Baekhyun: It’s Called A Miracle

 

Year: 1990

Aileen Banks was making herself comfortable in her hospital bed when there was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” she said politely

“Hey Aileen. How are you doing today?” asked her doctor

“I’m a little tired but not as tired as yesterday doc,” she smiled at the older white gentleman whom she’d come to like.

 Doctor Wilstead was a caring older man who for the last year, every day would come see her, even if sometimes he was super busy with his other patients. Aileen was a special case. She was diagnosed with Leukemia at the age of 16. Now being 18, suddenly her treatments were not working.

Aileen had a strong faith in God and while those around her refused to give up on her, she was ok with death. In fact she talked of it often.

“Well your vitals look good today. Maybe you should get some fresh air. I’ll have the nurse take you out to the gardens later. How does that sound?”

“That sounds wonderful,” he left her to her thoughts

 

Byun Baekhyun and Lu Han got out of their car that was parked in the garage parking lot of the hospital.

“I hate hospitals. They have a smell,” frowned Baekhyun

“Oh stop being a baby. Chanyeol wanted to see us…well mainly you because you’re the only friend who hasn’t visited the gentle giant. Just put your big boy pants on,” Luhan smiled at he pressed the elevator button

The boys went to the floor Chanyeol was on and found his room.

“Hey man, how you doing?” asked Luhan

“Much better,” a smiling Chanyeol

“Look who I brought to you,” Luhan pointed to Baekhyun who was hiding behind him

“So you finally decided to show your face,”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun blushed and looked at the ground with his hands in his pockets, “So how much longer do you have to stay in here,”

Luhan took a seat on the window sill and Baekhyun in the chair next to Chanyeol’s bed.

Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun and then at the state he was in and laughed, “Look at me. Both of my legs are broken. I’m going to have to start rehabilitation soon to get the feel of them again. Let’s see my arm needs to heal not including my busted ribs…I’ve got at least 2 more months in here,”

“Well at least you’re alive,” said Luhan

“Did they ever catch the guy who nearly killed me?” Chanyeol asked seriously

“No,” Baekhyun simply said

Chanyeol laid his head on his pillow and closed his eyes. It happened so fast. One minute he was on his way home and the next minute he was in the hospital. He doesn’t know what happened in between. He just knows the doctors telling him he shouldn’t be alive right now. His car was totaled and he was banged up real bad. When he finally saw the news report, he just cried.

“Well it’s a miracle I’m alive. Thank God,”

Baekhyun chuckled and Chanyeol looked at him.

“What?”

“Why are you thanking him?”

“Because it’s true. He saved my life. It’s just like my Granny always used to say to me as a kid. She said God puts His angels around you to protect you. I’ve never forgotten that. God did that for me and I’m thankful,”

“It just seems real spooky to me that “the Big Man” is up there sending angels from the sky,”

“Just because you don’t have anything to believe in doesn’t mean I can’t believe in it but that’s ok. I’m just glad you finally decided to show your pretty face,” he smiled at his best friend

“My face is lovely isn’t it?” they laughed

“So cocky,” teased Luhan

The boys caught up for the next hour until Luhan had to go to work. Baekhyun decided to stay a little bit longer.

 

Aileen’s nurse finally came around 2 o’clock to take her outside. Aileen was found napping.

“Aileen. It’s Carmen,” she shook the young girl to wake up

“Hey. I’ve been waiting for you all day,” she smiled at Carmen

“I’m sorry. I got a few more patients today. There’s actually a patient on this floor with your name except she’s 80 years old,” the nurse laughed as she helped Aileen to the wheelchair

“That’s cool,”

Aileen looked in the mirror at her hair. She had to cut it real short because it started to fall out. She was a positive person and she wasn’t shallow but she so missed her long hair.

“It will grow back when you get better,”

Aileen smiled at Carmen. She was going to get better even though the treatments stopped working. She had to have faith. She had to pray for a miracle but if it didn’t happen that way; she was ok with dying. Her family had prepared themselves for the news so when they came to see her they couldn’t cry. She made it a rule. So they didn’t. They stayed strong for her.

“Are you ready to go?”

“Yes,”

They left her room and made their way to the elevators.

 

“Hey man can you go to the café and get me something to eat?” asked Chanyeol

“Sure anything for my buddy,”

“Thanks,”

Baekhyun headed to the elevators.

