Baekhyun woke to the steady beep, beep, beep of a machine near his head. The sound was both soothing and worrying at the same time, the even beats lulling his clouded brain, but with a sound so unnatural that it was unnerving. He felt something soft and fluffy enveloping his body in a bubble of warmth. Whatever it was added to the numbness that made him feel as though his whole body was made out of candy floss. Though his eyes were closed, there was light glowing on his eyelids, making him see red and pink, like his very own sunrise. He smiled to himself as he watched the colours dance and flicker. He could have stayed like that for hours, but there was something nagging on his senses. Something telling him that now was the time to wake up. He tried to focus on what he could feel; he tried to push himself down from the hazy cloud he had been lying on. Pulling himself into reality he began to feel more. To feel more pain. It was the dull, pounding, and throbbing in his left ankle that finally brought him to full consciousness. Whatever drug had been induced into his system was doing a good job, but nothing could block out all of the pain. He groaned as his eyelids flickered open.

The beeping beside him quickened a little as he cracked his eyes open and took in his surroundings. He was in a fairly small white room with basic furnishings such as a chair and a bedside table. Also amongst the usual furniture was a jumble of machinery, wires and tubes. Shifting his head to the right he saw that his bedside table was filled with a pile of presents. There was a bouquet of sunflowers; they had always been his favourites because they made him think of summer, there were a few cards and some small parcels which he couldn’t see inside. As he thought about it, it was rather odd that his favourite flowers and his favourite drink reminded him of entirely opposite things, and yet he loved them both. He shrugged of this thought and turned his head the other way, wincing a little at the ache in his stiff neck. His eyes landed on a mop of shaggy orange hair, splayed about on the covers of his bed. He suddenly felt the warmth that was wrapped around his fingers as Chanyeol’s long fingers tangled with his own. Chanyeol’s fluffy hair was flying in every which direction and Baekhyun giggled as it tickled his hand. He smiled fondly down at his Yollie, his thumb over the back of his hand. Chanyeol mumbled something in his sleep and rolled his head around so that Baekhyun could see his face. Baekhyun’s expression dropped as he saw the tear tracks lining Chanyeol’s cheeks while his usually wide, manic mouth was turned down in a frown.

Baekhyun moved the hand that wasn’t locked with Chanyeol’s over to the tall boy’s face. He grazed his fingertips over his pale cheeks and wiped at the residual moisture that clung to his skin. Chanyeol nuzzled closer to Baekhyun’s hand muttering, “Baek…” Barely above a whisper. His eyes suddenly shot wide open as he sprang into an upright position.

“Baek!” He yelled out before clenching his eyes tight shut and shaking away his head rush. Baekhyun’s hand was hovering in the air, half reaching for Chanyeol from where the younger boy had moved away. Chanyeol’s eyes slid open again and rolled around to focus on Baekhyun. His eyes grew wide as his eyebrows shot together and a tear slid down his cheek. Baekhyun frowned, he didn’t like to see Chanyeol cry, he squeezed the air with his hand, wanting to feel Chanyeol again. Chanyeol seemed to realise and leant his cheek into Baekhyun’s waiting hand. Baekhyun rubbed away his fresh tears while Chanyeol let out a sigh of relief. Chanyeol brought up his free hand to hold Baekhyun’s to his face. Baekhyun’s hand felt snuggly between Chanyeol’s face and hand but he was still upset that Chanyeol had been crying.

“Don’t cry Channie, not because of me…please.” His voice came out raspy and quiet having been out of use for a bit. Chanyeol opened his eyes and gazed into Baekhyun’s. His eyes were swirling with emotion as he brought Baekhyun’s hand down to the bed, still tangled with his own, and leaned across to place a gentle kiss on his forehead.

“I won’t Hyunnie, I’m sorry.” Baekhyun opened his mouth to tell Chanyeol not to be sorry but he was interrupted by his boyfriend. “How do you feel?”

Again Baekhyun opened his mouth to speak, the words I’m fine ready to roll from his mouth when he was interrupted again. “And don’t just say you’re fine, tell me honestly.” Baekhyun pouted and cocked his head to the side as he thought.

“Fuzzy.” He settled on, it was Chanyeol’s turn to his head to one side in confusion. “I mean, I…I can’t think properly and I can’t feel…I feel….I feel…well, fuzzy.” Baekhyun’s mind was a jumbled mess as his painkillers were still going strong and wreaking havoc with his concentration. He felt like a small child trying to remember his timetables when the answer just wouldn’t come.  Chanyeol seemed to understand and nodded his head gently as he Baekhyun’s hands that were trapped between his.

“It’s okay Baek, that’s to be expected, it will wear off after you have slept some more.” Chanyeol spoke quietly and slowly so that he didn’t muddle him and Baekhyun appreciated it as the cogs of his brain moved slowly, unlike the well-oiled and pacey cog movement he was used to.

Baekhyun was really confused. He knew that there was something wrong with his left leg, there were three main pointers to that conclusion; the pain, the fact that he was in a hospital, and the crying boyfriend at his bedside. However, no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t remember why. His brain had the answer locked up somewhere, he could almost reach it, his arms reaching into the depths of his brain, almost grabbing the memory before his fingers closed on nothingness. He decided to start with an easier question as his head was starting to ache painfully. He looked back to Chanyeol who was sat gazing intently at his face with a worried expression. As soon as Baekhyun looked at him his frown morphed into a loving smile but Baekhyun had not missed the change.

