She headed to the suite ward where Arthit was staying in and he was alone at that time. She gave a light knock before entering,

“How are you feeling P’Arthit?”

“I’m good… Where have you been? Were you busy?”

“Yes… I was quite busy just now… But I’m all done...”

“Aren’t you going to rest?” asked Arthit before he seeks her help to adjust the bed level to a sitting position.

“It’s fine, P’Arthit… I’m here to keep you companied…” as she assisted him with the bed and adjusted the pillow on his back to ensure he was comfortable before taking a seat by his bedside.

Arthit smiled before he queried, “Am I getting patient sympathy from you now?”

“No… Of course, not…”

“Then is this a friend’s sympathy?”

“No…”

“What? I’m not even a friend now?”

“It’s not that… I’m not here out of sympathy… But it is because I want to be here…”

“Ice…”

“Yes?”

“Am I really just a friend to you?”

“What are you saying? You shouldn’t be having such unnecessary thoughts… You should be focusing on getting better…”

“It’s an important question for me… In case anything happens to me… I want to know…”

“I will help you… Didn’t you hear what my Prof said? I am a good neurosurgeon… I’ll make sure you’ll be back up and running in no time… So don’t trouble yourself with such thoughts…”

It was strange for Wanfahmai since she did not believe in giving patients unnecessary hope besides telling them that she would try her very best, however as she also identify herself as one of the caregivers in the case of Arthit, it was as though she was consoling herself out of the situation.

“Ice… As warm as you are as a person, the moment when you are icy, you are really cold.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You are still denying your feelings for me even as I lay here, with my life in your hands…”

“What are you saying P’Arthit?”

“You don’t have to hide any longer… P’Chard has told me all about it…”

“What?!”

Arthit smiled yet again before he continued, “Me being here on this hospital bed, allowed us to talk things through between us… And it led to him telling me about you…”

Flashback

After Wanfahmai had told him to look after Arthit, he took a seat beside him. His presence woke Arthit up as he turned to look at his older cousin.

“What are you doing here? Don’t you have work to do? I’ll be fine…”

“Why didn’t you get yourself checked?”

“I was busy with work… And I thought that it was just the usual headaches that I got… Because it goes away when I took some painkillers…”

Prof. Arthichard heave out a heavy sigh before he said, “You never change Arthit, always keeping things to yourself…”

“It’s a habit…”

“Then break the habit… I’m sure you don’t like it if Wanfahmai were to keep things away from you… Isn’t that triggered you to lose your consciousness, right? The two of you drives me crazy sometimes…”

“Then why didn’t you tell me what she has been up to?”

“She was really going around without evidence… And sensitive matters like this had to be kept on the down low because of potential lawsuits… But I did suggest to her to tell you when it was finally proven. That’s why the meeting happened earlier… And before you start blaming me… You know she is not the kind to tell in detail about what she’s doing until she has already got it done and over with…”

“Do you really like her, P’Chard?” asked Arthit sincerely, even addressing him formally, showing his respect to Prof. Arthichard.

“Honestly, yes I do…”

“Now that I’m in this state… I think it would be good for you to take care of her… Because I can’t…”

“You are crazy Arthit… You still don’t know who is Wanfahmai? You think that just because you said I can have her… She would be coming to me??”

“She never tells me anything…”

“It’s because she’s afraid… Or should I say was afraid….”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I first met her at a Thai eatery back in England by chance… We would occasionally bump into each other and we were cordial because there were not many Thais around… So, there was a sense of camaraderie… It wasn’t until she started her clinical attachment at the place, I was working in… Even then, we didn’t really interact much. She really kept pretty much to herself and she doesn’t seem bothered at all, but she was always acing her assignments both in theory and practical, until she took up a course that I was teaching. Oh, she was a tough one… She was giving me a hard time… I mean she just kept asking and asking… Somehow that got us closer, because I was just amazed by her… I can safely say now that I was attracted to her but she would shut down any advances from me… So, I asked her if she was seeing anyone… And she told me she had a boyfriend… I was surprised when she said that because I told her that I never really saw her with anybody else in school… She retorts back in the way that only Wanfahmai could as she mentions that her boyfriend is back Thailand. I asked her if long distance relationship works because I personally don’t think I can… Which she then blurts out your name thereafter, as I quote, “Of course you can’t, Prof… You’re not Arthit…”

“She said that?”

“Yeah, she really did… I verified your identity further to make sure it’s really the Arthit that I know… And told her that you’re my cousin…”

“What was her reaction then?”

“She was definitely shock… But after that she kept bugging me questions about you… And that led me to ask her what actually happened between the two of you…”

“So, you know what happened P’Chard?”

“I’ve promised her not to tell you though… But…”

“But?”

“But since I do not want to see you so down and out… I will…” replied Prof. Arthichard as he continued, “She left for England because khun pa disagrees with her hanging out with you that she leaked her past information and even spread rumours about Wanfahmai and her teacher…”

“What?! My mom confronted her?”

“Yeah… It was during the time when she was staying over at her teacher’s place to recuperate and k