Kongpob practically ran through the halls of the hospital until he saw Mr. and Mrs. Rojnapat standing outside of Arthit's room. Mrs. Rojnapat was pacing nervously but stopped when she saw Kongpob, walked toward him and pulled him into a tight hug.
"I told you he'd be okay," she said, laughing. "I knew he'd be okay."
Mr. Rojnapat joined them, placing a hand on his wife's shoulder as she pulled away. Kongpob greeted him with a wai.
"Has the doctor said anything? Is he okay? I know they said there could be some complications." Kongpob knew he was speaking fast, but his nerves wouldn't let him slow down. He needed to know that Arthit was okay.
"The doctor is still speaking to him, evaluating him," she replied. "He said he would update us on his condition as soon as he has what he needs."
Kongpob nodded his understanding and they fell into silence as they waited. Mrs. Rojnapat resumed her pacing while Mr. Rojnapat and Kongpob sat in the chairs opposite Arthit's door. They waited for what felt like hours until finally the doctor emerged, clipboard in hand.
"Ah, good, you're all here," he greeted cheerily when Kongpob and Mr. Rojnapat rose to join Mrs. Rojnapat. "I have some good news for you. He seems to be coherent, no signs of major memory loss. He can't remember the accident, or much of what occurred beforehand, but that's fairly normal in trauma cases. He might experience some nausea from the medication, general confusion, and his voice and throat will be a little rough until it heals from the breathing tube, but other than that he is definitely extremely lucky."
Mrs. Rojnapat let out a sob of relief and Mr. Rojnapat pulled her into a hug. "Can we see him?"
"Of course. I just suggest you keep your conversations lighthearted for the time being. Sometimes there can be suppressed emotional trauma from an accident of this sort so until we are able to get a psychological evaluation, try to stay away from this topic."
"Of course," Mrs. Rojnapat agreed. With a smile the doctor stepped aside and the three of them entered the room, Mr. and Mrs. Rojnapat in front and Kongpob trailing behind trying to stay mostly out of sight as Arthit's parents rushed to his side. Kongpob watched the tearful reunion, cautious hugs being delivered all around as Arthit smiled at his parents from where he was propped up on several pillows. He was still attached to a heart monitor, an IV drip, and an oxygen cannula lay on the bed next to him, but even just the absence of the breathing and feeding tubes brought his appearance from heartbreaking to palatable, if you ignored the cuts and bruises adorning his body.
"Mom, stop squeezing me. I still have broken bones, you know."
Arthit's voice sounded hoarse, as if it hurt to talk. Kongpob winced in sympathy, remembering when he'd had strep throat in high school and it felt like razor blades digging into his vocal chords whenever he made a noise. He watched from the doorway as they continued to exchange tearful hugs, Arthit insisting over and over that he was okay and his mother could stop crying, but her tears continued to come rapidly. It wasn't until several moments later that Arthit's gaze finally drifted away from his parents and landed on Kongpob. His eyes widened slightly in shock and he looked between his parents and Kongpob, confused.
"Why is he here?"
Mrs. Rojnapat motioned for Kongpob to come closer, so he did. She smiled warmly at Arthit as she pushed Kongpob forward. "He's visited you every day since the accident. He really is a wonderful young man. You should have told us you have a boyfriend, I-Aoon."
"He's not my boyfriend," Arthit said sharply, earning a surprised look from his parents. Kongpob cleared his throat awkwardly, looking down at his feet
"I'm sorry, Aunty, Uncle, could I have a moment alone with Arthit?" Arthit's parents acquiesced and as soon as they were out of the room Kongpob turned to Arthit. "P'Arthit, I can explain."
"I hope so, and it better be a damn good reason for why my parents think you're my boyfriend." Arthit's voice dripped with malice and Kongpob winced, not meeting Arthit's eyes.
"I was at work when I heard about your accident. P'Earth drove me. She still thinks we're together, but I didn't want to out you again," Arthit scoffed but Kongpob ignored it and continued. "P'Earth was the one who told them, she said they knew you were gay and it would be okay. I didn't have much choice but to play along."
