I was listening to Tong Hua as I was typing the end of the chapter. I think you can guess what happens now< / 3

Donghae’s POV~

For the next week, it was only a matter of waiting. Uki was still in the ICU along with Troy.

Neither of them has been improving whatsoever.

Alex has been doing a lot better, though. That makeshift splint that Uki made really saved her from being crippled for the rest of her life. She was going around in a wheelchair now due to her fractured wrists keeping her from using crutches on her own. I wheeled her into Uki’s room where I saw both mine and Siwon’s mom fussing over the lack of soft pillows in the hospital. I gave Alex a look to which she responded with a laugh.

“Is she doing any better?” I asked.

I’ve asked that question every time I came in the room, even if I only left to go to the bathroom.

“She’s still not breathing for herself, but her hand tightened around mine just a few minutes ago,” Siwon replied with a smile.

I smiled back. Definite improvement.

Uki’s POV~

C’mon, Uki, just open your damn eyes already. You need to see if Troy’s okay! Ugh. I’m seriously getting pissed off at myself. It was just a simple task. OPEN. YOUR. EYES.

I let out an angry mental breath when I still wouldn’t listen to myself. Aish. Okay, let’s listen to what’s going on around me, eh?

“Aish, this hospital is so ridiculous. No soft pillows whatsoever!” I heard my mom complain.

I love my mommy<3

“Tell me about it. And look at my poor baby. Aren’t you freezing in that hospital gown?!” Donghae’s mom also complained.

Oh, Alex was here? Aww, I wonder if she’s okay. Hopefully she didn’t suffer too badly of injuries. Speaking of injuries, my shoulder hurts. I really hope Tony just falls down a sewage drain for this. Or, better yet? I really hope the ELFs freaking got to him. -__-

“So I was reading this article online. And the reporter somehow says that…Uki’s not with Donghae?” I heard Heechul’s voice say.

WHAT?! WHAT IS THIS NONSENSE?!

“Huh? What’re you talking about?” I heard Donghae ask.

“Look for yourself,” Heechul responded.

A few seconds went by before Donghae exclaimed, “HE SAYS THAT SHE’S DATING YOU?!”

“I WOULD NEVER DO SUCH A THING!”

…

Guess I’m awake now(x

“UKI!” everyone shouted, causing me to scream and shield my face from everyone jumping at me.

…Huh? What was this?

The door burst open and the doctor and nurses all came flooding in, forcing everyone to calm down as I just stared at my arm, blinking in confusion.

“Uki? Uki, how are you feeling?” the doctor asked me.

I tilted my head slightly. “I…I can’t move my arm.”

