Accidents Happen
by Ennun

               It felt weird. It felt as if he was floating on some clouds, yet, at the same time stabbed by millions of needles. It was such a strange and new feeling that he didn’t know how to react to it. Then suddenly he woke up. The first thing he did was blink repeatedly and tiredly. He could barely feel a few tears run down his cheeks. As he started adjusting to the light and almost insufferable brightness of the room he also began to somewhat wake up to reality. It felt like a trans really.

               As he started being able to open his eyes – and keep them that way for more than half a second – things seemed to start registering to him. Most of all, the noises. In the beginning they were almost nonexistent, now he could hear about three different kinds of beeps all around him. Some were irregular, some were constant and some were loud. Too loud for his liking.

               When he tried to look to his left he felt a sudden little pain through his hand. He lifted it, painfully, a few centimeters, just enough so he could see it, and noticed a needle stuck in it. Following it, his eyes landed on a bag of something suspended on a small pole, just next to his bed. Slowly, way too slowly, he started realizing what everything pointed to: a hospital.

               Three soft thuds grabbed his attention and he gently tilted his head to the right. There was a huge window with half-opened curtains covering the whole wall. It took him a while to start making up figures on the other side: the source of the thuds, probably. He stared at them, trying to figure out who was who. They were all blurs for a few moments and then he noticed Key’s pink highlights in his otherwise dark hair and Jonghyun’s hands, softly tapping the window every few seconds, probably to attract his attention. Another figure appeared and Taemin slowly recognized the outlines of his best friend of almost a decade. And he wasn’t alone; Ravi was there too. Then, the first two (identified as SHINee members) moved to the side and some others popped up. Next to Kai now stood his mother, next to whom was his father. She seemed to be shaking.

               As he absorbed their figures, Taemin’s mind started wandering off, a few flashes dangling in his mind. He found himself thinking how he got here. And then, as if hit by lightning, it all came crashing down on him.

               He was sitting in the car with two stylists and him manager. They were returning from one of the most fun and tiring shows he had been on in a while. He went there to perform for his solo album. It was probably the last week of promotion before going back to work on SHINee’s comeback. There was a storm and it was cold, but they were having fun in the car, joking about some stupid mistake he made during practice; the stylists too were almost crying of laughter. Then a car tried to pass them. The manager slowed down to allow the other some room, yet it was too late. The other car took a sharp turn and hit them hard. So hard they went off the road. The last thing he remembers were the screams and the car flipping upside down then up again and then a hard pain in his head.

               As he started remembering all those flashes, his breathing hiccupped, his heart started beating fast and sweat overwhelmed his body. Suddenly he felt as if he was being choked. He moved his hand over his neck, tears now flying out of his eyes. He couldn’t breathe! His body started shaking as the door banged open, followed by someone screaming for something. Hands were pushing him down and that was the last thing he remembered.

               Kai was on the verge of tears. Taemin had woken up, finally, after all those hours of surgery and sleep and constant surveillance. He woke up, he looked fine… But then he started hyperventilating, he supposed, panicking, half screaming and crying, half choking himself. The doctors rushed in and called for a nurse to hold him down. Before they could even check on him, he froze and the beepings all transformed into long simple notes. He froze. He heard Taemin’s mother scream at the window and Jonghyun swear rather loudly. Ravi seemed to move in slow-motion closer to the window, whispering something repeatedly.

               The doctor immediately started CPR while telling the nurses what to do. Two ladies rushed in with a defibrillator. As soon as the thing was ready the doctor pulled up Taemin’s shirt, revealing unbelievable scars and bandages, and started pushing electricity into the boy. It took three times before the beeping returned. Three awful times. Then the medics all relaxed, which made everyone in the hall slightly calmer.

               Kai couldn’t help but back up in a wall and slide down, face in his hands. Ravi couldn’t even move; he just collapsed there, head leaning on the window, sighting “Thank God” over and over. His parents had taken a seat. Mister Lee was trying to sooth his hysterical wife. And the other SHINee members were all sighing in relief. It happened again two hours later. His heart stopped, the doctors rushed in and fixed him up; and again another hour later. His mother almost fainted the last time.

               After all that mental torment, Kai and Ravi were both down on the floor, remains of tears and stress all over their features. Some of the others were seated on chairs a few meters away, while the parents were taken outside to calm themselves while the doctor explained all the details concerning their son’s condition. Their managers had all contacted them each and allowed them the days off, not like any of them could do anything after all this.

               They also saw SHINee’s manager come over. He looked so much better than the fragile little boy in the other room. He had scars and bruises, yes, but apparently Taemin was the only unfortunate one o get the full blast as the car hit them just near his seat. The only one to get remotely close to what he had suffered was one of the girl stylists who had a broken arm. The guy from the other car apparently hit a tree and died on the way to the hospital and honestly, no matter how much he tried not to, Kai couldn’t help but think he deserved it.

               Suddenly Ravi stood up and ran to the window. Taemin was awake again. He looked around, confused and sleepy. But this time he seemed to realize what was happening faster. He moved his head around until his gaze fell on the window. He saw his two best friends standing there with stupid grins on their faces and couldn’t help but smile. They probably wouldn’t realize it though, as he had a gas mask on.

