and drink more." The woman didn't give up, now probing the pillows behind Serkan's back and pushing him to stay in the seated position when he wanted to stand up. "You are too weak to walk."

"I can walk." Serkan said, gritting his teeth, and his eyes flashed with so much anger that Eda decided to intervene before he would unload his frustration on his mother, who was just reacting accordingly to the stress she suffered through the past month, as she almost lost her child. 

Maybe Aydan was a bit overprotective, but Eda couldn't blame her. She barely was keeping together herself, and every Serkan's cough and wince of pain was giving her a heart attack.

"The breakfast will start in fifteen minutes, and I need to take Serkan's blood before he eats." Eda stepped in, clutching the clipboard in her hands so hard that she almost broke it. "Maybe you can go to the cafeteria and eat something while waiting."

"Oh no, we're fine." Aydan shook her head, now pushing a sweater over Serkan's head. "We ate at home."

"Mom, we're going to have a coffee." Elif used both hands to pull her mother away from Serkan's bed. "I'm hungry. I have to eat."

"See, Elif is hungry while I'm perfectly fine." Serkan added immediately, throwing the sweater to the standing near chair. "Go feed her."

"Well then, all right." The woman agreed reluctantly, now tidying up the clutter on the nightstand so she didn't notice the looks that Eda and Elif exchanged behind her back. She glanced at her son with a worried gaze. "Are you sure you can stay alone?"

"Mom, I'm going to be discharged today or tomorrow. I'm perfectly fine."

"You just woke up yesterday!" Aydan protested while being dragged to the door, but she couldn't say anything more as Elif pulled her out of the room and closed the door behind them.

Eda shook her head slightly, sitting at the edge of the bed.

"Serkan." She said reproachfully. "You did just wake up yesterday. You're not getting discharged today."

"I don't want my family to worry more." He said shortly with a small shrug when Eda pulled up a sleeve of his blouse and started to feel his forearm for a vein.

She bit her lips, seeing many bruises that formed from the amount of different IVs he was connected to for the past month. His veins were so weak that she had to check his other arm.

"Your Dad perfectly knows your state and is the first person informed about any changes." Eda ran her fingers over his biceps. She could feel the noticeable difference in Serkan's weight and strength and could tell Serkan saw it too, as when she took his right arm, his fingers trembled, and he quickly closed his fist.

"And I'm sure he wouldn't want to stress my mom and sister more." He answered in a dismissive tone while Eda got up from the bed and rolled closer a small cart where she had her tools prepared.

"You may underestimate their perceptive skills."

"Everything is fine." Serkan looked at Eda, who had already secured a tourniquet around his arm and held a syringe in her hand. "Whoa, are you really going to put this huge needle into me? I thought you were just joking to get rid of my mom."