Withering:3
AUTHOR'S POV。。 " what's his condition? Is he okay now? " Asks a the one with a worried voice. They might have been really scared to have sounded like the way they did. " okay?" The Dr had a questioning expression with traces of anger hidden among it. And then he continued with his talk. "He seems worse than that. it seems that the patient had *hypoplastic left heart syndrome. * [ birth defect that affects normal blood flow through the heart. As the baby develops during pregnancy, the left side of the heart does not form correctly. The treatment requires the patient to undergo 3 surgeries, each after a fixed time period.] "He went through the required surgeries, but now seems to have developed other heart conditions. And I believe you know that the only solution is a transplant. Plus, as we looked up on his past health records his name is on the list of receivers for the heart but till now there's no perfectly matching donor. But what I don't understand is 2 years back when he had the chance, when he got the donor why didn't he undergo the surgery then. Now till the time he doesn't get the surgery it's better if someone stays with him and help him now that the symptoms are worsening. I suggest that the surgery should be done within 7 weeks." " isn't there any way to get the surgery done as soon as possible, like can't you contact any other place if they have the matching heart or not? You yourself told me how serious it is, so why not just provide him with a heart." There's a pitch of urgency and plea in Snow's tone. Snow was suddenly called by someone to come here. And probably didn't expect a doc to indirectly tell him that his little brother doesn't have much time. " we've done everything we could. Sorry about this but you should probably take his care now and spend as much time as you can." Listening this Snow just couldn't control his anger. He tried but it wasn't helping, he wanted to be calm but just could not. He tried controlling the brokage in his voice but really failed. At first shout, rage, anger came out and then the brokeness." heyyy! Listen I didn't come here for you to say th..aaa...tt my...my little brother didn't have much time. Evertime a doc calls me all he has to say is what you said. You all are the same atleast do something to keep him healthy till the time there's no heart." He was really broken. The least that doctor could have done was lie, maybe that might have eased him a bit and given him a hope. The doctor on the other was not wholly at fault too bcz bringing a matching heart just wasn't what a doctor could do. He had done all that was under his control. He kept his calm and replied to Snow. " Mr Williams, you do know that we are doing everything right?" With this the doctor goes. In his career he had seen many a family members getting angry at him, he knew that they were broken but in these kind of situations he really couldn't do anything even if he wanted to. Snow enters Jeff's room and watches him sleep. Jeff had always been a cheerful child and was the most beautiful than any other that Snow had seen. Even though their parents never really Cared about Jeff, the little child was always happy with his brother alone. No one made him happy more than Snow. Snow didn't get the petty reason of his parents but that was never his concern. He sits on the bench kept by the side of Jeff's bed, thinking about the time when they were kids * Flashback. One day when Jeff jsut back after his regular checkup he was really sad. It was his birthday that day and no one had wished him, even though he didn't care much but he was a child afterall. So he straight went in his bedroom, locked the door and silently wept inside. Whenever his parents took him outside or talked to him it all seemed forced and his mother always had a bitter tongue for him. *KNOCK KNOCK " go I don't wanna talk to anyone, you all are really bad." He shouts in a weepy tone. " shhhhh...Jeffy it's me open the door.i have something for you." " ha! Snow" Jeff's eyes widen up. He wipes his tears away and opens the door for his brother. " happy birthday to you happy birthday to you, happy bday dear jeffy happy bday to youuuuu.......happy 7th bday buddy." Snow came in singing the bday song. Jeff was emotional enough already and this made him reach his emotional peak, and he burst into tears. "Snowwwwwww you remembered Jeff's bday ?" he asks with puppy like eyes and hugs his brother. Snow's hands were still behind him and holding a box which Jeff could feel when he hugs him. " what's that box? My gift? Is that a gift for me? Really?" He asks being all excited and jumping, then he tries