Chapter 82 Let Me Walk In Your Shoes

The early morning sunrise shone through the window of the ward. Asnee slowly opened his eyes and found himself alone in the ward. He looked to the right and saw no one but two infusion poles with bags hanging. He sighed, looked to the left, and saw Santichai sleeping on the sofa.

Asnee is happy not to see his parents. He worries that his parents and Santichai will start arguing the moment they meet. He wanted to make sure his parents weren't here until he was fully recovered. He saw the phone on the table to the left. He reached out and grabbed the phone to call Decha, but just as he was about to make a call, he found his right arm was too heavy to move. He tried again, but he couldn't move it across his abdomen.

Asnee put his phone down beside him and touched his right hand with his left hand, feeling less sharp. He could barely feel his arms. He wiggled his fingers to regain feeling in his arms, but after a full ten minutes of wiggling his fingers, it didn't help. He prompts himself up, but because the right side of his body couldn't support him. He turned to move again, causing his cell phone to fall to the floor.

Santichai woke up abruptly as soon as Asnee's phone landed on the floor. He lifted the blanket away and walked quickly to the bed. He grabbed Asnee for fear that Asnee would fall off the bed. He was both happy and worried. He asked, "Asnee, what do you want?"

Asnee looked at Santichai and said, "Chai, I can barely feel my right arm and leg. What's wrong with me?"

Santichai said, "Maybe you've been sleeping too long. Go slowly." He helped Asnee sit up. "What do you need?"

Asnee said, "Tell me…"

Santichai said, "I don't know, let me call a doctor." He quickly pressed the call light.

After a full ten minutes, Doctor Makok walked into the room with a nurse. Doctor Makok was delighted to see Asnee sitting on the edge of the bed. He greeted happily, "Good morning khun Siriporn. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, but I can barely move my right arm and leg," Asnee said. "What's wrong?"

Doctor Makok said, "During surgery, after removing the tumor, you suddenly had a stroke."

Asnee asked, "How bad is it? Does that mean I can't use my arms and legs like I used to?"

Doctor Makok said, "Not necessary. After breakfast, we'll do an MRI of the brain to see if the bleeding has stopped." He smiled at Asnee. "You're young and healthy; with physical therapy, you will be back to normal, but it will take some time."

Long after doctor Makok left and the nurse brought Asnee breakfast, Santichai could still see Asnee was not happy to hear the news. He grabbed a bowl of khao tom on the table and sat next to Asnee on the bed.

Santichai said with a smile, "Don't think too much. Doctor Makok said it's not good for you to think too much. Eat breakfast and take your medicine."

Instead of looking at Santichai, Asnee murmured, "I became disabled, a burden to others. What's the point of having surgery done, and then becoming disabled."

Santichai held Asnee's right hand and smiled, "The point is that you are still by my side. Even if you are completely disabled, I want you to be among the living."

Asnee tried to pull his hand away, but he couldn't. "I don't want to stand in front of you as a disabled person," he said.

Santichai said, "I want you with me. Not just me, but your parents and Frank; we all want you to be with us." He sat the khao tom on the table, walked in front of Asnee and kneeled Down. "Let me put on your shoes and walk with you, and we'll take every step together." He stood up and kissed Asnee's forehead. "My Asnee is a man who never admits defeat, he has always been a champion. There is no obstacle that can halt his advance. This time, it will be better than ever, because this time... I will walk with you every step of the way."

Asnee said, "What if it doesn't improve?"

Santichai said, "It doesn't matter if it improves or not, I will still love you the same." He grabbed the khao tom from the table. "Eat…" He grabbed the spoon and started feeding Asnee. "Do you mind if I call your parents and let them know about your condition?"

Asnee said, "I don't want my parents here."

Santichai said with a smile, "They should be here, you are their son. Their worries are no less than mine."

Seeing Santichai's smile did bring some peace to Asnee, he said, "I don't want my mother to insult you again."

