Chapter Text
“Is this Phayu Theerapanyakun?” a female voice asked professionally when Phayu answered an unknown number that had called him twice in the last five minutes.
“Yes, may I ask who is calling?” Phayu asked once he realized it wasn’t a spam call, standing up from the dinner table and motioning for his dads and uncles to continue eating.
“I have a Varain Kirigun here with a head wound and your number was put down as his emergency contact," the lady explained.
“Wait, what? Is he okay?” Phayu yelled, panic rising in his voice, drawing everyone’s attention at the increased volume level. Pai jumped up from the other side of the table and rushed over, concern etched on his face for his cousin.
“He was in a minor car accident but hit his head on the steering wheel, he needed some stitches but otherwise, he’s not seriously injured. Could you come in and pick him up? He can’t drive in this condition,” she stated.
“What hospital is he at?” Phayu asked, already reaching for his car keys. When he got the name of the hospital he thanked the nurse, hung up and ran out the door. Pai rushed after him and barely made it into the car and buckled his seatbelt before Phayu sped off.
”Dude, what’s wrong? What happened?” Pai asked, confused. What had sent his cousin off like this? The only thing that he could think of had to be Rain. Was something wrong with Rain?
Pai pulled out his own phone and texted in the family group chat that he would keep them updated and then texted Sky.
To My Sky: Hey, is everything okay with Rain? Phayu flew out of the house like a bat out of hell freaking out
To Overgrown Puppy: Rain should be okay, he’s supposed to be heading over to my dorm for an all nighter to work on a project. Let me call and see where he is, he should have been here already.
“Rain’s in the hospital,” Phayu snapped, running all the red lights and breaking so many laws to get to the boy he had been obsessed about. “The nurse said he was in an accident but he’s okay, at least he better be.”
Pai grabbed the Oh-Shit handle and sent a text to his dads
To Pa Kinn Dad Porsche: Phayu’s boy is in the hospital, I’ll let you know when I know more
To Son: He’s what!? When did he get a boyfriend!?
To Pa Kinn Dad Porsche: That’s the thing, they aren’t officially dating, just in the talking stage, last I knew
When they pulled up to the hospital ten minutes later, Pai had to stay behind to deal with a cop who followed them to the hospital and to wait for Sky. It’s amazing what being part of a mafia family can do for you when cops get involved, Prapai thought as he paid them off. Once they were gone, Prapai turned to keep an eye out for Sky. When he found out what had happened, he grabbed a ride from a friend and headed to the hospital.
Phayu rushed to the front desk and nearly slipped when his legs almost gave out. “I’m here to see Varain Kirigun,” he informed the nurse.
“Are you family?” she asked, typing on the computer.
“No, but I’m his emergency contact,” he explained, still out of breath from running. This whole emergency contact situation is confusing to him. How could he be his emergency contact when they weren’t officially dating yet? The nurse finished looking up Rain’s information and came out from behind the counter, led him down the hall to a room with a closed door.
“He’s resting right now. The doctors had to give him some pain meds for his head, and it will make him sleepy for a few hours. Let him rest, and you can stay with him,” the nurse said softly, as she opened the door and motioned for Phayu to go in.
He walked in and nearly dropped to his knees seeing Rain in the bed. The nurse failed to mention on the phone that he had a broken arm, too. He was slightly propped up in bed and hooked up to an IV that was giving him the pain medicine the nurse was telling him about.
The nurse left Phayu at the door to Rain’s room. Phayu heard commotion at the front desk and turned to see Pai with Sky beside him. They saw him standing at the doorway and rushed over.
This time, it was Sky who actually collapsed, but Pai caught him in time. Pai helped a crying Sky to Rain’s side, pulling a chair close and pushing Sky gently into it. Once Sky was settled in, he walked over to Phayu, who had grabbed another chair in the room and pulled it to Rain’s other side, holding onto Rain’s good hand.
“How are you holding up?” Pai asked softly.
“I’ll do better when he’s awake," Phayu responded, not looking away from Rain.
“I thought you guys weren’t even dating yet,” Pai asked gently. Sky’s head shot up at this, with tears still in his eyes.
“Then why are you his emergency contact and not me?” Sky asked, sounding hurt.
“I don’t know, I want to ask him that as soon as he wakes,” Phayu answered Sky, looking over at him. “I’m sure he had a reason. I don’t think it’s anything personal.”
“You’re his new favorite person; I’m in second place now,” Sky pouted.
“You know that’s not true, you’ll always hold a special place in Rain’s heart,” Phayu tried comforting Sky. He turned to Pai and motioned for him to go comfort his faen. Phayu couldn’t deal with two emotional people tonight; he had enough scattered thoughts to organize on top of his uncertain emotions.
Around 10 that evening, Pai was able to talk Sky into going home to get some rest, and Phayu promised to call if there was any change with Rain. About an hour after they left, there was a soft knock at the door. Phayu turned around to see Pa Vegas standing in the doorway.
“A little birdy told me that you may need company tonight,” he said, walking in, laying a hand on Phayu’s shoulder. Phayu leaned into his hand and finally let the tears he had been holding back fall, gentle sobs filling the room as his emotions overtook him. Just as fast as they came, the tears stopped. Brushing them away, Phayu pulled his shoulders back and let out a deep, shaky breath. “It’s okay to cry, he wouldn’t expect you to hold it all in,” Pa Vegas says as he wraps his arms around him in a soothing hug.
“I’m not trying to hold it in…I just- I didn’t realize how scared I was until I saw him lying here,” he said softly, scared of being too loud and waking Rain before he was ready to wake up.
“That’s the thing about us, Theerapanyakun, once we care, we care deeply. None of us handle it well when we see someone we care about suffering, and we can’t do anything,” Vegas said. He pulled the chair over from the other side and sat down by Phayu. “I can tell you care, and you’re scared of what that means.”
“I knew that if,” he corrected himself, “no when we started to date, that he would have to know about this part of me. But seeing him in this hospital bed made me question myself. Am I willing to put him at risk of being here again, because of our family business…because it's inevitable.”
“Son, loving someone doesn’t put them in danger. The choices we make, the situations our enemies put us in, do. Not the act of loving them. Our enemies do. But love isn’t the thing that hurts people; it’s the thing that makes all the danger worth surviving,” He watched Rain’s machine readings, the heartbeat steady on the monitor, before turning back to Phayu. “I would say only you know if this is worth it, but I feel like your boy here would say otherwise. You may want to walk away, but the fact is he had you as his emergency contact before you were even official, which tells me he already made that choice before you did.”
Pa Vegas sighs, shifting slightly in his chair. “People like us don’t always get happy endings. You heard how Pete and I first met. There was a point in time when I thought I lost him for good, and then when I got shot, he thought he was going to lose me. Hell, Chay left Kim and gave him hell before he took him back. When something good falls into your lap in this family, you keep it as long as possible. We aren’t guaranteed anything in this family. It’s why when we fall, we fall so hard.”
Leaning back into his chair, Vegas pulled out his phone and started to answer the many ignored vibrations that had been occurring since he arrived. Many of which were emails or text messages from those who were worried. Leaving Phayu to sit with his thoughts. His dad was right. Uncle Kinn almost lost Uncle Porsche, Uncle Kim had to fight for his happy ending, and Dad Pete almost lost Pa Vegas. Almost everyone in the family almost lost their other half, but each one fought for what they loved. He didn’t want to experience any of the trauma drama that each experienced by pulling their loved ones into the family drama. But he also didn’t want to lose the opportunity to experience the love that he could have with Rain. Love requires sacrifices, and that sacrifice comes with fear.