Chapter 13: Fragile and Delicate
The Light in the Dark (r)
After two weeks...
Hospital | 10:00
*beep*
The thin monotonous sound was the only thing that can be heard inside the silent hospital room followed by the sound of breathing coming from it's occupant. The girls were all divided individually and placed in each different rooms even though one room is considered spacious enough to fit all of them in with still a huge space left but the doctors have decided not to.
They knew that the girls are preternatural beings so they are being extra careful in treating them knowing that there way of recovering are different from the recovery of human beings.
"Doc, can we come in to see the girls? It's okay even if we don't see all of them, just one is enough.Just please, this one time." Lee Soo Man asked with Leeteuk standing beside him with hope glimming in there eyes but all of there hope went down the drain when the mentioned doctor shook his head and sighed before putting a hand on Lee Soo Man's shoulder.
"I'm really sorry Mr. Lee. Like I said the last time, you cannot visit them nor get near them at any cost."
"Why? It has been two weeks since they got admitted here but not even a single visit was given to them! All we got are reports!" It wasn't like he was angry, he was just worried. Just like what he said, ever since the girls were admitted to the hospital, they were forbidden to see them let alone get close to them. And the more they were forbidded to do so, the more anxious they became especially Mr. Lee.
It has been always like this. The doctors had reasoned that since seven of the girls' health are at 0% while one of them has at least 1%and due to that state, they said that there body will do anything for those lost energy to be filled up as soon as possible which is actually considered as a normal recovery between preternatural beings as they will all share energy and divide it properly between each other until all of there energy are filled in which the very process takes time but at this rate, since there body needs to act on impulse, it is highly impossible for them to share energy between each of them as there bodies will firstly attack a human being in close quarters and will take all of there energy until that human has no energy left causing for there death and will attack another one until all of them are satisfied as this is what the doctors are avoiding to happen.
But the problem is, the girls never made any progress regarding there state and health as the one who has 1% has quickly reduced to 0% as on that day, frantic doctors and nurses can be seen before they all settled down once they were able to make there patient dodge death once again.
It has been counted that the girls has been placed between life and death for about five times already plus just the other day making it six in equal.
Due to it, they all have resorted into artificial energy in which were made entirely out of science and a bit of help from sanitatums ,either graduate or students, that offered help for situations like this as it was able to stable there conditions but they know it was not going to last forever as right now, the artificial energy will expire and the girls will be once again put into another dire situations and what's more is that, not even a small recovery nor change was made over the past days and it has been half a month already.
The doctors are running out of options and ideas to save the girls as they feared for what is to come.
"Mr. Lee" The doctor began looking at the man as the younger man was not there unlike in the past few days. The doctor had a look on his face that showed nothing but pure sadness. He could only shake his head before telling everything regarding the girls and there nearing end and Lee Soo Man could only listen in pure shock.
He doesn't understand. Just what was in that Black level that caused this much damage to the girls? He saw there capabilities, he saw there abilities, he saw how those girls grew into something that cannot be seen into others. He was there and he knows how strong they are but why is this happening? Did he expected too much? Was everything a fake? Did he saw wrong? Did he believe too much?
No.
He knows when he see one.
He's actually trying to convince himself obviously avoiding the topic that was told to him but the more he convinced himself, the more he feared the ending.
It was there. It will come and all he could was pray and hope for them to get through this.
"I'm going to be frank with you as I don't want to tell you some sugar coated words when it comes to the girls. Each of them suffered from severe internal and external injuries as they also suffered from deep lacerations on there skins. We are still trying to find the cause for such deep cuts but we have found the cause for there severe internal injuries. It was caused by some tiny bugs released into the air as they feed on the insides of there targets therefore taking away the target's life force. Those bugs are simply called as 'virus'. We also observed an extreme loss of blood paired with extreme internal bleeding caused by those viruses. Thus, I don't think I need to tell you there overall condition but I just want you to know that three of them suffered from brain damage affecting there senses like hearing, sight and smell along with sense of touch and taste while four of them has suffered from major damage but there brains were not that affected. We also found some scratches in there brains that may affect them in ways that we do not know. Let me tell you this, those girls are now in a life threatening situation as we had did whatever we can to help them as the rest of there recoveries lies to them let alone waking up. IF they did woke up, do not suprise them or do anything to make them strain themselves physically,emotionally and also mentally. Remember they are severely wounded."
