Broken Bond: Between Vices and Virtues (BL)
Chapter 59: Misunderstanding [2]

Chapter 59: Misunderstanding [2]

"Hey...are you okay?" Knox asked Shawn, his voice laced with worry. But after looking at the poor guy’s state, he suddenly wanted to slap his mouth for asking a stupid question.

Apparently, Shawn’s father collapsed from a cardiac arrest. Steve mentioned that if Shawn’s older brother, who was a doctor, weren’t present at the time, without immediate treatment, their father would have died. He was taken to the hospital afterward and his heart almost stopped beating. Fortunately, the old man seemed unwilling to pass the bridge of the afterlife yet and fought back. He was then taken to the ICU for further observation and hasn’t regained consciousness yet.

The family was in the waiting lounge outside the intensive care unit, but Shawn was in the hallway near the nurses’ station, slumped on the chair with his hands on his face. He tried to follow his family, but his sister, Shana, blocked him and blamed him for their father’s accident. It was such a tearful commotion that Steve ended up tearing the furious Shana from Shawn and asked Knox to take the omega somewhere.

"I-It’s my fault..." Shawn stated after a few minutes of silence.

Knox rubbed the omega’s back. Will insisting that it’s not his fault make him feel better? He was an outsider and didn’t know what happened. But it’s not also the right time to probe. Silently, he sat beside Shawn while Knoa sat on his lap, sadly looking at his babysitter with watery eyes and downward lips. He looked suppressing his cries as well.

He ruffled Knoa’s head, and the little kid looked up at him. "Stay here with Uncle Shun. I’ll get him some drinks, hm?"

Knoa nodded obediently, "Okay...Papa...is Uncle Shun, okay?"

Shawn straightened his back before Knox could answer Knoa. He wiped his eyes and forced a smile, "I’m fine, baby. Uncle Shun is just sad that I can’t see my father."

Knoa asked innocently, "Why? Uncle Shun is a good boy...like Knoa," the little kid turned to his father with a look asking for support, "Right, Papa? Uncle Shun’s Papa wants to see him, too, right?"

Knox smiled, "I’m sure."

However, Shawn let out a bitter laugh. He avoided their gazes and stared at his palms. With a shaky voice, he declared, "I’m not a good boy, Knoa. I don’t listen to him. Even when they kept calling me to go back home, I ignored them because I knew they’d just keep pestering me to do something I don’t want to do," he swallowed the lump on his throat and covered his forehead and sighed regretfully, "This happens because I put him into so much stress and anger. If only...if I just..."

Sobs erupted from between them. Tiny sniffles interrupted Shawn’s speech and they both looked at each other before dropping their gaze at the little guy in Knox’s lap.

The agony Shawn was wallowing into dissipated temporarily after looking at Knoa brimming with tears and snot. "Wh... woah...! Little buddy, why are you suddenly crying?!"

Knox pulled Knoa up and made him stand on his lap, worried, he asked, "What happened, baby? Why are you crying?"

Knoa answered between his sobs, "Kn...Knoa...sad..."

"Are you sad because Uncle Shun was crying?" Knox gently wiped his son’s tear-stained face. Knoa bobbed his head up and down repeatedly, making his point while refusing to answer. His tiny hands cupped his chubby cheeks and caught his tears. Knox pulled his handkerchief, "Here, blow your nose, baby. And stop crying. Uncle Shun said he was fine. He’s a big strong guy. And he’s very kind and thoughtful. We know Uncle Shun isn’t a bad son, so let’s cheer him up and tell him everything will be okay, hm?"

Knoa blew his nose. Then, he hugged his father as he nodded his head incessantly. Knox patted his son’s back and glanced at Shawn, only to be frozen after witnessing his eyes flooded with tears while biting his lips tightly, they bent and almost bled.

’Wait...what’s wrong now...?’ he asked himself, dumbfoundedly.

Shawn shook his head and fanned himself. He cried after Knoa cried, but it got intense after hearing Knox’s words.

"Hush now, baby. I’ll go and buy water, so stay here with Uncle Shun," Knox coaxed the little guy. Knoa pushed himself away from his father and nodded, wiping his face. He stretched his hands out to Shawn, and the latter scooped him up by the armpit and moved him to his lap.

"Geez, Knoa, we’re both crybabies, aren’t we?" Shawn commented, laughing. He already cried enough, so it was time to think of how he would face his family. He buried his face on Knoa’s fluffy hair, feeling grateful that he had them by his side.

Knox stood and ruffled Shawn’s head before walking to where the nearest convenience store was.

Knoa cupped his uncle’s forehead and left a kiss, then he patted Shawn’s head, just like what his father did. His face was still scrunched, his lips curved downward, and with his knitted brows atop his reddened eyes, a bit of teasing would surely make him cry again.

