Requests

Lost Memories (part one)

"Where is he?" Pha asked, looking at his watch anxiously. "He was supposed to be here two hours ago."

"I'm sure he's just running late," Kit responded, trying to calm his best friend.

"Even Yo can't be just running late for two hours," Beam said, feeling nervous himself. Forth and Ming were late as well. Kit might not be ready to panic, but Beam knew better. Forth was never this late.

"I'll call again," Kit said, grabbing his phone from his pocket. "Shit! My battery's almost dead. Have you tried calling?"

"We've all tried calling," Pha answered, sounding angry. "My battery's out too, but I've got a portable charger, let me plug it in."

"Where did you get a charger?" Beam asked, assessing his own phone battery. Fourteen percent and he'd been saving it for as long as he could.

"Yo gave it to me," Pha said, searching for the charger in his bag. "Two years ago, when I was late to pick him up and I couldn't call."

"That's right, before the Moon & Star Competition," Beam recalled. "You were so worried about letting him down. You'd been such an ass before that you were sure he wouldn't forgive you for being late."

"Yeah, well, the shoe is on the other foot now," Pha said. "I've been waiting for over two hours and he's still not answering his phone. This weekend was supposed to be a romantic getaway. I thought he'd be excited."

"He is excited, Pha," Kit said, patting his friend on the back. "It's all he's talked about for the past week."

"Then where the hell is he?" Pha asked, the worry back in his voice.

Beam's phone vibrated in his pocket, "Pha, let me borrow your charger. It's Forth and my phone's going to die soon."

Pha handed the charger over and Beam plugged his phone in while answering the call, "Forth, where are you?"

"Beam, is Pha there with you?" Forth asked over the phone.

"Yes, we're all here waiting," Beam said, worry turning to annoyance. "What's going on?"

"I need you to be calm okay, and try to keep Pha calm as well," Forth responded.

"I'm trying to be calm," Beam answered, feeling anything but calm. How did anyone expect you to be calm when you say something like that? That's like saying, the most important thing you can do is not think about pink elephants. Then you spend the rest of the day wondering why you're not supposed to be thinking about pink elephants.

"We've been in an accident," Forth started but then spoke quickly over Beam's gasp of surprise, "but Ming and I are fine."

"An accident, but you're fine!" Beam shouted, alarming both Kit and Pha, who couldn't focus after the word accident. "Wait, what do you mean, 'Ming and I are fine?' Wasn't Yo with you?"

The few seconds of silence that followed that question felt like an eternity. Beam was adjusting to the idea that the man he loved was involved in an accident but was fine, while he tried to understand what might have happened to his other friend.

"Yo got hurt," Forth's voice spoke loudly into the complete silence on the other side of the conversation, loud enough that the three student doctors all heard what he said. Kit had his hand to his mouth and tears in his eyes, while Pha collapsed on the ground, his feet unable to bear his weight.

"My Yo?" Pha looked up at Beam, fear and uncertainty written all over his face. Yo, the man Pha loved more than he loved his own life? Yo, the man who was his everything, was hurt? He couldn't comprehend what this meant.