My mom let out a slight cry while everyone else in a sharp breath. What the hell?

~~~~

About thirty minutes after I woke up and thirty minutes of the doctor’s incessant nagging and annoying questions, he finally asks, “What caused you to wake up?”

“Huh? Oh, I heard Heechul and Donghae talking about some article online about me dating Heechul,” I answered with a laugh. “Shock and disgust kinda brought me back I suppose.”

“Hey!” Heechul exclaimed indignantly.

I laughed and him and gave him an evil wink. “Mianhe, oppa. But you should feel accomplished. You were the reason I woke up. So to speak.”

He smiled at me and returned my wink. “I suppose you owe me one now.”

“Oh, so taking care of your every need isn’t enough for you?”

“Hmm…Touché.”

I ignored his comment and turned to Alex. “How you holdin’ up, buddy?”

She laughed. “A lot better than you are.”

“Mmm, this is true. How’s your leg feeling?”

“It could be better, but I’m not complaining. The doctor said I should be fine and able to walk again soon enough, thanks to you.”

“Wait, so you’re the one who made that splint?” the doctor asked me.

I looked at him. “Yes?”

“Out of a broom stick and duct tape.”

“Hey, don’t judge! It was all I could find and I made it work. Jeez. People these days.”

He laughed at me, shaking his head. “Are you a medical student?”

“Former one. I’m a law student now.”

He sighed at me. “Sucha waste.”

I smiled cheekily. “I get that a lot.”

“Okay,” he said after poking and prodding my torso, “it’s really sad to say this, but I don’t think this side of your body is gonna be moving. At all.”

I sighed. “Figures. Great. Now I needa learn how to write with my left hand.”

“Aish, typical Uki! You just found out half your body is gonna be paralyzed for the rest of your life and you’re worried about learning how to write with your left hand?!” Alex exclaimed.

I laughed sadly. “Looking at the smaller problems helps me cope with the bigger ones. It’s just how I am. Speaking of bigger problems…How’s Troy doing?”

Everyone fell deathly silent, which caused me to let out a shaky breath. “D…Did he make it?”

No one would answer me, which was really starting to piss me off.

“Did he make it or not?! Answer me!”

“H-he’s in the ICU. He’s in very critical condition,” the doctor finally answered.

I bit my lip. “Take me to him. I want to go see him now.”

“Uki, I can’t necessarily do that. That machine is what’s keeping you ali—”

I impatiently ripped all the tubes connecting me to the mechanical ventilator and made a point of taking a big breath in front of him. His eyes widened at me. “Now take me to see him. Now.”

“How did you…? Why did you…? What did you…?”

I rolled my eyes at him. “I fell off a three story building. I was beaten to the point of near death with a baseball bat. I was shot with a gun. I was pushed down stairs. I’ve faced angry ELFs. I’ve fought anti-fans. If these things can’t kill me, there’s no way I’m letting my life depend on that machine.”

Heechul started laughing. “And you told us to flip the switch. How stupid do you feel now?”

“Heechul oppa!” I exclaimed. “Don’t talk to him like that!”

“He practically told us we should kill you! Don’t blame me ‘cause I’m just a little upset about that,” he responded with an ‘innocent’ smile.

I rolled my eyes at him and turned back to the doctor. “Are you gonna let me go there or am I gonna have to sneak out?”

“Trust me when I say that she will sneak out,” Siwon said, giving the doctor that all knowing look of his.

The doctor sighed and beeped in a nurse. “Eun Hye, would you mind bringing in a wheelchair please?”

“Right away, Doctor Cho!” a perky voice responded.

My lips curled in disgust. “I already don’t like her.”

“Uki!” my mom exclaimed.

I laughed. “Mianhe. I speak what’s on my mind. Heechul oppa’s been too much of an influence.”

I winked at Heechul as he said, “Ahh, mianhe. Everyone always wants to be like me.”

I laughed at him as the door opened and the nurse—Eun Hye?—entered, rolling in an empty wheelchair. Dr. Cho and Donghae helped me out of bed and into the wheelchair. I grumbled in annoyance when I had to take the IV stand with me. Aish. I looked like a hospital patient. I disliked this. -__- I turned to Alex, a slight smile on my face.

“We’re wheelchair buddies, Alex!” I squealed like little kid as the doctor rolled me down the hallway.

Alex laughed at me, waving. “Come back soon!”

I laughed and braced myself for what lay behind the door I was now facing. Dr. Cho opened the door for me and rolled me in right beside his bed. Whoa. Was this how scary I looked to everyone else? With all these tubes and wires and machines surrounding me? I bit back my tears, waiting for Dr. Cho to disappear. After he left, I rolled myself closer to the bed and took a hold of his hand.

“Troy? Troy, can you hear me?” I asked quietly.

No response.

I sighed heavily.

“If you’re not gonna speak, then just listen please.” I sighed and held onto his hand tighter, bracing myself for my own words. “You put me through hell. I’m not gonna lie, Troy. I hated you. I hated your guts. Seeing your face day after day made me hate you even more. But I still stayed with you for all that time. I really wish I can say that I stayed because I loved you. Honestly, I do. But despite the fact that I thought I convinced myself that I loved you, that’s not the truth. I stayed with you because you reminded me so much of Donghae. All that time, I was in love with Donghae, not you.

“There was a time when you were sweet. When you opened doors for me, pulled out chairs for me, carried my books for me. When you were a perfect gentlemen. Yeah, there was a time when you used to be my knight in shining armor. That’s the Troy that I ‘fell in love with.’ But that’s also the side of you that was exactly like Donghae. I’m ashamed to say it, but I was never truly in love you with, Troy. No matter how much I tried convincing myself, I couldn’t bring myself to love you.

“I liked you.

“I put up with you.

“I tolerated you.

“But I never loved you.

“And then you turned into that monster. That monster that painted me black and blue every day. That monster that forced me to lie to friends and family every day. That monster that I truly hated. And yet I still stayed with you. I kept telling myself, ‘He’ll be back. That other side of him will be back.’ In truth, I wasn’t waiting for you to return back to normal. I was waiting for when Donghae would come back to me. I’m sorry, Troy. I always talked about all the horrible stuff you’d done to me, but I’ve done horrible stuff to you, too. I was never faithful. Granted, I never cheated, but not all of me was in our relationship. And you deserve so much better than that.

“I never thought I’d forgive you, but you proved me wrong. You redeemed yourself, Troy. After all you’ve done for both me and Alex, you’ve redeemed yourself in everybody’s eyes. Nobody expected you to take that bullet for me, but if you hadn’t, I highly doubt I’d be alive right now. He had it directed right at my heart. You saved me, Troy. You’re my knight in shining armor again. Now please, you have to make it out of this. I did, so now it’s your turn. Wake up soon, okay?”

My only answer was the heart monitor flat-lining on me, that incessant tone filling my ears once more, to which I responded with burying my face in his side and sobbing.

Almost over guys< / 3