Khai's mom froze, her hands clutching her chest as if trying to hold her heart in place. "Brain… brain dead?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.
My mom sank into the nearest chair, burying her face in her hands. "No… no, not my Lûuk… not like this," she muttered, her body trembling. She looked up at the doctor, tears streaming down her face.
"What can we do? How do we stop this?" she asked, tears streaming down her face as she tried to stay to for her son.
The doctor sighed gently.
"From what I can see, life has lost all its meaning to them, so we'll need to give them a reason to live. I can recommend a psychiatrist and a psychologist who might be of help in this case, but for their recovery to be possible, they are going to need all the love and support they can get," he explained, his voice calm but firm as he did his best to give them hope that recovery was possible.
To our parents the doctor's words felt like light surging after long time of being consumed by the darkness. My mom turned around and walked towards the observation window, tears streamed down her face as she watched me lay on the bed with no movement.
It was afternoon, the sun shining at its fullest—but to me, everything was swallowed by darkness. We walked out of the hospital and got into the car that was already parked in front of the entrance. After we got home, I locked myself in my room and never came out. Max's death changed my life in a way that it could never be normal again. The following day, mom was worried I might harm myself so she came to my room to check on me but found the door locked. She panicked and rushed downstairs to ask the maid for the spare key to my room. When she tried to unlock, she found that my key was still in the door. Fear washed over her as she thought about all the possibilities. She rushed outside to find my dad and inform him about the situation. When she got there she found him talking to Kit. Just by looking at her, Kit could tell she was worried that she can't get into my room.
"Pâa khrap, if it's fine by you. I can climb up the balcony and check if Wit is alright," he said politely, trying his best to calm her down.
"Please—just be careful not to fall," she pleaded, her eyes glistening with a fragile flicker of hope.
They went to the storage room to get the ladder and climbed up. The moment Kit turned around, he saw me lying on the floor through the window. He called out my parents and rushed to open the door so they could get inside. As soon as they walked in, they found Kit crying while holding me in his arms, my body completely still. They rushed to us and found an empty bottle of sleeping pills beside the bed. My dad picked me up and carried me to the car then sped to the hospital. When we got to the hospital, the doctors took me and rushed me to the emergency room (ER). After I disappeared behind the ER doors, my dad hugged my mom and Kit, who were both breaking down as they watched the stretcher disappear into the ER. While they were still waiting for the doctors, P'May arrived with Khai. My parents were very surprised to see Khai come to the hospital because they thought he might also need more time to recover.
"Khai, Lûuk, you are supposed to stay at home and recover. Even if you didn't come, mom would understand that you were still recovering. If you come like this, you are going to make your mom more worried." Mom said as she walked toward him and pulled him into a hug.
"Ohhh, Khun Mae, I'm not dying—at least not anytime soon. If I die, who's going to give me pocket money in the underworld?" Khai said teasingly, trying to assure her that he was fine.
"Mhmmm, you little rascal. You're always thinking about money. I wonder who you inherited that from, because none of your parents love money as much as you do," Mom said with a relieved smile as she pinched Khai's cheeks.
She was still admiring how well Khai had recovered—when the doctor walked out of the ER with an unreadable expression.