Chapter 2
Rehabilitation feelings
The effort that Baekhyun gave wasn't enough for Chanyeol. His patient haul up between two bars walking slowly, but doing just an half-step. That wasn't enough. He let the pain won. « Yah ! » Baekhyun jumped at the sound of his therapist's voice. He wasn't used to the sound of the voice of the practitioner when he was angry, as well as the outfit which he allowed himself during rehabilitation sessions. Without the white blouse. Baekhyun was discharged from the hospital two weeks ago. He was entitled to a visiting nurse and had to go to his rehabilitation at 5.00 pm. And it was at this hour that he met his doctor who had dropped the blouse for more casual clothes. And it wasn't a surprise that he resembled more a student than a doctor. This had completely destabilised Baekhyun.
When he rested on the foot of his injured leg, electricity climb up to his . It was an unpleasent sensation and more he pressed on his foot, more the pain was unbearable. Two hands had rested on his hips and he felt a body sticked to him. When he looked up, he met Chanyeol's gaze ... this gaze ... Baekhyun felt weird, as if through this contact he felt more alive than it was already. As if something in him was completed. And slowly, he began to walk. One step after the other without feeling any pain, only tirement at the calf. He felt one of Chanyeol's hands tightening on his hips and tried to get away, but as soon as he was able to detach, he lost his balance. « Can't you see that I'm trying to help you, I'm your doctor. I am here for that ! »
Baekhyun found that his doctor easily lost his temper especially since he had left the hospital and they met only for the rehabilitation sessions which results in nothing. Did he realise that, despite his efforts, Baekhyun had difficulty to recover ?
Soon each day was the same. He spent his days in bed watching TV. Sometimes his brother came in his room to keep company with him, but Baekhyun can't stand the conceited-person talking. Kyungsoo spent several times always laden with food which he had prepared himself. One day Baekhyun asked him to help him get on the wheelchair to take a walk in the city. He needed to get out and it was a great opportunity to be with his bestfriend. They didn't headed towards the city center where Baekhyun feared the crowd especially with his method of locomotion. It was not really the ideal. So they went to the little streets which were lined with small shops of trinkets more or less interesting.
Kyungsoo stopped at a pastry shop where he bought the Yak Kwa (ndl : Desserts fried rolled in honey). They ate and reached to a bench where Kyungsoo settled there and started looking people passing by with his round and curious eyes. Baekhyun felt the look of the people on his chair, they certainly thought that he couldn't walk whereas the wheelchair was only to rest his leg.
He took an other candy and chewed it feeling honey sticked on his teeth, why the hell his bestfriend bought those little cakes ? They didn't talk, but that didn't bothered them. That was how they maintained their friendship. With this kind of moment.
But soon, Baekhyun was surprised to notice in the crowd, a blond who was none other than his doctor. He was leaning on a candy stand, a plastic bag in hand filled of drinks. Baekhyun wasn't surprised to see him dressed like a teenager. For a moment he wonder if this person was really a doctor, and when the latter stared to prance when the woman handed him a little bag full of lollipops, Baekhyun noticed the glow he had previously detected in the eyes of the young surgeon.
« Dongsaeng ... you see the guy over there, the one with the golden hair ...
- Yep.
- This is my doctor. Rather ... my surgeon, physiotherapist and doctor.
- Uh, are you sure ? He looks too young to have had his doctorate.
- Sometimes I wonder if he is not ... oh, damn ... he's coming in our direction. Act as if we hadn't seen him. »
Baekhyun felt his heart leapt in his chest, he choose to looked the ground but soon he saw two feet appeared in his field of vision. Damn. He raised timidly his head and saw his doctor in front of him, his big smile glued to his face and eyes filled with joy. Baekhyun still didn't understand where all of this cheerfulness came from. Did he liked sweets so much ?
« I didn't except to see you here apart from the hospital, I thought you were like an antisocial, started Chanyeol.
_ No, sometimes I like to go out. Park Chanyeol this is Do Kyungsoo, my bestfriend.
_ Mskhdosjdsljrk...
_ Kyungsoo, swallow before talking. »
Chanyeol's gaze lost all his gaiety and he bowed coldly the glutton who apologized. Baekhyun noticed this detail but he did not understand. Kyungsoo was someone honest who could not hurt anyone. Why Chanyeol's attitude changed towards the young man ? Baekhyun felt somewhat saddened by it, but did not really know why. He wanted Chanyeol to react just as cheerfully to his bestfriend at least ... Baekhyun frowned. No, that was impossible.
« Is it normal to be on first-name terms between you ? Normally .... between a doctor and his patient it have to be more formal, don't you think so ? »
As the rehabilitation sessions went by, Chanyeol and Baekhyun began to didn't used the formal between them without realising it. It's true that it wasn't normal for a patient/doctor relationship but Baekhyun don't care. And so did Chanyeol.
Baekhyun retreat in a silence which made the atmosphere a little tense. Chanyeol made no remark while Kyungsoo looked at them one after the other, then shrugged and continued eating his junk food.
« Dongsaeng, can we go ?
- You ... you're leaving ? Chanyeol asked, clearly puzzled. He didn't want his patient to leave.
- I'm a bit tired, I want to rest.
- I ...can I accompany you ? »
Kyungsoo didn't found any objections so he started to walk. To prevent Baekhyun of further fatigues, Chanyeol pushed the wheelchair. Meanwhile Baekhyun took his bags on his knees and started to looked at the content.
