“Why is he not waking up?”

“Give it some time. There is nothing to worry about.”

“It has already been an hour!”

“Honey, please calm down. The doctor knows what he’s doing.”

Malak could hear everything, and it frustrated him he couldn’t answer. He couldn’t tell them he was well, still healing from his injury, but well enough. His eyes were glued shut, and his body refused to obey him. He had never felt like this before, and it made him uncomfortable.

“He may wake up soon, but he still won’t be coherent. It takes time for the anesthesia to fade away. I’ll need to ask you to not bombard him with questions,” the doctor explained patiently to Malak’s mother, who was slightly panicking.

“But that will have to wait until tomorrow. Visiting hours ended. Please leave the hospital and let the patient rest,” a nurse added after knocking at the door.

“Right,” the doctor looked at his watch. “Please come back tomorrow. Our nurses will take the utmost care of him.”

“What if he wakes up during the night? He’ll be alone and disoriented. I should stay.”

“Lesley is waiting for us at home. She needs us,” Frank comforted his wife. “Come,” he leads her out of Malak’s room, although she followed reluctantly. “Do you want to spend the night at our house?”

Kian, who had been silent, finally looked up from Malak’s sleeping body. “I don’t want to impose again. I’ll stay at a hotel nearby.”

“Hotels aren’t comfortable. Come with us. You look like you need a good night’s sleep,” Lilly added as the same haunted fog clouded her eyes.

Not having the energy to argue, Kian nodded and followed the couple out of the hospital. If his magic wasn’t spent, he would have had cast a spell to become invisible and stayed in that room with his love. But Lilly was right. He needed time to rest. He needed to replenish his reservoir, so he could protect his husband and bring him back home.

(´つз-)｡O.ﾟ｡*Zzz

In the same evening, Malak’s eyes finally opened. His pupils were dilated and his gaze unfocused. He mindlessly stared at the ceiling for a minute before going back to sleep. His body forced him back into unconsciousness. The effect of the anesthesia had faded away a long time ago.

His eyes closed, but the darkness did not blind him. He was still conscious of his surroundings and what was happening beyond his room. He could feel the nurses walking around or chatting among themselves. It was as if his consciousness slipped out of his body and he was a ghost roaming the Earth.

Remembering who he was, he searched his memories. He couldn’t remember anything before seeing that car rushing toward him. Slowly piecing the fragments of his memories together, he now understood why he was at the hospital. Using his astral body, he roamed around the building. At some point, he searched for Kian and his family when he remembered hearing their voices. But when he noticed that the hospital was unusually empty, he realized the visiting hours ended.

He stopped in a hallway and looked outside through a window. The moon was glowing, but no stars were visible. The silence of the hospital was eerie and gave Malak goosebumps. As he stared at the moon, he remembered the nights he spent on the balcony of their room in the castle. There, the moons were also pure white. There were two of them, always next to each other. Like a mother and her child.

Feeling tired, he traced back his steps. Reaching his room, he flew through the closed door. Even in the unlit room, he could perfectly see his body laying on the bed. But something was out of place. There was a faint light shining near his chest. Malak tried to reach it, but he felt nothing. Except for a faint smell reminding him of Kian. The young adult smiled faintly before going back into his body.

(´つз-)｡O.ﾟ｡*Zzz

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As soon as the visitors were permitted, Malak’s family, friends, and lover gathered in his room. To his mother’s relief, she found his son awake and waiting for them. Because of the medications, Malak wasn’t in much pain. He mostly felt sore. His aching muscles screamed each time he tried to move. The discomfort showed on his face and because of that, he couldn’t do anything without his mother fussing over him. When she finally left with his dad to get some food for everyone, only Malak’s friends and lover were left in the room. They said little under the eyes of the adults, but the filter lifted as soon as the door closed behind them.

“You have such rotten luck,” Enrico commented with a grin to lighten up the atmosphere, but he earned a slap from Kayla, who was standing next to him.

“You’re such a dick,” she glared as Enrico rubbed the sore spot with a pout. “How are you feeling?” she softened her tone.

“Like I was run down by a car?” Malak answered with half a smile.

“This is not funny,” both Kayla and Kian countered at the same time.

“Come on, he doesn’t need more people fussing over him,” Enrico rolled his eyes. “It’s suffocating.”

“It’s alright,” Malak coughed.

Kian jumped to his feet and was next to his lover in seconds. “Do you need water?”

“Please,” Malak rasped in between his coughs.

Malak, being unable to sit up, Kian added a straw into the cup after pouring fresh water into it. He carefully brought it to him while holding the straw. When it was within reach, Malak opened his mouth and slowly sucked. The cold liquid refreshed his mouth and throat. Until now, he didn’t notice how parched he was.

“Thanks.”

“Do you know when you get discharged?” Enrico asked after a moment.

“Not soon,” Malak winced in pain when he shifted to a more comfortable position.

Enrico hummed. “Did the police come?”

“Police?”

“A car hit you and the perpetrator is still on the run! They should come and do their job,” Kayla explained with frustration.

“Ah…”

“You should be angry, too. You could have died!”

The windows trembled, and the room shook for almost a minute before going still. If Malak couldn’t sense the magic emanating from Kian, he would have thought there was an earthquake. Fortunately, he calmed down before the windows shattered.

“What was that?” Kayla asked as her tone trembled.

“An earthquake?” Enrico added with equal worry after a moment of delay.

“I’ll go check,” she added before leaving the room.

“I… uh… Will go too,” Enrico added before following his friend.

!!(⊃ Д)⊃≡ﾟ ﾟ

Malak pushed the overcooked greens onto his plate with his plastic fork in one hand and supporting his head on the other. He couldn’t stand hospital food. Most of it was seasoned, but he couldn’t stand the texture. Almost everything was too soft. Even the dessert was either pudding or jello. He would do anything for some food that wasn’t cooked until mush.

More than a week passed since his surgery, and he made a speedy recovery. Kian helping him heal with magic was the reason. The nurses and doctor were surprised and thought Malak healed fast because of his fast metabolism.

“You should eat,” Kian said as he came back from the bathroom.

“I wish I could have something consistent,” Malak mumbled as he crushed a broccoli under his plastic fork.

“Soon, you were most injured in the abdomen. You need time to heal.”

“Can’t I even have Alfredo pasta with chicken and tomatoes?”

“I’ll check if they have it.”

“Forget it. I tasted their pasta already. The pasta is so overcooked that I can plaster the wall with it.”

Kian sighed. “I’ll ask the nurse.”

Malak beamed and discarded the fork on his half-full plate. “Thank you!”

“You should still finish your plate.”

Malak stared at his plate with resentment. Picking up his fork, he stabbed a piece of carrot easily. “I will if you help me.”

He extended his hand toward Kian with his fork at the end. The young man waited for him to move as he moved the carrot up and down.

“Come on, one bite, and I’ll eat the rest.”

Surrendering himself, Kian leaned forward and took the piece of carrot into his mouth. He slowly chewed as his expression revealed nothing. Malak patiently waited for his response.

“I’ll look for that nurse.”