Winged II - The Ascension (4)
Title: Winged II - The Ascension
Author: Cassie and Tay ( lexilolober )
Pairing: EunHae (friendship) more to come
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Donghae is a normal teenaged boy. He loves to play sports, dance and sing but when a new boy joins his class life suddenly becomes a lot more complicated.
Disclaimer: SM have continued to foil my plans and thus SuJu are still not mine :(
Winged I - The Fall
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7 (end)
Winged II - The Ascension
Part 1 , Part 2, Part 3
The ambulance seemed to take an age before it reached the hospital and Donghae was squirming in his seat with impatience. When they finally arrived Eunhyuk was wheeled off in one direction and he was guided in another by a nurse. Eventually he was told to sit down and wait in a small, yellowish waiting room. He did as he was told, sitting with his head in his hands waiting impatiently for someone to tell him what was going on.
Hours seemed to pass, although he knew it was more like 20 minutes, and he had been joined by a nervous looking gentleman, a little girl clutching a rag doll, two elderly ladies and a young man with a pierced ear that hung, elongated, almost half way down his neck. He was so fascinated by the stretched hole in the man’s ear that he didn’t really notice when a new person arrived, until his voice broke through the silence.
"I'm looking for a Lee Hyukjae, the school called me and said he had been brought in here?" Donghae sat up quickly hearing Eunhyuk's name in a worried, slightly accented voice. Looking over to where a nurse was directing people to the appropriate waiting area he saw a young man standing behind a kid about his age in a pink wheelchair. Were they the ones asking about Eunhyuk? Donghae walked over.
"Are you here for Eunhyuk? You’re Eunhyuk's family?" He asked.
The young man turned to Donghae. "Yes and you would be?"
Donghae stuck out his hand, "I'm Lee Donghae, Eunhyuk's friend at school. I was there when it happened, I came with him in the ambulance."
"Ahh. Donghae, Donghae, I remember!" The young man said, broad smile getting even wider and Donghae wondered if it hurt to smile that wide. "I'm Zhoumi, but everyone calls me Mimi!" He introduced himself with a flourishing bow. Donghae giggled and glanced at the boy in the wheelchair.
The boy was pale and shivering despite being wrapped in warm clothes and a baby-pink blanket. He stared at the floor with a glazed, lost expression and Donghae was beginning to understand why Eunhyuk was so cagey about his family.
"Min, Min." Zhoumi called the boy gently, drawing a flutter of long eyelashes as the boy looked up, gazing around until his eyes fell on the taller man and he smiled softly.
"Min, say hi. This is Donghae, You know, the boy that's been looking after Eunhyukkie." Zhoumi encouraged.
"Hyukkie?" He whispered, his voice was soft, melodic and Donghae wondered what was wrong with him.
"No, Sungmin. This is Donghae, we'll see Eunhyuk in a few minutes." Zhoumi said gently, his accent making each word sound exotic and captivating. He knelt down beside the boy and began adjusting a blanket where it had slipped from his shoulder. Sungmin looked up and smiled at Donghae, who found himself smiling back gently.
"Hi Sungmin." He said, walking over and crouching to eye level, taking the boy's hand in his own.
Sungmin's eyes dropped to Donghae's hand, studying their joined digits intensely.
"Sorry he's a bit out of it. The doctor upped his painkillers so he's spaced." Zhoumi said with a sheepish smile and a shrug.
"I had only just given him his afternoon dose when we got the call. He's not usually so.... well..." He petted Sungmin's hair and Donghae could see the fondness behind the other man's somewhat forced smile.
Just then a doctor stepped into the waiting room. "The family of Lee Hyukjae?"
"Yes?" Zhoumi spoke up, still fiddling with Sungmin’s blankets.
"Hi, I'm Doctor Shim. Eunhyuk took a bit of a fall and hit hi head, he’ll be just fine but we’d like to keep him overnight for observation to make sure he doesn't have a concussion. He’s very tired, it looks like he’s overworked himself into exhaustion, he needs to rest up and drink lots of fluids, but he should be fine in a couple of days." The doctor said and a smile of relief graced Zhoumi's and Donghae's faces.
