Love Sick – New Horizons

Chapter 4

It was Tuesday evening. Phun’s uncle Dan had collected him from the first University and driven him to the second choice, which was about 5 miles away from the first.

After spending some time with his uncle, Phun thanked him for giving up his time to help him, but his Uncle just smiled and assured him he was glad to be able to help. It was time for him to leave then and after waving him off, Phun made his way to the University reception desk. Three other students who he had met at the previous Uni were also attending this taster course, and Phun looked around to see if they had arrived yet.

There were several students milling around the entrance hall and he suddenly spotted the two girls he was looking for. As he approached them Hom and Solada saw him coming towards them and smiling they waved to him.

“Hi there Phun, we were just looking for you, have you seen Tong yet? We thought he’d be here by now.” Before Phun got chance to answer the young man in question could be seen hurrying towards them, his backpack slung over his shoulder.

The four friends exchanged greetings and then Phun suggested they make their way to the reception desk to sign in while there was a lull in the proceedings.

It took a while for all four friends to fill in admission forms and answer questions from the lady behind the desk, but eventually they were ready to move on, each holding on to the paperwork and keys to their rooms. Hom and Solada would be sharing a room on the first floor and Phun and Tong would be sharing a second floor room. After agreeing to meet up again in the entrance hall after they’d put their bags in their rooms, the young people went their separate ways.

Phun and Tong quickly found their room, which was rather small, but they had expected that as the student accommodation in the first Uni had been the same. But it had everything they needed, two beds, two wooden chairs and a table, a wardrobe each and a small shower room with toilet. Tong went into the shower room to wash his hands and Phun sat down on his bed.

He took out his phone and sent a text to Noh. He was missing his boyfriend so much, it felt as though he hadn’t seen him for weeks, although it was only two days!

Phun:-

Hi Noh! Just letting you know I’ve arrived safely at Uni No.2! Three friends I made at Uni No.1 are doing this Course as well so it’s great to already know some people.

Hope you are okay, I love you and miss you so much Noh, can’t wait to see you on Friday! Xx

Tong came out of the shower room just as Phun finished his text. Tong was grinning as he spoke. “Ah, texting your girlfriend are you?” Phun shook his head, smiling. “No, I’m texting my boyfriend actually.” Tong didn’t react at all, he just grinned and nodded his head.

“Good for you Phun, I’m glad you feel able to be open about it. My older brother is gay but when my parents found out they gave him a very hard time. I used to try and support him as much as I could.” Phun nodded.

“It must be so hard when your parents can’t accept it. I always had girlfriends in the past, being with Noh now must be very strange for them, but my mother and sister were great from the start, it took my dad a bit longer to accept but he seems fine with it now, it helps I think that they like Noh a lot.” Phun went on to tell Tong the story of how he and Noh got together, Noh pretending to be Phun’s boyfriend so that Phun could avoid dating a girl his father thought would be suitable for him.

Tong couldn’t help laughing. “That’s a bizarre situation isn’t it? How long have you two been together?”

“It’s over a year now, we just love being together. It’s odd though, neither of us is interested in other boys, we don’t look at anyone else like that. I’m sure we’ll be together for a very long time, forever hopefully.”

Tong smiled and patted Phun’s shoulder. “I’m really happy for you, I hope things work out how you want. Everyone deserves to be happy, regardless of who it is they love. Fortunately my brother has a great boyfriend, and my parents have mellowed a bit, they do speak to him now, so fingers crossed he’ll be happy.”

“What about you Tong. Do you have a girlfriend?” Phun started to put his things in the wardrobe.

“Not at the minute, but I have to say I quite fancy Solada!” Tong couldn’t help chuckling to himself. “But common sense tells me now might not be a good time to start anything, we may not end up in the same Uni and it would be difficult to have a long-distance relationship when we’ve only just met!”

Phun joined in the laughter. “You could be right there Tong. Maybe you need to wait and see what happens. Speaking of Solada, we’d better be going down and meeting the girls. They’ll be wondering where we are. I could do with something to eat as well, my stomach’s growling!”

************

P’Ann was sitting in the relatives room in the Hospital. She was leaning forwards, her hands covering her face. She slowly sat back in the chair with her hands now in her lap, revealing her tired, tearstained face. The door of the room opened quietly and a nurse came in, carrying a cup of tea and a plate with some biscuits on.

“I thought you might be ready for another drink P’Ann. You’re looking very tired, is there anything else I can get for you? That chair you’re sitting in will recline you know, you could have a proper rest then.”

P’Ann shook her head. “I’m okay thanks, I just need some news of Noh. Do you know anything nurse? Is he going to be alright do you think, how much longer will the operation take?”

The nurse sat in the chair next to P’Ann and covered her hand with her own. “I don’t know how much longer they’ll be, I’m sorry, but Noh is in the best possible place right now, if anyone can save him it’s Dr. Apibal. He’s one of our most skilled surgeons and he’ll fight hard for his patient.”

