There was a faint beeping sound in the background. It would go off every so often at a steady pace. What is that?

 

"Chanyeol no! No! Oh god! He's dying! Somebody help! Save him!"

 

There was something on top of me. It felt heavy. Everything felt heavy. Even my eyelids felt heavy. Perhaps that was why I couldn't open them.

 

"Sweety you need to stay calm. Everything's going to be alright honey. You'll be okay."

 

Who was that? Why does her voice sound so calming?

 

"She's losing consciousness. Get the oxygen mask."

 

Who's losing consciousness? Who is she talking about? Who is this woman and why does her voice sound so nostalgic?

 

"Please...take care of Chanyeol."

 

 

 

 

 

The girl straightened too fast- it made her head spin and her vision became blotchy.

 

"Oh god. You're awake."

 

She turned to her left, blinking slowly as the short brown haired boy ran off through the doorway. She knew the boy. His voice was too familiar.

 

He returned a moment later and a woman followed him. Her eyes were hidden behind thick brown frames and she looked no older than her mid30s. Her outfit screamed 'nurse' so it didn't take long for Jaehee to figure out where she was.

 

"Hey darling, good to see you finally up."

 

"How long was I out?" Jaehee asked, her voice hoarse as if she'd just recovered from a cold.

 

"Just under a day. Be careful, your arm is broken." She reminded, pulling out her clipboard and busily filling in some notes. Jaehee allowed the woman to run checks of her vitals, retraining her focus on the brunette boy. She took a closer look at his features and sighed in relief. She did know him.

 

"Baekhyun." She softly called, waking the boy from his anxious nail biting. Why did he look so nervous?

 

He seemed surprised, "You remember me?"

 

Jaehee would have scoffed but still felt sore, "Why wouldn't I? Where's Chanyeol and how did I get here?"

 

Baekhyun looked dismal, "I was worried...they said your head was bleeding and the concussion may have led to some memory loss...how much do you remember?"

 

She blinked, trying to jog her memory of what had happened. Her eyes widened, "The car crash...it was real?" Her voice came out as a whisper, transparent of horror. Jaehee didn't even need the confirmation. She tore off the pressure tester from her good arm, ignoring the nurse's protests as she hopped onto the floor. Her feet were still heavy and she noticed they'd placed these odd, tan stockings on her legs. She assumed they had been put on her to prevent blood clots whilst she was out.

 

The girl ran out of the room, straight towards the information desk.

 

"Park Chanyeol. Where is he?" She panted, her head spinning from all the sudden movement. The nurses at the desk seemed flustered by her sudden demand but before she could push for an answer, she felt a hand at her wrist.

 

"I'll take you."

 

She looked at Baekhyun, her breathing sharp and ragged. Jaehee nodded, chewing on her lip to supress the unutterable scenarios that were building in her head. She saw the nurse appearing in the corridor but thankfully Baekhyun had already explained everything to her before they could call for back up.

 

They set her in a wheelchair, which was a bit of an exaggeration to her injuries but she didn't protest because that would just prolong the already horribly long wait. Baekhyun pushed her through the corridors and she cast her eyes forward, hating the sight of so many patients in pain. She hated hospitals. It was a fear she'd had since she was young.

 

When she realised where Baekhyun was headed towards, her eyes flooded with tears, an invisible 'no' leaving her lips.

 

The ICU.

 

"We're not allowed further than this." Baekhyun's voice was devoid of emotion and suddenly it dawned on her why he'd been so anxious. Jaehee scanned the waiting room and recognised the other boys almost instantly. As soon as Sehun spotted her he leapt towards her and the others soon followed suit.

 

They didn't ask how she was doing and she was grateful.

 

"How's your arm?" Suho asked but she didn't give him an answer but he didn't seem to be expecting her to.

 

"How...long?"

 

"They've been operating for about 13 hours now. " Kyungsoo replied, "We haven't heard anything."

 

Jaehee nodded but barely. She clutched onto her necklace, closing her eyes to start her prayer.

 

"Your parents are on the flight back." Baekhyun said but Jaehee didn't let it break her prayer.

 

Her parents had been on a holiday in America. It wasn't a cheap flight but she knew they'd have booked a flight as soon as they'd heard about the accident.  The thought made her want to cry. She didn't have to ask to know Chanyeol's father hadn't come. The evidence was surrounding her.

