Fourth felt guilty for what happened.
Gemini still hadn't regained consciousness, and Dunk was undergoing surgery. Fourth pulled a chair to Gem's bed, grabbed his hand, gently stroking its surface, and stared sadly at his boyfriend. Gemini was breathing on his own and the doctors kept him in a coma only as a precaution, but Fourth still couldn't stop worrying. There were only the two of them in the sickroom, and the other bed was completely empty.
“We don't have many patients at this time of day, but I'm afraid if we say it too loud, new cases will hit us like an avalanche”. Dr. Khaotung, already changed into his medical coat, explained to Fourth, who expected more patients.
“Huh?”
“Mhm, it's a kind of curse or superstition, it's better not to say out loud that it's calm, because...”
And as if on cue, a young nurse entered the room and asked for help with another patient. Khaotung smiled knowingly at Fourth. “I told you so. Let's say it's very tough, it's so hard that we can't cope. You don't have to sit with him the whole time, he won't wake up for at least 12 hours. It's for his own good. Although the toxin has already been flushed from his body, it would be best to leave him in a coma. We'll wake him up tomorrow. You better go home, get some sleep, you look terrible”.
“Thanks for the compliment”. Fourth snorted, not very pleased.
The Doctor left for his duties, and Fourth was left alone with Gemini.
It was strange to see him so helpless, weak and still. Normally, Norawit was very active, he loved dancing and sports, he was everywhere, and now he was lying in this hospital bed, dressed in pajamas and hooked up to a drip. Next to him was a screen measuring basic vital signs. Fourth looked at that screen. Everything seemed to be fine, his heart rate was calm and regular, typical of a sleeping person.
“I'll come to you tomorrow”. He said quietly, raised Gem's hand to his mouth and kissed it gently. “Sleep and dream about me, about us together. Imagine that we went on holiday somewhere to the seaside and we were lying together on one blanket on the beach. The sun is shining brightly, but it doesn't bother us because we have a large, colorful umbrella above our heads. Next to us are our brothers and friends, there is also your mother and her best friend. Imagine that we also have a fridge with cold beer and another with ice cream. You play guitar, I sing for you. We are there together, carefree, free and happy. Imagine this. And then promise me, when you wake up, that we will do this: that we will all go on a beach vacation together. I want to hear your voice against the background of the sound of the waves and the screams of seagulls. Think about it and I'll go. Good night, sleep well, my beautiful prince”.
He didn't know what possessed him to say something so tender and romantic, and when he said it, he actually imagined it himself.
He gently placed his boyfriend's hand on the sheets, stood up, and walked to the door. Finally, he turned around and, although Gemini couldn't see it, he blew him a kiss with his hand.
“I will come back to you, my handsome artist and superhero”.
And then he left.
He already had an idea in his head how to thank everyone for what they had done for them. Gem, Dunk and the others risked a lot. For him. This made him realize one important thing: for the first time in his life he had his own family, he had a family who loved him and who did not want to take advantage of him at all. A family that was ready to give their life for him.
Just remembering how many people came to save him, he felt very emotional. So strong that he couldn't control the large, pea-sized tears flowing from his eyes.
Fortunately, there was no one in the corridor who could see his little moment of weakness. Nattawat quickly wiped his tears and left the building. Suddenly, Heart's ghost materialized right next to his shoulder.
“Boo!” The mischievous ghost shouted directly into Fourth's ear, who jumped at such an unexpected sound. The ghost laughed merrily. There was no doubt why he became a poltergeist after his death. In life, he must also have been a huge prankster who loved to play pranks on others. Fourth imagined that he saw Heart jokingly mixing shampoo with blue hair dye and then washing LiMing's head.
“Do not scare me! Just because you're a ghost doesn't mean you have to act like a ghost. You scared me. It's not allowed. It wasn't a clean move”. Fourth insulted Heart by wagging his finger. The ghost's figure immediately lost its bright glow and became more transparent. This made Fourth feel guilty, causing him to apologize to the mischievous ghost.
“It's not a big deal, don't worry, I'm ok”. Heart smiled again. “But maybe we'd better go to your place, there are people staring at us, and remember, they can't see me”.
Fourth seemed to come to his senses. He looked around him and only then noticed a group of teenagers with phones and cups of bubble tea in their hands, who were whispering about something to each other with obvious excitement, looking in his direction. Fourth smiled at them and they immediately ran away.
“On my word, these kids today are getting weirder every year”. He heard the tired voice of an older woman behind him, carrying two large bags filled to the brim with groceries.
“Oh, good evening Mrs. Montgomery. Will you let me take these bags from you?”
