There was a heated argument going on between the Ritpraserts and the Nalatworasakuls about the cancellation of the engagement.
Remi knocked on the door interrupting the crowd.
Everyone fell silent as they watch Remi enter the room along with a team of doctors and Fluke in toe.
“We have analysed Fame’s condition. She is currently out of danger and could be moved out of ICU.” Remi said in a professional tone.
Everyone cheered on hearing the good news.
“But…” Remi paused. “Her results aren’t very positive. We had multiple injuries and fractures around her body when she was brought in here. It is a case of cervical transection[1] and we suspect that the patient might end up with quadriparesis [2] even if she is lucky enough. Please be mentally prepared.”
Remi and the team excused themselves.
Mrs Nalatworasakul collapsed to the floor crying. Leonard was angry that his daughter had not only messed up the marriage and also had ended up being a vegetable. For him, his daughter was nothing more than a pawn used in business deals. He stormed out of the room leaving the crying woman and Fah who was consoling his mother.
The Ritpraserts chose not to say anything at the moment. They left silently.
As they walked out of the room, they saw Fluke waiting outside the room.
Fluke greeted them.
Dream suddenly hugged Fluke, crying.
“Dream, what happened? Why are you crying?” Fluke didn’t understand why Dream was emotional at the moment. As far as he knew, Dream was not really fond of Fame. Her ill health might not be the reason for Dream’s tears.
“P’ Fluke. I have something to talk to you about.” Dream sobbed holding Fluke’s both hands.
“Then, we will leave the two of you alone.” Ann dragged the other two men with her.
“Dream, let’s talk in my room.” Fluke supported Dream by her shoulder and led her to his room in the hospital (As the son of the hospital director and one of the main therapists, Fluke had his own staff room in the hospital.)
In Fluke’s room.
Dream sat on the couch sobbing.
Fluke handed her a glass of water. Dream took the glass of water from Fluke and sipped.
“P’ Fluke, all that is happening here. All this mess is because of me.” Dream cried.
“Dream, calm down and tell me what happened.” Fluke patted her gently. He handed her a pack of tissues.
Dream took another sip of water and wiped her tears.
“P’ Fluke… I… if I hadn’t auditioned for the role in that series… none of this would have happened.” Dream whimpered.
“Dream what do you taking part in the audition have to do with this? What are you trying to say?” Fluke was puzzled.
“If I hadn’t auditioned for the role, I wouldn’t have gotten the role. If I hadn’t gotten the role, P’ Ohm wouldn’t have misunderstood us. If P’ Ohm hadn’t misunderstood us, he wouldn’t have said yes to the engagement. If P’ Ohm hadn’t said yes to the engagement, Fame wouldn’t have committed suicide.” Dream explained tearfully.
“Wait. Wait. What did you say? P’ Ohm misunderstood us? Why would he misunderstand us if you played a role against me? And how is it related to the whole engagement thing?” Fluke couldn’t figure out what Dream was trying to say.
“P’ Ohm misunderstood that there was something going on between us.”
“Something going on between us?” Fluke pointed at himself and Dream.
Dream nodded.
“P’ Ohm thought that you were interested in me and that was why you were taking good care of me.”
Fluke’s eyes widened when he heard Dream speak.
“He was actually planning to confess his love to you. But when he saw that you were getting close to me, he had no chance. He wanted to move on. That was why he agreed to the engagement without a second thought. He didn’t care who he was getting married to. He said that as long as it is not you, it is all the same.” Dream wept.
Fluke was feeling dizzy with all the new information.
‘Ohm thought that he was interested in Dream? OHM WAS IN LOVE WITH HIM???' Fluke was trying hard to process everything.
“P’ Fluke, I am really sorry. I am sorry that I became the cause of a misunderstanding between the two of you. I caused the two of you to be separated.” Dream’s voice cracked. “Ever since I got to know this, I was trying to find ways to amend the situation. That was why I had a talk with P’ Fame. I told her everything and that the two of you love each other so much. I didn’t think that she would end up committing suicide.” Dream cried harder.
“I didn’t want anything like this to happen. I just wanted the two of you to be happy together.” Dream knelt before Fluke. “P’ Fluke, what should I do now? P’ Fame is in this condition because of me.” Dream held Fluke’s hand.
Fluke hugged Dream and rubbed her back, trying to console his little sister.
“None of this is your fault, Dream. The misunderstanding between me and P’ Ohm was because we didn’t communicate with each other properly. As for Fame, you just told her the truth. It was her own decision to take her life. If anyone is responsible for her condition, it should be me, Dream. The person she was in love with was me. She had been in love with me for years now. She couldn’t accept the fact that I was into men. That was why she chose to commit suicide.” Fluke said in a gentle voice.
“But… P’ Fluke…” Dream looked at Fluke with teary eyes.
“There… There… You should stop crying now. Wipe your tears and go wash your face. You look ugly when you cry.” Fluke tried to cheer Dream up.
He supported her to stand up and showed her the way to the washroom.
He waited patiently for Dream to come out of the washroom. He was too tense at the moment to think of his relationship with Ohm. Even though he was not showing it outside, he was feeling extremely guilty towards Fame, especially after learning that Ohm had agreed to get engaged to her because of him.
Dream came out of the washroom after washing her face. Her eyes were still red from crying.
“Come. I will drive you back home.” Fluke led Dream to his car which was parked in the hospital parking lot.
“P’ Fluke can you talk to P’ Ohm and clear everything up. I know the two of you love each other so much.” Dream asked from the passenger seat of the car.
“Not now, Dream. Neither of us is in a condition to be discussing our love lives now. We need to clean the mess that we created first.” Fluke said looking at the road ahead as he drove Dream to the Ritprasert mansion.
[1] Cervical transection- also known as spinal cord transection. It is the interruption of white matter tracts, segmental grey matter, and associated nerve roots in the spinal cord at any point between the cervicomedullary junction and the tip of the conus medullaris. It compromises normal blood supply and cerebrospinal fluid circulation.
[2] Quardriparesis – also known s tetraparesis. It is a condition characterized by weakness in all four limbs (both arms and both legs). Quadriparesis is caused by an interruption in the nerves that send signals between your body and your brain. These nerves travel through your spinal column.