In The Blink Of An Eye

"Donghae", Leeteuk called out softly.

He kneeled in front of the younger who sat unmoving on a bed. Almost an hour had passed before he dared to say this single word, simply because he didn’t know what to say at all. There was nothing to say.

Leeteuk had been rushing to the hospital they were currently in after receiving an almost incoherent call from Kangin, telling him something bad had happened and that he needed to come. Hearing the other's shocked voice, he immediately knew that he wasn't joking. He had found him and the other members in one of the corridors of the hospital, crying and horrified. Heechul had told him what had happened and his own tears hadn’t stopped from that moment.

Soft sobs broke the silence surrounding them. Leeteuk swallowed down the lump building up in his throat to hinder himself from sobbing as well. He had to be strong, he in particular.

"Look at me, please."

Despite trying hard he couldn’t suppress the quavering of his voice and he was shocked how broken and pathetic it sounded. It wasn’t much more than a hoarse whisper and by far not as strong as he wanted it to be. He reached out for the other's hands and took them in his. They were trembling so bad that he almost couldn’t keep them still.

"Please Donghae."

He blinked through his tears and looked up to see the face he knew so well but his plea wasn’t heard. Donghae kept staring at the bare white wall behind Leeteuk, his gaze empty and his face blank. A bright bandage was covering the big cut on his right temple that had been bleeding so badly that his shirt was still drenched with blood. There were huge bruises on his arms, small cuts everywhere but the dried blood on his still shaking hands wasn’t his. And knowing of whom it was belonging to let Leeteuk shudder.

"How is your head doing?" he asked to finally get a response. "They stitched it, right? Does it still hurt?"

There was no reaction. Leeteuk swallowed down the upcoming tears and his dry lips. Someone was sobbing again and he turned his head to see Siwon cowering at one of the walls, his face hiding behind his hands, crying all those tears Donghae wasn’t able to. He could hear the other members silently crying and mumbling through the closed door and thought that Donghae wasn’t the only one needing support right now.

He looked back at the sitting man and slowly stood up. His hand carefully reached for the younger's chin and turned his head slightly so he would look at him. Their gazes were meeting now – but Donghae's eyes were so empty that they simply looked through him. He called him by his name again.

"Please say something. Anything, I beg you."

The other blinked but stayed as silent as he could be, no word leaving his lips. Leeteuk let go of him and ran his hands through his short black hair desperately. There were tears welling in his eyes again and he gave vent to his feelings as he turned his back on his dongsaeng. He stood still for just a moment before heading for Siwon with silent steps and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Let's go to the others, okay? Maybe… he needs some time by himself."

Siwon raised his head and revealed his tear stained face. He sloppily wiped both of his cheeks and darted a glance at his hyung before standing up. Without giving Leeteuk the chance to stop him, Siwon had crossed the room and stood right in front of Donghae. He gripped the younger's shoulders tightly and started shaking him.

"Donghae", he called and the shaking got stronger. "Just say something finally, you hear me?! Scream at me, insult me or start crying but just do something! React! I can't stand seeing you like this!" The shaking got even more intense until Leeteuk stopped him.

"Don't", he mumbled. "There's no point."

Siwon let go of Donghae unwillingly, sending him a begging look that went unnoticed.

"But we have to do something. We need to help him…"

"I'm afraid we aren’t able to do so", Leeteuk replied lowly.

Siwon looked at him for a long time before obeying the mumbled words leading him to the door. In the corridor they were greeted by the mourning faces of seven people that they had started to call their family many years ago. Some of them were looking up as they heard the clicking of the door, there was silent hope written in their eyes.

"How is he?" Ryeowook's trembling voice broke through the sobs and sniffles that had been echoing through the hall for many hours now.

Leeteuk gently pushed Siwon down to sit beside Kangin who immediately wrapped an arm around his shoulders and whispered soothing words to calm him down. Looking at Ryeowook he slightly shook his head.

"I think the only thing we can do now is to be there for him", he spoke with his pathetic sounding voice to all those present. Rare nodding was the only answer he got.

Silence filled the air around them. Everybody was dealing with their own thoughts and it was impossible to put them in words. There were no words that could describe what was happening in every single one of them. It was like the time stood still but at the same time it was rushing past them without giving them the chance to something against it.

None of them could have been able to tell how long it had been since Leeteuk had left the room as the door suddenly opened. Nine pairs of eyes immediately looked up to see the young man slowly appearing in the doorframe. Nobody dared to say a word as Donghae stepped out, his gaze still unfocusedly staring at the ground.

"Hyung", he said without addressing one of them in particular. "Can I use your phone?"

His voice was barely audible and his words had absolutely no emotion in them; it sounded a little bit like a robot was speaking instead of him. Leeteuk shot a nervous glance at the others before handing over his phone.

"Sure", he said and watched as Donghae started to slowly type in a number, his hands shaking so badly that he almost dropped the phone. However, as soon as he recognized the number the younger was typing his heart started pounding painfully in his chest.

"What are you doing?" he asked anxiously although he already knew the answer.