I opened my eyes to light.

I made a soft noise and looked away. I was in an empty white room. It was so clean it made me uncomfortable. I groaned, my whole body ached and my head was spinning from a loud series of beeps coming from somewhere. I struggled to sit up and breathed heavily when I finally had. I looked down at my hands to find soft leather restraints on them. I felt panic begin to bubble up and for some reason I couldn’t make sense of this. I stared at the needle stuck into my arm and the white little clip on my finger.

Like a flash of lightning a memory came up. Then like a storm they poured back in. I struggled though I knew I was safe. This was a hospital, but I couldn’t bear the restraints. I cried out as I thrashed against the bed trying to pull myself free. I felt moisture running down my face and I didn’t know why! My chest tightened and I tried to scream.  

Was he safe?

Suddenly I heard the door burst open and a man and a woman ran in. They said something I was too panicked to make sense of.

“Take these… off!” I begged.

The woman said something else and she took out a needle. The image of that man with his damned tranquilizers replaced her and this time I really did scream. I hated that thing. I couldn’t bear being put under again. I screamed again until someone ordered them to stop.

“You said if she woke up again you’d let me handle this!” Kai said angrily as he stepped in.

I looked up at him, for a second not recognizing him. I felt like it had been years.

“If she screams again, we’ll be forced to put her under” The doctor warned as he signaled to the nurse and they stepped out, closing the door behind them.

I looked at Kai with wide eyes. I felt like things should start making sense, but I was still a little disoriented. I looked down at those restraints again and tried to pull myself free again.

“Stop it. I’m going to take these away, but you have to promise not to do freak out again” He said in a low and soothing tone.

“…Again?” I whispered, my throat felt raw.

“You don’t remember?” He asked worriedly as he cautiously stepped up to me and with caring hands untied my left wrist, “When you were first brought in you were screaming and when they tried to inject you with some warming solution for your hypothermia, you went ballistic” He explained calmly as he walked around my bed and untied the other hand.

I went quiet and pulled my wrists to my chest. I closed my eyes and I sort of remembered. It was chaotic. I was screaming because…  they wouldn’t talk to me about Daehyun. That’s right. They wouldn’t tell me how he was. They wouldn’t let me see him. I turned to face Kai and opened my mouth to ask him to take me to him when he spoke first.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help you faster. I’m sorry it took so long” He said with difficulty as took a seat on the edge of my bed and pulled one of my hands into his own, “You can’t possibly know how much I almost went insane with worry”

I reached out to him and tried to smile though nothing would come out. I wanted to tell him how scared I had been, but something stopped me. Even as he held me I struggled to even speak. Instead I just held on weakly.

“Daehyun… is he alright?”                                                   

I felt him stiffen in his hold and very carefully pull away. His eyes were guarded and I knew I shouldn’t have asked so soon, but I had to know.

“He’s recovering well. The cut he had was quite large and he lost some blood, but he’s recovering. It had gotten infected while you guys were out there, but we got you both in time to treat it well” He said in a dull voice, “Hyerim, why were you out with him the night you were taken?” He asked seriously.

“I… oh, that’s right… he was drunk. The bar called me because I was first on his contacts. I went to get him and those men were following me I think” I said trying to correctly piece together my memories, “I want to see him” I said suddenly.

“Couldn’t you have called someone else?” He asked suddenly. He must’ve been seen my expression of surprise though because he shook his head, “This isn’t the time. Come on, I’ll take you to his room”

“Kai... I’m sorry for making you worry” I said quietly as he helped me up and grabbed a hospital robe.

“It wasn’t your fault” He said as he put the robe around me and tied it tightly at my waist, “I’m just glad you’re safe”

I couldn’t think of anything to say so I simply stayed quite. He stared at me for a second longer, probably expecting me to say something else before he pulled the IV stand and placed it in my hands. Without another word I followed him out of my room and we went down the hallway. It must’ve been late because the halls were empty aside from the occasional nurse. I caught a distorted glimpse of myself on the metal pole of the IV stand and wondered if I looked as bad as I felt.

“This is it” He said as he stopped before the hospital room and lingered looking uncomfortable.

“Are you coming in?” I asked quietly.

“No, I don’t think so. I’m going to get some coffee actually, maybe I'll call your mom and let her know you're alright. I think she wants to talk to you sometime soon” He said and I knew he wanted to say something else.

“Ok” I said simply, opting to avoid whatever concerns he had right now.

Kai gave me a long stare before nodding to himself and walking past me. I went up to the door and glanced back at Kai, there would be time to sort things out with him later I told myself. Without a knock I opened the door quietly. I walked in and shut it behind me. The room was dark and this time I glanced out at the windows. It was night. I walked over to the side of his bed. I looked around the room a chair had been pulled up right next to him and I knew his mom had probably been sitting here for a long time.