The tears welled up again in P’Ann’s eyes. “There’s a chance he could die isn’t there? Oh God, what am I going to tell his poor parents? He’s their only child, they’ll be devastated!” P’Ann covered her face again, sobbing uncontrollably.

The nurse quickly put her arm around her shoulders. “We must never give up hope P’Ann! It’s pointless worrying about something that probably won’t happen, we’ll face that if we need to, but for now we hope and pray that Dr. Apibal is successful, okay?”

P’Ann dried her eyes and nodded. “Sorry nurse, I know you’re right, I’ll keep hoping and praying for him to be well.”

“Is there someone I can ring for you who would come and sit with you? It would help you I think to have someone to talk too.”

P’Ann thought for a moment. “It’s difficult with it being the early hours of the morning. Noh’s best friend Ohm might come, that’s the boy who was attacked at the same time as Noh. I think I’ll wait for a couple of hours and call him then.” The nurse nodded.

“Alright, I’ll have to go and do my drugs round now, but call me if you need anything okay, and I’ll let you know the moment I hear anything about Noh.”

She hurried off and P’Ann slowly drank her tea, wrapping her cold hands around the cup for warmth. This had been the worst night of her life, waiting frantically for the ambulance to arrive and the feeling of terror as she watched helplessly when the Paramedics quickly assessed Noh’s condition and told her he needed urgent medical attention at the Hospital.

The ambulance siren seemed deafening at that time of night, racing through the dark streets, but the lateness of the hour meant the roads weren’t very busy and they quickly arrived at the Hospital. The paramedics had radioed through giving a brief description of their patient’s injuries, and a Doctor and two nurses were waiting for them at the Emergency Department doorway.

Noh was lifted gently from the vehicle onto a trolley that was prepared for him and wheeled steadily through the doors. One of the paramedics showed P’Ann where she could wait until Noh was assessed. The time seemed interminable as she waited but eventually a Doctor came to speak to her.

After introducing himself as Dr. Apibal he spoke gently. “I understand that Noh’s parents are abroad at present, and you’re his guardian in their place?” Ann nodded her head, worry etched on her face. “I’ve rung them to tell them what’s happened and Noh’s mother is trying to get a flight back as soon as she can.”

Dr. Apibal nodded. “That’s good, this young man is very ill I’m afraid, and I’m going to operate as soon as the Operating Theatre is prepared.” The tears started again, running down Ann’s cheeks. “I’m going to do my absolute best for your charge my dear, please try and remain calm if you can, I would try and rest as well, the operation may take several hours, I won’t know exactly how bad the injuries are until I take a look inside.”

Just then the Doctor’s bleeper went off, and after patting Ann’s shoulder, he hurried off to answer it. A couple of minutes later he put his head round the door to the waiting room to tell her everything was ready in Theatre and he was making his way there immediately.

Ann held back a sob as she nodded her head, whispering her thanks to the Doctor.

************

Phun and his three companions enjoyed their meal in the dining hall, and afterwards they made their way to the classroom where they were to meet their teacher who was going to explain what would happen over the next two days.

There were 12 students altogether on this course, and the teacher, Mr. Leekpai, quickly got them to introduce themselves. There followed games which were designed to make them work as a team and problem solving tasks which were very interesting to the students, and also great fun.

After stopping for a break, Mr. Leekpai explained the programme for the next day, which involved a very early start. Groans were heard around the room which made the teacher laugh.

“Well students, I’m sure you’ll all cope with early rising, but sadly I have to tell you there’s something even worse to come.” He looked around the room at the faces of his students who all looked anxiously at each other, wondering what it was.

“The area we are travelling too for the camp tomorrow is in a very remote area. It’s a very dense forest with no communications and miles away from civilisation!” The students looks of horror made their teacher laugh out loud.

“This means that there will be no point in taking your mobile phones or any other devices………..” The sharp intake of breath and looks of shock on the students faces made Mr. Leekpai laugh even more. “I have never seen such looks of terror before! Anyone would think I’d just told you all to cut your hand off!” It was a couple of minutes before he could stop laughing.

“Seriously though everyone, none of your devices will work where we’re going so it would make more sense to leave them here, don’t worry, they will be locked safely away in the Office safe, no harm will come to them I promise!”

Phun was feeling as bad as his fellow students, how on earth would he manage without his phone? How will he be able to text his Noh, or get texts back from the love of his life? The students were all muttering to each other, complaining that it was a bad idea, the thought of being phoneless was unthinkable!

“I appreciate you are adults now guys, and I can’t force you to do this, but it really would be better in the long run. If you hand the phones in tomorrow morning just before we leave, you’ll have plenty of time to get texting your girlfriends and boyfriends! Right, I think it’s time we went to bed now, an early start tomorrow, breakfast is at 6am in the dining hall, don’t forget to make sure you have all the equipment from the list you had sent to you. Sleep well, no sitting up till all hours texting!”

The students all made their way to their respective rooms, still chunnering to each other about their phones, some saying they wouldn’t hand their phone over for anyone!

