Stockholm Syndrome (MewGulf AU)

Chapter 9

Gulf sat patiently at the waiting area as his brother was being operated by the surgeons in the operation room, trying to take out the bullet in his stomach and stitch him back together. He put his head on Mew's shoulder as Mew wrapped his arm around Gulf, trying his best to comfort him. Gulf felt numb. He couldn't feel anything anymore and had run out of tears to cry. He just stared blankly ahead at those white hospital walls looking lifeless. His hands and clothes were still stained with Saint's blood and he didn't even bother to wash it off, that's the least of his concern right now. Time felt like it was moving ever so slowly as he waited for hours and hours for the surgery to be done and jumping up whenever one of the doctors came out of the operation room and was only disappointed when they didn't come to him. All the while, Mew stayed by Gulf's side, only leaving when he has to go to the toilet or went to get them some drinks. They fell asleep on each other, woke up and feel asleep again as the night shifted into dawn. After about 5 hours of waiting, the doctor eventually came out of the operation room and Gulf immediately sprang up onto his feet as he approached them. Mew joined him by his side, holding his still shaking and cold blood-staint hands.

"Family member of Saint Suppapong?" The doctor asked, as he pulled down his surgical mask.

"Yes, yes. I'm his brother," Gulf prompted, eagerly waiting for the answer.

"Well, we managed to remove the bullet but..." He sighed and paused for a moment. "He had lost a lot of blood."

Gulf's face crumpled and Mew pulled him in, letting Gulf bury his face in his chest and a new wave of tears started to pool in his eyes again.

"But don't worry he survived." The doctor smiled and Gulf's head snapped towards him. "Luckily the bullet didn't hit any of his vital organs so there's no serious injuries, but still he needs to be hospitalized for a few days until he is stable again."

"Oh, thank God." Gulf put a hand to his forehead as the tears streamed down his cheeks, only this time it was happy tears. His tears were flowing down uncontrollably and he was already sobbing by then that he had to hide his face away and wasn't able to speak. Mew saw that and he took the lead instead, thanking the doctor on behalf of Gulf.

"Thank you," Mew said, shaking the doctor's hand. "Thank you so much."

The doctor nodded and said, "You can go in and see him but he's still in a deep sleep." With a final nod and a pat on Mew's shoulder, the doctor left.

Gulf slumped into the chair, still burying his face in his hands and his body shaking from the sobbing. Mew took a seat next to him, putting up a smile. He took Gulf's hands off and cupped Gulf's face with his hands instead, gently wiping the tears off with his thumb. Gulf puffy eyes looked into Mew's smiling ones.

"There, there. He's safe now. He's alive. Your brother is alive."

Gulf abruptly flung his arms around and pulled Mew into a tight hug, taking Mew by surprise. He returned the gesture, caressing Gulf's head with his hand as Gulf continued to bawl his eyes out into Mew's shoulder, wetting his thin singlet, silently thanking God for this one miracle.

....

Gulf slowly pushed the door open to Saint's room, careful not to wake him up. Gulf had already changed into a new clothes and washed himself up before coming in to see his brother. He didn't want to at first, he was really eager to just go in and see Saint as soon as he got the good news but Mew insisted him to get changed first.

"He would still be sleeping anyway. Please just let me take you home and get yourself changed," Mew persuaded when Gulf stubbornly refused. "You don't want him to see you like this when he wakes up, do you?"