"We should lower his dosage of morphine, he's recovering rather quickly," a deep voice explained.

 

"When will my brother wake up? He's been in a coma for three weeks. You said he should've been coming around last week and he still hasn't!" A voice demanded.

 

"We can't predict exact dates of when he will be better. We gave you an approximate date of when he should be better, but it all depends on when his body decided to come back to reality. His brain injuries weren't that bad, but if his body decides to stay on autopilot for a bit longer, we can't control that."

 

"This is some bull," the voice responded then stomps followed suit and faded away.

 

Jongin felt his body become numb, but his eyes slowly opened. The room was dark, the only course of light was coming from a lamp beside his bed.

 

"You're awake," a man dressed in white stated in astonishment. "But you're heartbeat didn't change. Jongin, can you hear me?"

 

"Who are you?" Jongin croaked out in a small voice. His throat was dry from being at rest for so long. Jongin coughed feebly, his chest felt tight as he breathed in through his hoarse throat.

 

"My name is Yifan. I am your doctor," he responded as he handed brought a cup of water to the younger's lips. Jongin leaned his head back slightly,

Letting the water flow down and burn the sides of his throat. "Jongin, do you know where you are?"

 

"A hospital," he answered chromatically with a blank face. Taemin came back into the room and nearly had a heart attack when he saw his little brother awake.

 

"Jongin! You're awake!" His brother exclaimed, but Jongin simply stared at him without any emotion. "Jongin?" Taemin asked hesitantly as he stepped towards him.

 

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Jongin asked remotely. Taemin's face paled at those words then he turned to look at the doctor.

 

"Jongin, do you remember your alphabet?" Doctor Yifan asked with a stoic face.

 

"Yes," he answered then recited both the consonants and vowels fluently.

 

"Great," Yifan responded with a smile on his face. "And how about basic math? Can you multiply?"

 

"That's a silly question," Jongin answered plainly. "I can remember learning calculus. I remember my exact schedule and what school I go to."

 

"But you don't remember you're own brother?" Yifan asked with a quirked eyebrow. Jongin simply blinked at him then looked at the man beside him then back at him.

 

"I have a brother?"

 

"Yes. Me!" Taemin answered quickly, tears swelling his eyes. "How can you not remember me?"

 

"Why are you crying?" Jongin asked heartlessly. Yifan turned and whispered for Taemin to leave so he can evaluate Jongin privately. Taemin nodded and sulked out of the room with tears rolling down his cheeks silently.

 

"Jongin, do you remember anybody from your life? Any friends, relatives, acquaintances?" Yifan asked as he stood at the end of his bed and peered down at him. No emotions appeared on Jongin's face, not even a flicker.

 

"I think..." Jongin said as he tried remembering someone in his life, but all that came to him was an empty void. "I'm sure I have mother and father, but I don't know who they are."

 

"Alright," Yifan replied as he wrote somethings down on his clipboard. "And what about emotions? Did you feel happy, sad, angry?"

 

"I feel nothing," Jongin answered plainly. Yifan had a feeling that's why he asked why Taemin was crying, but he couldn't be so sure. Now he knew. "Is there something wrong with me?"

 

"Yes and no. You have little brain damage, but the result of it is that you lost all emotions and feelings along with the memories of people in your life. When you saw Taemin, did any memory spark in your mind?"

 

Jongin thought back to the crying man. He shook his head slowly as his memory came up as blank.

 

"Can you move your body? Here," Yifan offered as he set his clipboard down and moved to the right side of Jongin's bed. "I'll help you walk."

 

Jongin sat up and swung his legs over the side of his bed, Yifan by his side every second, wrapping an arm around his bruised waist to help him up. Once the young man was on his feet, he began taking baby steps. His legs felt numb and weak, but he pushed on and kept moving them to prove his strength. 

 

"Don't push too much, just take it easy, okay?" Yifan murmured as he walked along the young man. Jongin grunted in response, shoving aside his words and pushing on until he felt his legs come back to life. Jongin let go Yifan, gripping the portable table for support one last time before he walked on his own.

