Mew was busy arranging the table. He and Gulf were assigned to the kitchen to prepare meals for the kids. Meanwhile, Natasha is still soundly asleep in their room.
After the couple reconciled, Mew decided to spend some time with his family. He wanted to strengthen what he and Gulf have, especially since they are both parents to Natasha.
While arranging the plates on the table, Mew heard faint footsteps. He smiled knowing who it was. Not even a minute later, a tiny voice echoed inside the kitchen.
"Papa... Daddy..." Natasha called her parents while rubbing her eyes. On her arm is Alice, her favorite doll.
Gulf smiled upon hearing the voice and left whatever he was doing to tend to his daughter. When he reached her, he lifted her. "Good morning, honey."
"Good morning, Papa," Natasha said and snuggled her head into the crook of Gulf's neck.
"How about me? Don't I get a good morning?" Mew asked from a distance.
Natasha raised her head and looked in Mew's direction. "Good morning, Daddy." The kid said, before going back to hugging Gulf again.
Gulf hugged back Natasha and patted her back. He was about to put her down on one of the chairs when he felt something off. He creased his eyebrows in confusion, and hurriedly placed his hand on Natasha's forehead.
"Baby, do you feel anything? Do you feel hurt anywhere?" Gulf asked as he felt Natasha's temperature a bit hot.
"I'm so sleepy, Papa..." the kid said, who still continues to close her eyes and cling to Gulf.
It wasn't left unnoticed by Mew, who came to where Natasha and Gulf are.
"Love? What's wrong?"
Gulf looked at him, his eyes filled with worry. "She's a bit hot and complained that she feels so sleepy. She might have a fever." Gulf said, who tightened his hug on Natasha.
Mew placed his palm on their daughter's forehead. Natasha indeed feels a bit hot compared to his temperature. "Should we bring her to the hospital?"
Gulf sighed. "I guess we'll have to let her rest a bit and give her some medicines. We have a clinic here."
Mew nodded. "Alright. I'll just finish this up. Just bring her to the room. I'll follow once I'm done here."
Gulf just nodded and went out of the kitchen. He headed to their room and placed Natasha down on their bed. He got the thermometer from the drawer of the bedside table and placed it on Natasha's underarm. When the thermometer beeped, he checked the temperature, and its 38 degrees.
"Honey, papa will get a towel and basin of water for you, okay? It'll cool down your temperature a bit."
Gulf was about to leave when Natasha's little hands held his hand.
"Papa... don't leave me here..." Natasha is now crying.
Gulf felt heartbroken seeing their daughter like that. He went back to the bed and sat beside Natasha. He hugged her and kissed her forehead.
"Shush now. Papa will stay here. Get some more sleep, and I'll wake you up once daddy brings in here your food, okay?"
"Promise papa, you won't leave?" Natasha asked, her eyes still brimming with tears.
Gulf held his daughter's hand and nodded. "Papa won't leave."
Natasha hugged him back. Minutes later, Gulf already heard a light snore. He gently moved away from the bed to stand up and get a towel and basin of water, when Natasha got hold of his shirt and held unto it.
"Papa.." Natasha said in her sleep. Eventually, tears started falling from her eyes though she was still sleeping.
Gulf had no choice, but to go back. He can't leave Natasha, since she's sick. Her clinginess also has something to do with her stepmother abandoning her, when she was little. That may have left a painful experience for her, and instilled fear when people leave her alone.
Gulf swished his head to the door when he heard a knock. He tried to stand up and open the door, but Natasha's grip on his shirt is quite firm.
The door opened, and seconds later, Mew went inside with a tray of food. He closed the door using his foot and went to their bed. He gently placed the tray of food on the bedside table and sat beside Gulf.
"How is she?" Mew asked gulf who currently looks so troubled.
"I'm so worried about her. She has never been like this, even when she got sick here before." Gulf said, his eyes fixed on their daughter.
