Emergency

As the summer continued, one day, Junmyeon found himself facing an emergency.

It was a morning after breakfast and Yixing had gone to town. Junmyeon was sitting on the porch listening to an audiobook. He was immersed in the story when he heard someone retching. Of course, it hadn’t come from the mobile phone and a perplexed Junmyeon hushed the device to listen to what was happening. A retching sound resonated again. Junmyeon got worried, it couldn’t have been Yixing, which meant it had to be the dog. He stood up from his seat and tried to find the source of the noise. Then, Trost definitely barfed.

Junmyeon strode towards the living room, and as he walked inside his right feet touched a warm, viscous liquid. He didn’t have time to get angry, though, he was concerned about the dog. “Trost, where are you?” he asked. The dog didn’t emit any response. Attentively he listened to Trost’s heavy and rapid breathings and began walking closer to it. Junmyeon thought he heard the dog underneath the coffee table, so he squatted down to confirm it. Slowly his hands touched the cold floor until he could feel the dog’s head, that was lying on its side. Carefully, he held the dog’s chest and dragged Trost from underneath the glass table.

“Hey, there boy, what’s happening?” Junmyeon said once the dog was free and laid next to him.

Again, Trost didn’t say anything. Junmyeon began petting Trost and felt he was warmer than usual, which was weird because it wasn’t a hot day outside and inside the air conditioner was . He also realized that Trost was shivering and had a runny nose. He got even more concerned when he felt the dog’s rapid heart rate. Junmyeon didn’t know what was happening neither what to do, but he knew things were going to end badly in case he didn’t act rapidly.

Junmyeon got up once again and walked towards the porch. He took a long step to avoid stepping the vomit on the frame of the open sliding glass doors. Rapidly, he grabbed his phone from the patio recliner and returned to the living room, to sit next to Trost.

“It’s okay Trost. We’re going to call Yixing.”

He pushed and held the home bottom until he heard a sound. “Call Yixing,” he said loud and clear. Junmyeon anxiously listened to the beeping sounds, but then a voice spoke saying “The number you dialed cannot be reached at the moment…” and he cut off the call. He tried calling again and thought, Come on, pick up, pick up, as he caressed Trost with his other hand. Once more it was the digital operator telling him that the number he dialed cannot be reached at the moment.

Junmyeon cursed. He didn’t know what to do. Yixing’s phone was off, and panic took over him. What would happen now? He didn’t have a vet’s number, neither could he search for one on his phone because he was blind and useless. He cursed again.

“Think Junmyeon, think!” he said as he tapped his head with both hands. “Who do you call when there’s an emergency?” And it was then he got a light bulb moment. This was the only chance he had to help the dog.

He pressed and held the home bottom yet again, and said, “Call 119.” Unconsciously Junmyeon was holding his breath as he waited. The two beeps he heard before someone picked up felt like an eternity.

“119, what’s your emergency?” said a woman’s voice.

Junmyeon exhaled. “Oh, thank god! Miss, please help me, I think my dog is dying!” he vented.

The woman huffed, “Sir, this line is only for people.”

“I know, but I’m desperate! I don’t know what to do. He’s-, he’s-”

“You should call a vet.”

“I can’t, I’m blind and all alone, and my dog is dying, and… And, please, please help me!” Junmyeon pleaded.

The woman sighed. “Where do you live?” she asked.

Those four words calmed Junmyeon enormously.

It wasn’t until Yixing was standing in line that he realized his phone was off. Last night he had forgotten to charge it, and this morning as well. During all the weeks, he had left Junmyeon alone, nothing had happened, so, he didn’t worry much about it.

As Yixing drove back, he couldn’t help thinking about everything that had happened with Junmyeon. He was thrilled to know Junmyeon gradually opened himself more to him. It was good to see Junmyeon joined Yixing on his attempts to brighten the days. However, he had almost two weeks left of the summer break, and there was still one thing that remained undone.

“Junmyeon, Trost, I’m back!” Yixing shouted from the entrance as he got in, but nobody answered. Odd, he thought. He walked to the kitchen and placed the bags on the counter, then strode towards the porch. Yixing noted some footprints stained the living room’s floor, and his eyes found the pool of vomit that was under the glass door frames between the living room and the porch. He got worried. He ran outside and called after Junmyeon, but nobody answered. The next place he searched was Junmyeon’s room, yet it was also empty. His heart beat frantically. And a million thoughts went through his mind until he grasped the only rational one: call Junmyeon. Yixing dashed to the second floor and connected his phone to the charger. Once the device started, he dialed Junmeyon’s phone. Those three beeps he got to hear were the most excruciating sounds ever.

“Yixing?” Junmyeon answered.

Yixing heaved a sigh of relief after hearing Junmyeon’s voice. “Oh Junmyeon, thank heavens you’re fine!”

“Yeah, I am but-”

“What happened? Where are you? What’s going on?”

“Yixing, I’m at the vet. Trost wasn’t feeling well.”

“Trost?” Yixing said, and once again his heart sank.

“Yes, it’s something called pyrexia, and the vet is treating him right now.”

“Pyrexia? What? Where are you?” Yixing asked confusedly.

