Chapter 87: Acceptance
The doctor grabbed Kofi’s shoulder, his expression desperate. "We need you to talk to her. Emotional support from someone she knows might help."
Kofi felt a wave of pure terror. ’What can I even say?’ He was completely frozen, the frantic beeping of the machines and the doctor’s urgent words just a wall of noise.
Then his eyes locked on the bed. He saw how small she looked, lost in the white sheets and tangled wires. The panic didn’t disappear, but something else pushed through it. He felt a surge of determination. He decided he had to try.
He ran to the side of the bed, his earlier exhaustion completely forgotten. The doctor and nurse stepped back, giving him space but watching with intense focus.
He reached out and took her hand. It was cold and limp in his. "Thea? It’s me. It’s Kofi."
There was no response, just the high-pitched wail of the monitor.
He was shaking a bit. He looked from the hopeful eyes of the doctors back to her, and he felt scared, but he decided he had to do this. He took a deep breath and started talking.
"Thea? I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry." He squeezed her cold hand. "That day at school, when they were... when they were hurting you, I saw it. I saw the whole thing, and I didn’t do anything. I just stood there."
His voice was quiet, a stark contrast to the frantic noise of the machines.
"I was a coward. I was scared, and I didn’t know what to do, I just let it happen. It wasn’t right. You didn’t deserve that. You don’t deserve any of this." He kept talking, the words just tumbling out in a raw, honest stream. "I know what it’s like to feel alone. To feel like no one in the world even sees you. But I see you, Thea. I see you, and you’re not a problem. You’re not a black cloud."