Chapter 348: Coughing Blood
I sat beside Aeri on the hospital bed, still holding the blanket around her shoulders. She looked at me with curious eyes and asked softly, "Ezra... Who’s Sonny..?"
My eyes widened and my mouth fell open. I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. For a second, I just stared at her in shock.
"Sonny..." I muttered, then coughed and straightened up on the bed. "The guy with whom you came home yesterday morning."
Aeri looked down at the floor, her eyebrows pulling together as she tried to think. She stayed quiet for a few moments, clearly confused.
"I was with someone yesterday?" she asked, sounding like she had no idea what I was talking about.
"Yes... the guy with the car," I said, stammering a little. "You were probably out with him the entire night."
I gulped, feeling a small wave of fear wash over me. I had no idea what was going on anymore. How could she not remember the person she spent the night with? She had even introduced me to Sonny herself yesterday. My mind started racing in different directions. Did she hit her head that hard? I began sweating a little from worry.
"Umm... that makes no sense, Ezra," she said with a low, awkward smile.
"Ehh, how?" I replied, gesturing with both hands to explain. "I remember you coming out of his car in the morning with groceries in your hand."
Aeri shook her head slowly. "What do you mean how? You are my step-son. You know I never stay out the entire night with anyone. How can I be with someone I don’t know anything about?" she said a bit louder, then suddenly coughed hard.
She brought her hand to her mouth and coughed a few more times, her body shaking slightly. The blanket slipped off one of her shoulders. I quickly reached over and pulled it back up to cover her.
I sat there staring at her, my heart beating faster. The steady beeping of the ECG machine in the background seemed louder now. Aeri looked genuinely confused and a little frustrated, like none of my words were making sense to her.
I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to stay calm. "Aeri... you really don’t remember Sonny at all?" I asked gently, watching her face closely.
She looked back at me with tired eyes and slowly shook her head again. "No... I don’t."
Her voice was soft and weak, and the dark circles under her eyes made her look even more exhausted. I could see she was trying hard to remember, but nothing was coming back to her.
I stayed quiet for a moment, my mind still spinning with worry. The room felt heavier now, and the bright morning light from the window didn’t help the strange, uneasy feeling inside me.
*Cough* *Cough* Aeri coughed keeping her fist in front of her mouth.
"You okay? Need more water?" I asked, gesturing towards an empty glass.
"No. I am fine. Just felt like something is stuck in my throat. It’s okay now." She said trying to act strong and passive.
"I see.." I said calming down and letting her breathe. She is stubborn as hell. She will keep revolting and hurt herself more if I push for anything.
I sighed internally.
I sat beside Aeri on the hospital bed, gently rubbing her back as she coughed.
*Cough* *Cough*
She coughed again, her body shaking a little.
"Okay... okay... let’s take it easy," I said softly, still rubbing her back in slow circles. "We will discuss this later. I don’t want to push you right now."
I could see her health was getting worse. She looked so weak and tired. I didn’t want to make things harder for her by asking too many questions.
"No, but who’s Sonny?" she asked again, her voice weak. "And why can’t I remember anything?"
She coughed once more, and this time a small amount of blood came out on her hand. She stared at it with wide, confused eyes.
"Oh God, Aeri!" I said quickly, my heart jumping. "Stop talking. I will tell you everything, but for now just lie down, please..."
I placed one hand on her back and gently pulled her toward me, hugging her against my chest. She rested her head on me, breathing fast and shallow.
*Thud*
The door suddenly opened and two nurses rushed into the room.
"What’s going on?" one of them asked, moving quickly to Aeri’s side to check her pulse.
"We were just talking and then she started coughing," I explained, breathing heavily myself. "Now a little blood came from her mouth."
The first nurse nodded and started checking Aeri’s vitals while the second nurse quickly picked up the phone and called the doctor.
"Please go out for now," the first nurse said to me in a firm but kind voice. "We need to check her properly and give her some rest."
"Alright," I replied. I stepped back slowly and looked at Aeri with a smile, trying hard not to show how worried and stressed I was. "I’ll come later. Aeri, don’t overthink anything and take care, okay?"
"Hmm...I am fine so don’t worry okay?" she answered weakly. She gave me a small smile back, her eyes half-closed from tiredness.
I stood there for one more second, watching the nurses work around her. There was no way she was okay. She needed proper rest before we could talk about anything else. I thought to myself as I quietly stepped out of the room and closed the door behind me with a soft click.
The hallway felt colder now. I leaned against the wall for a moment, letting out a long breath. My mind was spinning with questions and worry. What was happening to Aeri? Why couldn’t she remember Sonny? And why was she coughing up blood?
I ran a hand through my hair and stayed outside the door, waiting for the doctor to come and hoping Aeri would be alright.
Comments