Fic: Family Arc II - 14
Title: Family Arc II - 14
Author: vic_sim
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot. I apologise for any incorrect portrayal of people or any inaccurate details mentioned in my story.
Pairing: None at the moment.
Category: Angst
Rating: NC-16 (just to be safe)
Summary: The discovery
Arc I Arc II
Kibum rushed in, stepping over Kyuhyun’s body. He gently flipped Kyuhyun’s body such that his face was facing the ceiling with the help of Ryeowook. Kibum cradled Kyuhyun’s head in his lap, patting his face gently, flinching at the heat that was emitting from Kyuhyun’s face.
“Kyuhyunnie. Kyuhyunnie. Answer me.”
Ryeowook stared on anxiously, waiting for any reaction from Kyuhyun.
Hankyung appeared at the door. He saw Kyuhyun being cradled by Kibum.
“Kyuhyun!”
He rushed in, bending down next to Ryeowook.
“How is he?”
Kibum shook his head. “He’s not reacting.” Kibum said, his voice trembling. He looked back down and continued in his efforts to induce any reaction from Kyuhyun. Anything was better than him lying so still.
Hankyung let his hand fall to the floor. His hand touched something wet and sticky. Hankyung looked down and saw red. Blood. It was a pool of blood with some smudges at the side. Hankyung’s eyes travelled across Kyuhyun’s body, trying to spot where the blood was coming from. There!
Immediately, Hankyung reached forward and gently took Kyuhyun’s hand from the other side and pulled across Kyuhyun’s body. There were cuts all over the hand, especially the knuckles. Hankyung looked around for anything that could stench the bleeding.
“Ryeowook, grab that towel on the rack and pass it to me. Then go search for the first aid box. We need to stop the bleeding quickly.”
Ryeowook stood up and pulled the white towel down, passing it to Hankyung. Ryeowook rushed out of the toilet, only to crash into his hyungs who were rushing into the room. Ryeowook prepared for the impact as he fell backwards. But it never came.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eeteuk, Heechul, Kangin, Siwon, Yesung and Shindong were the first to reach the room. All had worried looks on their faces. As they dashed into the room, Yesung being the first one crashed into Ryeowook. Reacting quickly, Yesung reached out to grab one of Ryeowook’s flaying arms, pulling Ryeowook into his arms.
“Wookie, are you okay?” Eeteuk asked from behind Yesung. Ryeowook nodded, removing himself from Yesung’s arm. Once he was free, Ryeowook asked without delay.
“Anyone knows where the first aid box is?”
First aid box? Why does he need one? What happened? Yesung was downright confused.
“I saw it downstairs at the kitchen.” Siwon said. “I’ll go get it.”
Ryeowook nodded and turned back to enter the toilet. The rest hurried after him, feeling coldness griping their heart as the frown on Ryeowook’s face became more pronounced.
“Hyung, Siwon went to get the first aid box.”
Hankyung nodded without looking up.
He had wrapped the towel around Kyuhyun’s hand, applying pressure in his attempt to stop the bleeding. Kibum stared silently as the towel slowly soaked up the blood, turning the white towel red. Kibum felt nauseous, knowing that the blood was Kyuhyun’s. He looked down at Kyuhyun’s face, refusing to see the bleeding. He was really troubled by the hotness he felt under his hand. His frown deepened as he listened to the rasping breaths that Kyuhyun was taking. It looked like it was hard for Kyuhyun to breath.
Hankyung applied more pressure when the bleeding didn’t seem to stop. It was unusual for so much blood to be coming out of such small wounds. Is he haemophilic? Hankyung was flustered. He would not know what to do if Kyuhyun was a bleeder. All he could do now was try all he can to stop the bleeding.
Ryeowook quickly grabbed another towel and passed it to Hankyung. The white towel had become saturated with blood. Hankyung wordlessly passed the towel back to Ryeowook who threw it to one side, not wanting to touch it.
Eeteuk, Heechul, Kangin, Yesung and Shindong froze as they saw the sight.
