He didn't expect the day to turn even worse. Except it did.
 

It started to go downhill when the officers finally got the chance to question Sungyeol, Hoya present of course.

The two were standing next to each other, Hoya sitting on the other side of the bed, carefully watching Sungyeol's reactions as well as the monitors.

Sungyeol ignored them, he didn't want to talk to anyone. All he did was play with the sheets and stare at his legs.

That didn't sit well with the investigators and they started to get meaner and meaner, ignoring Hoya's warnings. Hoya was about to cut the questioning off when the smaller one went too far.

“Or maybe you just staged it, asking him to stab you? How come your wounds weren't deep enough to hurt any aorta?”

For the first time Sungyeol had looked up, shocked.

“Stabbed? What are you talking about, stabbed?” He frantically looked towards Hoya, who glared at the officer.

“Out, now.” Hoya had stood up, gripping the bar around Sungyeol's bed so hard his knuckles turned white. “You think you have the right to forego any arrangements because you have a badge? Out. Now. Don't come back. This will have consequences.”

Hoya tried his best to ignore Sungyeol's slightly shaking form in that moment.

“If he doesn't answer any questions, it's not our fault okay? We're trying to keep the investigations going but if he doesn't cooperate, we will make him.”

Hoya was sure he was about to pop a vein.

“You come here, with no warrant or whatever you need, force your way into the patients room, make a scene, handcuff him to his bed because you provoked him even though you knew the delicate state he is in. Then, you don't listen to the doctor in charge, nor the nurse in charge and then, when you have to hold the end of the bargain you completely disregard it and endanger the therapy and a possible fast recovery? For what, because he didn't want to answer you after all what you caused in these few hours you're here?”

Hoya was fuming. Sungyeol just stared at his legs, covered by a thin blanket, twisting it in every possible way. He had his eyebrows furrowed, lost in his own thoughts as he chewed his lips.

“By all means, doctor. How are we supposed to question him if he dodges every question?”

Before Hoya could lash out once more, Sungyeol spoke up quietly.

“Maybe you're just asking the wrong questions.”

This took Hoya by surprise. Still he didn't approve of anyone asking Sungyeol about the faithful night for today.

He walked over to the door, body tense. He opened it. “You know where the exit is. Don't come back or send someone who actually gives a about rules.”

To Sungyeol's surprise, the taller officer nudged his partner and walked ahead.

“We overstepped and we apologize.” He said as he pulled his partner with him, muttering something.

Hoya looked Sungyeol up and down in concern.

Sungyeol scoffed, waving Hoya out. “I'm fine, now close the door and leave me alone please.”

Hoya gave him one last concerned look as he shut the door behind him. On his way to the nurse lounge, Hoya saw Sunggyu wheeling towards him.

“Mr. Kim...are you here to visit Sungyeol?”
Sunggyu chuckled as he came to a halt in front of Hoya.

“Straightforward as always, Dr. Lee. And yes, I am here to visit him indeed.”

Hoya tried his best to smile, though it appeared to be a weak one.

“I'm sorry to disappoint you, Mr. Kim, but it's probably for the best if you come by tomorrow. Today was too stressful and having someone over won't make it any better.”

Sunggyu frowned. “Woohyun had said it was fine to visit though.”

Hoya sighed. “Yeah, it is- of course it is. But not today... I'm sure he will fill you in once he's back from his shift. Mr. Kim... Are you looking after the therapy sessions? It's very important for your muscles.”

Sunggyu chuckled, though a light shade of red creeped up his neck.
“I'm doing my best to take up every appointment. Well then, I'll drop by tomorrow. Have a pleasant shift.” Sunggyu turned around gracefully, and wheeled away without prying.

The whole afternoon had shattered Hoya's last nerve. In the nurse lounge he went to grab a cup of coffee.

He took a seat in the nurse lounge, a rare sight. While he sipped his coffee, he started to document everything in the patient's record he had finished just before the questioning had started.

In the next hours Hoya had written multiple patient letters and a form for the next shift. This time, he would definitely leave on time to catch up on sleep.

The last bit of his shift passed quite quiet. Sungyeol had fallen asleep at some point.

Hoya had, as always, given out instructions.

He was about to press the button for the door, when he saw Woohyun lecturing a nurse with his hands stemmed into his hips. Even if Dongwoo was the head nurse, Woohyun was taking it up to himself to point out mistakes. Dongwoo only did, if the mistakes were too grave.

