Beep beep beep.

Rich groaned as he woke up for the third time to the sound of hospital beeping. When he fluttered his eyes open, he noticed Brooke slapping a hopeful smile on her face.

"Hey. Back again from the dead?" She whispered, making Rich smile as wide as he could- which wasn't much, it was kinda just a tilt to one side- and look up at the clock. It was 3 am. "You were actually sleeping for a while, I think."

Rich nodded in response, turning his head down to look at his stomach. He was covered in the white hospital blanket and blood stains, but it looked as if any fresh petals or liquid had been cleaned recently. "Did they check in?" He muttered groggily, but it sounded more like "hmm huh mmm mm?"

Brooke cocked her head, confused. "Sorry, I can't understand you." She leaned over and grabbed Rich's hand, squeezing it. "I'll let a doctor know you're awake. They're going to talk to you about your options."

"Hm?" Rich raised his eyebrows. Options? What did she mean by that? Payment?

"Like, surgery or something." She gestured a waving motion with her free hand, looking on the direction of the door. "Don't worry."

Rich, despite what Brooke said, was worrying. He gripped her hand tighter, looking down and suddenly feeling sick.

"Hey, hey. It's okay." Brooke scruffed his hair a tiny bit, smiling sympathetically. "You can always reject their ideas." She stood up, brushing the non-existent dirt off her sweater. "I'm going to go get someone, okay? Be right back. I'll bring juice." She winked at the last part, walking out of the room.

Rich sat there, listening to the humming of the hospital machines and crying people all around him in rooms that whisper of death. He looked up at the blank, white ceiling that matched with everything in the room. For once, he wished he was a kid again and able to have the aquarium-themed rooms again, filled with as bright of color as they could.

His mind eventually wondered to his friends. Would they be worried about him? Or would they just be banging each other into the mattress? He coughed slightly, brushing the thought away immediately. He dropped the one petal onto the ground immediately, ignoring the new tears forming in his eyes. He crossed his arms and looked up again, screwing his eyes shut.

He couldn't get him off his mind. Jake Dillinger. The tallest, kindest, and most handsome person he ever met.

God dammit, he wished he'd never come here. He wish he'd never agreed to coming on this stupid trip with Chloe and Brooke. He wouldn't be here right now, and he never would be. He would be at home, where anyone he liked would just bow down to him, willing to be taken. Fuck this trip, fuck his disease, and especially fuck Ja-

He was interrupted by Brooke walking I'm with a couple doctors. One was slightly shorter than the other, bearing some scruff on his chin and longer hair while the other was taller and had curls atop his head. Brooke slowly walked over and sat back in her seat, smiling at Rich.

"Hello!" The shorter doctor grinned, setting stuff down and accidentally bumping into the taller doctor. "Oops." He turned back to Rich, running a hand over his nametag. "I'm Doctor Kurt, and this is my assistant, Ram."

Ram tossed his head back and groaned. "I'm not your assistant! I'm a doctor just like you!"

Kurt stuck his tongue out playfully, grabbing a clipboard. "Anyway, Mr... Goranski, we're here to talk about your condition."

Rich frowned, fiddling with his fingers. Ram caught on to this and sighed. "Do you wanna.. tell us about them?"

Rich closed his eyes, nodding slowly. "Y-yeah. I do."

Kurt chuckled, sitting down and gesturing to a seat for Ram. Ram sat down in said sear, scooting slightly towards Kurt. "Take your time, okay?"

Rich took in a deep breath, preparing for the coughing and crying that was soon to come. "Their name is Jake. Jake Dillinger. Son of the King."

Kurt's eyes widened, and Ram raised his eyebrows. Brooke crossed her legs, examining every stain on her sweater.

"I'm only here because I was sent to help him prepare for America." Rich leaned back, eyes still closed and fists clenched. "We met around one and a.. half months ago? The uh, the disease maybe started one or two weeks ago."

Kurt nodded, writing something down. "Describe him for us. Why do you love him?"

"He's.. he's just great. His hair, his eyes, his smile, the way his voice will crack whenever he gets embarrassed. His personality is so beautiful, and I can't stop thinking about him." Tears started rolling down Rich's face, and he let out a shaky breath. "No matter how hard I try to deny it, I love him. I love him, I love him, I love him."

Brooke leaned over and grabbed Rich's hand, kissing his cheek softly. "Hey, it's okay. Keep going. It's good to get this out."

"Whenever I-I wake up in the morning to go to the bathroom, and like, puke, he's always awake to see if I'm okay. I guess my loudness wakes him up." Rich chuckled softly, coughing out one measly petal. It was a pinky purple. He had noticed that this was the flower he kept puking up.

Ram bit his lip, turning to look at Kurt. "Mallow. Consumed by love."

Kurt wrote Ram's words down, shaking his head. "Continue."

"Sometimes I just dream about running my hand through his soft hair and just cuddling with him." He wiped his eyes, sighing. "The way he moves, the way he speaks, all his talents and hobbies.." He coughed some more, mallow petals and blood falling into his hands. Ram picked up a napkin and wiped it off, putting it in a plastic bag.

"We need these, sorry." Ram set the bag down next to him.

"His face is most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Rich chuckled sadly, looking down. "His hair and his eyes are the perfect color, and every expression he makes is a blessing from God. The way he sings when he thinks nobody can hear him, I can't take it."

He held in a cough, but the tears flooded down his face. "And yet, Chloe's always there. Chloe won't stop flirting with him. And sometimes, it's almost like he flirts back. T-that's usually when the coughing is the worst. I just-" He let out a sob, covering his mouth. Kurt shook his head, standing up.

"Look, we have some options for you." He handled his clipboard and flipped up his notes to reveal another page underneath. "Are you ready to hear them?"

Rich nodded, bracing himself.

"Okay. So option one is surgery. We'll remove the flowers, but the downside is tough won't ever feel love for Jake again. There's also the risk that you won't ever feel love again." Kurt scratched his chin. "But that's just one option."

Rich raised his eyebrows in fear. "What's the other option?"

"You can refuse the surgery and, well, die." Ram shrugged, and Kurt kicked him.

"What he means is that you can wait it out to see if he ever repriocates the feelings. But we'd want you to come back in a month or so." Kurt rubbed his arms nervously. "Basically, you have a month before we force the surgery on you."

Brooke went over to grab Rich's hand, squeezing it. "Take your time, okay? We won't make you choose anything."

Rich shook his head, wiping away the newly forming tears. "I already know what I want. Option two, please."

"Are you sure?" Ram tilted his head slightly.

"Yeah. Very sure." Rich whispered.

"Anyway, uh, since you're here staying at the castle and on royal duties, we won't charge you for hospital fees. You're free to go whenever you're ready." Kurt smiled, and leaned over to peck Ram's cheek.

Rich slowly stood up, staring at his bloody shirt. "Let's go then, Brooke." He turned to the doctors. "Thank you, thank you very much."

"One problem," Brooke stood up, walking over to him. "We uh, we don't have a ride."

Ram nodded. "We can just.. send you in an ambulance?"

Rich nodded. "Yeah that works."

"I'll text Chloe and tell them we're going to be home soon." Brooke pulled out her phone, starting to walk out the door.

Rich turned to glance at the bloody bed one last time before walking off. "..okay.."