to take the box but Snow tightens his grip on it. Jeff tilts his head and questions Snow with a pleading face " ha...why not giving it to me? Is it not for me ?" Jeff's eyes fill with tears again. Seeing the tears again snow hurriedly nods his head in a no and assures Jeff with the gift. " no no here take it." He says handing the box to him. The shine returns to Jeff's eyes. Snow hesitated for some time bcz all he could give his brother was a small present, as he had to secretly buy it for him with his pocket money. " shittttt...." Jeff cries out. " wha...what you don't like it? " Snow gets a little worried. But luckily Jeff shakes his head, eyes still stuck on the box. " Noooo... it's the best gift I could ever ask for. I've always wanted a teddy that I could call mine." He says lifting up his head. Jeff eyes were all sparkly and bit watery. He sniffs and then hugs snow again. "Snow you are the best." It might be a simple toy but for Jeff it was the best of all those fancy toy cars and toy guns. The two brothers played for a long time and eventually Jeff fell sleepy. He laid down on snow's lap and in a sleepy state asked " snow will you stay with me forever? You won't leave me right." Snow who himself was sleepy was a bit shocked by the question. But he answered proudly, patting the lil boys head. " yea champ I'm always gonna be there for you and I'll always protect you" He looks down at the little boy who despite of all his troubles smiles Like an angel. Jeff falls asleep in his lap, they both are on the rug. Snow tilts himself a bit , takes support of the bed and falls asleep with his one hand placed on Jeff's head. *Flashback ends* Jeff's POV°°°°°°°°°°°° I gain some consciousness but I don't wanna get up so I try to stay asleep. Snow is sitting besides me, he holds my hand in a tight grip. It's warm. I was getting all ready to go back to sleep when I hear someone entering in. Snow speaks up." yes? Oh hey you are the one who brought Jeff here right. My bad I forgot to thank you. Thanks , if you wouldn't have..." What? Which kid? I was with James last night so......wait James is here? He took me to the hospital? Alone?. Then the kid speaks up. And judging from the voice.. yea definitely this was James." no no there's no need to thank me actually.... " Wait no! He can't possibly say that we were goofing around in the night. Snow'll kill me if he knew I didn't get proper sleep and all that we were walking around all night. I tighten the grip around Snow's hand. Snow turns around and looks at me. I open my eyes and try to sit up.Snow helps me up. * seriously James you can't tell that to Snow. I gives him a weird glance and mouth "you won't say anything." I need to break off Snow's attention from James. "Bro!" I cry out. " hmm.. I'm right here do you want something? Water? Wanna drink water ? Aren't you thirsty? Or is it paining somewhere? Do you feel uncomfortable somehow? Shall I call a doctor?" He asks in a worried voice, that too many questions. ( sigh) seriously. His mom mode is on now. Too caring. Yuk. I now put my other hand on his hand and look him straight into the eyes. Really. Snow is worried as hell. But I need to talk to James first so bro you'll have to go out. And I ask him to do so. " hold on bro. I'm totally fine and no not water but could you get me something to eat? I'm really hungry." He hurries himself up " yaa wait here I'll come back within no time. Oh! Yes I'm sorry but I forgot to ask your name. Your name is...?" This is no time for exchanging names bro.But to feed your curiosity I'll tell you. " his name is Jimmy and he's my friend now could you go and get me some food. I'm pretty hungry right now." " oh yea yeah sure" Snow goes his way. Now only the both of us are left in the room. Jimmy steps forward ,stands in front of me and is about to say something but I interrupt him. " James look I don't want you to say anything about last night to my brother. Alright." " but I'm really sorry Jeff I really didn't know you had a serious condition. If I knew I wouldn't have asked you to play along with me in the first place. I'm really sorry..." jimmy has a guilty face and it seems that he may cry any time now. " hey! No no it wasn't your fault. I just wanted to be out there , you know. Listen don't take the guilt upon yourself instead I should thank you for showing me around yesterday. I really enjoyed the time we spent there. It is one of the good memories of my life, and you don't wanna make my memory a guilty one right so please calm down and don't cry. I really loved it yesterday." " but you could've.." " now stop with that James. Let's just forget that i fainted." I give out a sigh of relief and offer him a fist bump. But man this guy is just too confused so I just go ahead take hold of one of his wrist and do the bump myself. right! Now we've got nothing to worry about. After a min or two Snow enters. I hope he doesn't ask about yesterday. " hey lads I got you your food. Jeff I couldn't get the sandwiches that you eat so I bought you these I don't know how this salmon steak taste like, but they said it's tasty. Eat it you might love it." Snow says entering the room. " I'll give it a try. Thanks Snow." " Jimmy I bought the same for you too." " there was no need to bring it....err...sr. I'm not hungry." This boy....