Hoya sighed. He had a feeling Woohyun wouldn't be leaving any time soon.
“Go home, Nam. You're awake for nearly twenty four hours now.”

Woohyun threw him a short glare and waved him off. Hoya hadn't expected any less.

He left Woohyun to his tongue-lashing.

Only three days had passed eventless. Woohyun, as well as Hoya, should have known that this was already too good to be true.

Sunggyu had kept his word and had visited the day after. Sungyeol had been delighted, though he kept treating him as a patient.

On the night from the third to fourth day, Sungyeol went missing. His brother had fallen asleep next to him. Unlike Sungyeol, Daeyeol was a heavy sleeper.

Sungyeol had pulled the IV carefully out of his arm. He opened three more buttons of Daeyeol's shirt slowly, halting whenever his brother stirred. Then he placed the EKG pads one by one onto the sleeping males chest softly. Like that, the monitor didn't stop recording the heartbeat during the exchange.

Sungyeol slipped out of the room when he saw that the hallway was clear.

The nurses on the night shift only noticed his absence when they went to check on the IV. When the nurse was met with an empty bed and a soundly sleeping Daeyeol, the wires attached to his chest, she paled.

She set the alarm off without thinking and tried to wake the knocked out male up. It took several attempts but she succeeded. Daeyeol jolted up, the monitor picking his quickened heartbeat up.

Daeyeol saw doctors and nurses run in and stare next to him. When he averted his eyes to Sungyeol, he understood why everyone was staring. The bed was empty. Sungyeol was gone.

The doctor yelled something, something Daeyeol couldn't pick up. All he could think of was that his brother was gone. And the worst possible scenarios passed through his head. He ripped the wires off his chest and buttoned his shirt up. Daeyeol wanted to be angry at the nurses, but how could he when his brother disappeared while he was in the same room?

Everyone had left except for the nurse who had woken him up.

She was looking at something on the monitor.

Daeyeol was even more confused than the staff searching for Sungyeol. It was a mystery how he managed to leave the station without anyone noticing where he went.

Three hours had passed and the station's phone ringed, cutting through the heavy silence.

A doctor picked up. His face fell within seconds.

“Okay, yes. We will come get him. Yes. Yes, I'm sorry. No, it's the first- What? Okay, yes. Thank you. I'm sorry again. We will be there in a bit.” He ended the call.

Five minutes later, the same nurse as before reached the station which had called them.

She saw Sungyeol standing with his back to her, talking agitatedly. He gestured wildly with his arms around.

“No, she has to be here. Are you sure you haven't seen her? Her name is Aga. She's tiny, a poodle! Brown! Button eyes. She's so cute. I miss my Aga.”

The IMC nurse profoundly kept apologizing as she tried to pull Sungyeol away.

“Dr. Lee, your brother is worried sick. You can't just walk out the station.”
Sungyeol stemmed his heels into the ground.
“I don't care, my Aga is lost and I can't find her. I can't just rest while she's somewhere probably scared to death!”

“Aga?” The nurse dragged the name out. “Yes, my poodle. She's brown. And has button eyes! A button nose! She's so cute.”

“Ah, you mean your pet dog? Aga is safe, Dr. Lee. She's...She's staying over with nurse Nam. He's taking care of her. She isn't lost.”

Sungyeol looked at her for a few seconds, before relief washed over his face.

“Oh, is she? Well then.” He waved at the staff in the nurse lounge of the geriatric station. They waved back, amused.

“All this time she was with Woohyun and I kept looking for her here.”

The nurse gently guided him away, towards the IMC.

“I can tell nurse Nam to bring her, if you want?”

Sungyeol's eyes twinkled. “You would do that? I was so scared that something happened to her. You know, my brother gave her to me.”

The nurse listened to Sungyeol ramble on about the dog. She couldn't bring herself to shut him up. It had been a rare sight to see him smile his genuine, trademark, Sungyeol smile.

When the nurse slit her ID through the scanner, and the door opened, Sungyeol was pulled into a tight embrace. “Don't ever do that again, do you hear me?” Daeyeol hid his face in Sungyeol's neck.

“But Dae, Aga was lost and I couldn't let her be alone.” Sungyeol patted his younger brother's back softly. Daeyeol looked lost, seeking for explanation from the nurse.

“Woohyun will bring her next time.” She just said, Daeyeol catching the hint to play along.
“Silly you, we would never leave Aga alone.”

Daeyeol hadn't known that his brother had already given the pup a name. It was typical Sungyeol. Everything cute and fluffy.

