Everything was pain. And then the noises, the screams, the reasoning of his jerky breath made Baekhyun's body a covering stuck between life and death. An iron taste came into his mouth and he gasped. Everything was a mess and he couldn't even distinguished the face that was leaning over him. He felt a pain to his thorax while gloved hands palpated him. The moist soil gave him unpleasant chills and it was probably the only thing that kept him alive. He snapped up the air trying to find oxygen. Someting was wrong with his lungs. He wanted to stand up and see the rest of the damage, but he couldn't feel his body. His head was heavy but devoid of coherent thoughts. He had the feeling of being crazy and to not be able of controling anything. Another scream sounded and then a siren. A light blinded him and another person leaned over him. He was able to saw only the blond hair of the person.

«  He's seriously injured. » Baekhyun snapped up the atmosphere again, but then, he felt a hose put in his throat which cleared the trachea of blood that was in him and wanted to came out. Then, it was the black hole.

He opened his eyes feeling a pain in his right leg, but he only saw a bright light above his head. He began to choke realising he still had a tube down his throat and he tried to get it off.

« Damn, put him to sleep again ! Hurry up ! » Always the same voice. « You are the anesthesiologist and you only make ing mistakes, who provided me this dunce ?! I want to see the manager after m... » And it was again the black hole.

He felt himself transported elsewhere, he slowly opened his eyes and saw the lights of the corridor passing over him. The hallway was quiet, but Baekhyun had like a buzzing in his head and he thought that this was never going to stop. He fell asleep again without really realising it.

The beep sound of the electrocardiogram made him suddenly open his eyes as if he came from a bad dream. He stared at the milky white ceiling, then at the window where a rural landscape became apparent. The beep sounded again and he had a taste in his mouth that made him want to vomit. He tried to sit up straight, but choked again. Always that damn hose ! He searched desesperately a help, but soon his heartbeat quickened which triggered a signal that warned the nurs about his state. Three nurses arrived in the small room. While one of them reassured him by saying that he would remove the troublesome, others took his medical records to make annotations. He winced when he felt the hose pull out of his throat causing a vomit which have an acid smell with some pebbles of blood. The nurse straightened him so he could breathe properly, but the patient's attention was attracted by his right leg. Indeed, it was surrounded by a cage of circular rods returned throughout his leg in regular intervals. Baekhyun's heart sank and was seized by an uncontrollably panic which triggered an anxiety attack that nurses calmed with an injection through his intravenous infusion. And it was again the black hole.

When he regained consciousness, he thought he had slept for several days. He didn't even know if it was Tuesday or Wednesday or what time it was. Outside, the sun had set. He rested his gaze on his leg trying to move his toes, but it caused a pain that made him scream. He had a headache and his pelvis hurt. What happened? He didn't know anymore. The door opened and he pretended to sleep. « We should verify that the urine doesn't shows traces of hemoglobin. We should also make him a skull scan and a radio of the lower body . Did he complain about something when he wake up ?

_ No, sir. He didn't have time, but I really lost hope.

_ Yes he was badly injured. »

Baekhyun opened his eyes, startled to recognize the voice he heard after his accident. He turned his head towards the two people beside his bed and saw a man writing in a notebook. The half-light of the room didn't allow him to see in detail, but the man looked great and had a blond mop of hair. The nurse seemed to drink all his words. « I see that our little puppy is awake. » They approached the bed, and the man in the white coat lit the little lamp that was present on the table near the headboard. It lit a bit, wasn't aggressive and didn't bother Baekhyun. Thus he could see a little better the one that he had heard the voice the night of his accident. He suited well the caricature that we imagine of a doctor : that is charming and perfect. But his face was too childish and Baekhyun thought that outside of work, one could easily mistake him for a student. But there was something in his eyes that was peculiar.

« How do you feel? Do you have nausea ?

_ N-no …

_ If you have this feeling of heaviness in the tongue, it is quite normal. »

He asked the nurse if she had checked that the patient's senses worked properly, but he didn't seem pleased with the response. He sat on the edge of the bed taking a small flashlight in one of the pocket of his blouse and the light beam passed in front of Baekhyun's eyes. He also looked inside his mouth and pinched the toes.

« You must feel in another dimension, but it's the effect of morphine. I'm the Doctor Park Chanyeol, specialising in rehabilitation and functional readaptation. I am also a surgeon in orthopedics and traumatology. I am the one who operate on you after your accident. If you have any questions, nurses can answer you, but I think I'm the most accurate to give more details.

_ I … I...

_ You aren't really able to talk properly. »

Baekhyun nodded. He couldn't articulate properly because his mouth was pasty.

« Wha-what's ha- ha- happened ?

