By Zephyria *
A loud honking sound struck his ears. Ashley, who had turned the steering wheel by a hair’s breadth, unconsciously gasped and blinked for a moment.
Calm down, calm down.
Ashley slowed down, repeating to himself as if it were a mantra. He had almost died a tragic death with his destination in sight. He shuddered at the thought of how shocked Koi would be if he came to the station and saw his body.
He slowed down and entered the station, parked the car in the parking lot, and hurriedly packed his luggage. He had to throw away his cell phone too, but meeting Koi was the priority. It would be difficult to meet Koi without it right now.
Once inside the station, he looked around and sat down in the first seat he saw, then hurriedly searched for train tickets. He saw that the empty seats on the train he had checked before coming were still available, so he bought two tickets for the time being.
Now there was only about an hour left until the appointed time.
He couldn’t control the excitement in his heart, torn between the anxiety of Father’s employees coming to catch him and the anticipation of reuniting with his beloved, and he kept looking around. Time was passing slowly.
*
Koi stared at Father, his face ashen. He suddenly couldn’t understand what he was saying. No, he clearly understood, but he couldn’t accept it. Why was Father suddenly acting like this towards him?
Seeing his son’s face full of confusion, Father let out a miserable sigh. He opened his mouth as if trying to find something to say, but he squeezed his eyes shut and closed his mouth again, as if no words would come out.
“…Koi.”
His voice, barely uttered, was trembling slightly.
“Koi, I know I was wrong. I did terrible things to you. …But please don’t leave like this. Can’t you give me, just once… just one chance?”
Father’s words gradually quickened. As if his emotions were running high, the hand holding Koi’s arm tightened, and Koi unconsciously frowned. But Father, not caring, hurriedly poured out his emotions.
“I’ll really be good from now on. I, I’ll do anything… Koi, please.”
“L-Let go.”
Koi barely managed to say in a trembling voice filled with fear. Ashley was waiting. There was no time to be doing this. Koi was going to leave. No matter what Father said now, it was already too late.
He should have done it sooner.
Koi looked at Father with resentful eyes.
If only you had said that sooner.
“Let, let me go. I have to go… Ashley is waiting, so.”
“Koi!”Father shouted desperately. But that, rather, gave courage to Koi, who had only been frozen and trembling.
“Don’t yell at me!”
Father paused at Koi’s shout. Koi looked up at Father with tears welling up in his eyes.
“You said you’d change, but look, you’re still yelling at me like this. How can I trust you? You want me to give you just one more chance?”
All the emotions he had suppressed until now poured out. Koi spoke to Father in a clear tone, without stammering.
“You’ve had so many chances until now, but you threw them all away.”
Father stared at Koi with a blank face, as if he were speechless. Koi clearly saw despair and regret mixed on his face. But there was no time to hesitate. Koi pushed him away with all his might and barely managed to escape from the corner.
“Koi!”
Father called his name urgently and tried to grab him. But Koi quickly broke free from his grasp and opened the door of the Motorhome.
A wide-open world unfolded before his eyes. Just one more step and he could leave this miserable place and go to a new world forever.
With Ash.
“Cough……”
Just as he was about to step outside, a rough cough suddenly echoed from behind. Koi should have ignored it and run out. Without hesitating, without looking back.
“Cough, cough, cough…… Keh!”
But the series of eerie coughs made him stop and turn around. And the terrible sight that came into view made Koi widen his eyes and freeze.
Father was crouching on the floor, his body hunched over, one hand covering his mouth. But the blood that poured out with each cough ignored his desperate attempts to block it and flowed uselessly onto the floor.
“Ko, i.”
Father called his name, panting. He seemed to be trying to say he was okay, but what followed was another coughing fit with blood. Before Koi’s eyes, who had turned pale and covered his mouth with both hands, Father’s pale body slumped forward.
And Koi saw it. He saw him fall pathetically onto the pool of red blood.
“……Dad!”
Belatedly, Koi screamed and ran to him. The floor of the Motorhome, illuminated by the dim interior lights, was entirely stained with dark red blood.
*
Ashley thought he heard Koi’s voice and stood up from his chair without realizing it. He hurriedly looked around, but there were hardly any shadows of people coming and going in the station.
Ashley sat back down in his chair, feeling embarrassed, and checked the watch on his wrist. It was almost time for their appointment. He looked at the time on his train ticket once more and tapped his leg anxiously, looking in the direction people were coming from.
He wanted to call, but if Koi was coming by bicycle, he wouldn’t be able to answer anyway. His call might even interfere with his driving.
He calmed himself down by taking slow, deep breaths to soothe his anxiety. The minute hand on the clock moved to the next mark.
*
The paramedics who carried Father took him straight to the hospital emergency room.
Koi, who had ridden in the ambulance with him, blankly watched the medical staff move the blood-soaked Father onto a bed, connect various machines, and bustle around.
It didn’t feel real at all. He couldn’t understand what was happening before his eyes.
……I have to go to the station.
Ashley will be waiting. His heart felt like it was burning, but he couldn’t bring himself to move. How much time has passed? Even if I leave now, it’ll already be too late, right? Ash will be worried, I have to call him. No, this isn’t the time to be doing this. Let’s go quickly. Father will be okay since he’s at the hospital. Anyway, there’s nothing I can do here.
I have to go quickly.
“Excuse me, are you Victor Niles’ family?”
Just as he was about to take a step, someone suddenly spoke to him. Koi hesitated and turned around, and a man who appeared to be a nurse came into view. He hesitated and nodded, and the man looked around Koi and asked again.
“Is there anyone else besides you? A mother, or siblings?”
“No.”
Koi answered.
“We’re, just, the two of us.”
He felt a little uncomfortable expressing Father and himself as ‘we.’ He forced his tongue to move and put the word into his mouth.
The nurse said, “I see,” with a somewhat troubled expression, and then told him to wait here before turning around and returning to the medical staff next to Father. They seemed to be talking while treating him, so Koi had no choice but to stand there. It might be a situation where a guardian was needed. He didn’t know what help he, a minor, could be.
Thinking that far, Koi tightened his grip on the strap of his bag. Ashley is waiting. This wasn’t the time to be hesitating here like this. Just as he was about to pull himself together and leave, one of the medical staff standing around Father suddenly turned his head and looked at him. Koi, who had helplessly made eye contact, awkwardly stopped in his tracks. The man, who appeared to be a doctor, walked towards Koi without hesitation and held out his hand.
“Hello, my name is Gerald. What’s your name?”
Koi hesitated, carefully took his hand, quickly let go, and said.
“Co, Corner Niles. Call me Koi.”
“Okay, Koi. ……You’re Victor Niles’ son, right? You’re his only family?”
Koi nodded and answered.
“……Yes, I’m the only one.”
Gerald sighed and made a troubled expression. The doctor scratched his chin and, with a reluctant look on his face, but as if he had no choice, spoke firmly.
“Koi, don’t be too surprised by what I’m about to tell you.”
Koi tensed up reflexively at the ominous introduction. The doctor looked at Koi, who was looking up at him without saying anything, with a serious expression and opened his mouth.
“Did you know that your father has cancer?”