Chapter 89
You Said Remember Me II
/ / / / /
The room was a mess. No, not a physical mess but the people in its capacity had become a mess. Victoria sobbed heartbreakingly on the ground, Changmin buried his head into his hands, Eunhyuk’s eyes sat frozen fixed on the red-orange carpet. Not one moved.
The knock at the door sent their heads flying toward it.
“Donghae! Donghae!” was all Victoria could scream when she struggled to her feet after Eunhyuk.
Heechul appeared breathless before them, his face scarred from the black soot of ashes.
“We need…” he panted heavily, “to go to the hospital.”
/ / / / /
“Stay with me, Donghae! Do you hear me!? Lee Donghae!” Chief Kang screamed running beside the nurses accompanying Donghae to the ER. “You have to come back! Wake up!”
“Sir, sir!” the nurses called out to him.
When Chief Kang snapped out of his hypnosis he finally felt his heart racing.
“You can’t go pass,” the nurse informed before walking through the ER doors.
/ / / / /
Yuri watched Victoria sink into a chair while waiting for Donghae to come out of the ER and Eunhyuk sink against the wall in a daze. It had been crazy but at least they were still alive. She’d been so scared while waiting for Donghae and Nana to appear. Even though they were both in the worst conditions possible, all that mattered was they were still alive. She watched them, a smile befalling her face.
“Yuri.”
She spun around to see Changmin standing beside her. He quickly pulled her into a tight hug.
“I was so scared.” he admitted.
Yuri felt her teeth chatter before she hugged him back.
“I told you I’d be ok.” Yuri dug her face into his shoulder.
/ / / / /
She paced back and forth nervously in front of Donghae’s room while waiting for the doctor to come out. Victoria turned when footsteps neared and Heechul appeared from around the corner, the soot on his face earlier was now gone.
He smiled at her and handed her a warm water bottle.
“You worried?” Heechul asked.
Victoria nodded.
“He’ll be ok. He’s always had Miss Luck on his side.” Heechul comforted.
“Thank you,” Victoria thanked sincerely.
5 minutes after the doctor left, Victoria slowly walked into the room to see Donghae’s bandaged hand. It hurt seeing him in the hospital bed in such a condition but it was indescribable how relieved she felt to see him sleeping. Pulling a chair up she watched him sleep for a long time before lying her head on his chest.
“Thank you for coming back.”
Before Donghae awoke the next day, Chief Kang had called her out into the hallway to explain the explosion to her. The abandoned factory had been one manufacturing baby hygiene products, and to help improve the product’s ability to absorb water, a super absorbent polymer was used. Because the factory had so suddenly ran out of business it had also become a storing center for various items.
The factory, though, had been left unclean, therefore causing the polymer dust to accumulate around the heater. Since so much polymer dust had accumulated it had come in contact with a flame inside the heater. And so, as Victoria learned, Donghae had been lucky the heater had decided to blow up at the moment he’d been trapped into a corner.
During the hospital rush it had also been verified that the Young Ae who had sent in the pictures was the same Young Ae who claimed to be the homicide victim’s sister. After more investigation it would be certain that Eunhyuk and Nana would be freed from the case.
“I’m sorry, Victoria, that you had to go through all this. It must’ve been hard on you.” Chief Kang apologized.
Victoria shook her head, “No, thank you, for always keeping watch on Donghae. He wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you, Chief.”
Chief Kang patted her on the back, “You won’t have to worry anymore. Those guys have been caught and as they’re being charged for their actions, they won’t be coming out anytime soon.”
After the Chief left, Victoria returned to wait for Donghae to wake. He slowly stirred half an hour later when Victoria returned with a water bottle. She quickly ran to greet him when his eyes opened. He groaned in pain when he tried to move.
“Ugh…what happened?” he muttered, his face scrunching up.
“You came out a little broken,” Victoria ran her hand through his hair. “I’m glad you’re ok.”
“I told you, didn’t I?” he smiled. “I’d come back to you.”
“Yea, you did.”
/ / / / /
“Are you sure you don’t want to go see them?” Changmin questioned from the kitchen table feeling deserted.
“Yea,” Yuri replied scooping up the leftovers from their breakfast into a container. “We need to give them time alone. Eunhyuk’s going to need it the most.”