Zhoumi bent down to Sungmin, "Hear that Min?" he said stroking the drowsy boy’s shoulder affectionately, "Eunhyukkie will be just fine."
Sungmin’s eyes gained a little more awareness as he looked up and smiled again, relief showing on his face. Drowsily he spoke. "See Hyukkie?"
The Doctor smiled at Sungmin before addressing Zhoumi "Yes, yes, of course, just this way, he's awake and asking for a Donghae, but he'll be happy to see all of you."
"I'm Donghae." Donghae stated, for some reason feeling the need to introduce himself.
"Ah okay, head on back, he's in the 4th room down the hall." Dr. Shim said and then went off to another patient.
Zhoumi lead the way, pushing the pink wheelchair through the corridor until they reached the fourth door. “Could you?” He asked, indicating towards the door. Donghae was confused for a moment, before realising that he was asking him to open the door for them.
“Ah, yes, yes, no problem!” He exclaimed, hurrying around the chair. He entered first, holding the door open for the other two. “Hi Hyukkie! How’re you feeling?” He called, and held the door until everyone was inside before letting it close gently behind him.
“My head hurts.” Eunhyuk moaned. “Hey Min.”
Donghae watched as Eunhyuk’s face brightened to a smile when Sungmin reacted to his voice straight away with a tired smile of his own.
“How’s he been today?” Eunhyuk asked, looking up at Zhoumi, who, even sitting, was far too tall for Donghae’s liking. He knew all too well it was just jealousy.
“On and off. The painkillers have him wiped out.” Zhoumi said, “He’s cold all the time, the apartment is like a furnace. I’ll look it up under side effects, but it could just be because he’s burning more fuel than he’s taking in.”
Donghae felt uncomfortable, certain that he wasn’t supposed to be intruding on this conversation and at the same time desperately wanting to be allowed in.
“Can you cover for me tonight? I’ll make sure that Sungjin pays you overtime… but, they want me to stay in and….”
“Of course I will. Don’t be silly. Hey, Min, hear that? Hykkie’s gonna let us have a slumber party. We’ll get movies and popcorn. What’s you favourite ice-cream?”
“Stawb’ry.” Sungmin mumbled sleepily.
“Then strawberry ice-cream we will have.” Zhoumi announced.
“Really? You’re sure you don’t mind?”
“Of course not!” Zhoumi responded, taking Eunhyuk’s hand in his own. “You just get better. I’ll schedule in an extra day visit from Eeteuk tomorrow so I can go home and feed the cat.”
“You’re an Angel Mimi!” Eunhyuk sighed.
“Angel Teuk.” Sungmin added, his eyes brightening.
“No, Min, not today. Tomorrow, you can see Angel Teuk tomorrow.” Eunhyuk said softly, reaching out to brush a hand over Sungmin’s porcelain cheek.
Donghae was touched by the gesture, so loving and gentle, there was something so tender about the moment that was tempted to slip out, wondering if they would notice he was gone. He could always come back later.
“Minnie? Did Zhoumi introduce you to Donghae?” Eunhyuk asked.
Sungmin nodded and smiled sleepily, he was clearly struggling to keep his eyes open and Donghae noticed that his shivering had worsened.
“Ah, Hyuk, I think I’m going to have to take this little fella home.”
"Yeah get him home and warmed up Mimi, his shaking’s getting worse and he's exhausted. Thank you so much for helping out Mimi. Bye Min." Eunhyuk finished as Zhoumi rummaged in a bag suspended from the back of the wheelchair and withdrew a pink, knitted hat which he promptly pulled down over Sungmin’s head.
"Bye Hyukkie. Nice to finally meet you Donghae!" Zhoumi replied and left cheerfully with Sungmin.
The room was quiet without Zhoumi’s cheery presence and Donghae took a deep breath, trying to think through his new found understanding about Eunhyuk’s situation.
Eunhyuk rolled over and the creak of the bed drew his attention back to the moment.
