Arthur put the visit with the persistent Frenchmen out of his head. He didn't really need to be thinking about that right now. It wasn't important anyhow. However, he couldn't forget that sad face he had made once Arthur had left. He tried to forget it but found himself thinking about it every so often. Was he going batty? But it didn't stop him from his work, however. He continued working in the small flower shop, delivering and such.
Only about three days after the incident in the hospital, they had been given the request for another delivery. "Here Arthur," Antonio said as he handed him a bouquet of sunflowers. "This is for Yao Wang from Mr. Ivan Braginski. He's in the hospital a few blocks away." Arthur frowned. That was that hospital where he met Francis. He just hoped that they didn't happen to see each other again. Once more, he mounted his bike and went off to the hospital. And per usual the waiting room was positively grim. More screaming children, panicking people, and dead looking gentlemen. He asked the front desk for Yao's room and grimaced. It was on the same floor as the Frenchmens room was. He did NOT want to go there, but it seemed like he didn't have much of a choice.
Just like last time, he rode the elevator up to the floor in question, but this time, thankfully there were no families crowding in. It was just him. Once he reached the floor, he quickly passed Francis's room without glancing at it. The door was closed like it was last time. He found the room he was looking for and entered. Yao was on the bed, his leg propped up and in a cast. Ivan was standing next to him, holding his hand and talking to him. Arthur frowned. Why didn't Ivan just buy the flowers and bring them here himself? He was right there. But still, Yao seemed pleasantly surprised at the sight of the flowers. He thanked Arthur and asked him to come close so that he could be hugged. Arthur sighed and obliged. But then Ivan decided he wanted to hug him too, even though he was the one who ordered the flowers in the first place. He wrapped his arms around Arthur from behind and squeezed him tightly, not letting Arthur get in a breathe.
"D-don't kill the m-messengar.." Arthur wheezed. Ivan eventually let him go and thanked him again. Arthur just tilted his hat and left, feeling a little bitter. As he walked out, he could hear a doctor being paged over the intercom. Oh, they were going to this floor. He sighed. He hated when that happened. There was a big hustle bustle and sometimes he was trapped in the room for a moment. He had even been in a scenario where after delivering the flowers, the patient who received them had actually flatlined on him. He had panicked for a good amount of time before finally calling for a doctor. Thankfully the man had been fine but still..it was an awful experience.
He stepped out of the room, more than happy to be leaving. As he had expected he saw about two nurses going into a room, followed by a doctor. He sighed and kept walking, coming closer to the room. He had intended to just walk past it in now look back, but he found himself pausing. Wasn't that...Francis's room? He slowly approached and peered inside. He wasn't sure what he was expecting to see really.
One of the nurses was getting some medicine into a syringe at the end of the bed. The other was at one side of his bed, and the doctor was at the other. Arthur wasn't able to see his face because of the doctor, but he was able to see his legs. Francis's legs were occasionally curling up so his knees were in the arm, before straightening out again. He seemed to be in pain. He could hear the doctors telling Francis to just breath and that everything would be okay. And barely audible above them, he could hear Francis wheezing, struggling to take in a breath. Was this the attack he was talking about earlier? A heart attack perhaps?
At one point, the doctor moved aside in order to grab something. When he did, Arthur could see Francis's face. The doctor was holding a ventilation mask firmly over Francis's mouth and nose to help him breathe. His mouth was open wide as he seemed to gulp air. His blue eyes were open wide, and tears were streaming from them and onto his pillow. "Mr. Bonnefoy, you need to calm down! Your airways are constricting and it won't get any better if you panic!" Francis's eyes were darting about, looking at everything in a panic. And eventually, they fell on Arthur. Arthur just stood in the doorway, no one noticing him standing there. Francis's eyes seemed to grow a bit wider. His hand, which was up on the railing, holding right, slowly lifted up and reached out for him.
'Help me.' His eyes seemed to say. ' It hurts.' Arthur swallowed and slowly took a step forward. But before he could come any closer, Francis's eyes suddenly rolled to the back of his head and his arm fell to the side. "Mr. Bonnefoy!" The doctor cried. "Damn it, we're losing him!" It was at that moment that one of the nurses noticed Arthur there. She frowned and quickly hurried over and drew the curtain around Francis's bed so that he couldn't be seen. And Arthur was left standing there, all he could hear was the frantic calling of the nurses and the doctor's order, in order to try and..save Francis. Arthur, quite shaken up, walked back to the elevator and let it bring him back to the lobby.
Once there, he went back outside and leaned on the bike rack. So that was what his attacks were like huh? He could breathe, he couldn't speak, and he seemed to be in pain. It looked horrendous. He glanced at his hands. Why were they shaking? He wasn't afraid. He was probably just surprised is all. God, he had quit smoking a few years ago, but he could really use one right about now. He unchained his bicycle and got back on. His mind was clouded as he rode back to the flower shop, where Antonio was waiting for him.
"Oh, there you are amigo. Listen I need you to...hey are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost." He asked worriedly as he hurried to Arthur's side, as though he were afraid that he might faint.
"I'm..fine." Arthur answered, a bit slowly. "Just..got a little surprise at the hospital is all. It's nothing to worry about okay?" Antonio didn't seem to convinced.
"Maybe you should take the day off. Whatever it is you saw must have been really bad for you to look so awful. Please, I'll take care of the rest of the work." He promised. Arthur hesitated, but not for long..He didn't usually get days off, so he was willing to jump at the opportunity.
"Thanks Antonio. I appreciate it."Antonio only smiled and nodded. He really was a nice guy. Arthur waved and left the shop. His home wasn't far away, but it left him with plenty of time to think as he walked. And in his head, he kept on replaying the scene at the hospital. The sounds that he had heard and the sights he had seen. He remember Francis at one point, saying that he lived alone. So if he had an attack like that at home, then no one would be there to help him huh? He was lucky that the one he had last time was in the restaurant, where he could be seen and helped. He wondered what triggered the episodes. Perhaps they were just sporadically. Without ever knowing when they would happen. That was scary to think about. Then again, he had said before that he had been fine until last month. So apparently he had gotten better with time, but had a relapse. Whatever this disease was..was it terminal? He couldn't help but hope that it wasn't. That would be much too sad if he died alone in that hospital.
Arthur looked up at the sky. "Maybe I'll visit him tomorrow. Like he wanted. I imagine he'd like that." He said to himself. He looked back towards the ground. "I wonder If he'll be mad at me though for not coming sooner. But still..it's better then me not coming at all." He arrived at his house and unlocked the front door. But as soon as he was inside, he sat on his couch to think some more. "I guess these episodes leave him weak and land him in the hospital. I imagine if they keep happening, it'll wear him down. Poor fellow." He murmured. He let his head rest in his hands.
"Yes..I'll go and see him tomorrow."