               While still looking at them he lifted his right hand a few centimeters and waved. They waved back. He chuckled at them and shifted a bit. He turned his gaze upon himself and started checking himself. He gently lifted his feet one by one and moved his toes and then his fingers. After he was satisfied and sure that he had all of his limbs in place, he lifted one hand to his forehead. Pain struck as soon as he made contact.

               Just then a man walked in and told him to stay still. He was the doctor. He examined him fast and asked him to answer honestly a few questions: his name, his age, where he was, if he knew the year, the town he was in, if he could count to ten. After answering everything, though a bit slower then he would like to admit, the doctor smiled and announced that his parents would like to see him. He smiled and waited for them to enter.

               For thirty minutes Kai watched his best friend interact with his parents. Well, interact was a powerful word, they kept talking while he only nodded and whispered one or two words every few minutes. When they got out, his mother crying and smiling, they sat down and allowed the others to have a quick chat with the teen.

               Kai and Ravi entered along with Key and Jonghyun. They all went next to the now more awake boy and smiled. Key went to sit right next to his head, on the chair his mother used a while ago and took his hand, whispering a shy “hi” to which Taemin also answered with a muffled “hi” They joked with him for a while about how he almost gave them a heart attack when they heard he was involved in a car crash. Jonghyun complained and whined about how he would have to work double now to make up for his absence, to which Taemin chuckled, though, because of the mask, it sounded more like a cough than anything.

               After about half an hour of chatting, the boy seemed to be falling into dream-land so they all excused themselves and went back into the hall. A nurse went in instead to do some checkups and change a few bandages and what not. She closed the curtains before starting so none of them really knew what was happening.

               Ravi and Kai were insistent that they stay behind while everyone else went home to sleep. It was almost 9 AM and after the torturous night, they all needed some sleep. His parents especially looked ready to faint. His mother wanted to stay, but they both reassured her they would call as soon as he woke up. Giving in to her tired state, she agreed. Jonghyun had to also drag Key back to the apartment saying he overreacted and that they have to call Onew and Minho and tell them about what happened, since they had totally forgotten about the other two’s existence while in the hospital. They were both overseas doing various shows and probably didn’t know about the accident yet.

               The news about Taemin’s accident was all over the news in the morning. Everyone was talking about it and, to Kai and Ravi’s shock, some managed to get a picture of the scene. They both felt like throwing up at the sight. The car was sitting upside down, completely crashed on one side, just next to the back door, where Taemin had sat. The window was cracked, miraculously not shattered and blood was splattered all over it. They had heard of the facts, yes, how Taemin, while the car was spinning, got hit in the head with a flying metallic makeup box. He had an amazingly big bandage over his head to prove it.

               The other car was in worse condition, completely crashed into a tree, every window crashed and shattered. They also said the other guy was dead drunk and fell asleep at the wheel. And again, Kai couldn’t help but be glad the guy was dead.

               Every day Taemin got better and every day they all came to visit. Onew had flown in about a week after hearing about it and didn’t leave his side for a whole day. Not to mention he kept visiting with every occasion he could.

               After he was discharged, everyone went back to the apartment and they held a huge party. Not even the neighbors minded, since they all heard what happened. On the contrary, some even came by to show their support and congratulate the teen for getting discharged. His parents also came and were overjoyed, yet seeing him happy again and laughing and having a good time, they quietly left for home sometime around midnight, right after making sure he took the medication he needed to.

               Another week or two passed, and every day he was feeling better and better. Kai and Ravi came to visit by frequently, every time accompanied by someone else; at some point it was Henry who was so glad to see that he was ok that he brought him a whole mountain of stuff he knew he liked.

               The moment Taemin had been most worried about was when, at his last visit to the hospital, the doctor said he could try practicing if he wanted, but if he felt any discomfort of any sort, to immediately stop. He missed dancing so much…

               Two days after that, Key brought him over to the practice room and started the music. Taemin was a bit surprised when it was one of his songs and not SHINee’s. However he was frozen in the middle of the room, nervous as all hell. Key quietly sat down in the corner and smiled at him, whispering “Don’t worry” and “Take your time”

               Honestly, he wanted to dance, but he was just scared. What if he fell, like back at the apartment a few days after getting there. What if he got dizzy like the whole first month of his time in the hospital. What if he just lost balance or felt ill or couldn’t follow the beat… All those worries were flowing through his head a mile per second, and it made him uncomfortable. He felt so bad he slowly sat down in the middle of the room, staring at his reflection in the mirror covering the walls. Key was understanding and didn’t say anything.

               They stood like that for the next few songs, until a particular song that Taemin liked came up. Before he even realized it, Key squealed in happiness and was greening like an idiot at him. Only then did he notice that he had started moving to the beat. It somehow gave him courage and he stood up and started moving a bit more freely.

               By the end of the day, he had the hugest and most happy smile plastered on his face. He had danced. He could dance! He didn’t feel uncomfortable, nor did he fall or felt dizzy or anything! He could do it! The accident didn’t affect him as worse as he had feared!

               Another month later, Taemin had been invited to a talk show for the first time in almost four or five months. He was so happy when he got there, when the show started, when all the fans showed their support. He thanked them all and especially for the gifts they had sent him in the hospital. He even felt good enough to sing and dance for them a bit.

               His life was back to how it was before. Yes he did become a bit skeptic when taking the car, but who wouldn’t. And besides, another year later, he didn’t really care anymore. The accident became just one of those memories he now made fun of.

               The End.
               Thank you for reading.