"I'll hangout with you for a while if you like Hyukkie?" Donghae offered tentatively, still trying to decide if he should ask about Sungmin.
"Yeah, that sounds good, thanks for staying with me." Eunhyuk said with a tired smile.
"Once you've gotten some rest Hyukkie if your up to it, I would love for you to explain to me why you've gotten yourself to this point of exhaustion, especially now that I've seen Sungmin...” He trailed off, unsure of exactly how to phrase his question. “He needs a lot of care doesn’t he." Donghae said softly.
Eunhyuk's eyes filled with tears and he turned away from Donghae.
"I....He..." Eunhyuk whispered, "He doesn't deserve this." he said, his voice barely more than a whisper, "He's a good person. He's so gentle and sweet and caring and I hate to see him like this."
Eunhyuk's tears started to fall and Donghae wanted to hug him, wasn't sure if he should.
"Sometimes he hurts so bad he cries all night, he tries to stay quiet, but I know. I always know and he's so sorry..."
Eunhyuk sniffed, Donghae gave in and he wrapped his arms around Eunhyuk's shaking shoulders as he sobbed.
"I'm so tired Hae. I can't do this. I want to, but I can't... I can't do that to him. Not again, he can't go through that again...."
Eunhyuk's words were mumbled and muffled through Donghae's shirt as he pulled the other closer, stroking his hair in soothing strokes.
"I don't understand Eunhyuk." He whispered, "But maybe if you tell me I could help you?"
"He's so sick Hae." Eunhyuk whispered. "I just want to help him."
"What about your parents? Can't they help?" Donghae asked, relieved that Eunhyuk was calming down
Eunhyuk snorted.
"His parents put him in a hospital." He growled. "They neglected him, left him... it was horrible."
"But... he's your brother? Right?" Donghae asked, confused.
Eunhyuk looked away. "No. He's my best friend." He whispered, "We.... we just moved here, for the hospital, he needs the specialist and...." He trailed off
"What? But who looks after you?" Donghae exclaimed.
"Sungmin’s parents weren’t looking after him properly, so his brother was given custody. I didn’t want to be separated from him, and there’s the dance school here…. So I moved with them ‘cos I’m the only other person Min trusts enough to help him." Eunhyuk explained. "He’s getting worse and worse and, and, I'm the only one home with him at night. I mean, we have Mimi, he’s a day nurse, but I’m so tired. I'm drowning trying to be his caregiver at night."
“What about the brother? Can’t he help?”
"Sungjin’s had to go back the US for a month or two so that he can finish off his contracts there and transfer to work in Korea, so it’s just Sungmin, me and Mimi at the moment."
"Eunhyuk if you don't mind me asking, what… what is wrong with Sungmin?" Donghae asked softly, hoping that Eunhyuk would open up to him, let him help.
"He.... he's got a genetic condition." Eunhyuk started, "Icaraisus."
Donghae gasped. He'd only ever heard of Icaraisus on TV, seen photos of winged people on the internet. He'd never really thought about what had gone before.
"He'll get better though? Right?" He asked, remembering the sweet smile and gentle eyes of the other boy and feeling his stomach knot at the thought of how much pain he must be in.
"Eventually." Eunhyuk sighed, stretching his arms above the blankets. Donghae caught sight of the bruises and gently took the damaged hand in his own.
"What happened?" He asked.
"His painkillers wore off too soon." Eunhyuk murmured, "I tried to take his mind off it, reading to him, but he hurt so much. I had to call the Doctor out. He was holding my hand, waiting...." He trailed off
Donghae bit his lip, stoking his thumb over the bruises.
"Does it hurt?"
"No... not really." Eunhyuk sighed, his eyes fluttering. With that Eunhyuk fell into a deep sleep, and Donghae continued to stroke his hand and run a hand through his silky locks.
Eunhyuk woke up a couple of hours later for dinner and then after watching some TV with Donghae he fell into a deep sleep around 9 o’clock. Donghae decided to call it a night, fishing his phone out of his pocket he walked out of the hospital to call his mother to come and fetch him.