Is that blood at his hand? Did he…? Eeteuk shook himself out of those thoughts.
“Get him off the floor. Kangin, bring him to the bed.” Eeteuk immediately took charge, after snapping out of his shock of seeing Kyuhyun on the floor.
Eeteuk’s voice got Kangin moving. He bent down next to Kyuhyun and gently lifted him up, bridal style. He frowned as he could feel Kyuhyun’s bones through his shirt. He should not be this thin.
Heechul had walked up to Kibum in front of Kangin and tenderly removed his grip on Kyuhyun. Kibum’s hands fell limply to the side as he watched. Then without warning, Kibum turned and buried his face in Heechul’s chest, his hands twisted around Heechul’s shirt. Heechul wrapped his arms around Kibum, understanding the fear Kibum harboured in him. Heechul could feel Kibum shaking, but Kibum refused to cry. But one rebellious tear rolled down his face.
Eeteuk followed next to Kangin, taking over Hankyung in trying to staunch the blood flow. It did seem to be slowing down, so Hankyung relinquished his job.
Shindong had froze behind Yesung. He was the last one to enter the toilet. It was rather amazing at how big the toilet was that it could fit all of them in it. As he looked into the toilet, Shindong was immobilised after letting out a small gasp. Kyuhyun was lying in Kibum’s lap, unmoving.
Kyuhyun was on Shindong’s lap, gasping hard for air.
“Kyuhyun!” Shindong’s voice echoed as Kyuhyun fell limp in his lap, not responding the pats. “Kyuhyun!”
Shindong could feel the same helplessness curling itself around his heart, the fear that Kyuhyun would never wake after losing consciousness. He wanted to tear his eyes away from the scene, but he was unable to.
Yesung felt a spike of fear in his heart when he saw Kyuhyun and the blood. He wanted to take a step forward closer to Kyuhyun, but did not. He let Eeteuk-hyung take charge for Yesung did not know what he could do. He heard the soft gasp behind him, and turned. Shindong’s face had turned white and tremors went through his body. Yesung asked, “Shindong, are you okay?” He took a step closer to Shindong.
Shindong slowly nodded his head with hesitation. That told Yesung that he was not fine. Yesung grabbed Shindong by his arm and led him out the door. One was not to block the doorway, and two was to bring Shindong to a corner, in case he broke down. Yesung didn’t know what was wrong with Shindong.
Shindong followed Yesung’s lead, not registering anything in his head as the memories of that accident filtered through his mind. Shindong believed that he was over the incident, only to have the memories brought back in full force.
“Shindong?” Yesung held Shindong by the shoulders, forcing Shindong to look up at him.
Yesung was taken aback by the terror and vulnerable look in his eyes. But Yesung knew that those were also reflected in his. “Shindong, what’s wrong?”
“It’s like that night. That night when I held Kyu in my lap, trying to wake him up. It’s exactly the same.” Shindong whispered, looking back to the ground, wishing that he could bury himself in the ground.
Yesung was unsure. He would have loved to be able to tell Shindong that it was nothing like that accident, that Kyuhyun was fine. Yet, the words refused to leave his mouth. He didn’t want to give false hope to Shindong. He knew how much it hurts for someone to promise that, but in the end never fulfilled the promise. Yesung just brought Shindong closer to him, allowing Shindong to lean into him.
Heechul tried to gently guide Kibum out of the toilet, not wanting to remain in an area with so much blood. Kibum refused to take his head out of Heechul’s chest. He was afraid that if he did so he would see Kyuhyun lying in his own pool of blood. Kibum could not get that image out of his mind. No matter how Heechul tried to pry Kibum’s hand off his shirt, Kibum refused to let go.
“Kibum, let’s get out of the toilet, k?” Kibum nodded, but refused to relent his hold on Heechul’s shirt. Heechul sighed, but he could not fault Kibum for acting like a child now. Heechul lifted Kibum off the ground, and made his way out of the toilet.