_ You had a car accident. Your vehicle was hit head on the side. You had two broken ribs, a cerebral contusion, an open fracture of the pelvis and of the right shinbone. Your knee had make a nice 90 °swivel. You required twenty-eight operations and we had to plunge you into an artificial coma so that you recover faster. I practiced all the operations and I can tell you now that you are in right way of healing.

_ B... bu- but I -I'm... here … si-since …

_ Calm down. You've been here since three months, but don't worry. Time will be your only friend for a while, you should not be afraid. »

The doctor stood up and gave some instructions to the nurse. The patient needed to be washed and his sheets needed to be changed. Baekhyun had this sensation of no more having the head belonged to him, even if actually it was in mists.... Thanks morphine !

He moved his hand which met the doctor's, the latter tourn around. Baekhyun was surprised to see the tall blond take his hand whereon there was the perfusion. He delicately rubbed his palm which make Baekhyun relaxed.

« Your fingers are cold. » Chanyeol noticed. And he continued to rubbed for a few minutes under the stupified eyes of the nurse. Baekhyun eventually fell asleep. This time, he dreamt, something he hadn't since a long time.

Baekhyun looked at the black screen of the TV. He was cut off from the world for so long, he wondered if it was not the end of it. And if it were, he would surely be the last to know. He had a surprise visit from some of his friends, but their smiles seemed so false. They just came to not be blamed. Baekhyun didn't give much more importance to friendship especially that most people who showed up were not those he knew from his childhood. He also had a visit from his brother, who merely sit on the seat which was next to his bed.

« Mom cry every day. I thought she was going to finish drying …

- Sorry.

- You don't have to. Mom only does this: crying. This is the only activity for years. She cries, it became so natural for her. She's not crying because you're in the hospital, you know. She cries because someone has to do it. » Baekhyun appreciated how his brother had to form his sentences, he was someone, so smart, so cultivated. He greatly admired him even though their relationship wasn't in a very good way. Moreover, he would have never thought to see him one day in the hospital for him. While his brother was older, Baekhyun was taller, but it was a detail that only the youngest had noticed. And they sat in silence for a little half-hour during which Baekhyun tried to move the toes of his right leg.

The cage was finally removed, but he still had the image of these rods incrusted in the skin. The Dr. Park Chanyeol had explained to him that it was a system of external bone reconstruction. It was used when the bone had suffered multiple fractures. Baekhyun thought about this tall dummy who come once a day, even Sunday. He must be a good doctor to take care of the patients like this. His brother stand up from his seat where he was somewhat asleep.

« I hope you will come out as soon as possible of this hospital, I did would ever stand this smell ! And then you have to heal, this isn't a hotel here. And do you thought about your studies? Morons who serve you as friends came at least ? No one comes at home to get news, except that Kyungsoo... 

_ Stop criticising my friends like that.

_ But this idiot is so clumsy. Sometimes I wonder how he was able to avoid the hospital without going through the prison square. Frankly, I don't want to hide anything towards you.

So, did he come here ? He care about you at least ? He did cooked some big, fat and sugary donuts ... didn't he ?

_ Yes.

_ What an idiot !

_ Hyung ... please ... calm down. »

The youngest then took conscience of tears streamed down the face of his eldest. The latter began to face the window to hide his sudden weakness. He was older, he don't have to show signs of weakness.

« When ... when they came to tell us about your accident, we took the car and went to the scene. The police was there ... and ... when they tell me that you wasn't in the ambulance, I thought you were surely dead. This simple idea ... completely dampened me. I still can't believe you're here in front of me, alive. I just can't. I glimpsed your body lying on the ground with a nurse who made the first aid. One would really think you were ...

- Dead ? »

The oldest merely nodded.

Baekhyun sat up in his bed. His started to hurt because of staying lie down everyday. The feeling of walking was something that seemed so far away. He realized that his condition was somewhat serious and wept silently contemplating his right leg whose muscles were slightly atrophied. He retreat into his thoughts. Why him and who was the second passenger ? Did he survive ? There was a knock and he wasn't surprised to see his doctor come into the room. As days go by, he had noticed that his doctor had always this image of someone completely lost or else very happy. Indeed, he always has a smile glued to his face and stars in his eyes. A lively person who would often confront the death.

And as his greatest habit, he sat on the edge of the bed, something that Baekhyun thought was unusual. He had seen a lot of of doctors especially when his father was hospitalised but no one of them sat like this by the side of the bed. They were far away from the patient, at one step away from the bed like if he was contamined.

« So how are you feeling today ? You still have this tingling sensation in the legs?

_ Yes.

_ Tomorrow, you will begin rehabilitation. Your leg needs to regain strength. Your latest results indicate that your brain has taken all its capabilities and your pelvis is recovered well. The bone is mend correctly. You recover very quickly, it's good news.

