Klance - Beat Drop (Complete)

Chapter 28 Clouds

"Hi, sweety!" Keith's heart lurched.

The hospital room was smaller than as-seen-on-TV but just as bright white. The whole room smelled sterile, looked it too- the spotless sink next to the bathroom, the linoleum tile floors, the sheets that covered Acxa. The day before, while Keith and Lance were on the plane to Texas, Acxa had collapsed from fatigue and malnourishment. Nate had had no idea, he thought Acxa had been eating well, but it was not so, as Acxa had lost 20 pounds over the course of her diagnosis. Nate was beside himself with worry and had decided that Acxa should stay in the hospital for now until her health balanced. The family knew that the chances of Acxa's health improving were beyond slim, but no one said anything.

Keith and Lance had arrived the night before, and Nate had met them at the house. After explaining, they had stayed at the house for the night but left for the hospital early the next morning as soon as visiting hours were open. Lance had been so understanding the whole time, it kind of felt like he was Acxa's son too, he was part of the family. Keith gripped his hand tightly as they walked into the hospital room behind Nate. Keith's father first kissed Acxa on the forehead, the gestured to the three chairs that were already set up beside Acxa's bed.

Keith's mom was sitting up in bed, and Keith's face crumpled when he saw her. If it had been bad before... this was so much worse. It wasn't even one specific thing, she just didn't look right. Besides her arms, which were thin and delicate, her face was strained and tight, and her smile didn't reach her eyes. Keith wondered how much his heart could ache.

"Hi, Mom," Keith mumbled, and sat down in the chair next to his dad, holding onto Acxa's hand lightly. She didn't wear one of her head scarves, and it was the first time in a long time that Keith had seen her whole face, her ears and forehead. He looked past all the equipment that sat next to her and focused just on her face. He didn't want to see anything else.

...

Keith and Lance didn't go home after Thanksgiving, which was an awkward, yet charming hospital dinner, complete with turkey subs and chocolate pie from the bakery down the street. They watched romcoms and Nate brought the photo albums, causing an outcry from Keith when the embarrassing album was placed neatly across Acxa's legs for the whole world (meaning Lance) to see. The pictures of 'emo Keith' were the most embarrassing, followed by 'spaghetti monster Keith' and weird bath photos. Acxa was a sucker for those ones, fawning over Keith as if he were still 5 years old with globs of tomato sauce over his shirt and noodles in his hair. Lance laughed so hard he cried.

Lance visited the ballet studio in the neighboring town and Keith walked around the 5-mile pond with his dad, and they all were with Acxa as soon as she woke up every morning and as late as visiting hours permitted. Lance reluctantly went home after the first week, having to go to practice for The Nutcracker. Acxa made him facetime her from the studio, and Lance showed her the startings of his dance as one of the Russian princes, a contemporary twist on the extremely difficult dance.

Keith didn't buy a plane ticket back home, he didn't want to leave his mom for a stupid paycheck and dumb homework assignments. No, Acxa needed him home, not to mention Nate, who was a mess when his wife's back was turned. In a way, he looked just as bad as Acxa. Keith knew his dad didn't sleep, he didn't either most nights, but they met in mutual silent agreement by the coffee pot every morning, exhausted eyes meeting each other as they stood between chipped, robin's-egg-blue mugs.

Most days at the hospital, Keith would take Acxa and her walker to the north wing of the hospital where he would help her climb the stairs up to a quiet waiting area with wide glass windows displaying their favorite spot, the Garden of Hope. Through a glass door, they walked down the cobbled path slowly, Keith's arm around Acxa's waist to support her if she were to stumble. It was getting cold out, so they didn't spend more than 10 minutes out, but it was peaceful to sit on the granite benches and admire the trees that reached up over their heads to touch leaves with the others that lined the path. The flowers were all dead, but the amber, red, and orange leaves that clung to the branches and littered the stone floor were just as pretty to look at.