Yao sat in the hospital room on his bed, looking out at the cloudy sky. He had just found out a couple hours before he had Cardiomyopathy, a type of disease that weakened the heart muscles or changed the structure of the heart muscle. Not only that, he knew he only had one month left to live and that fact left him empty and almost broken. He placed his hand on his chest where his heart beat. Then suddenly, a gust of wind blew through the open window and the door to the room opened without the knowledge of the Chinese male. When the wind gradually faded, Yao pulled his bangs back and pulled his ponytail back in it's original place.
"U-um...Wang Yao, right?" an unfamiliar voice called from behind the man. Yao turned his head to the voice and nodded.
"Yes, that's me."
The man in the white coat smiled and walked over to Yao. "I'm Feliciano Vargas. I'll be your doctor. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Wang." The said doctor held his hand out in greeting, smiling at the Chinese male. Yao stared up at the doctor and took his hand, shaking it.
"Yao, Doctor Vargas. Call me Yao aru," he said, pulling his hand away from the Italian's. Doctor Vargas laughed and nodded.
"Yessir~," he said almost too light heartedly for Yao's liking. The doctor looked down at the clipboard in his hand and flipped through the papers. Feliciano opened his mouth to say something but before he could, Yao interrupted.
"I know the cause of the disease. It's caused by viral infections I had in the past. So can we please not talk about it?" He asked, looking up at the doctor with a blank, empty look on his face. The Italian doctor stared at the Chinese man in surprise and nodded.
"Va bene, Yao," he said. Following after their brief conversation, a silence filled the air. The doctor didn't know what to do and Yao didn't seem to want to talk about anything else. While Feliciano thought of what to do, Yao turned his head back to the window and looked out. After a while, the Italian male noticed his paitent looking out the window. Without thinking, he blurted out what he had in his head.
"You really like looking up at the sky, don't you?"
Yao turned his head to his doctor and blinked, surprised by the sudden statement made by the other. When he realized what he had said, his face turned slightly red.
"I-ignore what I just said, Y-yao," he stuttered, shaking his hand and head back and forth quickly, his face still red. Yao watched silently and couldn't help but laugh at his reaction.
"It's fine aru. And to answer your question, yes I do. I'm surprised you noticed," Yao replied, a small gentle smile on his face. Feliciano's eyes widened at the smile on Yao's face and his face flushed a slightly deeper red. He shook his head and rubbed the back of his head, glancing to the side, a shy smile on his face.
"B-bene, when I first came into the room, I saw that you were looking up at the sky and your eyes were calm and seemed to be filled with ease and happiness. N-not only that, you looked very b-beautiful." His smile turned into a light, happy one. Yao's eyes widened at the compliment and even he blushed a little at it. After a while, he started to chuckle.
"Aiyaa...you don't even realize what you just said but you look so happy aru," he said, shaking his head. For some reason, Yao felt really at ease with his doctor and it was a strange feeling but it made him relax and forget about his disease. Feliciano blinked and tilted his head, confused.
"What do you mean, ve~?" he asked. The Chinese male laughed again, shaking his head slightly.
"Oh no, it's nothing aru."
Feliciano raised an eyebrow, even more confused than he had been before. Before the either of them knew it, the day passed by quickly and it was time for Feliciano to head home and sleep. Yao bid his doctor farewell as the Italian left to head home. That day was a good day for Yao, and he hoped that he would be able to see his Italian doctor again. With that, the day ended and both of them were asleep in their beds, waiting for the next day to come.
The next day, Feliciano ran into Yao's room during his break, a smile on his face, "Yao~!" he called as he went to hug the Chinese male on the bed. Yao turned his head and smiled.
"Ni-hao, Feliciano aru," he said when he felt the Italian's arms wrap around his body. He brought his hands up and hugged his doctor back. "You came here in a hurry, it seems. What about your job?"
Feliciano pulled away from his friend and beamed, "I'm on break, ve~! So I can talk to you~." Yao chuckled at the doctor's reply. He looked up to Feliciano and smiled.
"Well, what are you eating for lunch today, Feliciano? The same thing as yesterday?" Yao asked, motioning for the Italian to sit down on the stool next to the bed. Feliciano sat down on the stool and magically took out his lunch box. He smiled at the Chinese friend and nodded, opening his lunch.
"Si~. The same thing as yesterday. Pasta! My favourite food next to pizza!"
Yao laughed, slightly holding his stomach since he knew he would be laughing hard soon. Feliciano puffed his cheeks out, watching Yao as he laughed.
"It's not that funny, Yao," he said sulking. The Chinese male nodded, trying his best to stop his laughter but failing in doing so. It took a while before Yao stopped laughing, wiping the tears from his eyes that had formed from laughing too hard.
"I'm sorry aru. I just couldn't help it," he said out of breath, "But I found it so adorable that I couldn't stop myself."
Feliciano's face turned a light shade of pink at Yao's words, looking down at his lap and glancing at his paitent from underneath his bangs. "I guess...you're forgiven...," he said almost too quietly for the other to hear him. Yao's smiled at the Italian, "Xie xie aru. And," he paused then chuckled lightly, "I think you should begin eating or your break will be over in a matter of minutes aru."