"Do-doc."
"Yes?"
"When will they wake up?"
"..."
"I don't even know if they can survive"
He grasped his head. Why did those appeared? It was the day the girls got admitted into the hospital, exactly two weeks before and he wondered why it made him felt more fear inside of his chest.
"I'm sorry."
"..."
"I'm useless, I'm so pathetic."
"Don't say that. You're not useless nor pathetic Eru. You have saved countless of lives didn't you? That still counts for something." He tried to cheer the younger man up even though his smile was crumbling in tears.
"Saved thousand of lives huh?" Mr. Lee heard Eru let out a sad chuckle as he looked at the shiny floor of the hospital as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.
"I'm sorry Hyung. I'm a doctor who had saved thousand of other people's lives but failed to save the life of my own family." Tears made way out of his eyes before he felt arms around his body as he missed the familiar warmth as it offered comfort to him. He hugged back as he let those pent up tears to flow, all the hurt he felt whenever he saw the girls condition and all the pain whenever he comes to realize that the ugly truth can never be escaped nor dodged.
"Shhh. It's okay Eru, it's not your fault. Come on stop crying, you know I hate it seeing my younger brother cry so come on and stop crying. Yuri and Jessica will not like itif they saw you crying you know." Only a few knew that Lee Soo Man has a younger brother, they weren't really completely blood related as they have different fathers and same mothers as Eru was a japanese-korean while he was pure korean. He loved Eru as his younger brother even though there age difference is over 8 years.
The two brothers shared the time together trying to catch up to each as they tried to even just forget the horrible news as it got stuck on the back of there mind in which always resurfaces every now and then.
Inside one of the hospital rooms | 11:05
*beep*
There it was again. The same monotonous sound from the heart monitor. It's occupant laid on the bed with a machine over it's mouth and two small tubes to it's nose as it aided it's breathing as the said patient was taking slow and deep breath as every breath she releases, it fogs up the contraption making it moist in the inside before disappears then appear once again.
The morning rays of the sun came pouring into the silent room making it's white walls gain the same color as the sun. The room was turning hot but good thing that the window was open letting a breeze come inside making the curtains flutter with every pass of air of the window. The silent room has turned into a room full of comfort and sufficient heat.
But everything has an end, no?
All of the sudden darkness ate the once bright room turning it into something that is manifested by things feared by many.
But the patient was oblivious to this. It was inside it's own deep slumber, unknown if she's going to wake up or to remain asleep forever.
"Laa shay'a waqi'un mutlaq bale kouloun moumkin." Someone spoke with such a deep and hoarse voice but it was nowhere in sight in this darkroom as the only thing that was visible was a girl dressed in it's hospital gown laying down on the surface of the bottomless darkness with everything from the previous hospital room gone.
"Therefore, I shall permit you for one last time. I will use my power into all of you for one last time as I command you and you will heed it and pass it to the others. You will listen, you will follow as Master and Slaves. This is the last time therefore this is my goodbye." The mysterious person spread both of it's arms wide to each side of his body before he muttered incoherent things to himself and once he was finished, something came out of the wall that was covered in darkness. It was a body of a small girl before it rose up into the air, never to touch the ground and the girl that previously laying on the ground followed suite. They were floating in mid-air and the man never stopped muttering to himself and soon body after body appeared as they all remained suspended in mid-air, in each side of each and they all remained asleep.
"Diusentum,Vinerrum,Ceranie,Secare,Caedere,Xierrum,Ungues,Magnus,Scade" Blood then started to run down from his spread arms before it mixed itself into the darkness. A bucketful of blood has drifted out of his body but he paid no heed before it suddenly stop as the blood also disappeared as if nothing happened. Both of his arms dropped to his side before he let out a shaky breath.
It did affected him.
"In order to protect you and to help you in the near future. Please take good care of them and remember that all of you are connected, never forget that. Before I go, I want you to follow two simple things."