Next part here.
Author: Cassie and Tay ( lexilolober )
Pairing: EunHae (friendship) more to come
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Donghae is a normal teenaged boy. He loves to play sports, dance and sing but when a new boy joins his class life suddenly becomes a lot more complicated.
Disclaimer: SM have continued to foil my plans and thus SuJu are still not mine :(
Winged I - The Fall
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7 (end)
Winged II - The Ascension
Part 1 , Part 2, Part 3
The ambulance seemed to take an age before it reached the hospital and Donghae was squirming in his seat with impatience. When they finally arrived Eunhyuk was wheeled off in one direction and he was guided in another by a nurse. Eventually he was told to sit down and wait in a small, yellowish waiting room. He did as he was told, sitting with his head in his hands waiting impatiently for someone to tell him what was going on.
Hours seemed to pass, although he knew it was more like 20 minutes, and he had been joined by a nervous looking gentleman, a little girl clutching a rag doll, two elderly ladies and a young man with a pierced ear that hung, elongated, almost half way down his neck. He was so fascinated by the stretched hole in the man’s ear that he didn’t really notice when a new person arrived, until his voice broke through the silence.
"I'm looking for a Lee Hyukjae, the school called me and said he had been brought in here?" Donghae sat up quickly hearing Eunhyuk's name in a worried, slightly accented voice. Looking over to where a nurse was directing people to the appropriate waiting area he saw a young man standing behind a kid about his age in a pink wheelchair. Were they the ones asking about Eunhyuk? Donghae walked over.
"Are you here for Eunhyuk? You’re Eunhyuk's family?" He asked.
The young man turned to Donghae. "Yes and you would be?"
Donghae stuck out his hand, "I'm Lee Donghae, Eunhyuk's friend at school. I was there when it happened, I came with him in the ambulance."
"Ahh. Donghae, Donghae, I remember!" The young man said, broad smile getting even wider and Donghae wondered if it hurt to smile that wide. "I'm Zhoumi, but everyone calls me Mimi!" He introduced himself with a flourishing bow. Donghae giggled and glanced at the boy in the wheelchair.
The boy was pale and shivering despite being wrapped in warm clothes and a baby-pink blanket. He stared at the floor with a glazed, lost expression and Donghae was beginning to understand why Eunhyuk was so cagey about his family.
"Min, Min." Zhoumi called the boy gently, drawing a flutter of long eyelashes as the boy looked up, gazing around until his eyes fell on the taller man and he smiled softly.
"Min, say hi. This is Donghae, You know, the boy that's been looking after Eunhyukkie." Zhoumi encouraged.
"Hyukkie?" He whispered, his voice was soft, melodic and Donghae wondered what was wrong with him.
"No, Sungmin. This is Donghae, we'll see Eunhyuk in a few minutes." Zhoumi said gently, his accent making each word sound exotic and captivating. He knelt down beside the boy and began adjusting a blanket where it had slipped from his shoulder. Sungmin looked up and smiled at Donghae, who found himself smiling back gently.
"Hi Sungmin." He said, walking over and crouching to eye level, taking the boy's hand in his own.
Sungmin's eyes dropped to Donghae's hand, studying their joined digits intensely.
"Sorry he's a bit out of it. The doctor upped his painkillers so he's spaced." Zhoumi said with a sheepish smile and a shrug.
"I had only just given him his afternoon dose when we got the call. He's not usually so.... well..." He petted Sungmin's hair and Donghae could see the fondness behind the other man's somewhat forced smile.
Just then a doctor stepped into the waiting room. "The family of Lee Hyukjae?"
"Yes?" Zhoumi spoke up, still fiddling with Sungmin’s blankets.
"Hi, I'm Doctor Shim. Eunhyuk took a bit of a fall and hit hi head, he’ll be just fine but we’d like to keep him overnight for observation to make sure he doesn't have a concussion. He’s very tired, it looks like he’s overworked himself into exhaustion, he needs to rest up and drink lots of fluids, but he should be fine in a couple of days." The doctor said and a smile of relief graced Zhoumi's and Donghae's faces.