“Eunhyuk this, Eunhyuk that,” Changmin mimicked her.
Yuri shot a glare at him.
“I’m worried about Nana and how she’s doing,” Changmin worried, “the doctor had a hard time bringing her back. She probably doesn’t feel too good.”
Yuri paused at what she was doing. She was worried as well. Nana had never been well. She’d stuffed all problems within herself.
“She’ll come through. Eunhyuk will be able to get to her.”
“Like you?”
Yuri stopped and turned to look at him.
“Changmin.”
“I’m sorry, I said that already, didn’t I?” he asked. “But you haven’t answered.”
“What do you want me to say?” Yuri said.
“That I hurt you, that you’ve been crushed, that you feel the same way.”
“You want me to say that now?” Yuri asked her tone declining from harmony to disappointment.
“It doesn’t hurt to admit it. How was I supposed to know how you felt when you never said anything.”
Changmin got up and walked toward her.
“I’m sorry, Yuri.” he put an arm around her pressing her head against his shoulder gently. “I’m sorry you hurt.”
/ / / / /
Eunhyuk leaned against the wall outside Nana’s room quietly suppressed. Nana’s surgery had lasted much longer than Donghae’s. It wasn’t because the doctors had difficulty repairing her legs, but it had been because Nana’s heart had stopped a few times during the process. After hearing about it, Eunhyuk didn’t know how to face her anymore.
How much did she hurt? Eunhyuk couldn’t know. He couldn’t possibly know anything. If she saw him, would she hurt? All these useless questions swarmed his mind for a whole day.
The nurses walked by but no one stopped to talk to him. He stood for an hour more until another nurse came by. She paused for a moment before heading into the room to check up on Nana. After several minutes of listening to voices speak inside, the nurse walked out. She paused again and looked at him.
“The patient is awake. Do you want to see her?” the nurse asked.
Eunhyuk slowly lifted his eyes off the ground surprised that Nana had already awoken when Donghae hadn’t yet.
“She says it’s ok for you to go in.” the nurse gently smiled before walking away.
He watched her turn around into a room and disappear before turning to glance at the door the nurse had left open. Was it really alright to go in? Eunhyuk could hear his own heart nervously dancing inside him. What would he say? What could he say?
Slowly shifting his body he inched his feet forward and looked up when he reached the door to see Nana sitting propped up on the hospital bed. She looked worn out and very tired. The dark bags underneath her eyes made her look aged. The small bruises on both sides of her face were the scars from the battle she’d fought alone. It was almost a pitiful sight. He glanced at the thick casts around her legs and wondered if she felt uncomfortable. She wouldn’t be able to properly move for a while. Still even with all this pain, she meekly smiled at him.
“Hey,” she greeted.
Eunhyuk felt tears for her reach the back of his eyes. Why, when Nana who had gone through all this, was being the bigger one? Why did she always have to play strong?
“You don’t have to stand,” Nana pointed to the chair by the bed.
Eunhyuk slowly made his way over and sat down unable to look at her face. The guilt seeping into him made it difficult for him to look at the victim before him.
“Are you ok?” she asked. “The nurse said you’ve been standing out there for a while. You could have just come in.”
“You make talking seem easy.” he quietly commented.
Nana didn’t respond.
“I’m sorry I’ve been so horrible.” Eunhyuk apologized unable to raise his head. “I put you through a lot, didn’t I?”
Nana still didn’t say anything.
“I know I’m a bad person. I don’t have the right to do anything. I still want to ask you though. Do you…want to go home with me?” Eunhyuk asked slowly looking up. “Not to your lonely house, the one that knows you well, but to my family in Incheon. I’ll go with you to pick up your brother, so you won’t have to do it alone. I’ll help you cremate him and find a quiet place for him to rest. How about it? Hmm?”
Stressful tears quickly rose to Nana’s eyes. Her hand fell into a fist.
“Eunhyuk,” she cried, “the fertilization process has been destroyed. The chromosomes have disappeared.”
The way Nana sobbed before him made her look so fragile. Eunhyuk suddenly realized the healthy color in her flesh had disappeared to a tone of white.
“What?” the word dropped like a bomb from his mouth. “What are you talking about?”