"Prohibete innocens de corpore ferrum.Abscondere in manifesto, multitudine esse." He whispered to there ears before he looked at them with such eyes that contained nothing but pure sadness. He ran his fingertips on the skin of there faces with such gentlesness on each of his touch as he savored them as much as he could. He treated them as if they were made out of glass and with a wrong touch, they will break into thousand of pieces.
"Who a-are you?" He was leaving when he suddenly heard a meek voice just behind him along with the feeling of a pair of eyes.He sharply turned his head towards the source and his eyes landed on two girls looking at him with such curiosity dancing around there darkened eyes and just the mere sight of them made his heart break into pieces. There hair was dishelve, there skins were covered either by scratches or bandages as there faces has two gauze each. One on there cheeks and one under there eyes with bandages wrapped around there foreheads covering it as there necks also were fully covered by white bandages as you cannot see any skin of there neck as those bandages continued until it was fully covered by there hospital gowns.
The said two girls just looked at him, never speaking a word and soon silence returned until he heard a groan as he saw another girl just beside them had also woke up as she sat up before rubbing her hand on her head trying to lessen the pain. Right when the girl raised her hand did he only noticed that they were also bandaged both left and right. From her arm to the tip of her fingers. He saw her face, it was the same with the previous girls, all wrapped up.Her eyes started blinking as it started to adjust to the darkness of the room as she looked around probably wondering where she is right now until her gaze landed on the man in front of her. She started to squint her eyes trying to take a good look but failed as her vision was still a little bit blurry but she was sure she saw a small smile on those hidden lips.
He waited and waited but it seems only the three of them were the ones who were able to wake up while the rest remained asleep. He took small step towards them, careful of causing any kind of shock or fear to the girls but the girls just sat there and waited until he was in front of them. Slowly he reached a hand towards one of them,observing if she will retreat or back away but once again she just sat there and waited until the hand came in contact with her head and he smiled at it before slowly patting it as if she was an obedient cat and once again his touches were gentle as he was avoiding to cause pain to them seeing how they look like as he run his hands on the same girl's hairs straightening the locks in the process and the gentle actions made her lulled to sleep as he slowly pushed her until she was laying down although there was no surface to begin with but she laid there and once she was comfortable, he continued his movements until the girl has fallen asleep once again.
He did the same thing to the remaining two girls and just like a baby being rocked to sleep, they fell into slumber once again. Soft snores took over the darkness and once he was sure that no one is now awake, he went towards to a girl that was near the three girls whom woke up earlier as he also run his hand through her hair before he leaned down and softly planted a kiss on her forehead before muttering something only she could hear.
"Thank You" and with that, he slowly retreated his steps back as every step he took felt so heavy to him although it produced no sound to the sleeping girls. The last time they will be together, the last time they will see each other and the last time he will be him. Unknown to him, a lone tear escaped his eye before it got washed away by something no one knows as it landed on a cheek, a girl's cheek, the same girl he said thank you to. Soon he faced another wall of darkness, he didn't looked back afraid to be hurt furthermore and so, he passed through the wall of darkness and disappeared forever.
The darkness inside the room slowly disappeared and the body of the girls slowly disappeared too until the hospital room has gained it's color on once again and a small girl is now once again laying on it's bed in the same position, same condition and same appearance as if nothing ever happened inside of the room.
*beep* *beep* *beep* *be-* *beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep*
The once monotonous sound of the heart monitor has turned into a string of a thin sound as the lines that formed mountains before has now turned into a plain, into a straight line and the numbers that used to increase has now decreased and with every passing second the numbers slowly reverted back into there original forms, 0.
The door was slammed open revealing Eru,the doctor of the girls, and nurses behind him.Once they entered the room, all of them could only stop at there tracks as there eyes widened in horror. There mouths were hang open and the eyes looked as if it would buldge out of it's eye sockets. They were only brought out of there trance when the sound of the thin line rang inside of there ears making them immediately act.
The girl laid there with blood pouring out of different parts of her body. Her bed and hospital gown were now soaked red as her forehead, her cheek kept on bleeding turning the once white bandages into red ones followed by her neck and then her arms and fingers and not too soon by her legs. She was bleeding so much that she looked as if she was washed herself in blood, not in water and Eru could not understand how. They were okay before, well not exactly okay but there previous condition were still a lot better than this.