“Oh, nong Fourth! You fell from heaven, my love! Yes, yes, take them, I don't have the strength anymore. Oh, it's good that there are still good boys like you in the world, because nothing good will likely come of those kids. I'm telling you, boy, they do nothing but have their noses stuck in their phones and can't see anyone or anything beyond their funny little screens”.
The woman spoke in a similar tone all the way to her house, but Fourth knew she wasn't actually a bad person. She was just lonely. Mrs. Montgomery was their neighbor, that is, the neighbor of Fourth's fathers, and Nattawat often spent time at her place. She had two adult children, but they went abroad. She was a widow but still used her husband's surname. There were rumors that she was responsible for his death. Mr. Montgomery was an American businessman who came to Thailand forty years ago on business and immediately fell in love with the secretary working for the branch of the company to which he was also assigned as head of the marketing department. Fourth didn't believe for a moment that this kind-hearted, if somewhat grumpy, woman would be capable of poisoning her own husband. The police also came to the same conclusion, because ultimately the investigation into Mr. Montgomery's death was closed and the woman was found innocent. And although it was an open murder, the perpetrator was never discovered.
Fourth walked the woman inside her house, set down the shopping bags in the kitchen, and made his lonely trek to the main street, where he expected a taxi waiting for him, which he had ordered to that address via the app moments earlier.
Only when he got home did he realize that Gun had tried to call him at least 10 times and had left him one short message. Fourth replied without paying much attention to the content or the spelling and grammatical correctness of his text.
Fourth: Im home, gem safe but still in coma, theyre still ooperating Dunk, we'll talk tomorrow, today im exhausted. good night
He took a quick shower, prepared a quick dinner, and then sat at his desk, opening his laptop and searching for the most beautiful quotes about love. When he finally found a few that he liked, he wrote them down in his notebook and he could finally fall asleep peacefully.
Heart's spirit never left him. Mrs. Montgomery didn't see him, but Fourth was so tired that he completely forgot about him. Heart was a poltergeist, which allowed him a little more than ordinary ghosts, so when he saw Nattawat sleeping at his desk with his head in his hand, he used all the energy he had to gently move Fourth to the bed. He covered him with the blanket up to his neck and laughed when he noticed the boy's bare feet sticking out from under the sheets.
Another memory was unlocked: Heart and LiMing spending their first night together at Heart's house. The boy's parents didn't know that LiMing was staying the night, but both teenagers were happy about it. Heart felt that even though he was a ghost, he could still feel grief and longing. His longing for LiMing was so great that it was difficult to describe or understand.
Heart's ghost sat on the floor next to Fourth's bed, staring at the sleeping boy.
“You look just like him. You don't even know how much it hurts, you don't even know. You have your Gemini almost at your fingertips, and I have probably lost my Li forever. I have to finally accept that I will never find him again. His soul must have moved on and I was left here to feel this guilt forever, I don't know what I did to deserve this, but I guess this is my curse”.
Heart reached a ghostly hand in front of him and brushed Nattawat's bangs away from his forehead.
“You really look like him. I think it's true that you were triplets. I wonder if you were also a family in your previous life? Even if not, you were definitely close in some way”.
Suddenly, Heart realized that his energy was fading. When he tried to touch Fourth again, his hand plunged into his cheek as if he had dipped it in water.
“I'm getting weaker, Fourth. My time is running out. Soon I will be trapped forever as a mere ghost. I don't want to rush you, I really don't, but please hurry. I don't want to get stuck here. Soon none of you will see me, even though I will still be here. Please. I'm so scared”.
And Heart allowed himself to be weak and emotional, allowed himself to feel everything he had been holding inside. He climbed onto the bed and lay down next to Fourth, who just then rolled over, bringing him face to face with Heart. Heart didn't have a heart that could start beating faster and louder, but he still felt strange. As a ghost, he didn't need as much sleep as a living human, so he decided to spend the rest of the night staring at Fourth and imagining that it wasn't he and LiMing who died, but Gemini and Fourth. He knew that such thinking was selfish and cruel, but he felt it was unfair: Gemini and Fourth were constantly given new opportunities, their careers were going well, they had both escaped from Death's sword several times and could still discover more secrets of the world, while LiMing and Heart lost this opportunity forever.
A bit of bitterness and hatred towards the boys ran through Heart's non-existent veins, but he also realized that none of them were really to blame for anything.
Suddenly, another memory hit Heart like lightning.
He jumped up abruptly from the bed and fell over.
The memory he regained shed new light on all the events. Heart's ghost felt that he needed to get out of here to think things over calmly.
It was a memory from the day LiMing died. A memory that was the key to solving the puzzle.