Perseverance [Complete]

Chapter 28

Arthit's POV

I could hear loud giggles even before I reached the door. I knew it wouldn't be 5 minutes more before one of the floor nurses came by to shush them again. Why did I even make the trip to the children's ward was beyond me. Since Kong had woken up a week ago, Rune hardly ever left his side. But who could blame her?

Six weeks. It had been over a month since that awful day outside my apartment. Days and nights and weeks of wondering if Kong was going to survive. With Kong shielding Rune's body, the bullet had all but nipped her shoulder. Thankfully she had suffered just a few fractures and was well on the road to recovery.

That wasn't the case with Kong. The bullet had gone through his back and out his stomach. Luckily it hadn't hurt his spine, but barring that, had pierced multiple organs. By the time we got him to the hospital he was hanging on to life on a single, brittle, thread.

For weeks we watched him undergo one operation after another, never knowing if he would ever wake up again. It had been a surreal experience watching a once vibrant Kong oscillating between life and death. But finally our seemingly endless wait had ended. Last week he was finally declared stable, and not too long after he woke up, for what seemed like in a very long time.

I am not sure what one experiences while they are on the edge of life. When he first opened his eyes I had expected confusion, pain, even panic, but Kong is anything but ordinary. After torturing me with his silence for so long his first words were, "Rune?" If I wasn't crazy about this fool already, my heart would have melted.

So for the past week every time I would come by the hospital I would find Rune's bed empty, and her next to Kong. His family had for all practical purposes adopted me and Rune, with the amount of food and pampering we got on a daily basis. I am sure having to see their son in this state must have been traumatic for them, but not once did they try to alienate us. We were given free access to his room anytime we wanted. Like we were his family too.

As for the psychopath, no one really knows what happened to him. After he had shot Kong and Rune, the cop had fired back multiple times at him. I hadn't spared him a thought at that moment. All I was concerned about was stopping the bleeding wounds of Kong and Rune. I knew they took him to the hospital in critical condition. I also know he went through several surgeries of his own. But I never went anywhere near his room.

Honestly, I was scared I would snap. That one day I would get too scared, too frustrated waiting for Kong to recover and go take my revenge. After everything we went through, I didn't want to create more problems for us. When Kong woke up, I wanted everything to go back to the way it once had been. So I consciously stayed as far away from him as possible. Hatred and revenge would only lead to further pain.

But one day, few weeks ago, we heard that he was missing. They couldn't find him anywhere in the hospital. They couldn't even find any evidence of when or where he went. It seemed he had just vanished. He was in no condition to have woken up and walked off himself, so someone took it upon themselves to take him out of this hospital without a trace.

Surprisingly, I didn't care. I didn't care where he was or how he got out. I didn't even care if he was alive or dead. Maybe I should have, but the only thing my brain could process was wanting Kong back. There was a mystery behind the man that almost snatched away all my happiness, that I didn't want to solve.

On entering the room I saw both of them sitting on Kong's bed playing some silly game Rune had made up. While she was devolving in giggles, Kong would try hard to control his laughter, burst out in a chuckle and then grab his stomach in pain.

"Rune, you know you aren't supposed to make Kong laugh. It hurts his wounds."

"But pa I wasn't real..." She started her excuse before she gave me an exaggerated pout and turned back towards Kong. "P'Kong, tell pa I wasn't making you laugh. You were making me laugh."

"Yes P'Arthit. It wasn't Rune's fault at all."

"And why can't Rune tell me that directly?"

"Because she isn't talking to you."

"What did I do now?"

"Well, you remember Kit? Rune's one true love? He came by today to see Rune."

"Hmmm....but that's good right?"

"He also gave her a love letter."

"I..... I am not sure how I feel about that, but shouldn't she be over the moon right now?"

"It was addressed to you." He started chuckling again which was soon followed by an "Ow, ow, ow" while he clutched his stomach.

"P'Kong! If all the handsome men in my life go after pa then I will never get a boyfriend..."

I was smiling at Rune's whine as I walked over to Kong's side and bent down to place a quick kiss on his lips.

"How are you feeling today?"

"Better now that you are back." He grabbed the front of my shirt to pull me in for a longer kiss.

After he had woken up, it had taken us less than 5 minutes, once we had a chance to be alone, for us to confess and lock lips. I had almost lost him forever, and from now on I wasn't about to lose a second more with him. I was still not as comfortable being affectionate in front of his family, or Rune, and even worse in front of our friends. But I don't think I will ever be able to deny Kong anything.

It will still be another month before Kong will leave the hospital. A few more weeks after that before he will be able to walk around without assistance. And finally three months later, we will go on our first official date together. This time when he will shut the door to the apartment behind us, kiss me with urgency, strip my shirt before we get anywhere close to the bedroom, I won't tell him to stop.