Feeling the presence of Chanyeol always give him this strange sensation. Like if nothing could happen to him. The fact of not understanding this feeling made him particularly uncomfortable. Especially that he had noticed the strong character of Chanyeol when in fact, at first glance one might say he's a young innocent. He was still very cold with Kyungsoo even when they arrived at their destination. Chanyeol pushed Baekhyun into the living room.
« Thanks, I think it good now ... see you tomorrow ? » Chanyeol's smile faded when he heard the words of Baekhyun. The latter was surprised again to see how Chanyeol fade away when he was no longer smiling. He wanted to apologize, but the doctor left the room without a word.
The next day, Baekhyun was greeted by a nurse at the rehabilitation center. She announced that Park Chanyeol was absent for the day due to personal reasons. Baekhyun knew that this was due to his behavior the day before. He remained rather distant when there was no need to be. The doctor did everything possible for him to recover all abilities and he thanking him by being disagreeable. He asked her if she knew where he lived, but she replied that it was the personal details that weren't allowed to the patients.
And for a week, Baekhyun had a woman therapist who was rude and made him more harm than good. In two days, he was able to walk, but he was limping and leaning on his good leg automatically. Kyungsoo told him that his body need to rest because he was suffering too much.
Baekhyun hoped to see Chanyeol everytime he went to the hospital, but it was always this cursed woman, and it was when he lost hope that one day he saw him in the room trying to install the equipment that they would use for the session. Baekhyun rolled slowly and hit the leg of the young man with the tip of his chair. The blonde turned and his face lit up with a broad smile. For the first time, Baekhyun replied with a smile just as big as Chanyeol's.
Chanyeol noticed Baekhyun progress, but also the fact that his body suffered a lot.
« Uh ... mh ... what time do you finish ? » Chan Yeol was troubled by the question of his patient but he replied: « Towards 6.00 pm. You are my penultimate patient.
- Oh.
- Why ? You thought you were my only patient ?
- No, no, no. »
Baek Hyun noticed that they had regained the formal between them. And, it hurt him. Because it was like all of the previous weeks were erased.
« So ... why ?
- Oh ... uh ... it's nothing. »
When Baekhyun came out of the hospital it was pouring, but he did not see his brother's car who was in charge to pick him up. So he stay in a safe place watching the cars go by, but none of them seemed to match his brother's car. He looked at his watch, the night was close. He looked in his wallet if he had enough money to take the bus and headed for the nearest shelter. Soon, he was soaked to the bone. His hands slipped on the wheels of his chair and the feeling of the humidity seeping under his clothes wasn't comfortable. He was cold, he sniffed once and knew he was going to be sick. He really didn't need that. The distance between the hospital and shelter seemed endless, he thought he would never reach it when he felt someone caught his chair. « Stupid ... »
The voice made him forget that he was completely soaked, his hands were purple, his teeth slammed due to the cold. He did not even lifted his head and he let himself be dragged to a big black car which they skirted to pass at the passenger side. When Chanyeol's face appeared in front of him, he looked angry, but Baekhyun knew he wasn't the cause. Chanyeol helped him get into the car and then folded the chair to put in the trunk.
The car was agreeable. It made Baekhyun want to sleep and he almost doze off until the driver's door opened. Baekhyun wanted to say something, but Chanyeol simply put his hand on his thigh: « If you want to sleep, you can. » As soon as he heard these words, his eyes closed and fatigue overcame him.
When he reopened his eyes, Baekhyun thought that all this was a dream: his accident, his rehabilitation, Chanyeol. He also thought he can walk as before if he got up, but the pain that came from his calf remind him that it was reality. Unfortunately.
He shuddered even so he was in a honeyed warmth. He moved slightly to get a glimpse of the room which was quite small. In one corner, clothes were piled up. On the side, he saw his chair. He ran a hand over his face trying to remove the remaining fatigue.
What he knew was that he wasn't at home. He lifted the sheets and saw that he was wearing old clothes that weren't his. He wanted to stay in the warmth of the room until the end of his days, but if here wasn't his home, he have to go to not worry his mother and even less his brother even if the latter failed to fulfill his functions. He tried to curl up under the covers, but his leg hurt a lot and he groaned in pain. « But ... but why are you moving in all directions like that ? » He jumped when he heard Chanyeol's voice and removed the blanket off his head. The doctor walked around the bed to lie next to Baekhyun who replace himself in a normal position, on the back. They watched in silence the pale ceiling.
« A promise is a promise. I've washed you, dressed you and you slept like a baby ...
_ Wh- ... what ? »
Baekhyun can't believe what he just said. He looked at Chanyeol, stunned by his words. As far as he could remember, he had never held any promise about a shower. Baekhyun immediately thought about the fact that he had to be completely in front of him and even though it wasn't the first time, it was something that he can't stand.
Chanyeol, who until now was still looking at the ceiling, turned his face towards his friend. How things had evolved so quickly ? If their feelings had take this way it was, perhaps, because their fates were writing as well. Chanyeol put a hand on Baekhyun's face caressing his cheek with his thumb. The space between the two men were thin but for Baekhyun, it wasn't enough. He saw as the face of Chanyeol approached slowly and when their lips met in a destabilizing smooth Baekhyun knew he had made the biggest mistake of his life.
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