( sigh) addressing Snow as "Sr" is a bit too much. " just call me Snow." Snow clarifies. " Ok Snow. But I'm not really hungry." Hearing this Snow has a weird face. He scans the whole of James and tilts his head. Raising his right eyebrow. "Really? To me you seem like you've not eaten, like for days. You're so thin. You know I could wrap my arm around your waist fully." Snow says with a cheeky face. " pffttt....shit bro you?" That was a bold assumption. He really has got no shame, well what else can I expect from my brother. Now he's even hitting on my friend. Great move big guy. " what?" Snow asks with a little laugh. He is really something hitting on someone casually as if it's breathing and then asking 'what'. I just can't control my laugh now. " whatttt? What are you laughing for lad? Isn't it Jimmy's waist is like 1/2 of mine." Shit! Pfft..bhahahahahah..I continue to laugh harder, while jimmy is in the corner blushing. Wait! at a second thought it's the first time I've seen him like this. Well but these two would really make up a weird couple. Snow seems fed up now. With a bossy tone he asks us to eat." Alright it's enough, eat now." It's enough now but i can't just stop laughing. Snow is so irritating sometimes, he comes and flicks on my forehead. Well. I'm no less than him so I punch him in the chest. " hey you.....JUST EAT NOW " snow gives me a superiority glare and I just scoff it off.Jimmy's already eating, sitting on the couch nearby. I stare at Snow who's busyWith his food but then he shifts to Jimmy. " jimmy I hear Jeff calling you James, is it your name?" " ummm...yea my name is James anurak phassakorn.". "James what? Was that really a name? Shit it's longer than you buddy." I say seriously it was hard to pronounce his name. " hey are you Asian?" Bro asked. Wait what? Where did that come from? But....then again taking a second glance Yea James do look somewhat Asian. James giggles, brushes his hands past his nose and passes a smile to Snow. That was some subtle move, and that smile I've never seen him smile like that.It was......well pretty. " yes I'm half thai and half Spanish." Snow was amused by the fact. He seemed to be interested in James. Look at him openly flirting with James with me present in the room." wow! You've got some fine genes young man. No wonder you look so pretty." James was little confused but still smiled while Snow had a broad smile on his face. Damn I'm still in this room guys. " ah ah" I fake coughed. "I'm still in this room brother and I hope you know this is a hospital not a DATING spot. Flirting in front of your sMoLL brother, that too with his friend. Shit!" " oh what? Flirting? I was just getting familiar with him." Someone knocked on the door and a doctor came inside. Oh! It's the oldie....shittt my doc. But what is he doing over here? Shouldn't he be there in the main city. He's coming towards me. Noooo! Of all the people in the world why does he have to come? " Well boy. We meet after a week again, huh? but it's opposite from what I asked for. This time I came to see you young lad." " hello doc" I stutter. Shjt he's making me nervous. He checks my charts and then sits beside James. He was dressed in his usual sophisticated style. Turtle neck beneath the well tailored suit and above them was his fav camel coat.the same watch and hair done so subtly no one would take this 40 something oldie for his age, he can clearly pass out for being in his early 30s or late 20s. I might have been staring at him for long that he's smiling at me like that. I shake my head and turn towards my food that's already cold now. Shit I'm hungry but now what?" Jeff?" The oldie calls out my name. See it's for his calm behavior and behaving like my granny that I call him oldie. " hnn?" I was still sulking over at my food. Seeing me do so he giggled. I might seem like a fool but really my food is gone cold and i can't eat it now. These fools just keep on looking at me. Idiots. " Snow I've got to