_ Good. » The doctor put the folder on the little table and took off his glasses to look seriously at Baekhyun. The patient was surprised and looked incredulous at the doctor whose smile had faded. Thus, he exuded an other kind of charisma that didn't escape Baekhyun. He felt a chill go through his body.

« I know it may be hard for you, but it does not prevent you to be a little more friendly. You've been here more than 3 months ... besides it's been three weeks since you are awake. And the only words that we can pull out from your mouth are: "Good." "Thank you." "Hello." "Yes." "No.". I am willing to conceive the idea that you are not happy, but in this service, the personnel make sure that your hospitalization happens in the best conditions. A smile from time to time can't hurt you. »

Baekhyun was still surprised about what the doctor said. It is true that he don't have a warm personality and forgot how to maintain a relationship with people in general. He could be very cold when he was quite the opposite. It was a kind of armour that he had forged to not suffer. He nodded to show he understood the message, but the doctor stay still.

« Well, Chanyeol continued. I'll let you get some rest, tomorrow will be a very difficult day.

_ Who will do my rehabilitation? »

The doctor smiled, « Me. »

He didn't like it when the nurse came to washed him. She put him on a wheelchair and dragged him to the bathroom where she put him back up. Thus he stood at the vertical bar while lukewarm water slided on his skin. He tried to forget the simple thought that he was stark- in front of a woman.

His body topple on his intact leg. Like this, he looked like an automaton which the ropes were cut.

The nurse soaped his body through the smallest corners. The smell of the product made Baekhyun sneeze every time, but after a moment he was accustomed. The embarrassment mixed with the handicap made Baekhyun completely powerless and he wanted someone to take him in a reassuring hug. He began to getting sick of that woman who had a manly brutality rather disconcerting.

On several occasions, he asked her to rub less vigorously, but she pretended to not heard. He had a weak voice and he was starving. The bathroom's door wasn't completely closed and he could distinctly hear that his room's door opened. He heard a voice and he was reassured to find that it was his doctor. The nurse said loudly that she hadn't finished yet and rubbed Baekhyun's lower back who groaned in pain. Apparently, Chanyeol heard the complaint of his patient as he poked his head in the doorway and glared at the woman.

« This patient doesn't deserve your brutality. Did you forgot that he just had an operation on the pelvis and the hell is he standing ?! You really can't wash him properly ! »

The nurse apologised but Baekhyun was only aware of his ness, the gaze of the doctor and the throbbing pain in his right leg. He jumped when he felt a robe put around him for hide his body which he pulled with difficulty. He looked upon the face of Chanyeol whose eyebrows were still furrowed. The latter did him sit quietly and crouched at his feet for dry them with a towel that the nurse handed him. Baekhyun looked at him.

His hands were rather delicate and skillful probably due to the fact that he was a surgeon.

All of his gestures were soft. Baekhyun felt a shudder and the doctor seemed worried.

« Are you cold ? Do you needed something ? »

Baekhyun refrained from saying a hug because it wasn't appropriate so he just answer with a small "No".

Chanyeol ran his hand on Baekhyun's back and rubbed softly .He was overcome with a wave of heat and sighed with delight.

« If it's like that, next time I'll take care of it.

- But, doctor, the nurse began.

- I said, next time, I'll take care of it.

- Well doctor.

- Do you mind ? Chanyeol said to Baekhyun, who was half-asleep.

- I don't mind ... but ... you have other patients and it is not your job to wash them.

- It's true, but sometimes I prefer to do things myself. »

The behaviour of the doctor escaped totally Baekhyun. Which surgeon propose to wash his patients ? Chanyeol stayed in the room, observing the nurse who dressed Baekhyun with more gentleness. The latter winced at each movements. The doctor stepped forward to observed the leg who remained bare. The patient could feel the breath of the man against his thigh which made him uncomfortable. There was a roll of flesh all along his leg, from the mid-thigh to the ankle. It was a purplish skin which Baekhyun found hideous at first, but now he was used to it. He always had problems with his body. His self-esteem didn't rose very high because for him nothing could be more brilliant and wonderful than his brother. He had grown up through his shadow.

Baekhyun jumped when he felt a caress behind his calf, near the knee. His doctor had just put his hand to touch the muscle which was atrophied. The nurse gaped at the behaviour of her superior, but said nothing.

« Wh- what ... are you doing ?

_ I determine with what we will begin the rehabilitation and I think walking wouldn't be a bad idea. Do you like walking ?

_ Not really.

_ Well, you have to be a little more enthusiasm if you want to get out of this hospital one day. This is what you want, right ?! »

Baekhyun didn't understand immediately why Chanyeol lost his temper so easily. Maybe he said something wrong without really realising it. And after all, it was only a doctor !