birthday

chapter 4: bad news

Ever since the brothers visited Blaze at the hospital days, weeks, and months had passed. And then, they hit the 1 year mark. The doctors were beginning to lose hope for Blaze.

The brothers acted rather strangely ever since the incident. Solar absolutely absorbed himself in his books and studies, Gempa tended to be more observant and would scold the others less, Taufan was always trying to cheer his siblings up since he was the only one who seemed to remain happy. Duri started talking to his plants more often. One time, Gempa caught him calling one of his plants 'Blaze'. Halilintar was now rarely home, usually out to practise martial arts to distract himself from the tragedy. He would only come back around meal times to eat and go back to his room. But the strangest one was Ais. Ais was always the closest to Blaze, ever since young. They were the only twins in the group of brothers so they stuck with each other through thick and thin. But ever since Blaze was out in the hospital, Ais seemed to stop connecting with others. He would lock himself in the room occasionally and sleep more often than usual. More than that, it was healthy too. He would also skip meals and when he did eat, it was only a little. Which was odd since he had always loved food.

They were torn between acceptance and hope. But Ais stubbornly refused to believe it. Luckily, TAPOPS insurance covered all of the hospital bills. As a result, the doctors promised to try to get him back.

However, they quoted, 'if he doesn't wake up soon, we might have to pull the plug, if you know what I mean. It's either that or he dies slowly and painfully,' (Credits to mama lia for this part :3 >>>)

Ais had been caught multiple times sneaking into the hospital. Gempa felt way too overcome by shame to scold him after Ais told them off. 'Of course Api got mad at you guys! What kind of brothers forget their brother's birthday and get riled up at him?!'

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A good part of the year passed. The worst news of their lives came.No it wasn't exam results. Api had a ruptured brain. Basically, A cerebral aneurysm (also known as a brain aneurysm) is a weak or thin spot on an artery in the brain that balloons or bulges out and fills with blood. The bulging aneurysm can put pressure on the nerves or brain tissue. It burst, spilling blood into the surrounding tissue, called a haemorrhage.

(If you ask how I know this I read a book about it UwU It's a VERY good book)

That was the worst night of their lives. Waiting outside the operating room, the air was so tense you could cut a knife through it. Just in case Blaze woke up in the middle of the surgery, they gave him some kind of gas.

"It'S cAlLeD nItRoUs OxIdE" Solar huffed in a know-it-all voice, stuffing his face into a book. "Shut up, light bulb." Halilintar rolled his eyes in exhaustion. "NO! This is a VERY interesting disease!" Solar yelped.

Time skip :3

"Your brother has.. A very rare illness." the nurse informed Gempa. Solar frowned. "Rare illnesses are called oRpHaN dIsEaSeS!" Halilintar looked like he was about to explode.

"SHUT UP NERD!" he growled, patience wearing thin. Gempa and the nurse ignored them.

Gempa, worry obvious, asked frantically, "How- how do you treat it? What's the name of it?!" The nurse, whose name turned out to be Julie (#ifykyk), sighed heavily. She reluctantly spoke up. "Actually.... You can name the disease."

Solar reacted immediately, while the others took awhile to process it. "You mean this is a new disease?! Then what will you do?!" he demanded frantically, reaching for his notebook to jot down the information.

"We- we will try and search for a cure. Unfortunately, your brother may have... forgotten you all. The car crash and rupture has affected him alot. But if he's not awake in a month...." Julie sighed, trailing off.

"You- you might have to kill him..?" Duri asked in a small voice, rivulets of tears trickling down his face. "Unfortunately...." Nurse Julie mumbled. "I-I have to go," she told them awkwardly, dashing away.

The silence was overwhelming. Taufan never knew silence could be that loud. Even Halilintar didn't like it. It was filled with awkwardness, tension, guilt and shame.

The silence was louder than anything in the universe. Solar settled down into his seat, horrified, he closed his eyes and thought, shoving the world away.

"That- that shouldn't be done.... Euthanasia is only legal in a select few countries and U.S. States. In most countries, euthanasia is against the law and may carry a jail sentence. In the United States, the law varies between states. "

"And even so, you can't do it unless it's something really critical." Solar finished off, exhaling deeply. Gempa rubbed his temple, holding back tears that wanted to be let out. He had to hold it together.
For his brothers' sake. Ais stood rigid, breathing harsh, jagged breaths. "Let's go home." he announced blankly, not a hint of emotion on his face. He spun around and marched towards the elevator.
"Are you guys deaf?" he remarked coldly, turning back to look at them. "Api isn't going to magically wake up. Let's just go." Gempa sighed in exasperation. So many sighs. Sighs of hopelessness, sighs of exasperation, sighs of guilt, sighs of shame.

"Air... We know you're mad at us, but that doesn't give you the right to shout at us." Gempa reprimanded fiercely. Ais still didn't leak a single hint of emotion.

"Can you shut up for once?" he asked pleasantly, a smile plastered on his face. It wasn't a genuine, 'I'm happy!' smile. It wasn't a forced one, 'I'm not okay. But I must pretend too.' It wasn't a sad smile, 'Things are bad, but we'll get through this.'

It was a bad one. A 'I hate you completely, and you know it. But I don't care. You deserve it.'

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They were home the next day. Air still refused to talk to them. Even Tok Aba. Then, in the afternoon, Angin and Daun came sprinting into the room breathlessly.

"GUYS! What if..." Taufan started. Duri continued on, "Air isn't only mad about the Blaze thing! He's also mad about the fact we forgot his birthday too! We totally forgot they were twins!"

Gempa's mouth fell agape in shock. "You're.. Right. Should we try to apologise?" he asked Cahaya and Petir. They shook their heads simultaneously. For once, they agreed on something.

"We need to give him time to cool down." Solar reasoned. Halilintar nodded in agreement. Taufan groaned. "Seriously?! The one time you guys agree on something you're on the wrong side!" he pouted.

"It's fine. Let's just do it together with Tanah!" Duri exclaimed cheerfully, beaming. "Fine, it's worth a shot I guess." Gempa announced.

30 minutes later, they were back with a handwritten belated birthday card, Tok Aba's special hot chocolate, and a slice of cake. They had managed to convince Yaya Ais wouldn't need any cookies.

"Ais... We realised we forgot your birthday too. We got you some cake and hot chocolate, we're sorry." Gempa apologised, peeking into the room. Ais stood hunched over a photo of him and Blaze when they were kids. Silent. Unmoving.

He turned around to face Taufan, Duri and Gempa, his face blank. He wanted to cry but he couldn't. Could someone run out of tears? He thought to himself. It was possible. But for now, he needed them to get out.

He didn't care about his birthday. He was happy when he received a card with a lot of misspelt words from Blaze, but all he really wanted was to be with Blaze as of right now.

Sighing, he stood up. "Knock first. By the way, it's too late. Just... just get out." he ordered, ignoring the hurt on their faces. "Can anyone get some privacy in this house?!" he narrowed his eyes at them without a single hint of remorse or guilt.

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"We told you it wouldn't work. Just give him some space." Halilintar tsked half-heartedly. "The last people he wants to see is us." Solar agreed. Tok Aba entered the room. "Aiyah, I suppose it didn't go well? Nevermind, come eat lunch before it gets cold." he ruffled Solar's hair, glancing at Gempa. "Hey!" Solar objected.

Tok Aba ignored him. "Gempa, don't take it to heart. He's just in a state of grief right now," he continued. "Now, eat, eat!" he ordered, smiling. "Everything will be fine."

What was left unsaid? Hopefully.