“How long have I been sleeping Channie?” Baekhyun asked in a quiet whisper.

“Only for about 2 days, but don’t worry, it wasn’t a coma. The doctors had to make you sleep so that you could start healing.” Chanyeol said, trying to sound positive. Baekhyun nodded, taking a few minutes to process the words with his clouded and foggy brain.

“What…what is exactly wrong with me?” Chanyeol sighed and looked down at their intertwined hands, clearly reluctant to tell him. “Please.” Baekhyun softly pleaded.

“Well, your fibula dislocated and then snapped, tearing your calcaneal tendon when it pushed out of your leg and you ripped your extensor hallucis longus muscle.” Chanyeol looked up with tears in his eyes, “I’m sorry that I couldn’t save you Hyunnie. I failed and you…your leg, I-I don’t…” Baekhyun’s eyes widened in shock at the rapid deterioration of Chanyeol’s state. He tugged on the younger’s hands and pulled him into a warm embrace. Shhing him gently while his hair. Chanyeol wrapped his own arms tight around Baekhyun, careful not to pull on any of the tubes that were running into his body, and sobbed quietly into his shoulder. After a few minutes Baekhyun Pulled Chanyeol back and lifted his beautiful face to look into his eyes.

“Don’t you say sorry, Okay Chan? This wasn’t your fault It was mine…” Baekhyun started while continuing to his fingers through Chanyeol’s hair.

“But I should have gone with you! If I was there…” Chanyeol wailed.

“No.” Baekhyun cut in, flicking him on the nose. “You never say that. You promise me Channie? It’s not your fault.” Chanyeol looked just about ready to cry again but he nodded and gently kissed Baekhyun. It was a soft, emotional kiss, salty tears mixing on their lips.

Baekhyun lifted his little body with his arms and shifted himself across, so that he was only occupying one half of the bed. He tried to ignore the sharp pain that accompanied the movement. Once he had moved along he grabbed hold of Chanyeol’s hand again and tugged. It was feeble, as his strength had all but gone from his body but Chanyeol understood. Chanyeol sat down next to Baekhyun on top of the covers, stretching his long legs out and wrapping one arm around Baekhyun’s shoulders as the other gripped Baekhyun’s fingers once more. Baekhyun sighed contentedly as he rested his head onto Chanyeol’s shoulder, nuzzling closer into his warmth. Chanyeol brought the fluffy blanket more tightly around Baekhyun’s slight body. Baekhyun smiled.

“Did you bring this blanket for me Channie?” He asked as he looked up at the younger with wide, admiring eyes. Chanyeol chuckled lightly.

“Yes I did.” He kept his smile on his face as he asked Baekhyun his next question. “Hyunnie, do you know what happened when you hurt your leg?” The smaller boy had been distractedly playing with the blanket with a smile but looked up with a frown at the question. He still couldn’t remember, it seemed that the closer he got to the answer, the further it would flit away. “I…I don’t know. I-I can’t remember...w-why can’t I remember Yeollie?” Baekhyun asked, clutching tightly at the blanket while tears threatened to spill from his eyes. He was so confused. Chanyeol his cheeks gently, soothing him.

“Shh, Hyunnie it’s fine. The doctors said that you might experience a little short term memory loss from the shock but that you’ll remember soon enough.” Baekhyun nodded, but a frown was still pulling at his features.

“Good news Hyunnie.” Chanyeol said, trying to remove Baekhyun’s unease. “We won that part of the competition by a landslide! And better yet, SM has agreed to postpone the last stage of the competition for 3 months so that you have plenty of time to recover and be well again. It seems they must really want you if they’re willing to do that. You were amazing.” Chanyeol said that last bit with a grin and kissed Baekhyun between in eyebrows. Baekhyun however was not smiling. He didn’t know what Chanyeol was talking about, there was a twinge in the back of his mind telling him that he should know but he just couldn’t grasp at it.

“Yeollie, what are you talking about, what competition? Was it just before my accident, is that why I can’t remember?” Chanyeol’s face dropped briefly before he set it once more with a smile.

“I’m sure you will remember in no time.” He said reassuringly, “Don’t worry about it. Now I think you need to get some rest, you are falling asleep on me here.” He smiled warmly as he slid the smaller male down into his bead comfortably and rearranged his pillows and covers around him. Baekhyun couldn’t help the wide yawn that took over him as he slipped into the comfortable bed. The drowsiness that his painkillers gave had started to take its toll on him.

“You’ll stay with me?” Baekhyun whispered as his eyes slid closed. Chanyeol sat beside his bed and laced their hands together, gently kissing Baekhyun’s forehead.

“Always.” He replied.

“I ruph du.” Baekhyun murmured as he drifted off to sleep once more. Chanyeol smiled as he said, “I love you too.”

As soon as Baekhyun was asleep Chanyeol let his deep frown take over his features. The doctor had said about the possibility of mild short term memory loss but there was no way in which the entire competition was recent. Did Baekhyun have a real problem with his memory? Or would it come back to him soon as the doctor had said that his recent memories would. Chanyeol rubbed at his head and kissed Baekhyun’s hands. He loved him, and seeing his love this way was killing him.