Moving
2672 Words
A light... bright light... a normal light. It occupies everything in my peripheral vision. What is this? It's... condensing into one light on a wall. Wait, that's the ceiling and the light is from a bulb.
“Kevin,” says a voice that I find so sweet although sobbing. I turn my head slightly to my left. There she is—Eli, my beloved. “You're so stupid,” she says.
“Babe,” I speak but took me too much effort.
From what I see, I'm wearing a hospital gown, bandages all over my body, and curtains all around us. I'm on a hospital bed. I'm hurting everywhere and I'm so exhausted. Oh, that's right... I remember what happened last night. I got into a fight against three guys and I lost badly. She's sobbing and it hurts me hearing her do so.
“Don't... cry,” I tell her.
“I'm not crying!” she insists. But she is. Her tears are flowing on her cheeks. “You got lucky that they weren't part of a gang or worse, the Yakuza! You idi*t! I could've handled it peacefully. You could've been killed!”
“I'm... so...rry.”
She sniffles before saying, “But it's fine. They've been arrested. Don't ever do that again.” She hugs me. My wounds are hurting a little bit.
I was in the right. As I remembered, they hit me first so I defended myself. Also, they were trying to get her away from me and they have bad intentions.
“I want... to... protect... you,” I reason.
“I know, but you acted foolishly. Although, it's not your fault. It's mine. I could've told you to let me handle it. I'm sorry.”
She bows with her face against the bed beside me. “Don't be...”
“I've never felt this worried. Next time you do it, I'll kill you myself,” she growls.
She's worried about me. I feel glad but that's bad. I mustn't keep her worried. “I won't do it... again. I promise. I... love you... babe.”
“I love you too even if you're an idiot.”
She holds my hand and I feel a little pain. My knuckles are in pain because I punched thick faces last night. There is a window beside me and I discover that it's so early in the morning. A minute later, I feel a little fine that I can speak well enough.
“Have you slept?” I ask.
“Not much,” she answers. “You made me worry, after all.” She pinches my arm.
“Ow!” I cry in pain. “Okay, I'm sorry!” I apologize.
“I explained to the police what happened because they wanted you for investigation. I told them what happened and what I said matched what the other witnesses said and what the cameras have shown. You're lucky they decided not to arrest you, stupid, because you shoved them first!”
I chuckle because I almost got a bad track record. “Thank goodness,” I sigh.
“Thank goodness, my a*s!” She pinches my arm again.
“Ow! You're pinching my bruise!”
“That's what you get!”
“Okay, okay, I said I'm sorry!” She lets go and I feel so relieved! Is she trying to kill me or something? I gave her time to cool off before asking, “So, the new year is gonna be this midnight. Where shall we watch the fireworks?”
She frowns at me. “Are you forgetting that your a*s was just beaten up not long ago?”
“I'm fine. We can go. I want to see your favorite place.”
“No! You must rest!”
“I'm fine now, really!” I insist. I sit up and she tried to stop me by pushing me down.
“Lie back down!”
“No, ” I deny, holding her wrists and sit on the bed with my feet on the floor. I stand up and she struggles from my grip. I do feel a little weak but I must not show. “See?” I ask her. She's still frowning when I let go of her.
“But you still gotta rest,” she says, averting her gaze. “because the doctor said so.”
“Well, let's get the doctor here and check me so he can confirm I'm good to go.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Closing her eyes and raising her chin, she answers, “The doctor is busy.”
“Said the doctor or you just made it up?”
“Ugh!” she groans. “Just listen to me! We don't need to go!”
“I don't want to miss the place that made who you are!”
“Shh!” someone shushes somewhere in the room. Maybe it's the nurse.
“What do you mean?” she whispers.
“I want to know more about you. Knowing the things you like comes with it.”
“That's not important right now.”
“It's important for me. Please, think about it.”
Staring at her eyes, her gaze is like reading my soul if I mean what I said. Then she says, “Okay, give me time to decide. Meanwhile, I'll get some food for both of us.”
“Okay,” I nod. She turns around and I begin to worry for her. “You're going out?” I ask, sitting back on the bed while holding her hand.
“Yeah.”
“Be careful.”
“I will.”
After kissing her hand, I let her go. She smiles before turning to walk away. Here on the bed, I just lie down and wonder where my cellphone might be. Maybe she has it. I'll ask her when she comes back. Then I look at my bruises. There are some patches on my face, especially on my cheekbones. Argh! Why the f*ck did I touch it?! Just leave it alone...
Eli comes back with cups of noodles—a lot of them with different flavors. I can't make out what the flavors are because the characters are mostly Japanese. Her jacket and hair have traces of snow in them, slowly melting.
“Is it snowing outside?”
“Yeah, but not that much. So, what flavor do you want?” she asks, sitting on the chair beside the bed.
“A little peppery but not too spicy?”
“Oh, this one,” she says, holding an orange cup noodles.
I nod and she also picks something from them. Her cup noodle is red and has a picture of red hot chili on the cup. I guess it's very spicy. She stands up and goes somewhere, probably to find a hot water dispenser. I wait here for a moment and she comes back with the cups in each hand. They are steaming hot. With disposable chopsticks, we stir our noodles until they're soft and the spices have dissolved. It smells wonderful.
“Let's eat,” she says.
“Let's eat,” I nod.
We eat very slow to not burn our tongues. Then halfway from finishing our noodles, she says, “We'll get out of here in the afternoon and return to our apartment. Then we'll go to the place.”
She's referring to the place she loves. “I'd love to,” I say. “but I realize spending time with you is what matters to me. I'll go with what you decide, babe.”
Smiling, she tilts her head slightly—what a sight to see. “Okay, then... let's just spend our time together to do something fun.”