"We have to stop the bleeding!" They all immediately went towards the girl and looked for the source and tried to stop the bleeding like they were told to but all of them failed. They tried to search again but it was getting difficult as time was running out and her skin is now painted in red. They tried to give up but Eru persuaded them but Eru himself was having second thoughts.
'Should I stop? It's obvious she's not going to make it but I don't want to give up! What can I do? What should I do?' His constant questions were put to halt when something caught his attention. Something was forming in the girls hand as he noticed that her blood were actually going at one direction, her hand.
And as if a fire was occuring, a dark smoke emitted out of nowhere blocking out there sight for the time being. It was thick and pure black and Eru was sure that it will take time for it to disappeared but he feared that when the smoke is gone, so is the girl so he tried to search for the girl across the dark and thick smoke but all of the sudden,a sudden gust of air entered the room making the thick smoke disappear. They covered there eyes to protect from whatever there is and once they opened it, they once again stood in shock.
*thump!* *thump!*
"Je-Jessica" Eru whispered as soon as his vision cleared. The said girl was now stirring but the blood that was all over her body earlier has now disappeared without a trace as if nothing had happened and her bandages were back to normal too.
*beep* *beep*
The heart monitor has started to show signs of life once again as it showed the girl's vitals. Eru then heard a groan followed by the sound of a cloth brushing against another cloth and soon they were faced to faced to Jessica who was wrapped around in bandages as she was rubbing her head with her wrapped-up hand as she sat up while her eyes were still closed. Soon she fluttered them open as she blinked once, twice then thrice as she tried to adjust to the sudden brightness of the room before she started to look around as her movements were slow as if she was having a hard time moving.
Her wondering eyes soon landed on the people that were staring at her and in a flash, she jumped in her bed showing she was shocked to the sudden appearance of unknown faces in front of her. Her once curious lustrous silver eyes turned into something that was full of nothing but pure fear as her body unkwowingly started to tremble before she slowly backed away from them as much as she could as she remained on top of her bed until her back meet the wall making her yelp due to the sudden touch as she sharply turned her head to see the cause but then she hissed as she grabbed her neck by her hand as she lowered her head in pain.Once the pain has subsided, she remained her gaze at the people in front of her before she raised her knees and hugged them as she buried her face, hiding it from anyone's view.
Seeing how Jessica looked so scared,so fragile,so weak made Eru's heart burn in pain and sadness. He could only look at her in pity as he cannot walk close to her, talk to her, touch her, comfort her as he knows what kind of consequence awaits him if ever he did any of those things so he could only look, look in worry and pity. The way she looked so broken, wrapped in those bandages made him remember the past where he first met Jessica. The past Jessica was the same as the Jessica who is now on top of her bed, hugging her knees, burying them, hiding them from anyone's sight except for her own while she let out a whimper or a sob but the difference from then and now is that Eru was able to comfort the past Jessica unlike right now, he couldn't, he shouldn't as he was the one who advised Mr. Lee and Leeteuk to avoid anything to scare or shock the girls.
"Let's go." Eru spoke in a whisper but Jessica was still able to hear it making her jump once again as she slowly rose her head and look at them with those eyes of hers that were filled with shiny tears that ran down her cheeks. Eru looked at her one last time before he turned his back on her followed by the other nurses but before any of them could leave, they were stopped by a meek voice.
"Yuri?"
'Just the same.' Eru thought to himself sadly. Jessica reverted back into the past Jessica who only let's out a word or a nod or a shake of her head, nothing more nothing less. He used to consider it as a progress whenever Jessica spoke a word as she only answers questions either with a nod of her head or a shake and when the questions regards the question why, how, who,what or any question that requires information is asked to her, she keeps quiet as no matter how much you wait, the answer will never come.
"Yuri's...placed on...a different...room." Eru knows his voice is as deep as his hyung so he tries not to scare the frighten girl with his voice by speaking slowly as he also knows that the she is one of the girls that suffered major brain damage costing there senses including her sense of hearing. Jessica just kept quiet after that,seemingly trying to process what she had just heard with trouble. She didn't spoke a word after that as she kept her head low before burying it again into her knees and stayed like that.