“Nurse Carmen I need you” shouted Nurse Erin as she ran by them

“Ok,” Carmen turned to Aileen, “Do you think you can manage,”

“Yes,”

“Ok I will come back to check up on you,” she ran after Nurse Erin

 

Aileen had never pushed herself in the wheelchair but she was determined to try. She tried to move but she only moved a few inches. The chair and her weight were heavier than she thought. Baekhyun was coming down the hall when he saw this girl struggling to get to the elevator. Who would leave her alone? He decided to help her.

“Excuse me? Do you need any help?”

Aileen turned to see this handsome boy ask her a question. She smiled as she blushed.

“Yea,”

He smiled. She was very pretty.

“Who would leave you out here on your own like that?” he pushed her in the elevator

“My nurse was taking me to the garden but an emergency came up. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I couldn’t push the wheelchair myself. Someone else needed her more than I did. I would have gotten to the elevator eventually,”

Baekhyun laughed. He thought she was sweet and cute.

“Well it’s a good thing I came along. I can take you to the garden. Just show me where,” he looked straight into her eyes

“I’m Aileen,”

“Baekhyun,” she furrowed her brows, “Yea my mom and dad didn’t give me an American name. They didn’t want me to forget where I came from. I’m Korean American,”

“I see. So are you a patient here?”

“No. I’m visiting my friend. He got into a car accident that almost killed him,”

“Oh wow, is he ok?”

“He’s banged up real bad but he’s alive. So why are you in here?”

“I have Leukemia,” she smiled at him as he frowned, “I got it when I was 16. I’m 18 now and the treatments have stopped working. It happened so fast but I’m ok with it,” Baekhyun frowned as he pushed her out of the elevator towards the garden

“How the heck are you ok with it? You’re so young and you’re dying. I’m 20 and I still wouldn’t be ok with it,”

“I’m not afraid of dying. I know I will be in heaven with God,”

“So you’re one of those,” he chuckled

“One of what?”

“You believe in God; in angels; in miracles,”

“You don’t?”

“No. How can you believe in something you can’t see or feel or even touch? It just seems to me that you will get your hopes up and then it will just fail,”

“Seeing isn’t believing. Believing is seeing. People don’t have to see God to know he’s there. They just know,”

“That’s not enough for me,”

“Well I challenge you Baekhyun. Pray for a miracle,”

“What kind of a miracle?” he was intrigued that this girl he just met a few minutes ago caught his attention and stirred something in his heart

“My miracle. Pray that I get a treatment and live. And if it comes true then God is real and if it doesn’t then you can go on not believing in God,”

“Wow that’s a huge gamble. You’re putting a lot of faith in your God,”

“That’s because I know he will take care of me,”

They reached the gardens.

“Wait I don’t know how to pray,”

“It’s not hard. It’s just like your talking to a person,” she looked at the sky, “Wow the weather is so pretty today, isn’t it Baekhyun?”

“That’s not the only thing that’s pretty,” he smiled at her as she blushed

“I hope I see you again Baekhyun,”

“You will,” he smiled as he left her to get Chanyeol’s food

 

When Baekhyun arrived back to Chanyeol’s room he was carrying a tray of food but his mind somewhere else.

“Where the heck have you been?” Chanyeol sat up as he pulled the tray table towards him

“I met someone,”

“So soon? You’re already dissing me for a girl,” he laughed as he took a bite of his food

“Well I met her by the elevators in a wheelchair. She couldn’t push herself to the garden so I offered to take her there. Man she was pretty. She had really short hair and dark eyes,” his mind wondered again

“Must have been love at first sight. I have never seen you like this. What about her do you like?”

“She’s brave. She has Leukemia and she’s dying and she’s ok with it,” Baekhyun was still trying to compute that information. Chanyeol looked at his friend with sad eyes

“Oh man I’m sorry,”

“But she tells me not to worry. She believes in God and she says He’s going to give her a miracle,”

“Well she’s my kind of girl,” Chanyeol had a smile on his face

“She told me to pray for her miracle and if it comes true then God is real. I don’t know man. It sounds so spooky,”

“Just try it. What’s the worst that can happen?”

Baekhyun looked at his friend with serious eyes and thought about what Aileen had told him. Just because he couldn’t see God doesn’t mean he’s not real. He wasn’t 100% sure about this but he knew one thing; he couldn’t let her die and if his prayers helped her then he was going to do it.

 

Every day for the past month Baekhyun visited Aileen in the hospital. They got to know one another very well. She told him her favorite hobbies were painting; ice skating and reading books and he told her his favorite hobbies were martial arts, motorcycles and camping. He promised her when she got better he would take her camping so they could look at the stars because L.A. was so light up at night you couldn’t see the night sky clearly.