 

She could faintly hear her surroundings but she didn't open her eyes. Not when the nurse came and asked if she would return to her ward and not even when her parents had dramatically made their arrival. She could hear them crying and begging for her to look at them but she didn't want to break her prayer. She had never been a religious person but if there was even a chance that god existed, she would roll all her dice to bring Chanyeol out safe.

 

It took a complete time of 17 hours for the doctors to call for Chanyeol's guardians. Jaehee instinctively opened her eyes and the sound of his name and Baekhyun immediately stood, pushing her wheelchair to the doctor.

 

"He's taken severe damage to the head and he has a significant amount of internal bleeding and blood loss. He was probably the worst case we'd seen in this hospital but somehow we managed to nullify a substantial amount of the injuries. We've done all we can but the process required for us to induce a coma so I'm sorry to inform you but all we can do is wait and pray that his will is enough for him to wake up."

 

For the first time in a while, Jaehee couldn't hold back the tears. Her sobs were loud and ugly but they were uncontrollable. That was her Chanyeol. Her Chanyeol, who was dying. She felt herself slump forward in an attempt to hide her weak crying but nothing could stop it. His smiling face was burning behind her eyelids.

 

Baekhyun placed a hand on my shoulder, squeezing tightly, "Don't worry. He'll wake up."

 

 

 

 

 

That was 6 months ago.

 

 

 

 

Jaehee bent down, fiddling with her shoelace. She'd always been rather rubbish at tying them neatly. She could hear whispering beside her and straightened. Time had made it easier to ignore the whispers but she still preferred to avoid them reaching her ears. It just made life easier.

 

She felt someone blow on her ear and immediately flinched.

 

"Baekhyun." She growled, rolling her eyes as she unpacked her books and stuffed them into her locker. "You stopping by today?"

 

The short boy frowned and shook his head, "Can't. My parents want me to attend an event tonight."

 

She nodded understandingly. Like Chanyeol, Baekhyun had rich parents and she knew very well how important it was to attend the parties. After all, business was all about the image.

 

"Have you been hanging out with Mina and Mihye?"

 

Jaehee had to refrain the strong urge to roll her eyes again and nodded. Ever since the incident, Baekhyun had been worrying about her like a nagging parent. She didn't mind though because it reminded her of Chanyeol. He had been very protective too.

 

Mina and Mihye were her friends. The twins had  been by her side through thick and thin. Jaehee knew they still felt bad because they hadn't been able to come to the hospital on the day of the accident but she didn't blame them. They couldn't put their own lives on hold because of Jaehee, not that they'd phrased it like that, and she understood that.

 

"Glad to hear it." He grinned. This time Jaehee couldn't stop her eyes from moving on their own accord. Sure, she'd been zombie-like for the first couple of months but that was only to be expected. She couldn't say she had fully come to terms with the ordeal but she had become more social. Well, she still hadn't hung out with friends in the way she used to but that was mostly because she didn't want to abandon Chanyeol. He was all alone in that dreaded hospital and no matter how much Jaehee despised them, she willingly stayed there for him.

 

After school, Jaehee took her usual route home to change her attire and pick up some food before heading straight to the hospital. Her overprotective parents had been against this routine at first. They had even tried banning her from the hospital but after seeing they're usually docile daughter becoming so angry, they'd given in.

 

"Hi Nurse Kim." Jaehee grinned as she passed the information desk. The male nurse saluted at her before she headed towards Chanyeol's ward. The hospital was large and extremely confusing since Chanyeol's father had paid for the best room in the private hospital to compensate for his absence, but Jaehee had memorised the place by heart.

 

She paused for a moment before walking into the room. It was odd how much the place had transformed. The once bland, white walls were now bright with banners she had made and photographs of good times and the once dull bed was now framed by the little dolls from Chanyeol's room. She knew he'd be more likely to wake up with them by his side.

 

Setting down the packaged lunch on the table, she unpacked her homework. The hospital had become like her home. The only time she left was for school, showering and changing clothes or if she needed to buy something.

 

"God. Mr Shim was so horrible today! He gave us so much homework and he picked on me in class!" Jaehee frowned, looking towards the boy who remained motionless on his bed. She froze in her short anecdote and approached his side. She had a habit of this. Reaching out and brushing away his bands, she placed a soft kiss against his cold cheek. "If you were in class you would have totally got a detention for trying to defend me." Jaehee chuckled, warming his cheeks with her palms.