“I'm not sure, but I can ask the receptionist.”

As Yixing had gotten the directions, he had gotten in the car. “Okay, I’m on my way,” Yixing said. He remembered walking through that place with Junmyeon that night after the movie theater.

“See you soon, Yixing.”

“Yeah, bye Junmyeon,” Yixing replied and drove as fast as he could to the clinic.

The 119 operators had called after a taxi, which helped Junmyeon and Trost. The chauffeur picked up the sickened dog from the living room, and Junmyeon followed them to the car. In less than twenty minutes they arrived at the vet clinic. Junmyeon was so worried and preoccupied with Trost that he didn’t mind holding the chauffeur’s shirt as they walked inside, bumping into things, or the fact that some people mumbled as they saw them passing by.

He heard a woman’s voice asking him what had happened and Junmyeon explained everything he knew. The receptionist (Junmyeon assumed) called after a vet saying it was a case of pyrexia. Then, they took away Trost and asked him to sit in the waiting room. But before going, Junmyeon knew he needed to pay the cab driver, yet he didn’t have any money as Yixing was the one in charge of it. When he explained the man his reason, the receptionist kindly paid for it until Yixing came for them. Junmyeon thanked the woman for her help, as well to the cab driver. Later the receptionist guided him to sit on a chair.

As he was sitting there nervous and anxious, his phone rang. With his right thumb, he fumbled trying to scroll it to the right. Finally, he managed to answer, and to his delight, it was Yixing who was calling.

Junmyeon felt relieved that he had managed to help Trost in time and hoped nothing dangerous would happen. He got surprised by the fact he was currently outside the house during the daytime, that he was sitting in a waiting room with other people surrounding him. Is this how the outer world feels like now? he asked himself. Oddly, he didn’t think it was off-putting. Of course, Junmyeon was frustrated with not knowing the terrain, but he wasn’t scared. Now that he remembered it, he didn’t get annoyed with the voices he had heard saying ‘Oh, look out, he needs space,’ and so on. Although he had barely done anything himself to help Trost, he felt relieved and grateful to the people that had taken their time to aid them. Perhaps they had done it out of pity, but he didn’t care. No, Junmyeon didn’t care, and he found it odd. Odd because in almost two months he had changed in many ways he believed were irreversible. What had happened to him?

Suddenly Junmyeon felt a hand touching his shoulder.

“Junmyeon,” Yixing said.

Junmyeon looked up and answered, “Yixing, you’re here.”

Yixing smiled at him. “What happened?” he asked as he took a seat next to Junmyeon.

Once Junmyeon had finished explaining everything he went through to bring Trost there, a vet came to talk to them. They stood up, introduced themselves and Yixing asked, “vet, how’s Trost?”

“He was suffering from pyrexia or a fever, a very high one. If it had gone over by more degrees, then he might have suffered damage to his internal organs.” the vet said.

Yixing gasped, and he felt his eyes starting to glisten.

“But don’t worry, you took him right on time,” she said looking at Junmyeon. “Thankfully he’s stable now, the fever has gone down drastically, and he’s resting now. He’s a strong one, so I think you will be able to take him back in the afternoon.”

“How did this happen?” Yixing asked.

“Infections, other sickness or in some cases it’s unknown. You’ll have to provide us with Trost detailed medical history, and conduct a thorough physical examination to diagnose the exact cause.”

Yixing nodded. “I don’t have them with me, the documents are back in Seoul. But I remember some stuff,” he said.

The vet then discussed with Yixing about Trost medical records and such. When they were done, the vet recommended it was best to continue the diagnosis of the cause in Seoul instead, where Trost home vet and documents were. Yixing asked if it were possible to postpone it for two weeks, until the date of his return, and the vet said unless the dog suffered from a high fever in the following days, then it should be okay, but that he should take Trost as soon as possible. The vet said that Trost needed to rest, be hydrated and eat well when he got back home. Yixing had thanked the vet before she left.

Junmyeon felt how Yixing grabbed his hand as they stood there.

“Thank you so much, Junmyeon. You saved him, and you were so amazing… Thank you,” Yixing said.

Junmyeon’s heart skipped a beat at the physical contact, and he squeezed Yixing’s hand when he said, “It’s okay, Yixing. Trost is fine now! And I didn’t do it myself… I got help.”

“But you were the one that called for help! It’s all my fault, I should have realized Trost wasn’t feeling well. Then my phone was off, it's all my fault and if you hadn’t been there with him then… Then he-he-”

In a bold move, Junmyeon found himself moving his feet to stand in front of Yixing, and then he embraced him in his arms, holding him by his upper back. Junmyeon didn’t know what was going through his mind, but he didn’t care. “It’s not your fault, Yixing, don’t blame yourself... Things happen, it’s not your fault.”

Junmyeon’s words were so recomforting to Yixing, it was all he needed to hear to calm down and not burst into tears because of his guilt. But he blushed at their proximity, their cheeks were touching, his heart was a frantic fluttering mess, and even so, he raised his arms to hug Junmyeon back. “Thank you,” he answered as he closed his eyes and let himself be held.

Junmyeon smiled, his own heart still beating fast.