Ryeowook pulled Hankyung up and pushed him towards the basin. Hankyung’s mind was still absorbed in his attempts to stop the blood flow, thinking about what else he could do, that he merely walked towards the basin with Ryeowook’s help. Ryeowook turned on the tap, before placing Hankyung’s bloodied hands under the water. Ryeowook soothingly washed away any traces of Kyuhyun’s blood on Hankyung’s hands, exposing the smooth tanned hand that was covered beforehand.
Hankyung came out of his thoughts when he felt water and something warm rubbed against his hands. Alertness slowly reappeared in his eyes as Hankyung looked at Ryeowook who was intently washing his hands. Hankyung let his eyes drift from the basin up as he enjoyed the thorough cleaning of his hands.
The mirror was cracked. There was a circular break which indicated the point of impact with jagged lines spreading out to the whole mirror. Blood stains were also present in the mirror. Hankyung withdrew his hand from the tap and clenched it into a fist. Ryeowook paused in his washing and looked at Hankyung with a blur look. He saw Hankyung drew his fist back and threw it towards the mirror.
“Hyung!” Ryeowook managed to exclaim softly, jolting in surprise at Hankyung’s action.
Hankyung stopped his fist just before hitting the mirror. His fist was in the middle of the circular breaks. He now knew for sure that it was Kyuhyun who broke the mirror. Why did he do that?
“Hyung?” Ryeowook pushed Hankyung’s hand away from the mirror, afraid that he might really smash the mirror the next time.
Hankyung turned his head to Ryeowook. “Sorry, Wookie. I just wanted to be sure.”
“Be sure about what?”
Hankyung merely pointed to the mirror. Ryeowook let his eyes travel to what Hankyung was pointing to.
Why didn’t I notice it just now? Ryeowook gaped in shock at the damage the mirror sustained. He also came to the same conclusion - Kyuhyun broke the mirror.
Hankyung reached for the tap and turned it off. He wiped his hands dry on his shirt before prodding Ryeowook out the toilet. He didn’t want to be in the smell of blood any longer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sungmin, Donghae and Eunhyuk were dashing up the stairs when they met Siwon halfway up.
“Siwonnie! Where are you going?” Eunhyuk paused and asked.
Siwon did not bother slowing down as he replied. “The first aid kit in the kitchen.”
Sungmin and Donghae also halted. First aid kit? They shared a confused look before resuming their dash.
They went straight to Kyuhyun’s room. They saw Kangin carrying Kyuhyun out of the bathroom. Sungmin stopped abruptly, causing the two to brake suddenly. Sungmin and Donghae rushed to the bed to remove the things left on the bed - the box that Mrs Kang gave and a card addressed to Kyuhyun. Donghae arranged the pillow before backing up to let Kangin put Kyuhyun down. Eeteuk let go of the towel for a moment to let Kangin place Kyuhyun on the bed. After which, Eeteuk immediately resumed his spot on the right of Kyuhyun. Sungmin winced as he listened to the harsh breathing of Kyuhyun. It sounded as if there was a lot of phlegm in his lungs. Eeteuk glanced at the sweat on Kyuhyun’s forehead, worried.
“He’s very warm, Hyung. I’ll call for the doctor.” Kangin said, reaching for his cell phone as he walked to out of the room. Eeteuk nodded, not shifting his glance from Kyuhyun. Even unconscious, Kyuhyun’s face seemed to scrunch up in pain.
“What happened to his hand Hyung?” Sungmin asked, horrified at the blood that the towel was rapidly soaking up.
Eeteuk shrugged his shoulders.
Eunhyuk stopped when he caught sight of Kyuhyun in Kangin’s arms. The pain and lifelessness in Kyuhyun’s face brought him back to the accident. Eunhyuk remembered staring from afar at Kyuhyun, who was lying motionlessly on the ground. He remembered not being able to do anything but try to comfort Eeteuk. He remembered the fear when he was waiting outside the operating theatre. He remembered promising himself that he would not see Kyuhyun like this again. The promise was broken barely a few months after it was made. Eunhyuk took a step back. No, this is not real. It’s all my imagination. Another step back. And another. Then Eunhyuk spun around and darted out the room, ignoring Siwon’s call for him.