Mew hugged Gulf and patted his back. "Should we bring her to a hospital? I have my car with me when I came here."
Gulf pouted. "It's just a mild fever, but... she's never like this. That's what worries me more over her fever."
"Let's feed her first, then give her medicines. If she won't get better after that, we'll bring her to the hospital. No more buts, okay?"
Gulf nodded and reached for the bowl of porridge from the tray. "Did you cook this?"
"One of the brothers hurriedly made it for her when I told them what happened. They said we should just take care of her, and they'll take care of the kids."
"I feel bad for staying here and not doing anything."
"They'll understand. Once Natasha's all well, we can do a lot of chores as much as we want."
Gulf looked at Mew and nodded.
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After they fed Natasha and gave her medicine, her temperature went down a bit. Gulf also placed a wet towel on Natasha's forehead to help lower her temperature. Mew went out to the town to buy fruits and medicines for Natasha.
It's already almost midnight, and the couple is alternately sleeping to tend to Natasha. Earlier, the monk/doctor had to insert an IV line in Natasha's hand, since she won't eat and kept on throwing up the medicine. She also has a very bad cough. The doctor/monk told them to monitor her temperature every 6 hours since her medicine is given through her IV line.
Gulf was the one who was currently staying up to allow Mew to get some sleep since Mew has to wake up later and tend to Natasha while Gulf slept.
Gulf might have dozed off a bit when he heard Natasha groan in pain. Gulf went into panic when he opened his eyes and saw Natasha having chills. He immediately woke Mew up, and hurriedly covered a thick blanket on her. He hugged his daughter and cried.
"Mew, let's bring her to the hospital, please," Gulf said in between his tears. He's so scared, he doesn't know what to do.
Mew immediately grabbed his car keys and carried Natasha who was still shaking, despite being covered in a thick blanket.
The monks might have heard their footsteps and gone out to see what was happening.
"Somchai, what's going on?"
"Brother, we need to bring her to the hospital now. She's not getting better." Gulf said, his tears falling non-stop from his eyes.
"Alright. Drive safely. We'll pray for her to recover very soon."
Gulf nodded and went after Mew. Once inside the car, he scooted next to Natasha in the backseat, while Mew maneuvered the steering wheel.
Minutes felt like hours while they were on their way to the hospital. Once they arrived, Natasha was brought into the emergency room, and a physician attended to her. Gulf was crying non-stop as he and Mew sat in the waiting area.
"Sshhh... don't cry. Everything will be alright. The doctors are already treating her."
"Mew, I'm so scared. What if she got sick because I was not able to properly take care of her? What if it was my fault that she caught a fever?" Gulf went hysterical.
Mew shook his head. "No. It's never your fault, and will never be your fault. Calm down, okay? She'll get well soon."
Mew hugged Gulf and kissed his head. He's scared too, but he has to be strong for both Gulf and Natasha.
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Exhaustion took its toll on Gulf, as he fell asleep on the bleachers. His head leaned on Mew's shoulder. Mew is currently having his coffee to stay awake. He's never done this before, so his body is not used to staying up late. He checked the time on his phone, and it was already past 1 am.
A doctor went to him, which made Mew wake Gulf up. When the latter is already up, the doctor greeted them.
"Are you the parents of Natasha?" The doctor asked.
"Yes, doc. How is she?" Mew said.
"I'll be direct with you." The doctor said, which made Gulf feel like his breathing suddenly become so rigid.
"Why, doc? Is she not well? What happened to my daughter?" Gulf asked. Mew held his hand to assure him that it'll gonna be fine.
"Your daughter has pneumonia. We were able to diagnose it, after running some tests and x-ray on her."
"Will she be okay?" Gulf asked.
"You don't need to worry about her pneumonia. It's not that bad. It's treatable with antibiotics." The doctor assured them.
"Thank God..."
"But I have one more thing to say." The doctor continued. "And I need to speak this with you in my office. Would you please follow me?