Baekhyun grew to adore Aileen very much. She was always positive and upbeat. It somewhat broke his heart to know she might not make it but he promised himself he would continue to pray for her miracle; and he did every night.

 

The following month Chanyeol was discharged so Baekhyun wanted to give Aileen the good news. He came to the hospital holding her favorite flowers. For some reason the night before he prayed extra hard for her miracle. He didn’t know why but he felt he should. When he arrived on the floor her door was closed so he knocked. No answer. He was confused but he opened the door. His heart dropped to the floor as did the flowers. She wasn’t in her room. Her bed was neatly made. There was no sign of her anywhere. Tears instantly fell down his face. She was gone? She died last night? He refused to believe this. The one person he grew to love was gone? He couldn’t process anything. He went to the nurses’ station.

“Excuse me,”

“Yes,”

“There was a girl in this room. She’s not here anymore. Can you tell me what happened?”

“Oh I just started working here. What is her name?”

Baekhyun never asked Aileen’s last name so all he had to go on was her first.

“Aileen,”

The nurse looked at the list and then frowned.

“I’m sorry but she died last night,”

Baekhyun’s world came to a halt, “Thank you,” he left the hospital in a dazed. He couldn’t even drive his car home. He had to call Luhan to pick him up. When Luhan came he was a mess. His words weren’t coming out right and he was angry. He was angry at God the most. How could he take the one person he had grown to love so much. He even prayed to God every night for 2 months asking for a miracle. But it never happened because she was dead. Luhan held his friend as he cried on his shoulder.

 

Baekhyun never recovered from the loss of Aileen. He was bitter and angry and sad all the time. His family soon started to worry about him. Then one day his mother drove him to the airport with his bags packed and a one way plane ticket to see his grandmother in South Korea. She thought a change of scenery would help. He agreed to go, kissed his mother goodbye and got on the place.

22 hours later

Baekhyun was tired and jetlag but he greeted his grandmother with a smile and kiss.

“You’re grown so much my cute little Bacon,” his grandmother pinched his cheeks

“Oh your still calling me Bacon,” he hugged her

“How are you doing?”

“I’m fine,”

“You sure?”

“Yea. I thought about it on the long plane ride here; I think a change of scenery is best. Hey I might even stay a little while longer than planned. I know you would like that,”

“I would. I just want my Bacon to be happy,”

 

The following morning the two of them got out of the house and went to have breakfast at his grandmother’s favorite café.

“I don’t understand the menu,” he couldn’t read Korean

“That’s ok. I’ll teach you but in the meantime; I’ll order for you,”

Baekhyun smiled as he looked out the window. His eyes bulged as he ran out of the restaurant with his grandmother calling his name with worry. It couldn’t be. Was his mind playing tricks on him? He saw a slender caramel colored girl walking down the street. He didn’t have the balls to call her name. What if it was a dream? What if it wasn’t her? He had to make sure.

“Bacon what’s wrong. You look as if you’ve seen a ghost,” his grandmother tried to grab his hand but he shook her off

“Wait here grandmother,” he crossed the street to keep up with the girl as his grandmother followed close by

The girl finally stopped at her destination. The Han River. The weather was great today. The birds were singing and people were going about but Baekhyun was so scared. The one person he loved more than anything was gone but this girl in front of him reminded him of her. He got his courage back and called her name.

“Aileen,” she heard her name and turned

Baekhyun started crying as he slowly walked towards her and engulfed her in a huge hug. He cried his heart out as she wrapped her arms around him. There were no words that could describe how he was feeling. All he wanted to do was hug her and never let go.

“Baekhyun,”

“I thought you died,”

“No I didn’t die. I got my miracle. I’m better now,”

“I went to the hospital to tell you Chanyeol was getting discharged and you were gone. I told the nurse your name and she said you died,”

“Oh there was another Aileen on the same floor as me. She was like 80 years, it must have been her,” she smiled at him

“I didn’t know how to get in contact with your family. I never got your address or home phone number. I was mad at God for taking you from me but I guess I should be thanking him. I prayed and you’re fine. God is real,” then he furrowed his brows, “What are you doing in South Korea?”

“Well since I beat this thing I decided to do some traveling. What are you doing here?”

“Visiting my grandmother because I became bitter and angry and I didn’t know how to function without you,” he hugged her tight

“Well do you think now you can learn how to function with me in your life?” she smiled at him

“I think I can manage. I love you,”

“I love you too,”

They sealed their love with their first sweet kiss.