The doctor nodded and started to eat his pasta, after opening his lunch box, with glee. Yao chuckled, watching Feliciano eat. Then at the thought of noodles, he tilted his head.
"Have you eaten any type of seafood pasta aru? Like tuna mixed in with the pasta instead of with tomato sauce?"
Feliciano looked up from eating his pasta, looking at Yao as he chewed. The Italian doctor opened his mouth then realized it was filled with pasta and closed it, shaking his head no in response to his question. After chewing for a few more seconds, he swallowed.
"Is it good? Since it's pasta, it must be good!" He asked enthusiastically. Yao turned his head toward the window and looked out at the sky then turned it back to the Italian.
"Well..I've never really had it aru. I just assumed that noodles and pasta were the same thing, which I'm sure they are," Yao said. He wasn't entirely sure of himself about the pasta and the noodle portion, but at the same time, he was sure of it. He tilted his head slightly, frowning at the thought. Feliciano watched the Asian silently as he ate.
"Yao...," Feliciano started, stuffing more pasta into his mouth. Yao looked over at the Italian and tilted his head.
"What is it aru?"
"Have you eaten a sea cucumber before?"
The Asian raised an eyebrow and nodded, "I have aru. It's one of the dishes served in China. Why do you ask?"
"I heard you can eat it so I was just wondering," Feliciano replied, eating like he was shoving the pasta down his throat. Yao tilted his head in confusion then started to laugh again.
"Aiyaa, take your time eating aru. Chew your pasta properly, Feliciano," Yao warned the Italian as he laughed lightly. The Italian stopped eating and looked up at Yao, swallowing.
"But I like pasta so much that I practically inhale them and not chew...," he replied then quietly added, "even if it's unhealthy, I don't really mind..."
Yao blinked, "Excuse me? Did I hear you right aru?"
The doctor quickly smiled and shook his head. "I didn't say anything, Yao~. You must be hearing stuff!" With that, he went back to eating his pasta so he would be finished eating before his break ended. And to both their surprises, Feliciano's break immediately ended right after he finished eating. The doctor got up and kissed the Chinese's male's forehead lightly and bounced out of the room, leaving the Chinese male to sit there dumbfounded with a red face.
For the next few days, Feliciano and Yao continued to talk. With each passing day, Yao grew weaker and weaker, his face paler than when Feliciano had first met him. That day, Feliciano had been sent to Yao to inform his best friend, and now his crush, that the Asian was slowly dying faster than they had anticipated. The Italian doctor knocked on the door and opened it. He walked over to Yao's bed and felt a pain in his chest, seeing his friend paler and skinnier than the first time they had met.
"Ni-hao, Feliciano...," Yao said weakly, a smile on his face as he looked at his doctor. The pain in his chest increased, the pain making it hard for Feliciano to breath. He walked up to the bed and forced a smile.
"Ciao, Yao. How are you feeling?" he asked, keeping his voice calm and steady like a professional doctor should have it.
"Better than yesterday," he replied with a light tone, "How about you aru?"
"Fine...," he paused, looking down at the ground, trying to keep his eyes from landing on the Chinese man on the bed. Yao smiled softly as best he could, motioning the doctor to sit on the stool.
"Sit. It looks like you're about to start crying and fall to the ground aru," he said jokingly, "I wouldn't want my doctor to do that while on his job."
Feliciano laughed weakly and did as his paitent wanted him to do. He looked at the bed sheets then up at his friend.
"Yao...I...," he paused again, not wanting to break the news of how he was dying faster than predicted. The Chinese male stared at the Italian before reaching over and lightly placing his hand on top of his.
"My condition is worsening and I'm dying faster than what you guys told me..that's what you want to say right?"
The Italian doctor tensed at the fact that the Chinese male knew before slowly nodding.
"S-si...it is...," he replied weakly, sniffing at the fact. Yao smiled softly before pulling away and looking out the window.
"You didn't have to come and tell me that aru. I already knew that I was dying faster than what was predicted. It wasn't surprising really," Yao said in a calm tone,"Especially with my decrease in appetite and the moments when my chest starts to hurt, as if wanting to explode."
Feliciano looked up at his friend, eyes widening with shock. He didn't know what to say; he was left speechless. He honestly didn't think Yao would notice all those things by himself without being notified. The Chinese male turned his head back to face the Itlaian doctor.
"Don't worry too much aru. We're all bound to die and it's my time to go in a few days," he smiled softly as if he was reassuring Feliciano, but mainly himself, "I'll wait for you on the other side."
The last few times, Feliciano went to visit his friend, it was awkward. They rarely talked and it wasn't like it was before. It wasn't happy, cheerful or laid back...it was tense..like the air around them was suffocating them as they sat in a room together. Then finally...Yao was taken away to have surgery to get an implant. The Italian male waited for hours before his colleagues came out and told him that the surgery had failed and Yao had died. With the news, he broke down. The tears wouldn't stop as he felt completely empty with the loss of his loved one..his one and only love.