A new man had come in a sat down.  April recognized her bag that the man was holding.  ‘Why is this guy going through my stuff?’  He was sifting through April’s personal things and she was getting angry.  ‘This is an invasion of privacy.’  He had moved on from her bag to her phone, this was taking it too far.  April’s blood was boiling; there was personal information in her phone.  He held it up as if mocking her.  She saw the note taped to it written in her own handwriting.  Though she could not remember writing it, she knew why it was there.  She didn’t understand though why it was also written in Korean.  She didn’t have time to ponder it as the new man was pointing at the note as if to say, ‘should I call them anyway?’  She couldn’t let him have the chance, whether it was anger or adrenaline something drove her forward without warning and without thinking.  Like a huge release she sprang forward and slapped the man’s hand and phone successfully breaking it and putting an end to the possibility of calling her parents.  A massive release but a huge collapse, April felt a enormous pain and nausea well up in her abdomen, she was lightheaded and dizzy again and felt like she was going to pass out.  She couldn’t pay the man anymore attention, she laid back down and tried to remain conscious.        

           

            Siwon was worried; Heechul had to have done something to upset her.  He looked over the broken phone; it was really destroyed, she must have put some force into it.  She was sleeping soundly now, something he wished he could also be doing in the middle of the night.  For now she was fine, as long as she didn’t wake up.  She continued to sleep through Eunhyuk’s turn as well as Shindong’s. 

 

            At the dorm tension was brewing between Leeteuk and Heechul.  Word had spread that Heechul had caused an upset.

            “It was a simple request, just sit there!” 

            “I was just sitting there.”

            “With her phone?”

            “I was only looking at it; I thought she wanted it so I showed it to her.  How would I know that she would go crazy?”

            “You didn’t, which is why you weren’t supposed to do anything!”

            “Fine, whatever.  You’re the one that asked for my help so just don’t come knocking again if you don’t like the way I do things.”

 

            Leeteuk knew he was in the wrong.  In a situation like this no one can really know what is going to happen.  No one could know that April would do that or why or if she even knew that she did it or why.  Late at night Leeteuk still couldn’t sleep after the argument he got up from bed and went to Heechul’s room.  Heechul who never slept early was still up.  Leeteuk knocked on the door.

            “What?”

            “May I come in?”

            “It depends, why do you want to?”

            “I want to apologize.”

            “Go ahead.”

            Leeteuk let himself in again.  He bowed his head.  “I’m sorry.”  Heechul was shocked again; it was rare for Leeteuk to be this serious.  “I’m so sorry for blaming you.  You could not have foreseen her reaction and I’m sure you were not deliberately angering her.  It took a lot of courage for you to go tonight and I shouldn’t have come down on you like that.”

            Heechul and Leeteuk never stayed mad with each other for long and in a short time the argument was for the most part forgotten. 

 

            Donghae and Yesung started out the next day with April but she was still sleeping.  The previous night’s escapade had seemingly taken a lot out of her.  The story of the sudden outburst had everyone on edge. 

            In the afternoon Ryeowook arrived, his presence always made a calm and relaxed environment.  April woke up for a little while and watched Ryeowook intently.  After a short time she started to squirm a bit in her bed.  Ryeowook surmised that she was uncomfortable and wanted to sit up.  He found the little remote for the bed and raised the back by a small amount.  “You really should rest,” he told April.  “You’ve been through a lot you probably shouldn’t move around too much.”  She looked at him when he spoke with big eyes but somehow he doubted that his message got through.

            “You seem to be observing things now.  A few days ago I showed you my favorite books from my childhood, do you remember that?  I’m not sure you really saw it.  I brought them with me again today, I hope you like them.”

             Ryeowook took out the picture books again for April to see.  They were more than your typical children’s books, even as a child Ryeowook had had artistic tastes.  He read them to her again smiling and enjoying sharing his favorite stories.  When he got to the pop up book she seemed to be watching more intently then with the others.  On one page there was a pull-tab that made a boy on a pony go up and down.  April must have liked it, her hand twitched as if she wanted to reach up and pull it herself; though she definitely wanted to, she clearly didn’t have the energy to make the grab.  Ryeowook held it out for her to see if she would try to take it.  April looked at him quizzically but didn’t move. 

            April’s expressions were becoming easier to read, or maybe it was just that they had been spending so much time with her.  Ryeowook’s afternoon with April ended and the evening with Eunhyuk and Siwon began.

           April slept through Eunhyuk’s turn again and he was totally fine with that.  She was still sleeping when Siwon arrived but woke up shortly after.  Tonight Siwon had brought a bible with him.  It was an old bible with lots of folds and bookmarks, marked passages that held special meaning to him.  Siwon showed April the bible as he read short passages from it.  “My Dad gave me this,” he told April.  “I’ve had it for a really long time and I bring it everywhere with me.  The passages that I’ve marked are ones that give me strength when I’m going through a rough time.  I was hoping that it could also give you strength.” 

 

          April saw two people that day.  Though she had no idea who they were, they seemed kind and gentle.  They had both brought books with them.  They read to her, if only she could hear it.  Neither could she hear it nor read it herself.  The books weren’t written in English as she would have expected.  She recognized the writing to be Korean, but why would they be reading to her in Korean?  April was still unable to focus hard enough to put two and two together and was merely becoming confused and frustrated.  She couldn’t hear, she couldn’t speak and she couldn’t even form the words in her head to communicate the question, ‘why?’

 

          The overnight passed uneventfully with Kangin, Leeteuk and Ryeowook who hadn’t had much of a break this time.  April drifted in and out of sleep calmly watching the boys who were watching her.  Since it seemed that she wasn’t able to stay awake for much at a time all three boys decided not to talk to her or bring anything to show her.  They wanted her to rest, especially at night when she should be sleeping. 

         The hospital was really quiet at night.  Everyone had gotten so used to machines humming and beeping that they didn’t even notice it anymore.  Sitting in silence for so long made Ryeowook wonder if his own ears were even working.

         Sungmin came in next while April was sleeping.  He brought his guitar with him and put it down behind her out of sight.  Like most of the members music had always been an integral part of his life.  Listening to the right music could affect the mood of a person dramatically and making music was like an amazing release.  While playing the guitar it was like he could let all his stresses just float away.  There had been rumblings among the other members about the possibility of April not being able to hear.  Sungmin saw that they had a point, there was plenty of evidence to back it up but he really wanted it not to be true. 

         She woke up early and sleepily stared at the wall.  Out of her sight he carefully took out his guitar.  She didn’t seem to know he was there; she was sleeping when he came in and she hadn’t looked his way once since she woke up.  With a little bit of trepidation he began to play softly.  He didn’t play any song specifically, he just played what he felt and let the melody flow and change freely.  He wasn’t long into it when he noticed that April had turned her head to watch him.  ‘When did she notice me?’ He wondered.  Surprised by those big curious eyes, he stopped playing.  “Can you hear that?”  She read his face and raised an eyebrow.  Sungmin strummed a single chord; as soon as he did April smiled.  “Whoa, you like it?”  He exclaimed.  She continued to smile looking at the guitar intently.  “Do you want me to play some more?”  She seemed to open her eyes a little wider.  Sungmin went back to playing; this was the most positive development yet.  Sometime while he was playing April had drifted back to sleep.  Maybe it was his imagination but she seemed to be sleeping more peacefully now.