“Eunhyuk-hyung!”
The shout caused everyone in the room to turn their heads to the door, in time to see Eunhyuk running off. Donghae immediately took off after him.
Yesung and Shindong snapped their heads up. Shindong had calmed down and was now staring anxiously at Kyuhyun. Yesung kept his arms around Shindong, periodically glancing at Kyuhyun and Shindong.
Ryeowook and Hankyung had just came out of the toilet when they saw Eunhyuk running out of the room. They were puzzled.
Kibum finally looked up from his position in Heechul’s arms, worry visible in his eyes. He moved to follow, but Heechul held him back. Heechul shook his head, indicating that Donghae would handle it. Kibum nodded, trusting Heechul. He inched towards Kyuhyun, who looked even paler than when they first found him. Kibum reached out a hand hesitantly to stroke Kyuhyun’s head. It feels even warmer.
Siwon was coming back upstairs with the first aid box when he saw Eunhyuk running out the room. He shouted, but Eunhyuk ignored him. Siwon entered the room only to have Donghae running past him. He brought the first aid box to Eeteuk who looked at him thankfully. Sungmin took the box from him and begun to take out the antibiotics.
“The doctor will be reaching here in ten minutes.” Kangin walked back into the room. He was startled in the middle of his conversation when he saw Eunhyuk and then Donghae running out of the room. Kangin had spotted the fright in Eunhyuk’s face, wondering what had happened. No one answered him as they did not know the answer, though Shindong could guess the reason. Sungmin continued with his cleaning of the cuts on Kyuhyun’s hand. He wrapped the bandage tightly around Kyuhyun’s hand to stop the bleeding. It was the best he could do before the doctor came.
Heechul bent down to pick up the blanket and spotted the phone on the floor. He passed the blanket to Kibum to drape it over Kyuhyun, who seemed to be shivering before picking up the phone.
“So this was what happened to his phone.” Heechul raised his hands to show everyone the phone. He wondered what had happened to cause Kyuhyun to remove the battery from the phone.
“How’s his hand?” Eeteuk asked Sungmin who just finished bandaging. Sungmin shook his hand.
“It doesn’t look very serious. It’s just that the wounds don’t seem to stop bleeding.”
“Do you know how Kyuhyun injured his hand?” Eeteuk never voiced out his question but everyone knew what he was asking. After all it was the same thought that ran through all their minds when they saw the blood.
Did he cut himself?
Hankyung cut in immediately. “No. He did not do that. He punched the mirror.” Hankyung’s voice was angry but firm. He couldn’t help but be infuriated by the fact that all of them immediately assumed such a thing from Kyuhyun. Hankyung was also upset with himself for thinking that. But it was not surprising for them to think in such a way seeing how the problems kept piling up on Kyuhyun. Hankyung believed he would have collapsed from all the stress a long time ago.
You should have more faith in him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Donghae chased Eunhyuk down the stairs. “Eunhyuk!”
Eunhyuk ignored his shouts and continued to run. “Hyukjae! Stop! Hyukjae!”
Eunhyuk ran out to the front yard. He would have continued running if he had not stumbled and fall in the middle of the yard onto the grass. Eunhyuk pushed himself off the grass, but remained kneeling on the grass. Donghae caught up with him, braking in front of him.
“Hyukjae! Are you alright?” Donghae placed his hands on Eunhyuk’s shoulder and scanned up and down Eunhyuk’s body, making sure that he was not injured when he fell. Donghae gave a sigh of relief when he could not find any visible injury on Eunhyuk.
“Hyukjae, why did you run?” Donghae kneeled down in front of Eunhyuk.
Eunhyuk mumbled to himself. “It’s not true. It’s not true. It’s not true.”
“What’s not true?”
“It’s not true. Kyuhyun is not lying motionlessly in Youngwoon’s arms. It’s just my imagination. Hae, you didn’t see it right? Tell me I imagined it. Tell me.” Eunhyuk grasped Donghae’s hands.