Zhoumi bent down to Sungmin, "Hear that Min?" he said stroking the drowsy boy’s shoulder affectionately, "Eunhyukkie will be just fine."
Sungmin’s eyes gained a little more awareness as he looked up and smiled again, relief showing on his face. Drowsily he spoke. "See Hyukkie?"
The Doctor smiled at Sungmin before addressing Zhoumi "Yes, yes, of course, just this way, he's awake and asking for a Donghae, but he'll be happy to see all of you."
"I'm Donghae." Donghae stated, for some reason feeling the need to introduce himself.
"Ah okay, head on back, he's in the 4th room down the hall." Dr. Shim said and then went off to another patient.
Zhoumi lead the way, pushing the pink wheelchair through the corridor until they reached the fourth door. “Could you?” He asked, indicating towards the door. Donghae was confused for a moment, before realising that he was asking him to open the door for them.
“Ah, yes, yes, no problem!” He exclaimed, hurrying around the chair. He entered first, holding the door open for the other two. “Hi Hyukkie! How’re you feeling?” He called, and held the door until everyone was inside before letting it close gently behind him.
“My head hurts.” Eunhyuk moaned. “Hey Min.”
Donghae watched as Eunhyuk’s face brightened to a smile when Sungmin reacted to his voice straight away with a tired smile of his own.
“How’s he been today?” Eunhyuk asked, looking up at Zhoumi, who, even sitting, was far too tall for Donghae’s liking. He knew all too well it was just jealousy.
“On and off. The painkillers have him wiped out.” Zhoumi said, “He’s cold all the time, the apartment is like a furnace. I’ll look it up under side effects, but it could just be because he’s burning more fuel than he’s taking in.”
Donghae felt uncomfortable, certain that he wasn’t supposed to be intruding on this conversation and at the same time desperately wanting to be allowed in.
“Can you cover for me tonight? I’ll make sure that Sungjin pays you overtime… but, they want me to stay in and….”
“Of course I will. Don’t be silly. Hey, Min, hear that? Hykkie’s gonna let us have a slumber party. We’ll get movies and popcorn. What’s you favourite ice-cream?”
“Stawb’ry.” Sungmin mumbled sleepily.
“Then strawberry ice-cream we will have.” Zhoumi announced.
“Really? You’re sure you don’t mind?”
“Of course not!” Zhoumi responded, taking Eunhyuk’s hand in his own. “You just get better. I’ll schedule in an extra day visit from Eeteuk tomorrow so I can go home and feed the cat.”
“You’re an Angel Mimi!” Eunhyuk sighed.
“Angel Teuk.” Sungmin added, his eyes brightening.
“No, Min, not today. Tomorrow, you can see Angel Teuk tomorrow.” Eunhyuk said softly, reaching out to brush a hand over Sungmin’s porcelain cheek.
Donghae was touched by the gesture, so loving and gentle, there was something so tender about the moment that was tempted to slip out, wondering if they would notice he was gone. He could always come back later.
“Minnie? Did Zhoumi introduce you to Donghae?” Eunhyuk asked.
Sungmin nodded and smiled sleepily, he was clearly struggling to keep his eyes open and Donghae noticed that his shivering had worsened.
“Ah, Hyuk, I think I’m going to have to take this little fella home.”
"Yeah get him home and warmed up Mimi, his shaking’s getting worse and he's exhausted. Thank you so much for helping out Mimi. Bye Min." Eunhyuk finished as Zhoumi rummaged in a bag suspended from the back of the wheelchair and withdrew a pink, knitted hat which he promptly pulled down over Sungmin’s head.
"Bye Hyukkie. Nice to finally meet you Donghae!" Zhoumi replied and left cheerfully with Sungmin.
The room was quiet without Zhoumi’s cheery presence and Donghae took a deep breath, trying to think through his new found understanding about Eunhyuk’s situation.
Eunhyuk rolled over and the creak of the bed drew his attention back to the moment.