Shawn couldn’t help but bite the kid’s damped cheeks and nuzzle his forehead on him. Knoa soon giggled and wrapped his short arms around Shawn’s neck.

"Wah~ baby, you’re so cute!" Shawn rained him kisses. Somehow, his heavy heart lightened just by hearing his adorable giggles. However, he paused when, at the corner of his eye, he saw a figure standing not so far from them.

He turned his head and his body stiffened after recognizing the guy. It was the doctor who approached him before. ’What was his name again? Doctor...Kayden...?’ Shawn thought with furrowed brows.

The handsome doctor remained on his spot, frozen. Tiny ripples of mixed emotions invaded his bluish orbs, and his mouth parted a bit as though he saw something truly shocking. Shawn tilted his head in confusion. Why was the doctor looking at them like he’d seen a ghost?

He jolted a bit after the doctor ran to them with a darkened face. ’Now, he looks like he’ll attack us!’ Shawn shouted, feeling scared by the rapid steps of the doctor. He stomped his way to them with such a terrifying look on his face, so, instinctively, Shawn stood and went the opposite way. He even wondered why the hell he was running. When suddenly, he remembered the warning the doctor gave to him before, he abruptly stopped and turned around.

Knoa, who was clinging to his neck, looked at him with curiosity. Just as he was about to explain the matter to the little kid, a shadow loomed over them. And before they could check who it was, the figure closed in on them and threw his hands over their shoulders.

Knoa got squeezed, but instead of complaining, he glared at the man cladded in white clothes, and hugged Shawn’s head as if protecting him from the stranger.

Shawn was flabbergasted. His eyes caught a glimpse of the nameplate on his robe, and it was indeed Kayden. Flustered and confused, he flailed his free hand and protested, "Wha....hey! What the hell, man! Why are you suddenly hugging me?! Get away! You’re squeezing the baby!"

However, Kayden only tightened his embrace around Shawn and gave room to the kid. He gently tilted the kid’s head and squeezed his own between him and Shawn. He rested his head on Shawn’s shoulders and mumbled, "Why do you keep disappearing? I searched the whole hospital when I failed to see you in the same spot I told you to stay. Do you intend to hide from me forever? What wrong did I do? I hoped to see you once we woke up, but you disappeared just like that. Did you regret it?"

Shawn’s astonishment went beyond the word itself. His face was plastered with shock and bewilderment, and he couldn’t entirely comprehend the meaning behind the doctor’s words. He blinked, twice, and again, and then he slowly peeked at Knoa across Kayden’s shoulders.

"Papa...?" Knoa asked, looking for his father instead. He suddenly felt like he shouldn’t be there, so he wriggled his arms and pushed the stranger away.

Kayden pulled back a little and stared at Knoa with hopeful and teary eyes. He then looked at Shawn accusingly, hurt and regretful.

"You...do you even know who the father of this child is?" Kayden asked, though his tone didn’t sound expectant.

Shawn grimaced, yet he answered, "I don’t know. Why should I know about that when I—

Kayden interrupted him and blurted out unhesitatingly, "When you were in heat when it happened and you don’t even care whose seeds you sought and whose body you slept with?"

Shawn gawked at him, then realized Knoa was tilting his head and looking at them with wide eyes. He shouted, "Watch your language! There’s a kid with us!"

Kayden gritted his teeth, and declared, "Yes. My kid."

If only jaws could hit the floor, Shawn would have broken the tiles as his own fell wide open, enough for a fist to enter.

He looked at the doctor with worry, suspicion, wary, and pity. His thoughts went haywire, ’Did he hit his head? Is he really Knoa’s father? Or maybe he’s actually a mentally disabled patient who stole and wore his doctor’s gown? Oh, gosh, I pity him. Knox, where are you? I’m scared...’

His thoughts were cut off when Kayden spouted, "If you don’t remember what happened, I’ll make you, Shawn Williams! Stop running. I will take responsibility for you and our child!"

Shawn, "..."

Kayden continued, "I won’t let him grow up without a father. I will do—

Shawn, "Ah! Stop! Stop! I don’t get the f*ck you’re saying?! What heat?! I haven’t been in heat for two months now! What kid? ’My kid’, you said?! Dude! Don’t go claiming someone’s kid as you please! What the hell are you even saying?! I don’t get you at all!"

Kayden was pushed away easily after getting stunned by Shawn’s outburst. Shawn screamed again, "Don’t come near us! I’ll call security!"

He took a few steps back and turned away. However, he halted after the words the doctor stated registered in his head.

"Four years ago, at the Miri Hotel, you were there. You slept with me. Do you remember now?"