Silence covered the room but then Jessica moved, she released her knees from the captivity of her arms letting her feet to bend in front of her while her hands remained at her side and soon she slowly raised her head and they gaze at her, wondering what she will do next.
'Sica'
Her once lustrous silver eyes turned grey as it looked darker than before as she looked at them with such a distant look making Eru raise an eyebrow, confused at the sudden behavior of the girl.
'Sica'
She moved forward as she slide her body across the surface of her bed making the tubes connected to her body to follow. Jessica didn't stopped her movements even though it was slow but she continued on with a glaze look at her eyes. Due to this, Eru and the nurses grew alarmed but they just watched,waiting,anticipating what she will do next.
'Sica'
The glazed look on Jessica remained even though one of the tubes has now been removed forecefully due to her movements and now she is standing on her two feet.
"Jessica...please stop. Just...rest" Eru tried to talk to the girl but she paid no mind as she slowly reached her foot making the tubes stretched out more and this is where Eru took action. The nurses immediately went towards Jessica and slowly grabbed hold of her arms making her stop in her tracks but her eyes remained grey. She looked as if she was being controlled, being moved by something that is not her, someone who is not in there line of sight but the question is,who?
"Yuri..." she trailed off before trying to get out of the grasp of the nurses holding her but her body was too weak. When she can't move, tears started to form in the brim of her eyes before they made there way as they trickled down her covered cheeks before being absorbed by the gauze placed on her skin. A sob soon made it's way out of followed by a whimper before she fell to the ground as she cried while she was sitting as she buried her face once again into her knees and continued her crying.
"Yuri...Yuri...Yuri." The girl repeated the said name as if it was a mantra and they all looked at the poor girl pitifully, unable to help her as they know they cannot put the two together in the same room or so they thought.
*thump!*
One of the nurses fell to the ground making Eru and the others alarmed as they looked at the unconscious nurse before looking at Jessica as he caught something with his eye. It was fast but he was sure he saw it properly.
Jessica's pure white hair suddenly glistened before a color of black ran from the top of her hair down into her hair tips before it completely disappeared as her once white hair returned.
'What was that?' He asked himself but before he could think of anything, another nurse fell to the floor unconscious and the same thing happened with Jessica's hair but this time, instead of the color black disappearing after it ran through her hair tips, her pure white hair gained some dark black strands.
"Yuri"
'Sica'
"Jessica stop!" He didn't mean to scream but due to the sudden turn of events, he was left once again shocked as his instinct reacted first and that is to snap the girl out of whatever was caging her and it worked. Jessica stopped crying but the black strands on her hair never disappeared as her breath started to hitched and her heart started to thump faster than before. When Eru realized what he had done, he could only look at her in fear.
"I-I'm so-sorry Jessica. I di-didnt meant to ye-yell at you" He stuttered but instead of receiving a response, all he heard was the door being slammed open along with a voice that he was very familiar with.
"Sica!" A tanned girl wearing the same hospital gown as Jessica appeared inside the room with bandages wrapped around her. Soon Eru heard the voices of nurses trying to stop the girl from moving but as if everything was playing in slow motion in the eyes of the tanned girl,she stepped aside making the nurses to tumble to the floor suprised by the sudden move of the tanned girl before Yuri grabbed all of them including the unconscious nurses before slinging them one after the other into her shoulder as if they were an empty sack before opening the door and dumping them outside of Jessica's room before losing the door and locking it.
By the looks of it, it looks like she wasn't injured at all. The way she moved, the way she carried them, the way she handled them, she looked as if her life was not put between the line of life and death and if it wasn't for the overall bandages around her body, she looked like someone who disguised herself just so she could be admitted in the hospital.
"Sica!" The tanned girl repeated after sitting down in front of Jessica as she held on both of the girl's shoulders but as she did so, she felt Jessica trashed against her hold.
"No! Get away from me! Don't touch me! No!" Jessica shaked her whole body trying to get away from whoever's grasp she was in as she raised her head from her knees but let her eyes remain close before she started to kick and scream. Eru just stared at them before letting out a sigh that only him could hear before he slowly went out of Jessica's room and attended another room.
