Chada
I felt the instinct I desperately needed to get to Sarit. It had dawned on me on the second day that he couldn't transform without me.
The hospital insisted on keeping me. My sister, not knowing the depth of Sarit's identity, told me "All love issues need to wait until you're healed. That is an order." I tried to plead and make her understand, but she just called Mom and Dad to come check up on me.
They surrounded me with their usual unique demeanor, my father acting like a spoiled husband to his wife. Still, they doted on me. I was glad to see them after a period of time, but my head, or rather my heart, was drawn to Sarit.
I shifted uncomfortably in the hospital bed. "When did you get that tattoo, son?" my mother asked, noticing the one that had appeared slowly after my time with Sarit.
I hesitated to answer. My sister noticed and said, "Ah, if he is hesitating to answer that means he got it for his little love." Her tone was teasing, but my parents instantly latched onto this.
"You are dating someone?" they asked. I shot a glare at my sister. "I want to be," I said to them earnestly. "He is going to be your future son-in-law."
I meant every word. I longed for his touch, his snickering, his sass. It pained me greatly to be separated from him. I wanted him to hurry up and give me his pearl so he could traverse and sea freely. I also knew I would respect his decisions and wanted him to take things at his own pace.
Him needing me hadn't been so bad, it let us get this close. Now we felt further away than anything. I tried calling his phone, but there was no response. I figured he couldn't reach it where it was left on land. Maybe it was still at my house under the wreckage.
"Mom, Dad, my house?" I softly inquired about the home I had helped build to be my own. They patted my leg. "It's in bad shape, son, but still in better shape than you right now," Mother said while she glanced down at my leg with that concerned look they'd been giving me these last couple weeks.
I tried to shrug off their concern and the diagnosis that seemed to loom over me.
I had never been the sort to avoid reality, rather I just tried to take it one stride at a time. I felt as if I couldn't process any of this until I at least knew Sarit was safe.
I sighed again, looking at the TV, bored. Hospitals don't seem so awful until you're stuck in them. You can't walk where you want and even if you can, the IV drips, while they may be portable, often impede you further.
Nurses would check on me in the middle of the night whenever I had these fever dreams longing for Sarit. My nights were now frequently sleepless.
I felt I couldn't take it anymore so I got up and hobbled my way around with a walker, half limping and feeling like an old man as my sister accompanied me to an outside garden. She knew I was supposed to be getting more rest or gentle rehab, but the inner hospital was suffocating me.
Some stitches at my side where my skin was slightly torn pulled, definitely not the serious part of my condition. Still, it was far from comfortable.
"Dite, can you do me a favor without asking too many questions?"
She raised her eyebrows at me. "What is it?" I handed her my new phone. "Can you just take this to the beach and call his number and see if you can find his phone?" I knew she didn't need me to elaborate on who I was referring to.
I had already long since memorized his phone number.
She stared at me a few seconds before sighing and holding her hand out for the phone. I handed it to her and let her walk me back before she departed. I knew it was a slim chance but I hoped she would find something, anything, for me to know his whereabouts.
She returned an hour and a half later, carrying a new phone. "It was wrecked in the storm," she said simply while studying my expression as I looked at Sarit's old phone. "Oh, and I found this by it." She pulled out my old phone as well, also wrecked.
I sighed a bit. If I had fewer worries right now I would be thinking about how expensive those phones were.
She made do on my request and didn't pry any further, and for that I was grateful.
I returned to my monotonous new life as I tried to prove to the doctors that I was fit enough to be discharged. After a few more days of that, I finally set my foot out in the breeze of the sunny tropical air that smelled faintly of the distant sea.
For a moment, I thought maybe I was imagining the scent due to my mind being occupied by Sarit, when my sister commented, "Well, it sure is nice out here today, the breeze is refreshing like summer is coming."
"It's still spring though, Songkran is soon," I reminded her. She shrugged. "Well everyone calls it summer anyway."
I quickly headed home with one goal in mind, to find Sarit. This matter proved difficult as my parents, now staying in a nearby hotel, insisted that my home needed further repairs before I could stay. I groaned, "Mama, Papa, please let me see it. It can't be that bad. I want to recover in a place familiar, like home."
They were skeptical but begrudgingly agreed and took me there. I felt a connection dragging me to the sea even more once I started to get closer. I wondered if it was some sort of geolocation connection. However, it didn't seem pinpointed enough.
I would have dove into the sea at an instant if not for my family saying I was barred from swimming for a while with my nonhealed wounds and my leg.
They had to all but peel me away back in the direction of the house. When I set eyes on it, I saw the damage they seemed so concerned about. It was not completely ravaged, it still supported itself, but with the pillar collapse there were some questions regarding its stability.
How was I going to convince them to let me stay? I needed to find my boy and claim him.
When night fell, I later quietly tried to tiptoe as I snuck away from the hotel they had dragged me back to. I knew it wasn't that far from the beach; I just needed to catch a cab or something to get back to the right area.
I knew I wasn't getting far with my leg, and sneaking out was difficult. I may have been an adult, but I knew I would worry my parents and sister immensely if I really had insisted on staying near my house. They wouldn't be able to understand why.
I stepped out into the cooling air. I stared at the gorgeous sparkling city lights as I waved down a ride.
The drive was quiet and I felt that connection again as I settled myself back down on the loose sand.
I nearly tripped on a rock as I made my way toward the water. I knew it was not the smartest idea with the water and sand, but I had to get closer.
The wind's chill threatened to bite me as I continued on. I went closer to the area we frequently spent our time. Warmth spread throughout my body despite the air's chill.
That is when I saw a small form. My hair prickled up, a feeling of relief washing over me as I finally stared at the source of my deep longing. I wanted to walk forward and scoop him up in my arms and ask him to be my boyfriend or marry me for crying out loud.
Then I froze. I had never seen Sarit lie out on the beach in plain sight like that...