Oh Boy! (BL)

16 - Fractured (3/3)

"Don't you think you should start showing your face around school again, honey?"

I put my club eight on top of the stack of cards piled on Clara's blanket and shrugged.

Clara made an irritated sigh and lowered her cards. "Ken, Lisa said that your mom's results returned to normal. She's doing okay again and I'm sure she wouldn't want..."

"I'm gonna get myself a coffee. Do you want anything?" I slipped from my chair and rushed to the door.

"Ken you can't go on like this forever. You..."

I didn't hear the rest as the door shut behind me. Outside in front of the room, I leaned back against the wall. It was my second Tuesday at the hospital and slowly but surely, I became desperate.

Because she was right. Lisa had literally beamed when she'd told me that Mom's condition had returned to the state she'd been in before that Saturday. There was no reason for me to stay much longer; though, her vitals could, of course, change back to the worse. The truth was, I didn't want to return to school.

"YOU!"

Sh*t.

Gudrun was making a beeline for me. "What're you doing here?! Visiting hours have been long over and...What on earth are you wearing?!"

I choked. "I..."

"Young Ken has my permission to stay for a couple more minutes." An elderly doctor whom I'd seen no more than a couple of times during Mom's checkups stepped up next to me. "And he's wearing these scrubs because he was drenched from the rain, and I wanted to prevent him from becoming our next patient here."

The nurse was taken aback. She hadn't expected that.

Me neither.

She shot me one last murderous look before turning away.

"Take a walk with me, Kenji." The doctor nodded towards the vending machine at the end of the hallway when I stared at him with clueless eyes.

"How do you know my name?" I asked while walking next to him.

He looked at me from the side. "I think everyone here knows who you are by now. I mean, you've been living here for almost two weeks now without being a patient."

Oops.

He pulled a white card from his lab coat's pocket and held it to the machine's front panel before choosing a drink. "The way you take care of your mom is honorable. Kaori is a kind woman, and she can be proud to have such a caring son."

The sides of my mouth dropped.

"But you have to start thinking about your own future, too, my boy." He tapped on the panel once again after taking out a steaming paper cup. "Go back to school. You can keep on visiting your mom, but what're you going to do when she wakes up? Do you really want to explain to her why you have to retake your senior year? Because that's what will happen if you keep spending your weekdays here instead of using your time studying."

No, that was the last thing I wanted. But...

"Let us all give our best to get your mom back on her feet." The doctor held out his big, wrinkled hand to me. "But that's something we can only do together. Our staff makes sure Kaori gets better, and you make sure she can be proud of you when she wakes up."

I hesitated. How was I supposed to make her proud?

"Ken?" The doctor's gaze was stern. "Come on, shake hands with me before I make a fool of myself in front of everyone."

Only now did I notice the people in the hallway who kept staring at the two of us. With burning cheeks, I hurried to take the doctor's hand and blinked when he put something in my palm before I could let go. A cup of... "Tea?"

He lifted a bushy brow. "Boy, you're literally made of coffee. A cup of tea will do you good for a change."

That said, he patted my back and went down the hallway. While I was watching him leave, Lisa rushed out of mom's room. "There you are!"

I smiled.

"Listen, Ken...about school..."

"I'm going back to school, starting tomorrow."

She hesitated momentarily, then tears shot in her eyes. "Thank goodness! I was so worried!" Lisa drew me into a hug. Given that my physical condition was far from well-groomed, her embrace was a bit uncomfortable. "I promise to call you ASAP if anything happens."

Call...

"I don't have a phone..."

"But you do!" Frantically, Lisa searched for something in her scrubs. "Here."

I stared at the smartphone in her palm. "Lisa..."

"It's a gift. Matt and I shared the bill, so take it already!" She pushed the slim gadget into my hand. "You only have to get yourself a SIM card."

"Thanks." My voice broke.

Because the phone felt like a lifeline.