"Sica! Sica! Calm down, it's me!" Yuri let go of her shoulders before holding into her hands as she stopped her from punching her any furthermore. Jessica's punches has always been hurtful to anyone and since she was in this kind of state, her power doubled more but Yuri ignored the searing pain and concentrated on calming her girlfriend down. But no matter how she tried to tell the girl that she was Yuri, it seemed like Jessica didn't know her, as if she was a stranger Jessica met and Yuri's heart twisted in pain as saw how her girlfriend looked so afraid, so weak and she couldn't even do a single thing.
"No! Get away from me! Don't touch me! No!" It was the same words and everytime the tanned girl heard it, she felt knives digging further into her heart but giving up was nowhere in sight for her.
When she couldn't calm Jessica down by stating that she is Yuri, she resulted into using actions rather than words. She hugged the girl but Jessica continued punching her but her struggling has lessen a bit along with her punches but it was still evident that Jessica still has not calmed down so she lifted the girl into bridal style as at this time, the tubes on Jessica's body has been yanked out ever since she started to struggle.
Yuri then proceeded to Jessica's bed before setting her down on the mattress and once Jessica's back touched the surface, she started to trashed harder as tears poured down her eyes.
"No! Get away from me! Don't touch me! No!" She repeated again and again as if was a broken record that played a specific part again and again and again and Yuri has heard enough. She grabbed hold of Jessica's flailing arms before pinning them on either side of the girl's head as she placed her own legs around Jessica's before sitting on top of the girl's stomach straddling her in the process but Jessica continued to struggle as the bed rocked due to her constant wriggling and flailing. Yuri then leaned down and agressively kissed Jessica on her lips making the girl flail out more but Yuri held her place and continued in kissing her struggling girlfriend until she felt Jessica's arms and legs relax against her hold.
'Salty but sweet' Yuri thought once her thin lips touched Jessica's luscious ones as Yuri concluded that it was the girl's tears and soon she felt Jessica stay still before she felt the girl responding into there kiss. The once struggling situation has turned into a more of a lip locking one and the two lovers seemed far from stopping anything.They poured everything into every tug of there lips, in every pull they did but oxygen has watched enough making the couple broke there intense lip locking as they try to inhale oxygen while breathing deeply as they stared at each other's eyes.
Yuri noticed that Jessica's previous dark grey eyes has returned back into her normal lustrous silver ones and it made her smile.
"Sica" Yuri sweetly called to the girl underneath her with loving eyes and a smile that said nothing but pure happiness. She let go of the girl's hands and free her legs but continued straddling her as unlike before where Jessica was struggling, now she was snuggling into Yuri's touch as Yuri finally let her go before laying on Jessica's side as they both faced each other with a small smile on Yuri's lips before pressing there bodies togehter as they laid down on the bed. Jessica nuzzled her head into Yuri's neck as the tanned girl's chin is just above the crown of her girlfriend's head as she wrapped her arms around the petite body. Her left hand remained on Jessica's lithe waist while her right hand rose up before it landed on the back of Jessica's head before she ran her fingers through her white snowy hair, straigthening the locks on the process as the previous black strands in Jessica's hair has now disappeared as her hair regained it's original color.
The couple just laid on top of Jessica's bed, in each other's arms with contented smiles on there lips as Yuri lulled Jessica to sleep and the girl was more than happy to obliged. Yuri had also hummed a lullaby to the girl as if Jessica was a baby and Yuri was the baby's mother and not too long, Jessica was put into deep slumber by Yuri herself and soon Yuri followed suite.
Unknown to them, there was someone watching them as that person saw there whole interaction from the start to end until when the couples has fallen asleep. The person smiled with such a saddening smile before disappearing from anyone's sight.
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Hi guys!! It's been long! It was my sem-break so I was not able to update since I was busy celebrating it hehe sorry about that. My sembreak is near it's end and school again T T. So to make up with the lost time, I wrote this long chapter so I hope you guys enjoy it ^-^ Please also comment. I really want to read all of your comments so please comment :) That's all and I hope you enjoyed reading this :D. Misaio out~
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