"Sorry."
That was the only word that came out of Stela's mouth. Dean and Loen had just arrived at her house. She immediately invited them inside.
Before the two boys arrived, Stela had struggled to carry R to her room. Even though he was heavy, the girl managed it without leaving so much as a scratch on him. She had also given him first aid in the form of a cold compress. That was all Stela could do while waiting for R's friends to arrive.
Dean immediately went over and touched R's forehead. He felt the heat at once. Quickly, Dean took off the jacket R was wearing and pulled back his blanket. Meanwhile, Loen rummaged through his bag, looking for a thermometer.
Stela was startled and asked instinctively, "Why'd you take it off?"
"Shut up!" Dean snapped.
The girl immediately fell silent. She had no intention of getting involved again. Stela chose to sit near the desk and watch the commotion the two boys were making in front of her.
"Thirty-eight point two. He's burning up, De."
Loen handed Dean the thermometer, which had just beeped. His friend began biting his lower lip. Dean moved closer to R and whispered,
"R, let's go to the hospital, okay?" he asked.
There was no answer. Of course not—R was fast asleep. Still, Dean was sure R could hear him. The boy wasn't asleep or unconscious. He was only keeping his eyes closed to endure the dizziness.
Loen began to panic too. He bit his fingernails, his foot tapping lightly against the floor. Stela could only watch. She didn't want to get yelled at a second time.
Stela almost cursed. She had been kind enough to help R, after all. If she hadn't been feeling generous, she would have left him just like that. Fortunately, she still had plenty of patience left, so Stela managed to hold back her anger at R's two friends. She tried to think positively. Maybe they were just panicking.
"De, just take him already. If we wait for him to answer, we'll never leave," Loen suggested.
Dean shook his head. He didn't want to do anything without the patient's consent. He knew R's personality all too well. Taking matters into his own hands where R's body was concerned would only cause another problem.
"R! We're going to the hospital, okay?" Dean said again, rubbing R's right hand.
R stirred. He tried to open his eyes. They felt hot and sticky, and he didn't want to.
"We're going to the hospital, okay?" Dean repeated.
R gave in. He squeezed his eyes and mouth shut. With all his strength, he tried to nod. Dean and Loen let out relieved breaths when the boy agreed. Stela smiled too.
Dean and Loen tried to lift R. Thankfully, the boy wasn't heavy. He still had enough strength to walk, though he kept his eyes closed.
Before they could get into the car, R stopped and grabbed the arm Dean was using to support him. Loen had already gotten into the car. Stela, who was behind them, immediately stepped closer.
"What's wrong, R?"
Before he could answer, R vomited. Stela covered her mouth in shock. R bent over, and Dean rubbed the back of his friend's neck. Loen hurried out of the car and came over.
"Call Aunt Maria. If anything happens, it'll be a pain," Dean said to Loen.
"Don't," R protested weakly.
"Why?"
"I don't want to trouble my mom."
"It's better for your mom to be troubled than for her to be disappointed because she didn't know her son was sick." This time, it was Loen who spoke, not Dean.
Maria stroked her son's hair. His handsome face was still visible despite his deathly pallor. His breathing was steady, and R was sleeping comfortably after the doctor gave him some medicine. He had already been moved to a VIP room. Maria didn't want her son disturbed by anyone else.
After Loen contacted her, Maria left work and headed to the ER at Syaiful Anwar Hospital. She hadn't been able to sleep all night, remembering how her son had been wandering around without coming home. R knew perfectly well that he was susceptible to infection. The boy really did like taking risks with his thalassemia.
Dean and Loen decided to skip school and stay with their friend. The two boys slept soundly on the sofa. Stela, on the other hand, chose to go to school, of course. The girl left as soon as Maria arrived.
Maria stared intently at her son. She had only just found out that R had started falling for someone at school, to the point that he had completely lost his head like this. That must be the reason behind the change in her son. The woman smiled faintly and kissed R's still-burning forehead.
Maria got up and picked up the phone she had placed on the nightstand. She wanted to contact her ex-husband and tell him about R's condition. Although she was reluctant to see him, she had to respect Bari's status as her son's father.
"Hello."
"Syaiful Anwar Hospital, VIP 13. Aris is hospitalized."
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Being brief, clear, and concise didn't only apply to short-answer questions. Their conversations were the same way. They firmly adhered to the straightforward principle they had agreed on. R was the only reason they still spoke to each other.
"Mom..."
Maria turned toward R and sat beside him. She smiled as she held R's right hand, the one without an IV. The woman kissed R's hand, then his forehead. She was grateful that her son was awake.
"Still dizzy?" she asked.
R shook his head, though that wasn't entirely true. He could still feel the heat in his body, and his head was still spinning as if he were riding a roller coaster.
"Dean and Loen are still here," Maria said, glancing toward her son's friends.
R turned to look to his right as well. He smiled when he saw Dean sleeping on Loen's shoulder. They got along so well when they slept like this. He was grateful that his two friends hadn't abandoned him while he was this helpless.
"If anything happens, tell me, okay? I'm right here."
R nodded. He blinked repeatedly and stared at the ceiling of his hospital room. He inhaled oxygen through the tube that so often helped keep him alive.
"What is it?" Maria asked, noticing something strange about her son.
"You called Dad earlier, right?"
"Yeah. You heard me?"
"Yeah. What did Dad say?" R asked without looking at his mother.
"He said he'd be here soon."
Maria smiled, though R couldn't see it. She knew that sentence was nothing but a lie. But whenever Bari said something, that was obviously the line he used.
"When can Aris go home?"
Maria was startled to hear R refer to himself by his birth name. Usually, R did that when he wanted to act especially spoiled with his mother. The woman leaned closer and stroked R's face, trying to get him to look at her.
"Uncle Farhan said you can go home once your fever goes down and you're not weak anymore. Why? You just got here a few hours ago and you're already uncomfortable?"
R nodded. "I want to go to school."
Maria automatically laughed. She couldn't hide it. This was the first time she'd ever heard her son sound enthusiastic about going to school. She reflexively touched R's forehead again.
"You're still burning up. Are you delirious?" Maria asked.
"Come on, Mom... Aris is serious. R has motivation to go to school now."
"Who? The girl who came with you here earlier?"
"She came with Aris here?" R asked eagerly, slightly surprised.
"Yeah. Dean said you spent the night at her house. You naughty boy."
Maria tapped R on the nose. It was something she'd done since he was little. She often did it whenever she found her son's antics adorable.
"Aris didn't spend the night at her house, Mom. I was on the porch."
"That's basically the same thing, sweetheart."
"No, Mom," R insisted.
"How is it different?"
"It's like this: when it comes to her heart, Aris is still standing in the entryway. He hasn't been allowed inside yet."
Maria lightly patted R's arm. She shook her head with a grin. She was still amazed by her son's behavior today.
"I'll ask your uncle again this afternoon. If you're really allowed to, you can go home. If you can still flirt like that, my boy must be all better."