Him and I

Of heartbreaks and happiness

Phayu dropped face down on the bed, exhausted after a 17 hour stretch at the hospital. After Rain had left, he had pretty much lived there, and had eventually moved back to the family home. The apartment had felt immensely lonely, and seeing Sky and Pai there just made things abnormally worse. At least, at home, it would be easier to be surrounded by family. They all understood him, and they kept him involved, so that this parting would not be too difficult on him. Originally, Phayu had planned to go into Oncology, like Kit, but after Rain's accident, and seeing how awesome his Papa Porche had been, he had gone into Trauma medicine. He had a wonderful mentor and he was learning much every day. In the beginning, other interns had doubted if Phayu and Pai were getting any sort of preferential treatment, but had quickly understood that the two of them were made to work harder than the others.

And then there were several people who wanted to date them. Pai had no worries on that front, because Sky was an almost regular visitor to the hospital. But Phayu was fair game. However, while the ring on Phayu's was not too much of a deterrent to people, his cold demeanour and frigid glare was enough to put people in their place. And those who were persistent, well, that was another story. But that had also come to an end, when Yihwa had come riding to the rescue. Phayu had complained bitterly to Rain about some useless pieces of shit, who wouldn't leave him the fuck alone. And Yihwa had done the unthinkable. For a week, she followed Phayu around, and stood and glared at anyone who dared to flirt with him. "You are not his girlfriend, then what's your problem?" one rather irritating women, who wouldn't get the hint, asked. "I am not, true. My best friend is. But let me tell you this. That guys has ties to the mafia," she whispered dramatically. "He can people disappear like magic. The last person who wouldn't leave P'Phayu alone, hasn't been found since 6 years," she hissed, widening her eyes for effect. Well, that was the end of that chapter. People would skittle away, avoiding eye contact with Phayu, and everyone had laughed at Yihwa's antics over a call with Rain.

Phayu was about to sleep, when his phone rang. That was Rain's ringtone, he thought, as he quickly sat up. "Hi baby! Almost ready to come home?" he asked, super excited at the prospect. Pin-drop silence followed. "Baby? Rain? Are you there?" Phayu asked, thinking that the call got disconnected. "Phi, are you available for a video call?" Rain asked, something in his voice alerting Phayu, that all was not well with Rain. "Of course baby boy, give me a sec," he said. Twenty minutes later, Phayu made his way downstairs. Sleep was gone, replaced by a pit in his stomach that refused to go. His happiness at Rain's imminent return had come crashing down and now he needed his family. He needed them to comfort him and give him strength to get through the next part of his life.

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"Phayu? What is the matter lu? I thought you would be sleeping," Vegas said, as a rather dejected looking Phayu came into view. "And why do you look so sad? Are you that tired?" Pete asked, looking worried. "Rain called," Phayu said, plopping down on the couch and closed his eyes and put his head on the back of it. "And?" Pete asked tentatively, exchanging a look with Vegas. Usually, after a call with Rain, Phayu was energised and excited. But right now he looked like he had plunged into gloom. "He has been given an amazing internship with one of the leading companies in the world, who are based in Singapore, the same group that created Marina Bay. He asked me permission to take it up. And do you know what I fucking said?" Phayu asked, annoyed. Pete and Vegas shook their heads. "I told him, 'Go ahead baby! Live your dreams!' like an asshole that I am. How am I going to live for two more years away from him?" Phayu asked, finally breaking down.

Pete gathered Phayu in his arms, and his husband and he looked helplessly at each other. At such a time, they had no idea what to say. All they could do was comfort their son, and pray that he would find the strength through it. They knew that Phayu would never refuse Rain, because this had to do with Rain's future. But to see Phayu looking so low, it killed them. "Why don't you go meet Rain lu? Take a couple of days off. Since Rain left, you haven't taken a single day off. So I am sure no one will have any issues with that. If you want, I can talk to P'Kit for you," Vegas said. Phayu brightened. "Can I really go? I will ask Uncle Kit right away," he said, jumping up in excitement.