To Hold Tight or to Let Go

Chapter Twenty-Four

That night with the sedative, Arthit slept well but occasionally during his midday naps, he was plagued with different kind of nightmares that all left him shaken up and emotional. Ohm started his therapy sessions but since he was also doing speech and physical therapy, Arthit was drained and it didn't seem as if the therapy was going anywhere. With the strain of trying to walk and move his fingers, Arthit was getting frustrated and sometimes would shut everyone out, including Kongpob. But it was just as Ohm had warned. Arthit was emotionally irregulated and his mood swings were sometimes extreme. After another tiring day of therapy, Arthit was quiet, seemingly giving everyone the silent treatment. Nothing had gone to plan and he was frustrated, rightfully so.

"It will go better next time P," Kongpob said.

Arthit only rolled his eyes.

"Well if rolling your eyes was a part of therapy you'd be excelling," Kongpob said.

Arthit made a face.

"Don't make that face with me. I'm just trying to be supportive and you're being rude. Don't roll your eyes at me."

Kongpob saw Arthit run his tongue across his teeth. He was irritated and clearly wanted to say something but after a struggling speech therapy session, he didn't feel like hearing his own voice stutter nor did he feel like straining himself just to get his thoughts out. Everything in his head sounded smooth and clear but the minute he opened his mouth; he could speak properly. It was annoying.

"What? Won't say what you have to?" Kongpob asked. "Regardless if you stutter or not you need to communicate with me."

Arthit just glared at him.

"Alright, suit yourself," Kongpob sighed. He went to the desk in the room and opened his laptop so he could get some online work done. Ten minutes into his work, when he looked at the bed, Arthit was completely knocked out. Kongpob sighed then went to the bed to make Arthit comfortable then he took his computer to one of the conference rooms so he could work with his mother.

"Missed me?" she teased him.

"Don't flatter yourself," Kongpob rolled his eyes.

"Wow, my baby boy giving me attitude. Something must be wrong," she said.

"Nothing is wrong," he said. Kaiya glared at him for some time before he groaned and caved. "I'm frustrated," he admitted.

"Why?" she questioned.

"It's hard enough seeing Arhit suffer without feeling frustrated. I just want him to get better but it's like he doesn't progress and when he doesn't progress he gets closed off and doesn't want to keep trying. Doesn't he want to get out of here?"

"I'm sure he wants to get out of here baby boy. But remember that there's a lot of struggle going through Arthit. Not just physically."

"And I understand but I can't just be here waiting for him to go backwards. He needs to keep pushing forward no matter the setbacks he has."

"Some people don't have that kind of fighting spirit. And also, sometimes people don't need to hear that happy go lucky cheering. You know, the 'it'll be better next time! Don't worry you did good, just try again'."

Kongpob winced knowing that was exactly how he'd been cheering on Arthit.

"Sometimes it benefits people to hear the truth. Saying, 'you sucked this time but there's always tomorrow,' or 'yeah that was rough but you tried hard,' can be beneficial. And from Arthit's standpoint I bet he's pretty tired of your optimism. He probably just wants to hear some sort of hard truth from you. And I think if you did that, you yourself wouldn't feel so frustrated either."