Chapter 37 The Aftermath
The Exchange ProgramNo matter how many times you had ever been to the hospital, whether it was for checkups or something more serious, you could never understand why the colors were so bland. You once asked Jaejoong, and he told you it would looked worse if it was brightly colored. You supposed he was right and you both laughed about it at the time.
Currently, you would have done anything for a little color. Your eyes opened to the bland, cream colored walls and you cringed a bit. You were aware of how warm you were and you heard the heart monitor going in the background and could see the IV drip attached to your wrist. It didn't take long for you to remember. It all came rushing back to you the moment you realized you were in a hospital.
"Where's Kris?"
"Where is he? What's happening?"
You tried to get out of your bed, but you were tangled in the blankets. You also realized there were several hot compresses on your body that came tumbling off once you started thrashing.
The cold floor hit your feet and you lightly shuddered, but that didn't stop you from trying to advance to the door. The IV drip however held you back, and while you were contemplating ripping it from your wrist, a nurse followed by a frantic Luhan and Xiumin, entered.
"Miss, I'm going to have to ask you to return to your bed," the nurse said calmly, and you eyed the syringe in her hand that probably contained a sedative.
"Where is he?" you whispered, trying to show that you were calm but also equally desperate for anwsers.
"We'll take care of it," Luhan assured the nurse as he stepped closer to you, while Xiumin told the nurse to get the doctor for your checkup.
Luhan gently coaxed you back to your bed with the promise of anwsers while Xiumin pulled over two chairs from the corner of the room.
"Tell me if I need to talk slower, okay?" Luhan said as he arranged the blankets back around you. He was about to place the compresses back on, but you denied them; you were warm enough.
"Jangmi, Kris is fine, okay? He's in a room just down the hall and he's fine; the other guys are with him right now." A great weight was lifted off of your shoulders and you felt your tense body relax a bit.
"He wasn't waking up....." you said as you painfully remembered the image of him in the car.
"Both you and Kris had hypothermia. Kris had it much worse than you, to the point he needed help with his heart and circulation. He wasn't waking up because his systems were already failing," Xiumin said and Luhan took over.
"I rode in an ambulence with you and after they sedated you, they had to completely rewarm you up as well as your blood so as to help circualtion. You also had mild frostbite in your fingers and toes,"
"Tao rode in an ambulence with Kris, and from what I heard, there was a bigger battle with Kris. The had to do CPR just to get his heartrate back to normal and then rewarm parts of his blood. He was also treated for minor frostbite. Around midnight last night, he develped a fever from the medication, which was good because it got his body temperature way up, but then it became dangerously high and then getting it down was the challenge. It broke around 5am this morning, and he just woke up."
"But, what's happening to him now?"
"He woke up about an hour ago. The doctor gave him a checkup and said he just needs to rest more. I think he's eating now, and he's with the other guys. He wanted us to wait for you to wake up so you wouldn't be alone." You smiled a bit at the thought, when a knock came at the door.
It was just the nurse and doctor who came and gave you a checkup while asking you a torrent of questions. They left you with a tray of food that you begrudgingly ate while Luhan watched and ate your pudding for you. You tried to distract yourself with anything possible but as the clock continued to tick, you grew more and more restless.
"Luhan, when can I see him?" you asked after winning the fourth round of solitaire.
"When I've won?" he said like it was the most obvious thing, "And where did Xiumin go?" His question seemed to anwser itself when the door opened and Xiumin entered. Much to your surprise and delight, Mrs. Wu followed him carrying a big bouquet of flowers.
"Special delivery," Xiumin chirped as he pulled Luhan from your side and the two left together. Mrs. Wu placed the flowers on the table and you marvelled over them. They were large flowers, composed of white and several shades of soft pink. You tentativly a petal while admiring the bunch.
"You look so much better," Mrs Wu sighed as she tucked a strand of hair behind your ear. It suddenly became aware to you; Mrs. Wu was here.
"I recived a frantic call from one of Kris' friends that he hadn't returned home yet, though I was already worried when he didn't call. When I couldn't reach him, I asked highway patrol if they had come across his car. I suppose that's when the searc
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