"Wake up!" Zelo staggered under Sulyeons' weight. "Wake up!" he was practically sobbing. Despite the fact that Sulyeon was more than twenty pounds underweight, he didn't seem to possess the strength to support her limp body. "Please..." his knees gave out under him, sending him toppling to the ground with Sulyeon on top of him, both sprawled across the waxy white floors. "Wake, wake... up!" he placed his hands on both of Sulyeons' shoulders, shaking her lightly.

The girl gave a hacking cough, producing a thin dribble of bile tinged red with...

"Help!" Zelo's scream tore the silent hallway to chaos.

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Several hours later, after the electric whines of the defibrillators and the sea of doctors had dissipated, Zelo still slouched beside Sulyeons' limp form. Her chest rose and fell jerkily, her breathing hitching in her torn, swollen throat. There was no rhythm to her body's motion. The thought disturbed him greatly.

Comatose: 1.) of, like, or in a coma or stupor 2.) as if in a coma; lethargic; torpid

For once, the familiar act of defining words brought no comfort. He scrawled a line down the side of the paper, imagining a thin black line cut through the white like a deep gash, another attempt to escape his fear. Still unable to deflect the sharp gnawing in his insides, he receded into the recesses of his mind, imagining life as if it were paper, all monochromatic and immobile; Forever trapped in a single moment, unable to change or die... a comfort in some ways, a hindrance in others,

Sulyeon stirred lightly on the cot beside him, jolting him from his black and white world. Her eyelids fluttered a bit as she shifted uncomfortably in the small confined bed. He dropped his books, again, and leaned forward, his hands gripping the thin bony points of his knees. "Are... are you?" she moved again, sitting up painfully, slowly, stiffly shaking as she did. Zelo pressed his hands against her back, supporting her as she regained her bearings.

"Zelo?" she sounded tired, as she had earlier that day during lunch. Her voice was a bit raspy. He looked down, wondering if she was still mad at him. She reached behind his arms and with considerable difficulty rearranged her pillows to support her in Zelo's stead. Once she was finished, Zelo pulled back entirely, his arms crossed over his lap, and his feet turned in as his knees locked together. "Why are you-?" she rather gingerly pressed her fingers to the front of her neck in obvious discomfort. However, her pain seemed to answer her question.

"Oh. So you found me?" Zelo nodded, kicking his legs out as rhythmically as he could. Right, left, right, left, ri- no he missed a beat. "How?" Right, lef- crap. He missed again. There was definitely suspicion in her voice. Right, left, right, left...

"Not by stalking you, if that's what your implying." The coldness in his own voice startled him. It hadn't been meant that way, but... it was true. He lightly touched the bruise on his cheek, feeling it throb a bit under the sudden pressure. "The girl's restroom is right next door to my room." He glanced up, staring hard at her. "You scared me." he lifted his head completely, leaning forward, his elbow on his knee, and cupping his chin in his hand. Right, right, right, ri- why did he keep screwing up?

Sulyeon bit her lip as she saw the bruise she'd, quite literally, slapped onto his face. "And I think you should know," Zelo's fingers pressed wickedly into said bruise. "That was stupid."

"I know." she spoke dismissively, as if it wasn't a big deal that was scorched from bile and her heart had just been electrocuted back to a normal beat. Zelo felt it necessary to elaborate further, to make her understand.

"Moronic, actually. Or even better: hebenedetuous." Sulyeon' mouth tightened, anger visibly seeping into her features. So be it, he thought. She almost killed herself.

"I. Get. It." her jaw clenched and unclenched. , Tighten, release, tighten, release, tighten, release. Ah, her natural tempo was returning.

"No. I, I... don't think..." she lifted her hand as if to strike him as she had earlier and he flinched back, reflexively. Her eyes softened a bit and her hands fell back to the mattress as if her anger had turned to guilt. "What did you do to yourself?" the question resurfaced before he could stop himself. He felt out of his own control, as if he couldn't keep the questions from flying off his tongue. "Because whatever goals you may have... are... are... killing you! You're being stupid-"

"Shut up!" her voice cracked from the trauma to . "Do you think I don't know how disgusting it is? I hate it as much as you." she swatted the lamp from her nightstand, sending it shattering across the floor. "And if I'm so freaking stupid... why do you even care?" she glared at him, acidic anger dripping from her face.

"How should I know? I'm psycho." he responded quietly, touching his bruise again. There was silence throughout the room, only broken by the quiet steady bleeps of the heart monitor. Blip, blip, blip... "You're so different from my.. very feminin brother, it's hard to imagine that I could be attracted to you. Especially after you hit me." He stared hard at his feet. "And the, the voices... obviously hold you in contempt." As a matter of fact, there was a lovely chorus of sound blossoming at the base of his skull hissing insults at Sulyeon as he spoke.

You ungrateful little witch. He should have let you die, let you lay there and choke on your own vomit. Foolish little creature... Sad little skeleton.

"But... she has such a pretty voice." He defended, eyes widening at the sudden attack. "And... and I liked the way she looked before she lost all that weight. And when she smiles... it's just like, like..." he lifted his head back up, looking so lost and confused. Why were they back? Had his medicine worn off already?

Sulyeon stared at him with such... pity, sadness, apology... tenderness? Since when did someone outside his small family care for him? "And I really, really don't want you to keep hurting yourself like that." her eyes seemed to cloud over a bit. "You almost died."

"I'm so sorry." she reached out to him, allowing him to choose whether or not to accept her touch. "I'm sorry, Zelo. For worrying you, for hitting you..." he scooched his chair closer and took her hand in his, the back lightly with his shaking fingers. He wanted her to know that he accepted her apology. The voices were losing their potency, dying back down into their dank little caves. Lotus lifted her hand from his, brushing her fingers lightly under the unkempt red hair that shielded his forehead.

She pushed her hands a little further along his face, reaching the scar he was so ashamed of. A sign of his own weakness and the horrible memories that he carried. He gasped, his body shivering violently when she touched it, but she very gently the thick ropy lines, humming reassuringly. Slowly, with each retracing of the hangul, Zelo's body relaxed, his eyes growing a bit heavy as she a slow, loving tempo: right, left, down, right, left, across, right, left, right, right, right, left, across, right, down, down.

After several repetitions, her hand slid down to his cheek, tenderly the discoloured flesh from where she'd hit him, then tracing his abused lower lip with her thumb. There was a thin jagged film of dead skin. He examined her face quietly, eyelids half shut. "Come here." She pleaded, softly, as she leaned forward in the cot.

He tilted himself enough so that their faces almost touched, her thumb sliding down to his chin. "I'm sorry... that you've been hurt." she said again, leaning forward and pressing her lips against his cheek. The contact surprised him, causing him to inhale quickly through his mouth. Sulyeon drew back, looking at him in concern. Zelo shook his head slightly, pressing both hands haltingly to her face. Zelo gave an insistent tug, as if he wanted her to kiss him again.

She pressed her lips to his this time, feeling him lean forward a bit more. Sulyeon wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly to her chest. And when they broke apart, Zelo moved from the chair to the bed, sitting calmly on the side with his arms around her waist. He leaned his head against hers, feeling, with a sense of security, the restored tempo of her heart beat against his.

Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump...

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't been updating as much.... But, good news is that I began feeling A LOT better a few days ago or so.. and since then, all I have been doing is writing. So, I will update a few chapters tonight! ^^

Thank you guys for being so patient!! Look forward to the next few chapters!! I LOVE YOU!

Again, Reviews are motivation, criticism is loved, and Subcriptions are my favorite!

-Serenity