Mew and gulf are a bit confused, but they followed the doctor into his office. Once they were inside, they sat down on the chairs in front of the doctor's table.
"Doc, why do you have to tell us this in your office? Is there something wrong with our daughter?" Mew asked.
The doctor looked at them with pity. "Aside from pneumonia, we found another unusual result from your daughter's blood samples. So we ran a few more tests, and I have here the result."
The doctor handed them a paper with a laboratory result. With shaking hands, Gulf received the paper and covered his mouth with his hand to suppress his cries.
"Your daughter has an abnormal count of white blood cells and red blood cells on her when we conducted the CBC (complete blood count) test. Her white blood cells are more dominant than her red ones. This is too early to say, but it is possible that she has leukemia. I had to have the test done at least thrice, before giving this to you."
Mew felt like a lump formed in his throat. "Is there something that we can do about this, doc?"
"For now, I cannot exactly tell. I will need to request a bone marrow biopsy for her. Unfortunately, our hospital doesn't have the facilities for that. I can give you a request form, but you need to bring her to Bangkok for that."
Gulf felt like his heart stopped beating with what he heard. No. He's just dreaming. This is a very bad dream. Gulf cannot say anything. He felt like his tongue was lost for a moment.
Mew hugged Gulf. His breathing is unsteady. Tomorrow morning, they'll fly to Bangkok and have Natasha cured. They can't lose her.
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After that day at the hospital, Mew arranged a private plane to pick them up from Trang and fly them over to Bangkok. With Kao's help, Natasha was immediately confined to the hospital without any delay, and the Bone Marrow Biopsy was conducted on her the same day they arrived.
Gulf didn't have the time to formally say goodbye to the monks and the other kids, as they became very busy with Natasha. He asked Win's help instead, to pick up their things, say goodbye to the monks on their behalf, and drive Mew's car back to Bangkok.
It has been a week already since they arrived in Bangkok, and Natasha was confined to a hospital. She had already lost so much weight since she won't eat and only gets to have nutrients in her body through the IV line. Mew managed to get back to work, all the while taking care of Natasha. Their brothers also gave a hand in taking care of Natasha, so the couple gets to have some rest.
It was Friday when the Bone Marrow Biopsy result came out. Kao called Mew and asked them to go to his office so that he can discuss it with them. Up volunteered to take care of Natasha, while they were away.
They were currently inside Kao's office, and Kao felt uneasy. Mew and Gulf felt like time runs so slowly. Kao bit his lip and took in a deep breath.
"I already received the result. I saw it before you, so, please. Prepare yourself for whatever the result is."
Kao handed them the envelope containing the biopsy result. Mew got the envelope and read it. He looked at Gulf with eyes full of worry.
"Why? What's wrong?"
"Love, I-"
Mew didn't even finish what he was about to say when Gulf snatched the paper from his hand. Gulf's tears smudged the red ink on the paper. It reads, positive.
Gulf shook his head several times. His tears flowed non-stop from his eyes.
"Kao, what does this mean? This is a prank, right? This... this is not true..."
Kao took a deep breath and thinned his lips into a line. "I'm sorry to break this out to you, Mew, Gulf, but Natasha has leukemia."
"No. That's not true. Kao, tell me that's not true." Gulf repeatedly shook his head.
Kao just closed his eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry."
Mew hugged Gulf while trying to hold his tears. Gulf hugged him so tightly and broke down. Mew was not able to control his tears anymore as they fell from his eyes.
"God, please. Not our daughter. If this is my punishment for doing things that I shouldn't have done years ago, just punish me. Not our daughter." Mew thought to himself.
Mew felt Gulf slowly calm down, but he felt his breathing become more rapid. Gulf then whispered in his ear, "I can't breathe."
He released Gulf from his hug and looked at his face. Just then, Gulf closed his eyes and slipped from Mew's hold, as he lost consciousness.
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When Gulf woke up, he was already inside a room, lying down on a hospital bed. Toptap is sitting on the couch across his bed, crossing his arms. When he noticed that Gulf is already awake, he went to him and held his hand.