“What do you suggest?”
“My favorite place is very far and we couldn't do anything more than seeing the fireworks. So, I think it's more fun to go to an amusement park... maybe.”
“Oh! I'd love that!”
“Okay, just rest for now and get better so that the doctor will discharge you.”
“I will and by the way, where's my phone?”
“Here.” She pulls it out from her pocket and gives it to me.
“Thank goodness! I thought I lost it!”
“That's all you care about?”
“No, not at all. I just thought that it would be horrible of me to lose it since you bought it.”
“It doesn't matter to me.”
We smile at each other and she leans forward to kiss me. She sits back, we set aside our empty cup noodles, and I say, “Can I hold your hand while I sleep?”
“No.”
I grab her hand and whisper, “I love you.”
“I hate you,” she answers.
With an unremovable smile on my face, I close my eyes and lie down to sleep. Her hand is so soft and warm. The feeling of how her small fingers bet in between my fingers, I couldn't get enough of it. I feel like I can easily fall asleep and I do feel like I'm gonna fall asleep after a minute.
So, after I woke up, we called the doctor to give me permission to get out of the hospital. They said I'm fine but must stay home to rest, letting my bruises heal. We considered that and we might not do what we planned earlier—and that is going to an amusement park. It's cold and I feel dizzy so we just head straight to the apartment.
“I'm sorry,” I apologize to her as she tucks me into a futon.
“I don't mind,” she says, frowning. “just sleep.”
“You can't see the fireworks because of me.”
“It's not important. Now, rest or you won't get any better. You wouldn't want your mother to tell you to break up on me.”
“No, I won't ever do that regardless of what she says.”
“I'm only a trouble for you.”
“You're more and better than that.”
“Sleep.”
She touches my forehead before I close my eyes. It's a shame that we didn't see the fireworks. I was planning to kiss her as the fireworks display starts. That moment would've been the most memorable time of our lives. But it's okay. As long as she's here with me, I couldn't ask for more. Man... how deeply in love am I?
Since we don't have anything else to do here in Japan, we left sooner. I came home with the bandages and patches all over me and Mom was so worried. I just told her the truth and she embraced me, saying that I did what was right. I defended my girl. We stayed there for a day. Then after that, we must go back to school. I also discovered that the place I'm staying in has been bought. The landlady—who my mother knows apologized to me but she didn't have to. It was free and helped me a great deal.
While sitting here in my chair, I look up and wonder if this is the last I will see this ceiling. I've been here for like three years. It feels like home. Nonetheless, I have to find a new place to stay. But where?
Then my phone buzzes from a notification. It's Eli. She replied after I told her about my situation. “How about you stay here at my place?”
Woah... Hell, yeah! “Of course, babe. I'd love to.”
“Okay, I'll go there and help you pack up.”
“I'll be waiting for you outside the building.”
Yes! A misfortune turned out to be a good fortune! Now, I'm gonna be able to hold her any time I want. We could also sleep in the same bed. I'm so excited!
I climb down the building to meet her at the entrance. While I wait, I look at my phone. Her timeline is full of photos of us in Japan. Then... what the heck? Irene reacts to them with the “haha” button. What's her problem?
Oh, Eli's here. She comes down from a taxi. “Hello, babe,” I greet her.
“Hi,” she smiles walking to me.
Side by side, we walk inside on our way to my room. There, we had a cup of coffee that I ordered from a cafe that deliver all the way here. We drink here at the table with her on the other side.
She says, “You've been here for like, two-”
“Three years,” I correct.
“Three years,” she nods. “that's quite a long time.”
“Yeah, I've been here forever.”
“Do you have a lot to pack up?”
“Uh... not that much, I guess. I could fit my things in my two luggage bags. The rest belongs to this room. Also, I have to remove the posters but it'll take time since I don't want to damage them.”
“I'll help you with that.”
“Thank you.”
“How are your wounds?”
“They're fine but we can't expect them to fully heal in just a snap.”
“Of course,” she chuckles, then stops to look at the side. Something bothers her.
“What's wrong?” I ask.
“Nothing... it's just-”
“You saw bashers hating on you on social media?”
“I'm not bothered if it was aimed at me. I'm bothered because some of them are aimed especially for you.” She first her teeth. “I can't stand it.”
“I saw all of them and I feel the same way as you do.”
“Are you... uh... I'm sorry, it's all my fault.”
“No,” I tell her and grabbing her hand. “You have nothing to be sorry about.”
“But because of me, they're starting to hate on you.”
“Tch, I don't care. I got my eyes on the prize.” I smile, looking at her eyes. She knows well that I'm talking about her.
She smiles too but scoffs at me. “I don't know about you.”
“I don't care what they say about us.”
“Okay... me too.”
“So, I'll be packing my things now.”
“Let me help.”
I only have a few clothes and things that I've been using for three years. The clothes fit into one bag and the other things like the rice cooker and water heater are from the owner. She let me borrow them. Eli and I gently remove the posters and roll them to fit inside a sack. I collected my action figures and put them in my other bag. We took until midday.
As we leave, the landlady comes to meet me in the hallway. “Thank you for letting me stay,” I thank her.
“It's fine and I'm sorry if it was so sudden.”
“I understand.”
“So, have you found another place to stay? Can I help?”
“I've found one. But anyway, thanks for everything, aunty.” I smile. “Now if we may...”
“Oh, right. Be careful, the two of you.”
“We will.”
We pass by her and I feel a little relieved. I'm not used to talking to her because we barely talk at all. Also, I had to be nice as much as possible because she helped me a great deal.
“She seems nice,” Eli tells me as we wait on the sidewalk for a taxi.
“Yeah. She's so generous for letting me stay for three years.”
- Writer