The nurse led Sungyeol back into his room and helped him lie down. Sungyeol was wide awake, though. The doctor came to check and see if Sungyeol had gotten hurt. After making sure that everything was fine, the doctor gave Sungyeol a sleeping pill.
Daeyeol was sent home, though he really wanted to stay next to his brother and make sure that he didn't chip off again.

Truth to be told, the night shift didn't know how to explain the occurrence to the morning shift. At least they didn't have to break it to the head physician, as he had the evening shift. Though all, including the doctors, were scared of the vicarious head nurse.
Said nurse was giving them hell during the presentation of what had occurred last night.

“What do you mean he, I quote, 'kind of left the station to wander the hospital in hope to find his dog'? How couldn't you notice? I mean how did he even get out? The door is ing locked after 10pm, you need your ID to open it. And I'm sure he doesn't have his ID with him. Never mind, let's say he found it in his drawer. Why in gods name didn't you see him strut through the hallway? He's tall enough and he has to pass the nurse lounge. And then you tell me this happened multiple times before?” Woohyun spat out, flames sprouting out of his ears. “No, no this never happened during my night shifts.” He cut a nurse student off, before she could even make a sound.

“You had instructions to check on him every half an hour, because he doesn't sleep at night. Did you slack this off because his brother was with him? He's a med student, he takes up every chance to catch up on his sleep. If Dr. Lee said every half an hour, you go check up on him every half an hour. It's your damn job! What would you have done if something happened to him, huh? If he walked onto the street, broke his leg?”

Dongwoo patted Woohyun's back in order to calm the younger down. “Woohyun, don't be so harsh. Most of them just graduated-”
Woohyun shook Dongwoo's hand off. “No, that's not an excuse. When you and I graduated, we weren't like this. Sungyeol wasn't like this.”

Dongwoo was trying to conceal his hurt, biting his lip. “Still, I think you're too harsh. Nothing happened, he's safe. So drop it now. They'll get an earful from Howon too.”

Woohyun scoffed and glared down the tired colleagues. Dongwoo urged them to continue talking, Woohyun just furiously scribbled his notes onto the paper.

It was silent for a moment, everyone writing their own notes. Until a clatter was heard. Dongwoo was the closest to the door of the back office. He left, confused.

“Hey, hey Sungyeol why are you here? Why aren't you in bed?”
Woohyun stood up, completely forgetting about the paper.

Dongwoo was kneeling besides Sungyeol, who was crying and clinging onto Dongwoo as if his life depended on it. Dongwoo tried to calm him down by rubbing his back up and down.

Sungyeol had walked or run, Woohyun really didn't know, against the metal cart for the patients medicine. Luckily, they hadn't started preparing the medication yet. Otherwise it would have been a huge mess.

Woohyun knelt next to Dongwoo, watching his best friend's body shake with silent sobs.
Dongwoo looked just as lost as Woohyun. Sungyeol hadn't spoken a word since his arrival.

“Sungyeol, what happened? Come on, you can tell me on the way back to your room okay?” He tried to pry Sungyeol's shaking body from Dongwoo, but the latter just kept clinging onto the head nurse.

Woohyun tried again, but Sungyeol wouldn't let go.

Dongwoo pulled Sungyeol with him lightly up, Woohyun helping the older steady Sungyeol.

Only when the two nurses started to move Sungyeol did he let go of Dongwoo, just to cling onto Woohyun's arm. His grip was hard, his hands icy. The pain in Sungyeol's eyes ripped Woohyun apart.

“I just wanted to go to my office, to get coffee.” Sungyeol's bottom lip started to quiver again as he tried to control his emotions.

“Why didn't you tell me?” Sungyeol whispered as tears started to roll down his face again.

Woohyun was scared. Scared and confused. What was Sungyeol talking about?
Maybe Woohyun knew after all, what Sungyeol meant, but he chose to pretend, talk himself into it, that he didn't.

“Tell you what?” Dongwoo asked, the innocence of his mind shining through his words. Woohyun lead Sungyeol out of the lounge, doing his best to hide him from the prying eyes of his co-workers.

“Why didn't you tell me that patient Oh passed away?” Sungyeol's voice took over an accusing tone. “You knew all along, didn't you? All of you. And yet you decided not to tell me?”

The two nurses didn't know what to say.