"Mew went out to get some food and things from your house. Do you need anything?"
Gulf just shook his head. He doesn't have an appetite for everything. "How's Natasha? I want to see her."
Gulf was about to stand up when Toptap stopped him.
"Regain your energy first. You can't see your daughter if you're like that. Up is with her. Don't worry."
Gulf's tears came as if it were free-flowing water. Toptap hugged him and gently tapped his back.
"We're here for you. You have Mew, and Natasha is trying her best to fight her illness. You can rest for a bit. Cry all you want, but you must face this problem head-on and conquer it, okay?"
Gulf nodded while hugging Toptap.
---------------------------------------------------
Mew and Kao are having a talk inside the doctor's office.
"I can pay whatever amount it is, just so I can find a bone marrow donor for my daughter."
"You can, Mew. But it's not that easy to find a compatible match for your daughter."
Mew closed his eyes and released a sigh. "I don't know what to do, Kao."
Kao is kind of hesitant with the idea in his mind, but that's the only way he can think to speed up the process of looking for Natasha's compatible donor.
"Mew, I know I'm not in the position to tell you this. But you might have to find Natasha's closest relative. So that we can test them for Bone Marrow compatibility."
"I don't think Gulf will allow that to happen. He doesn't want our daughter to face the people who gave her trauma."
"But you don't have a choice. If we were to look for a donor outside her family, it might take a long time, and Natasha has to bear the consequence for that."
Mew pondered about it for a moment. Kao is right. That's the easiest way for Natasha to recover from her illness.
"I'll have to talk to Gulf about this. I cannot decide this on my own."
"Alright. Just tell me you've already decided. Once someone from her family agreed to donate, we'll run a compatibility test."
"Thank you, Kao."
Kao nodded, and Mew bid him goodbye to go to Gulf. He went straight to Kao's office upon returning to the hospital from their home to talk to him about this. Mew brought a few things that they will use because they might stay longer in the hospital.
Once he was already in Gulf's room, he saw him sitting and staring blankly at the wall. Toptap noticed his presence and looked at him. He saw his mouth to him, "He doesn't want to eat." Mew nodded and seems like Toptap got the signal, he went out of the room.
Mew went to Gulf's bed and sat on the bedside.
"Love? How are you? Why don't you eat?" Mew asked, while gently brushing his thumb on Gulf's face.
"I'm not hungry," Gulf said.
Mew is unsure whether to tell Gulf what he and Kao have talked about. Somehow, it is good news that there's a solution to Natasha's illness, and Gulf has to know.
"I talked to Kao before I came here. We can do a bone marrow transplant for Natasha." Mew started, which made Gulf face him.
"Really?"
Mew nodded. Gulf's face lit up a bit. "So when can we schedule the transplant?"
"We still have to find a donor, love... and Kao suggested that it will be easier to find one from Natasha's biological family."
"What?!"
Mew held Gulf's hand. "Gulf... I know how you despise her family for treating her like that. But they're the only way that we can save our daughter."
Gulf looked at him. "What if they want Natasha back? What if they take her away from us?"
"I won't allow that to happen. For now, we should make a decision. Not only for ourselves but as Natasha's parents. For her sake."
Gulf placed his hand above Mew's that's holding his hand. "If this is the only way that can save our daughter's life, so be it."
Mew enveloped Gulf in a hug. "Tomorrow, I'll have someone look for her biological family in Trang. Once we find them, would you go with me and talk to them?" Mew asked Gulf.
Gulf nodded. "For Natasha, for the sake of our daughter, I'll do everything."
Mew kissed Gulf's head and remained in each other's hug for God knows how long.
A/N: "No relationship is all sunshine, but two people can share one umbrella and survive the storm together." Do you think mew and gulf will get through this? Will Natasha be able to have a bone marrow donor? Let me know your thoughts about this chapter. See you at the next one, lovies!