 

Even though he'd lost a significant amount of weight and he had tubes connected to almost every part of his body, she still found him unbelievably attractive. He was her Chanyeol. She bit back the tears that were threatening at the sound of his name in her mind, she released his face and sat beside him whilst holding his arm.

 

"I'm sorry for yesterday." She murmured.

 

There were times where she got mad at him. She tried to be understanding. She really did but she couldn't help but get frustrated at times and the worst part was that she couldn’t be mad at him when he was in this state. She had no one to blame. No one to blame for her attendance that had fallen so much that she had to fill out a written consent form that excused her absences due to misadventure. No one to blame for her grades and ranks that had dropped from somewhere in the top 10 to somewhere in the bottom 30. No one to blame for her car that had been totalled. No one to blame for the migraines she'd still get every so often. No one to blame for the unbearable nightmares every night. No one to blame for her high school sweetheart who, when he should have been finishing high school with her, was stuck in a vegetable state unable to do anything except breathe. No one to blame...except herself.

 

Jaehee knew she'd cried too many tears but how could she stop.

 

Life wasn't playing fair.

 

She exhaled a shaky breath, finally feeling the wave of emotion leave her.

 

 

After she finished her homework, visiting hours were over. In a way she was glad Chanyeol's father didn't care about him enough to put work on hold because only one person was allowed to stay overnight with the patient. On the other hand she despised it because she couldn't leave him here by himself and although sometimes Baekhyun would insist on staying so she could sleep at home, she felt responsible for watching over him and she didn't want to feel like that. Looking after someone you love shouldn't be a chore.

 

She stretched her limbs and poked her head out the door. The corridors were awfully quiet. Being a private hospital, Seoul Hospital had more nurses than any other and there was always one at hand.

 

Jaehee turned to check on her sleeping prince once more, "I'm just going for a walk. I'll be right back." She promised. Sometimes she wondered why she explained herself to him but even in his comatose state, Jaehee still didn't want him to worry about her.

 

She averted her eyes to avoid prying into any of the other patient's wards and swung her arms around freely to loosen the muscles. 

 

Finishing her usual round of the long-term care unit she stopped in front of the placard. She hated seeing the word 'long-term'. It felt as if they were trying to dry out his chances of waking up just by calling the unit so.  She didn't care that the nurses gossiped about their pity for her. Chanyeol would wake up soon. She could feel it.

 

She felt something hit her ankle and looked down to find a small tennis ball. Jaehee picked up the ball, bringing it close to her face to analyse it.

 

"It's annoying huh?" An unfamiliar masculine voice chuckled from beside her.

 

She didn't turn to him immediately and nodded, assuming he was talking about the placard she stood in front of. Finally dragging her eyes away from the ball, she looked at him. The boy was taller than Baekhyun but no where near her Chanyeol tall. She had to admit he was rather good looking apart from the bags under his eyes which she assumed was from lack of sleep.

 

"I've seen you here a couple times. Ward 93?" The red-haired boy asked, tilting his head as if he wasn't sure.

 

This caught her attention. She didn't remember his face so it was surprising that he knew hers. She nodded unsurely, making him grin.

 

"I've been coming here for over a year so it's be more surprising if I didn't know everyone in this unit." He smiled.

 

"Hyung did you find the ball?" Another, more high pitched voice called, running down the corridor toward the two. He was still wearing a school uniform but Jaehee couldn't tell what school. His appearance was enough to tell her it was an elementary school.

 

The red haired boy whipped his head around, a smile on his face. "Nam! What did I tell you about shouting in hospitals?"

 

"What's the worst he could do? Wake someone up?" Jaehee joked bitterly. Both the boys stared at her and for a moment she thought she had offended them but the younger one, Nam, suddenly burst into laughter and even the red head seemed to sport an extremely amused grin.

 

"Touché." Red head chuckled. "Well It was nice to meet you. We're in Ward 85 so you can come see us if you're ever lonely." The boy grinned, taking the tennis ball from Jaehee's hand before taking off down the hallway.

 

She shook my head before heading back to Chanyeol. Everyday without him was lonely.