I reached out and this lamp. A low and warm light illuminated the room and shone light on Daehyun. I sank tiredly into the chair besides his bed and stared at him. He looked so pale that I wondered if he was recovering as well as Kai had told me. I reached out, hesitantly touching him with my fingertips. His eyes flickered open and he grinned in such a way that immediately made me smile.

“You finally came” He said brightly and I stared in wonder.

“You sound better than you look”

“I hope you’re better than you look” He joked and my smile broadened.

“I was worried about you” I said.

“I was worried about you too, I was more worried about you actually, I heard you weren’t handling being here so well” He said gently.

“I kept getting confused. I heard I made a lot of trouble too” I murmured, picking at the edge of his blanket.

“We were in a pretty bad situation, I’m not surprised. You should have seen me the first time I woke up. I think I almost punched a doctor” Daehyun said in a comforting tone as he placed a hand on mine, “They caught the people who took us did you know?”

“They did? Who did it? I mean, do we know them?” I asked curiously.

“It was your husband’s ex girlfriend. I think she planned it out, I don’t really know the details though” He said thoughtfully.

I frowned as I stared at Daehyun’s long fingers. I turned my hand face up to I could hold on to his hand and thought about what he had just told me. That explained why I thought I remembered seeing her. I thought I was going crazy or that it was some sort of bad dream, but I could have sworn the first time I woke up I had seen her.

“She’s in jail now right?”

“Oh yeah, you really think she would be anywhere else when your mom got involved?” He asked.

“Speaking of my mom, I don’t think she’s come to see me…” I whispered, suddenly sad.

“…She must be busy making sure those bastards stay in jail” He said, but I caught the hint of pity in his voice.

I shook my head and went quiet. Daehyun took the hint and stopped talking. What else was there to say really? He knew everything. He knew how I must be feeling, he always did before. I rested my head on the edge of his bed and folded my arms underneath it. He placed a hand and gently my hair like he used to do whenever my mother disappointed me. Why did I ever expect anything else really?

“My mom was freaking about you. She went to see you and kept brining me detailed updates” He joked as a deep laugh resonated through the bed and I smiled.

“Can I visit her soon?” I asked.

“Of course, I haven’t lost hope you know” He said proudly and I laughed.

“Hyerim let’s go” Kai said as he walked in angrily.

My smile faltered as I took in his annoyed expression and I pulled away guilty. I grabbed on to the IV stand and I stood up, he walked over and placing a firm arm on my elbow he started to lead me out of the room.

“Do you remember?” Daehyun asked suddenly and I turned my head to glance at him. I bit my lip and stared at him a second longer before Kai tugged me away.

I let him lead me out of the room and back to mine where I saw my things were packed up and there was a change of clothes laid out on the bed.

"You didn't have to drag me out of there without even giving me a chance to say goodbye" I muttered.

“What were you supposed to remember?” Kai asked ignoring my statement, his body tense as I pulled away and grabbed the clothes.

“Are we leaving already?” I asked, unable to keep the disappointment from my voice. I was hoping to at least see Daehyun’s mom once.

“Yeah I decided to instead go to the doctor and assure him that you were well enough to at least come home. I don’t think there’s any need for you to stay here longer than you need to” He said stubbornly, “But what did Daehyun mean back there?”

“I don’t know” I said avoiding eye contact as I headed into the bathroom.

“Do you want to come home with me? Or would you rather spend more time here?” He asked and I took note that his question wasn’t as simple as I might have wanted it to be.

“I’ll come home” I said as I shut the door behind me and leaned against it tiredly. 

I looked to the side and caught my reflection in the mirror. It looked just a troubled as I felt. I knew what Daehyun wanted me to remember and the truth was that it was running loops in my mind. I splashed some water on my face and tried to clear away the doubts. I changed quickly and stepped out to find him waiting for me. I could see his body was tense with apprehension.

One step at a time I went to him and wrapped my arms around him. My heart eased when he returned the hug immediately and I buried my head in his chest. I could feel that he truly loved me and I wished I could talk to him without being misunderstood. But how was he supposed to not misunderstand the fact that I was having second doubts about everything. I held on tighter and part of me was afraid that he was able to tell. I just wanted things to be simple. I wanted things to be normal.

"I got this back for you" He said, a hint of pride and excitement in his voice as he pulled out my ring from his back pocket. 

I smiled as he placed it in a my hand, a tentative smile on his face as if he wasn't sure whether I would take the ring back or not. I gripped it tightly and pulled him to the doors.

"Let's go home"

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Sorry for missing updates last weekend! Classes have been hectic lately all my teachers want to fit in as much homework (especially my calc teacher) as they can before winter break I think so I've been really busy. 

Hope you guys enjoyed the update and thanks for all the comments ^___^