He stared at her for a long time before it finally triggered itself in his mind. Nana had been conceiving a child? The worst of all possibilities dawned on him at last and his face distorted into a painful one. Standing up he reached a hand out to hug her.
“It’s ok, Nana. It’s ok. It’s ok.” were the only words he was able to offer to her crying soul. “It’s ok…”
2 years later…
The wail of a baby echoed around the house and through the open windows. Victoria spun around in the kitchen, a spatula in hand, the kitchen table full with a grill and a variety of lettuce, peppers, and kimchi.
“Donghae!” she screamed. “What are you doing!? I told you not to annoy the baby!”
She stepped toward the living room to find her baby crying in the swing Changmin and Yuri had sent over a month before the baby had been born. Donghae sat cross legged on the ground in front of her a sparkly, but noisy toy in hand.
“I didn’t do anything,” he pouted. “I was just showing Ae Cha the new toy I bought.”
“I told you she doesn’t like it!” Victoria scolded him. “Aish! You can never do anything right!”
She snatched the toy out of his hand before they heard a car outside.
“That must be Eunhyuk and Nana. Go open the door,” Victoria ordered.
“Sheesh,” Donghae muttered getting up to open the door. “Look who’s here, Ae Cha! Your favorite uncle!”
“You guys made it!” Victoria greeted. “Come in.”
“Baby’s crying again?” Eunhyuk questioned walking in and set down a struggling Melodix.s
The dog barked wagging her tail wildly as she ran to Victoria.
“Ah! Look who’s here!” Victoria bent down to pet the little dog she once lived with. “It’s all Donghae’s fault,” Victoria glared at him. “Come in, Nana. Can you watch over her for me? Donghae doesn’t seem to be able to do it. Even Eunhyuk does a better job.”
Nana chuckled and pulled Ae Cha out of the swing as Victoria headed back into the kitchen with Melodix following her closely.
“You talked so much about a boy that you got a girl instead,” Eunhyuk teased Donghae again elbowing him in the chest.
“Hey! Quit it!” Donghae shifted away from him. “Why didn’t you bring Hyang Sook over to play with Ae Cha?”
“Are you kidding me?” Eunhyuk asked. “That fatty would sabotage your house in a minute! He tore apart all the decoration for our wedding next week!”
The doorbell rang again and Donghae glanced outside to see Changmin and Yuri. He tapped on the window and waved before gesturing that the door had been left unlocked. A second later Changmin and Yuri had joined the others.
“Do you want any help, Victoria?” questioned Yuri poking her head into the kitchen.
“I’m almost done!” Victoria shouted back.
Yuri turned back to Donghae, “Where’s your uncle? My father wanted some advice about stocks.”
“He went fishing with his crew,” Donghae replied handing Ae Cha a slice of apple to hold.
“She can’t even chew it, why are you giving it to her?” Changmin asked.
“She can on it,” Donghae answered.
“It’s ready!” Victoria shouted placing a large pile of meat onto the kitchen table. “Nana, you can set Ae Cha down into her swing. Come and enjoy.”
“Wahh!” Yuri sat down amazed. “I can’t believe you’re getting married next week. Being engaged for a year and half must have been a tiring wait.”
Nana smiled in reply. “It wasn’t that long.”
“Changmin told me he doesn’t want to rush a wedding. Yuri will have him by the ear in the mornings.” Eunhyuk laughed pointing to him.
“Hey! I told you not to say anything!”
“Eat, eat, eat!” Donghae urged before tossing a piece of chicken to Melodix and glanced at Victoria to see if she saw, but luckily Victoria had been too busy chattering away with the girls.
And underneath a full evening sun with Ae Cha playing in her swing and Melodix biting the carpet in the living room, the others enjoyed their grilled meat barbeque. After a long journey through perplexing pain, happiness, and sadness, the six of them were finally able to settle down to their normal lives.
***The End! ^^ Did you notice I brought Melodix back? xD
***Thank you everyone who stayed with me from beginning till end! :D I really appreciate it! Boy, did it take me forever to complete this story huh? ^^ Even though it's not perfect, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed creating all the mixtures of problems xD
***I'll be working on 'Golden Mary' next, do join me there if you're ever bored ^^ Thanks much!
spring semester ends this friday and i'm off for summer break :D i'll get back on track with YSRMII
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