 

"You still have your strength, I see," Yifan concluded as he went to his clipboard to jot down more notes on Jongin's condition.

 

"Is there anything wrong with me?" Jongin asked plainly as he blinked at the elder with a stoic face.

 

"Hmm," Yifan hummed as he looked over his clipboard then back to the younger with a stern gaze. "I don't know for sure. For now, you're in great condition, but I'd have to run a couple of tests on you before I can determine whether or not you can go home."

 

"What about that guy? What are you going to tell him?"

 

"Your brother," Yifan stated flatly, "is going to go home and collect some pictures, see if we can spark a memory somewhere inside you along with your emotions. It seems like you've shut them off."

 

To that conclusion, Jongin simply nodded then made his way back to his crumpled sheets and fluffed pillows.

 

"Just relax, we'll figure all of this out," Yifan said with a small smile on his lips. "For now, we can't let you sleep and most of the doctors have clocked out for the night. I'll have an x-Ray scheduled for first thing in the morning, then you'll meet Doctor Zhang, he specializes in brain damaged patients..." he explained as he watched Jongin with observant eyes. "I'll have a nurse check on you every half away to make sure you haven't dozed off. Good night, Jongin."

 

Jongin nodded then leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. Life felt empty, his whole body felt hollow and for whatever reason, he couldn't describe the feeling he got in his gut that pulsed through his veins. It was going to be a lagging night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Alright, Jongin," Yifan spoke as he signed one last paper, "you are officially free to leave. Hopefully, your memory of people will come through. Soon. Good luck, young man, it was a strange pleasure to have you," Yifan said with a small pat on the back before he walked off.

 

A strange pleasure being that Jongin never complained once. Even after five CAT scans and three brain X-Rays and endless scrapbooks he flipped through just to see if he could point out anyone, Jongin never complained.

 

The only breakthrough was that he finally remembered his mother and father, but Taemin was a bit difficult for him. It didn't help that the elder spent most of their visiting time pouting in the corner while their mother sat on the bed next to Jongin to flip through pictures.

 

The emotion he connected with his parents was tranquil. He got an overwhelming sensation of calmness when his parents were around, something that made him relaxed. The doctors were ecstatic with his breakthrough, but it wasn't enough, he needed to feel more, to remember more.

 

"Jongin-ah," Taemin called out, tapping his brother on the shoulder. The younger looked at him with lifeless eyes and stoic face. Taemin always looked hurt when his brother looked at him that way, like a robot. "Doctor Yifan said that you can go back to school on Monday," he spoke quickly, "but that a another doctor would have to be with you at all times."

 

"I know," Jongin replied remotely. Taemin rolled his eyes and tugged the younger's arm to get him to walk along side him out the doors.

 

"Do you know the doctor's name then?" Taemin asked calmly as he held his brother's hand, limp in his own warm hand. The touchy feely Jongin still hadn't resurfaced, but Taemin still tried everyday in every way.

 

"Doctor Yifan said his name is Zhang Yixing. He graduated early from medical school and has a master's degree in Psychology," Jongin answered. "He wants to conduct a research to see how my brain pieces memory fragments together and how I handle discovering my lost emotions."

 

"Do you think school will be hard? How will you remember your school work? Do you even remember calculus?" Taemin asked quickly. He never knew what tests the doctors were running on his dongsaeng, he only knew that all of them were fascinated with Jongin's position, a boy who was in a terrible car accident and stayed in a coma for two weeks.

 

"Doctor Sooyoung had me work through workbooks to see how my academic memory was. I kept all that I learned, but she said that I was learning at a fast rate..."

 

"A fast rate? You mean you were picking up new subjects quickly?" Taemin asked in astonishment. Jongin wasn't the top of his class, he was pretty average.

 

"That's what doctor Sooyoung said," Jongin said before pulling his hand away from the elder's grasp, walking off towards the backseat of his parents' car. Taemin felt his heart crack the more time passed and Jongin still didn't remember him. An error had a occurred, only time would bring it back, if there was anything to recover.