Koruna

Grief

Chapter 36
Grief

R’ao sat on the chair beside Koruna’s bed and stared at her while he held her hand. His heart was heavy, he smiled grimly. “How is it over there? Is it safe or is it just empty? I miss you, I miss your smile, I miss your sass, I miss everything about you. Come back to me Kor, please come back. I am barely holding on, we have many more memories to make, more mistakes to fix, more kisses, more promises. I have not had enough time with you, I have so many places I would love to show you. There are worlds that exists outside of Nige, wake up so that we have a chance. Please Kor, please.” He held her hand tighter.

He chuckled, “The doctor said there were pieces of what looked  someone’s ear in your mouth. There was no way you would have made it easy for him. Biting really? You are always full of surprises. I'm not the only one worried about you, your family is here, they care more than I had assumed at first, your grandmother wanted to move you but I refused. I hope that is okay, you have the best doctor in Nige at your beck and call so be rest assured. Kor, Kor… please.”

R’ao’s heart broke when Koruna showed no signs of regaining consciousness, he had been with her every day for the past week since she slipped into a coma. He had talked about everything with her, he had begged, ranted, raged but nothing seemed to work.

“You need a break” Oni said as he entered the hospital room.

“No.”

“You are no help to her dead, you need to eat and take care of yourself. I can’t cover you for longer, your father is beginning to get suspicious. I will be here, I will keep her safe while you collect yourself and show your face to your father. If he knows how much she means to you, you realize he will just have one more thing to keep you in control. He can feel it already, his control on you slipping. Koruna doesn’t need that at the moment when she is vulnerable and she needs you to be okay.”

Oni tried to persuade him, R’ao had been behaving like an insane man. Even when his mother died, he never allowed his grief to show but now, R’ao couldn’t care less.
R’ao released Koruna’s hand gently. “Stay with her, even when her friend and family are around until I’m back.”
Oni got suspicious at R’ao’s determined look, “What are you going to do?”

“What I should have done a long time ago.” R’ao left the ward.

Oni sat where R’ao had been sitting and couldn’t take his eyes off Koruna. He scoffed at how pathetic he was being and shook his head, “I must have lost my mind. The weather is also affected by your state, everything looks bleak.” He took out his drawing pad and relaxed into the chair.

“I had a sandwich today, my favorite but it tasted like sand in my mouth, everything passes quickly and for the first time in a long time I had a dream. Do you want to know what it was about? Not you but about R’ao. I was brought up to be his shadow, to protect the family’s interest and ensure that everyone in the family is safe from any external party. It was easy to fit into that role since I wasn’t much interested in anything else. R’ao was raised much differently, he was born to be a leader, to be stronger that meant he underwent harsher conditions. Jacob thought R’ao was soft.” Oni focused on his drawing as he drawled to Koruna.

“He thought he was soft because R’ao cared, when I was punished and left in a dark room. R’ao would ignore instructions and sneak in a candle, or sweets. I never thanked him and always gave him the cold shoulder but I always appreciated it. I also thought it was a sign of weakness until I got shot by the head guard while I was fourteen. The head guard had thought no one would believe me since he had been in the family for a long time and I was known for being stubborn and disobedient. He was right no one believed except for R’ao.” Oni smiled to himself as he gazed on Koruna’s closed eyes and continued drawing.