“You should rest-” Dongwoo started, trying to avoid the conversation by all means.
“No. I'm resting enough. None of you told me this! None! You all think I'm crazy, don't you? Is that why you keep everything from me? First, Hoya with these weird investigators saying I stabbed myself-”
“They said what!” Woohyun roared, Dongwoo flinched at either the investigators words or Woohyun's yell. Sungyeol didn't care. He ignored them both. “And now you, of all people Woohyun. I thought you were my best friend. Aren't best friends supposed to trust each other? Or can't you trust me anymore because I went nuts? Is that it? Is that why all of you treat me like a ticking time bomb?” Sungyeol's chest hived up and down in anger.

Woohyun didn't even bother hiding how much Sungyeol's words had hurt him.
“Lie down and sleep, Sungyeol. You're tired.”

“I want to know why I'm here. What happened.”

Dongwoo felt like an intruder, like he was witnessing something he wasn't supposed to see.

“Listen, Sungyeol. I don't care what you want to know right now, frankly speaking. All I care about is you getting your damn into bed, and ing rest. Don't make me get the restraints.” Dongwoo took a few steps back, Woohyun's anger scaring him a little. Never had he witnessed Woohyun to threaten a patient, never the less Sungyeol.
 

“No, shut it. You wander off the hallways at night, you walk around the station as if you weren't a patient. You constantly rip out the IV's, and I'm pretty sure by this time you know why you need it, and you get angry at everyone who tries to help you. By this time, any other person would have been fixated long ago. I don't know what the got into you, but frankly I can't believe that this is still caused by the delir.”
 

Woohyun, despite his hard words, pushed Sungyeol gently onto the bed.

“You don't leave your room. And that is not mine, but doctors order.”

Woohyun pushed Dongwoo out the door, signaling a doctor to go back in and put another IV.

“Weren't you a little too harsh on him?” The concern was evident in Dongwoo's voice.

“Do you really think I like being mean? Dongwoo, seriously. He's pushing every attempt of remembering anything unconsciously away. I've been defending him all along but sometimes, there are things you can't excuse anymore.”

Dongwoo gave him a sympathizing smile. “Give him time. You said it yourself that he doesn't know what he does.”

A small pat on Woohyun's back and Dongwoo had left to the kitchen.

Woohyun saw Sungyeol's student Yoo enter his best friend's room. She practically wasn't a student anymore, since she had graduated a month prior to Sungyeol's...accident. The nickname had stuck with her throughout and she didn't seem to mind. Rather, she seemed to be pleased.
Woohyun would never understand why. He shook his head.
He for sure needed his break now.

Woohyun had been half way through his break as his beeper ringed. He shoved the spoon into his mouth as he fished it out of his gown's pocket.

Woohyun sighed. He picked up his tray and put it away, taking his meal with him as he jogged up the hallway and stairs- he didn't have time to wait for the elevator- to the station. He could hear through the closed ward's doors the female, stoic voice repeating Code Blue over and over again.
 

He had pushed his lunch to the next best kitchen personal, and speed walked into the patient's room.

Woohyun didn't like what he saw at all.

Sungyeol had his head stuck with student Yoo, who was talking to him fast. Another doctor was standing to the EKG, watching the monitor. There was already Dongwoo performing CPR on the patient, and a last year nursing student was waiting for her round to pump air into the endotracheal tubus.
 

“Still an asystole!” The doctor in front of the monitor didn't look away from it as he shot it out.

“I can hear that, tell me something new!” Sungyeol snapped. He saw Woohyun standing in the door, watching him with rage.

“Stop standing there like some sack of potato and go get the epinephrine and atropine! Hush!” Sungyeol shoved Woohyun out of the door again.

If a patient's life wouldn't have been at stake, Woohyun would have dealt with Sungyeol in another way.

“Check the pulse every three minutes. Woohyun, get to the IV and give every three minutes epinephrine, 1mg each time. Add now atropine, 1mg. You, watch the monitor. I need another nurse to help Dongwoo out with CPR.”

While student Yoo thought about what could have caused the patient to flat line, she called for another nurse. It suddenly clicked.

She was about to consult Sungyeol when all heads snapped towards him, who was yelling at the nurse student. She had changed with the new nurse to feel the pulse, while other took over her part of pumping air every thirty chest pumps.
 

“Hey what do you think you're doing! You don't check the pulse on the wrist, haven't you listened during lectures at all!” Dongwoo kept his gaze firmly on the chest of the patient, as he kept pressing it down with the heel of his hands. Sweat was dripping down his face. He would deal with her later. Dongwoo kept humming the song Staying Alive, pumping the chest to its rhythm.