talk to you." Snow just nodded and shifted close to the doc. James went out, don't know why. " I'll get straight to the point. We've got a matched donor for you. Although it might be a little too early to celebrate. I just got a call from the city hospital, they claimed to have a young patient. Elder to you but with similar body size and every requirement matches. He's in a critical condition right now. We can't give any final statement on his health right now though, so you'll have to wait for a week and see." That's what the doctor said, but what I heard was that they are waiting for a young man to die so that I can receive his heart. No. Nope. How can they wait for him to die, they never let me do so, they save me everytime yet here they are not doing anything. Jerks. The doc might have noticed my expressions and might have heard it from my psychologist that he said this " No one is gonna give you a living person's heart Jeff. I just came to tell you that there are still 30% chances of his survival and yes without the consent of his guardians his heart is going nowhere but to the ashes." " it better be that " I murmured under my breath. Snow had this little hope of light with a small just a small smile and well James was outside so God knows what's he doing. Talking a bit more to Snow the doctor left. I don't know what they talked about cuz I fell asleep a little before 10 mins. Sleeping I had a weird dream. I was playing in the backyard of this house but it was at the time when I was 5. That's 13 years back. Then Snow came and started picking up a mock fight with me but I was to smoll to know understand a teens mock fight so I just started to cry loud when he took my fav Mr teddy. Snow bent down and started to console me but it was too late, Mom came and asked what happened I shut quiet and Snow explained the whole thing and all Mom said was " keep your cry low. You almost woke your dad up from his sleep." And then giving me a disgusted stare she went away. I woke up with teary eyes and thankfully Snow wasn't there. Or else there might have been a rain of questions upon me.But James was sleeping on the couch. Now a new IV was hung there on the stand. Wait. Shit damn. I need to pee. No man! it's really struggling to go pee with these connected to me. I managed to get up and took hold of the saline(IV) stand and was about to make my way quietly but James got up. When he saw me he made a shocking face as if I was gonna jump in a fire. Then returned to being a sleepy face, and rubbing his eyes. " where are you going? " he asked. It was an amusement to see his expressions change from sleepy to shocked to death to sleepy again and rubbing his eyes like a child. He really is a unique character. Man shit I need to go. I rush my way to the washroom while answering his question " to release my pressure." " ooh. Wait do you need any help." I was already in doing my business and James came in. Wow what a scene. " shit James. There's a thing named knocking" He runs back out like a tiny mouse being chased by a cat." shit! I'm sorry i didn't know..." Washing up I came out and then James held the stand for me. I didn't stop him cuz I was lazy to do so. James has been spending much time with me now. Wait how the hell did we become close? It was all a spin of moment and here we are right now. But doesn't he have anything to do he's been with me since the last 4 days. I ask him to cut the curiosity." James you've been staying with me these days. Does your family know about it." " hnn?" He makes a questioning face. " I mean have you told your family where you are, what you're doing and also don't you have school. I never see you with books or going to school. Are you on a break?" He chuckles and nods his head. What? He laughed? That was nothing to laugh upon. Seriously he seems like someone who'll never miss doing their homework and yet here he is with me from the past 4 days and not going to school totally opposite of what I thought of him. He answers me weirdly. " why you don't want me here? " Where's the conversation going? I was the one questioning here man. " Well if you're talking about having someone to do my work, then definitely I want. Bcz I love being lazy. No doubt." " then why asking me ?" I shrugged my shoulders and reply"Well humans are ment to be curious aren't they?" James just answered roughly. " and also humans are tend to not answer everything aren't they?" Then he goes for a cup noodle and starts boiling water for it.....Wow! how weird. I never knew he could shut me up like that. Cunning bitch. But....then again, I never knew him completely to judge his personality.