Arthit brought his non-injured hand up to his face, carefully rubbing at his eyes. "Goddammit. What did I do to deserve this kind of karma?" he muttered. "Fine, we'll pretend until I recover, only because my mom is so happy that I have a boyfriend and I don't want to break her heart."
Kongpob nodded, unsure of what to say. He felt like shit, forcing Arthit into this position yet again. "P'Arthit, I'm sorry."
Arthit held up a hand, shaking his head tiredly. "Don't. I don't have the energy right now."
"Okay. I'll go get your parents."
When Kongpob returned they created an excuse to Arthit's parents for the confusion. They stayed relatively close to the truth; Arthit and Kongpob had argued, resulting in Arthit impulsively ending the relationship. Arthit assured his mother he no longer felt that way, guilt flashing just briefly across his face at her beaming smile before he was once again enveloped in a hug.
"You always have been so stubborn and impulsive. You should be grateful to have found someone as patient and accepting as Kongpob," she admonished him, earning an eye roll and a glare sent toward Kongpob before the conversation drifted to other topics.
Soon enough, Arthit fell asleep again and Kongpob and Arthit's parents settled into their chairs. Kongpob pulled out some files and began working, but he found himself unable to concentrate on them. Without being able to talk outloud to Arthit, focusing on the information in front of him was nearly impossible. He frustratedly scratched out a long calculation he was solving to decide between three suppliers for the best value, letting out a loud sigh and rubbing a hand over his eyes.
"Kongpob, what are you doing?"
Kongpob's head snapped up to see Arthit watching him, his brows furrowed. "Just working on some files for work. I left early when your mom called me," he replied.
"Which file?"
"The portable dry cleaning systems we were assigned to together. I'm almost done, I'm just struggling to figure out which supplier will provide the best deal for the heating components."
"Bring it here."
"Arthit, are you sure you should be stressing yourself out over work so soon?" Mrs. Rojnapat spoke up. Arthit waved her off, motioning for Kongpob to bring his chair closer, on the opposite side of the bed as Arthit's parents.
"Nothing will make me feel more normal that doing work," Arthit insisted as Kongpob laid the file on his lap so they could look at it together. Kongpob watched as Arthit squinted at the numbers on the page, his lips moving as he read.
"Oh, this is easy, it will be BKK Steel Factory," Arthit said, circling the supplier name and scribbling out a phone number and name before handing it to Kongpob. "That's the phone number for the head of sales, tell him Khun Arthit sent you."
Kongpob stared at the page, surprised. "How did you know that so fast?"
"Well, I've done those calculations before, dozens of times. You start to memorize these things after a certain point. Plus we've worked with this company more than the others. Loyalty is very important in purchasing, companies reward loyalty."
"Thank you, P'Arthit." Kongpob smiled at Arthit, who nodded awkwardly in response. "You know, when you were...unconscious...I would talk to you about whatever I was working on."
"Why?" Arthit asked, his tone clearly indicating he thought the idea was silly.
"It helped." Kongpob shrugged. "I don't really know, I think hearing it outloud helped me see things I was overlooking."
"Hmm." Arthit narrowed his eyes at the files on his lap. "My eyes are tired. Read them to me. I'll help you if I can."
Kongpob caught the papers Arthit pushed his way, pulling them over to his own lap. He tried to discreetly dampen down the smile threatening to spread over his face as he began reading the papers, asking questions where he struggled. Sometimes Arthit would reply, but mostly Kongpob managed to work the problem out himself as he talked. Soon enough, Arthit fell asleep, leaving Kongpob reading the papers to empty air. Arthit's parents observed with shared smiles as Kongpob barely even acknowledged his sudden lack of an active audience, pausing just long enough to brush a stray piece of hair out of Arthit's eyes before returning to the files.
~~~
A/N: Y'all I have so many awesome plans ahead for this story, I'm so stoked to write them all out! If you want updates on my fics and general gay shennanigans, follow me on Twitter @kadenoonio! Hope you enjoyed this update, and thanks as always for the love and support!! 💗🧡💛💚💙💜