“Check either from the leg or neck, never the wrist.” Woohyun calmly explained. The student had lost any color, as she reached to palpate for the femoral artery.

“Pulse still not there.” She said, her voice shaking.

“Dongwoo, let me take over. You just have to switch with me.” The bulky nurse said, making an attempt to walk around the bed without letting the pump go. Dongwoo swiftly changed places, as he let himself relax a little at the head of the bed now.

“The patient has a pulmonary disease, Dr. Lee. It could have caused the asystole.”
Sungyeol leaned over her shoulder to read in the file.
“The second cycle now! Another shot of epinephrine! No atropine yet! Check the pulse in two minutes again.” He had locked his gaze with Woohyun for a short time. Woohyun was unreadable though, so Sungyeol went back to reading the file.

Student Yoo got locked in a heated exchange of glares with Woohyun. It was more like the nurse throwing daggers with his eyes at her, while she tried to cower away which resulted in her hitting her head against Sungyeol's chest. Even that tiny bit of disturbance had caused Sungyeol to lose his footing and stumble backwards. He caught himself in time before he fell and was already having troubles with breathing.

“Dr. Lee, I'll call a doctor who's on duty, I'll bring you to your-”

“Jiae! There you are! I came as fast as possible! Sorry it took a bit-” a woman in her mid thirties came running in.

“I'm not leaving.” Sungyeol firmly said, glaring at the new doctor in the room.

“What is a patient doing in this room, Ji? You bring him to bed. I'll take over for you.”

Jiae gave Sungyeol an apologetic smile as she tried to maneuver him out of the room. “He's my patient-” She shoved him a little harder than before.

“No, Sungyeol. He's not. Get your into bed, do you hear me?” Woohyun grumbled, gripping the bed bars hard.
Sungyeol threw him a disappointed look as his former student pushed him out of the door towards his room.

Sungyeol felt anxious confined to the bed. But the female had made it clear that she couldn't cover for him if he decided to leave the room and wander around again.

He was supposed to stay in bed, wait for his brother or Sunggyu to come visit him, eat his meals and then sleep.

It was too boring for him. He had the urge to move, to explore everything.

Sungyeol felt like he was missing the biggest piece of the puzzle out. He only realized that when Woohyun had snapped at and had thrown hurtful words at him.

Sungyeol didn't want to be fixated. He knew that it could be uncomfortable. So he reached for his drawer and pulled out a book Daeyeol had dropped off a few days ago.

He tried to focus on the page he was reading, but suddenly his mind had decided to linger on the occurrence with the investigators. They had talked about something with stabbing and knives, Sungyeol hadn't understood anything at all.

Sungyeol had tried to focus back on the book again, but after thirty minutes he had given up as a headache had started to form. He put it aside and climbed out of his bed, opening the cupboard next to his drawer. Sungyeol neatly folded clean clothes and a pair of underwear on his bed, grabbed his towels and went into the bathroom. Since he had to share it with the patient next door, he made sure to lock the two doors carefully. Without a second thought he disposed his clothes and turned the water on, hoping that his cephalea would finally cease.
 

Fifteen minutes later, Sungyeol had stepped out of the shower and reached for his towel, wrapping it around his hips. He stepped in front of the mirror and wiped the haze away. Just as he had started rubbing his hair dry with the face towel, Sungyeol's eyes picked up a tiny scar, not longer than two centimeters. The skin around it was still a little red. He tried to reason it on the hot water, yet he raised his hand and traced the scar with his finger.

Sungyeol once more remembered the investigators words. He looked down his body. The only thing he saw was dozens of cicatrices. A mix of tiny and big, pink scars scattered across his torso. Sungyeol had no time to examine the pits any longer as loud banging from the bathroom door pulled him out of his thoughts.
 

He continued to dry his hair as he unlocked the door, just to find a furious Woohyun. Woohyun ripped the door wider open, pulling Sungyeol out of the bathroom. Sungyeol nearly fell out of the force Woohyun had used.

“What were you thinking!” Woohyun yelled at Sungyeol who was now sitting, confused to say the least, on his bed. 

wordcount: 4312.
i might take a bit with updating now that uni started again 😔
also this is kinda short and ushed but i really wanted to upload something before the profs started going wooshy.
since i'm in no means a doctor or a med student, i heavily relied on this lecture i found on youtube. 
you guys commenting makes me happy because it gives me reassurance that it's not completely a bad story! whoop! thank you to anyone who's ever commented!