A Rose Amongst Thorns

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five

"You're doing great Dr. Suthiluck. We're going to do it just a couple more times, okay? Remember to concentrate and try to roll the ball in a straight line across the table."

Kongpob blinked and stiffly lifted his hand and placed it on top of the ball. He was propped up in his bed with a head/neck stabilizer holding his head in place. Having been in a coma, his limbs and muscles had atrophied. He required physical therapy to regain full use of them. The breathing and feeding tubes had also compromised Kongpob's ability to breathe and eat on his own.

Although he had been working with a speech therapist, his ability to speak was intermittent at best. He most communicated by pointing and blinking while being able to utter a word or two with great effort. Food was limited to soup and pudding, which had to be fed to him by an attendant.

He was rolling his hand across the ball very slowly when he heard a knock at the door. Breaking his concentration when he looked up, the ball fell from the table and landed on the floor. Kongpob grimaced and frowned knowing he could not bend down to pick it up.

"No worries. I'll pick up the ball and we'll try again later. How does that sound?'

Kongpob pointed a finger at the door.

"You want me to see who's at the door?"

Kongpob took a deep breath and did his best to speak.

"Y-y...y-y...y..."

"It's okay. I know it's hard for you to speak right now. Remember when you couldn't even breathe without help? You're making good progress. Let's answer that door, huh?"

The therapist opened the door to find Phana and Rome. The corner of Kongpob's lips turned up a little seeing them.

"Before you guys come in, let me just give you the rundown."

Phana stepped forward. "I'm a doctor and I'm familiar with his situation. I'll explain it to my friends. Thank you."

"We're just finishing up a therapy session and he tires very quickly. Try to keep any activity to a minimum. His dinner should be delivered soon, so maybe you or your friend can help him this evening."

"Sure."

With that the therapist left the room. Phana and Rome approached Kongpob's bed and smiled warmly at him.

"Kong, I know you can't talk very well yet, so we'll make sure to ask you yes and no questions to keep it simple, alright?" Rome sat down next to the bed and held Kongpob's hand. "There is someone else here to see you. Is it okay if I bring him in?"

Rome looked at Phana and nodded. Exiting the room, Phana quickly returned pushing Arthit in a wheelchair. Kongpob's eyes filled with tears and he began to quietly sniffle. Using all his strength he lifted his thin hand to reach for Arthit. Phana pushed Arthit's chair next to Kongpob's bed. Arthit gently held Kongpob's hand and kissed it.

"Kong my love. I've missed you. I'm so happy to see you."

Kongpob took a deep breath and sighed.

"A...A...Ar-thit." He smiled after being able to say Arthit's name. His breath was labored, and he closed his eyes.

"You know there are better ways to get a guy to notice you. If you wanted me hang around all you had to do was ask." Everyone laughed while Arthit softly patted Kongpob's arm. "Rome can you help me to stand?"

Arthit braced himself using the arms of the wheelchair while Rome placed his arms underneath Arthit's armpits.

"Okay. Let's do it on three, alright? One...two...three. Arthit stood slowly and leaned heavily on the bedrails. He moved towards Kongpob and gently kissed his lips. He could feel Kongpob's tears on his cheek. Arthit used his thumb to wipe the tears from Kongpob's face. "Don't cry sweetheart. I'm here now, and I'm okay."

"H...h...heart?"

Using all his strength, Kongpob touched Arthit's chest.

"Yes. I received a heart transplant. It was a close call, but I finally got one. I'm going through cardiac and physical therapy now. It's hard but loving you gives me strength."

"L-lo-love y-you."

"I love you too Kong. Do your best so you can come back to me, okay?"

Arthit lowered himself back to the wheelchair, and Phana moved to the other side of the bed to talk to Kongpob.

"Kong. I talked to Dr. Garrick. She said they would operate on your spinal cord this week. Isn't that great? Once the swelling goes down, you should regain the use of your legs."

"T-ti...tired. S..sl-sleep."

Kongpob yawned.

"I think he wants to go to sleep."

Rome leaned over Kongpob's bed and gave him a hug.

"I'm glad you're going to be okay Kong. Arthit here has been driving crazy trying to come see you. I think he just needs to get laid." Arthit blushed and hit Rome on his arm. Kongpob smiled widely and chuckled a little. "What? It's true. Every other word out of your mouth is KONG."

"Okay you two. That's enough. Kong needs to rest. I'll make sure to bring Arthit back tomorrow to see you. Sleep well Kong."

"Goodbye love. I'll dream of you. I love you."