As soon as Phun and Tong got into their room they sat on their beds sending texts to parents and friends telling them about not being able to use their phones while they were at the camp. Phun sent a text to Noh, and was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t a text back from him for his previous message. Phun assumed Noh probably had his phone on charge, and hadn’t seen the text.

************

It was 5.am on Wednesday morning when P’Ann felt a gentle shake on her shoulder. Her eyes shot open and for a few seconds she couldn’t think where she was. Then the face of the nurse came into her line of vision and she sat up with a start.

“Sorry to startle you P’Ann. Dr. Apibal has just rung through to the desk. The operation is over, they’re just settling Noh into his room and then you’ll be able to see him. The Doctor’s pleased with the way it all went, though Noh is still a very sick young man, he’s confident that Noh being young and strong will stand him in good stead. As soon as I hear he’s settled I’ll take you to him, okay?”

P’Ann had listened carefully to the nurse without interruption, and when she finished speaking she thanked her, tears of relief filling her eyes. “Thank you so much nurse, for everything you’ve done. I can’t wait to see poor Noh. I’ll ring his friend Ohm in an hour or so, and P’Im, who also works for the family. She’ll take over for me so I can go home for a shower and a rest.”

************

The shrill ring of Tong’s alarm woke the two young men. It was 5.30am and still fairly dark outside. They stumbled around, getting themselves ready for their camping trip, fortunately they had packed their haversacks the night before, so after washing and brushing their teeth, they made their way down to the dining hall.

Phun checked his phone one last time before having to hand it over to Mr. Leekpai, but was even more disturbed to see there still was no messages from his Noh. What was going on? He even tried to ring his number but got the “this mobile phone is switched off” message. This was so unlike Noh! Phun had the most awful feeling in the pit of his stomach, there’s something very wrong here.

After having some breakfast, the students made their way to the minibus which was waiting outside in the car park. Mr. Leekpai was standing next to the bus with a box in his hands. “Please put your mobiles in the box guys, it will be put in the safe, don’t worry!” He was delighted to see that all the students complied with his instruction, even the ones who “wouldn’t hand their phones over for anyone” put their phones in the box, very reluctantly.

The bus pulled out of the car park at 6am, and the students could see Mr. Leekpai’s assistant going back into the University with the precious cargo in the box he was carrying.

Tong and Phun were sitting next to each other in the minibus, and Hom and Solada in the seats in front of them. Solada was talking about the coming trip, and was looking forward to the experience. The others were joining in, except for Phun. Hom looked at him.

“You okay Phun, you seem very quiet?” Phun tried to smile. “I’m fine thanks, just a bit worried about something, but I’m sure it will be okay.” He tried to join in the banter with everyone, hoping to take his mind off his worry about Noh.

************

Finally the nurse came to the relatives room to collect P’Ann and take her to see Noh. P’Ann felt very anxious, worrying about how Noh would be. The nurse was explaining that he had several machines attached to him, all monitoring his vital signs, but they were nothing to worry about.

Noh was in a side room by himself, a different nurse was there with him, checking the readings on one of the machines. P’Ann approached the bed and was shocked to see Noh’s face, partly covered by an oxygen mask, was as white as the pillow he was lying on. His eyes were closed and there were dark shadows underneath them. There was a saline drip going into the back of his right hand, giving him fluids, a monitor for oxygen levels attached to his left hand.

P’Ann could feel the tears welling up again, but she shook herself and mentally told herself she needed to be strong now, Noh needed her to be strong. She gently touched his forehead and smoothed back his hair. She kissed the top of his head whispering, “Hi Noh, please get well soon, we need you back at home okay?” She his hair softly, hoping he would somehow be aware she was there.

A couple of minutes later Dr. Apibal came into the room. He shook hands with Ann. “I’m pleased with the way everything went, but Noh’s injuries were far worse than I initially thought. I don’t know how he kept going for as long as he did, he must have been in a lot of pain. The injury to his side was one of the worst I’ve seen, the lout who inflicted these injuries must be caught and punished, he could have killed Noh.”

Ann shook her head in disbelief. “I think the Police are very keen to catch these thugs. They’ve been terrorising people for a few weeks now. Let’s hope they get them soon.” The Doctor asked to be kept informed on any developments and after a final check on his patient, left the room.

“I’ll hand you over to the nurse who’ll be looking after Noh now P’Ann.” The nurse who had been so kind to Ann was taking her leave. “I need to get back to my ward now, it’s nearly time for me to go off duty. I hope Noh gets better soon. Take care of yourself as well, Noh needs you to be fit and well!” P’Ann hugged the nurse and thanked her for all she had done for her.

The nurse assigned to look after Noh was called Jen, Ann introduced herself, explaining her relationship to Noh. “I’ll be contacting Noh’s parents later, his mother was trying to get a flight home, hopefully she’ll be here soon.” Jen smiled and nodded. “That’s good news, meanwhile we’ll do everything possible for Noh, okay?”

Ann felt relieved for the first time in a very long time. She left the room to go and ring Ohm and P’Im, knowing Noh was in safe hands.