"I'll hangout with you for a while if you like Hyukkie?" Donghae offered tentatively, still trying to decide if he should ask about Sungmin.
"Yeah, that sounds good, thanks for staying with me." Eunhyuk said with a tired smile.
"Once you've gotten some rest Hyukkie if your up to it, I would love for you to explain to me why you've gotten yourself to this point of exhaustion, especially now that I've seen Sungmin...” He trailed off, unsure of exactly how to phrase his question. “He needs a lot of care doesn’t he." Donghae said softly.
Eunhyuk's eyes filled with tears and he turned away from Donghae.
"I....He..." Eunhyuk whispered, "He doesn't deserve this." he said, his voice barely more than a whisper, "He's a good person. He's so gentle and sweet and caring and I hate to see him like this."
Eunhyuk's tears started to fall and Donghae wanted to hug him, wasn't sure if he should.
"Sometimes he hurts so bad he cries all night, he tries to stay quiet, but I know. I always know and he's so sorry..."
Eunhyuk sniffed, Donghae gave in and he wrapped his arms around Eunhyuk's shaking shoulders as he sobbed.
"I'm so tired Hae. I can't do this. I want to, but I can't... I can't do that to him. Not again, he can't go through that again...."
Eunhyuk's words were mumbled and muffled through Donghae's shirt as he pulled the other closer, stroking his hair in soothing strokes.
"I don't understand Eunhyuk." He whispered, "But maybe if you tell me I could help you?"
"He's so sick Hae." Eunhyuk whispered. "I just want to help him."
"What about your parents? Can't they help?" Donghae asked, relieved that Eunhyuk was calming down
Eunhyuk snorted.
"His parents put him in a hospital." He growled. "They neglected him, left him... it was horrible."
"But... he's your brother? Right?" Donghae asked, confused.
Eunhyuk looked away. "No. He's my best friend." He whispered, "We.... we just moved here, for the hospital, he needs the specialist and...." He trailed off
"What? But who looks after you?" Donghae exclaimed.
"Sungmin’s parents weren’t looking after him properly, so his brother was given custody. I didn’t want to be separated from him, and there’s the dance school here…. So I moved with them ‘cos I’m the only other person Min trusts enough to help him." Eunhyuk explained. "He’s getting worse and worse and, and, I'm the only one home with him at night. I mean, we have Mimi, he’s a day nurse, but I’m so tired. I'm drowning trying to be his caregiver at night."
“What about the brother? Can’t he help?”
"Sungjin’s had to go back the US for a month or two so that he can finish off his contracts there and transfer to work in Korea, so it’s just Sungmin, me and Mimi at the moment."
"Eunhyuk if you don't mind me asking, what… what is wrong with Sungmin?" Donghae asked softly, hoping that Eunhyuk would open up to him, let him help.
"He.... he's got a genetic condition." Eunhyuk started, "Icaraisus."
Donghae gasped. He'd only ever heard of Icaraisus on TV, seen photos of winged people on the internet. He'd never really thought about what had gone before.
"He'll get better though? Right?" He asked, remembering the sweet smile and gentle eyes of the other boy and feeling his stomach knot at the thought of how much pain he must be in.
"Eventually." Eunhyuk sighed, stretching his arms above the blankets. Donghae caught sight of the bruises and gently took the damaged hand in his own.
"What happened?" He asked.
"His painkillers wore off too soon." Eunhyuk murmured, "I tried to take his mind off it, reading to him, but he hurt so much. I had to call the Doctor out. He was holding my hand, waiting...." He trailed off
Donghae bit his lip, stoking his thumb over the bruises.
"Does it hurt?"
"No... not really." Eunhyuk sighed, his eyes fluttering. With that Eunhyuk fell into a deep sleep, and Donghae continued to stroke his hand and run a hand through his silky locks.
Eunhyuk woke up a couple of hours later for dinner and then after watching some TV with Donghae he fell into a deep sleep around 9 o’clock. Donghae decided to call it a night, fishing his phone out of his pocket he walked out of the hospital to call his mother to come and fetch him.
Next part here.