Santichai said, "If she insults me, I will listen to her insults with one ear and out the other ear. When I decided to be with you, I was ready for such an occasion. You as a patient don't have to worry about anything but focus on recovery."

After the MRI, Asnee was pushed back to his room. When he entered the room, he saw his parents sitting at the table and Santichai in the chair by the bed. The nurse pushed the wheelchair in and parked the wheelchair beside Santichai.

The nurse said, "Doctor Makok will be back to go over the result with you." The nurse quickly left the room.

Asnee looked at his parents and asked, "What are you two doing here?"

"Chai called to say you were awake, so we came to visit you," Mr. Siriporn said.

Asnee said, "You can see that I'm fine, you can leave now."

Mrs. Siriporn said worriedly, "Asnee, don't talk to us like that. We're worried about you."

Asnee said, "I'm fine. The doctor removed the tumor, and I will survive. I was basically paralyzed on the right side and needed a lot of physical therapy to regain strength. That's the full story. After doctor Makok gave us the MRI results, you can leave." He felt his head start to hurt. The more emotionally disrupted he becomes, the more his head hurts.

Santichai took Asnee's hand and said, "Asnee, don't think too much. The people who sit here with you are the ones who love you the most. Every one of us sitting here loves you and cares about your well-being." He stroked Asnee's hair and kissed Asnee lightly on the cheek. "Calm down..."

Asnee looked at Santichai, grabbed the back of Santichai's head, and kissed Santichai on the lips. Seeing this, Mrs. Siriporn was about to get up and pull the two away but was grabbed by Mr. Siriporn.

Mr. Siriporn said quietly, "Ma, hold your temperament. Let's look at the bigger picture."

Asnee pulled away from Santichai and looked at his parents. "If you don't want to see this kind of act, you don't have to come to see me anymore," he said.

Mr. Siriporn said, "We've talked, we let Chai take care of you. We're not going to stop you from having a relationship with Chai."

Asnee was surprised to hear his father say that. He looked at Mrs. Siriporn, "How about you? Do you think this is okay?"

Mrs. Siriporn was so angry that she wanted to jump over and drag Santichai out of the room, far away from her son, but she had to drop her pride and pretend to smile. She said, "If I don't agree, do you think Chai can stand here with you like this? I'm very new to this kind of love, you have to give me time to get used to it."

Asnee was overjoyed to hear Mrs. Siriporn's words. He thought that he would never hear Mrs. Siriporn say these words to him for the rest of his life. He asked, "You will not force me to marry anymore?"

Mrs. Siriporn said, "We have talked about your marriage to the Chongchit family, and we have agreed not to have a wedding during this time. Khun Chongchit does not want to marry his daughter to someone whose fate is unknown."

Immediately afterwards, there was a soft knock on the door, and the door slowly opened. Mrs. Siriporn stuck her head out to see who it was. It was Phawta who walked slowly into the room.

Phawta greeted, "Auntie and uncle." She smiled at Asnee. "Pi Nee."

Mrs. Siriporn, "Phawta… you're back."

Phawta smiled and said, "Yes…I just arrived. I heard that Pi Nee was hospitalized, so I came to visit him." She turned to Asnee. "Pi Nee, how are you feeling?"

Asnee replied, "I am getting better. Thanks for coming to see me."

Santichai looked at Asnee and said, "Asnee, since your parents are with you. I'm going back to change. I'll be back in about two or three hours. I will stop at the supermarket before coming back. Do you have any requests?"

Asnee shook his head. He held Santichai's hand, "You didn't leave because you were angry, right?"

Santichai shook his head, "No... I really need to change my clothes and buy a toothbrush."

Asnee said, "Don't take too long and be careful on the road."

"I will. I'll be back in a few hours," Santichai said with a smile.

Santichai got up and grabbed his bag. He smiled at Asnee and walked out of the room. Closing the door behind him, tears finally streamed down his eyes. He wiped his tears and walked slowly towards the exit.