“Hyung!” Donghae extracted his hands from Eunhyuk’s grasp and grabbed Eunhyuk by the shoulders and shook him.
“Hyung. It’s true. It’s not your imagination.”
“No. I promised myself that I’ll never see Kyuhyun like that again. I did. I don’t want to feel the helplessness again.”
Donghae didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know how to comfort Eunhyuk.
“Hyukjae, remember when I told you about me and Sungmin’s meeting with Kyu’s best friend’s brother? I also felt helpless then. I too didn’t know what was happening. Just like now. You’re not alone. None of us want to see Kyu like that. But I also don’t want to see you like this. We will get through this together and make sure that we never feel that way again.” Donghae said passionately.
Eunhyuk stared at Donghae, wondering if he should believe him. Actually all Eunhyuk wanted was to know that he was not alone in his feelings. All the rest always looked so strong, that Eunhyuk felt ashamed that he was so weak. Eunhyuk slowly nodded, agreeing with Donghae.
“Don’t think too much, hyung. Let’s just concentrate on now, not the past, not the future.” Donghae planted a kiss on Eunhyuk’s forehead before pulling Eunhyuk up. Eunhyuk smiled slightly at that gesture, feeling the love and concern. The despair was still there but it had lessened to a manageable level. As the two stood and headed back to Kyuhyun, the door bell rang.
“It must be the doctor.” Donghae said and ran to let the doctor in. The doctor was someone familiar to them. He always treated Super Junior whenever one of them was sick. He was also their doctor for their annual check-up. The two quickly directed the doctor to Kyuhyun’s room.
The rest all backed away as the doctor approached Kyuhyun. They waited anxiously for the doctor to finish his diagnosis. Finally the doctor turned towards them.
“Kyuhyun-sshi has contracted a flu virus. It’s fortunate that you caught it today, if not it might have worsened to pneumonia. And that would not be good considering that his lungs are still a bit weak from the accident. And he had fainted in a combination of the illness and exhaustion. I don’t know what he has been doing the past week, but he has not been eating or sleeping enough. I want you all to keep an eye on that. He’s running a fever now. If it does not subside in 12 hours, call me.”
“Doctor, what about his hand injury?”
“One of you had done a good job at staunching the bleeding. You just need to change the bandage every five hours to apply the antiseptic to ensure that the wound would not be infected. An infection is the worst thing that could happen now.”
Eeteuk nodded, listening and memorising every word that the doctor said. He would make sure that every step was carried out as instructed.
“I need to warn all of you to make sure that Kyuhyun-sshi does not get any open injuries. If he does, try to stop the bleeding immediately. He is a mild haemophilic, meaning that his blood does not clot properly. The clotting agent is present, but in a much smaller amount as compared to us. And it’s best that he does not have any major surgery anytime soon as his body may not be able to take it as he is still recovering from the previous surgery.”
They all nodded seriously, hanging to every word the doctor said. They wanted to take good care of Kyuhyun.
“I’ll prescribe some medicine for him - antibiotics and painkillers. Make sure that he finishes the full dosage.” The doctor started to take out some medicine from his medical bag.
“Doctor, can we move him? We want to bring him back to our dorm.” Kibum asked. He wanted Kyuhyun near to them where they could see him and touch him and take care of him. And not leave him alone in this dreadful house where nobody notices that he was ill. He didn’t care if any of the rest didn’t agree with his decision. By hook or by crook, Kyuhyun was going home with him today. Kibum didn’t have to worry about any protest. Everyone was against leaving Kyuhyun in an empty house, with someone who did not recognise the treasure in front of her.
“You can as long as it is not very long journey. It’s less than one hour to your dorm from here right?” Receiving nods as answers, the doctor continued. “Alright, you can bring him back. Just make sure that he’s bundled up as it can get rather cold at night. And I would suggest that you change his clothes and wipe dry the sweat before bringing him to the van. It would not do him good to be exposed to the wind with his flu. I supposed I don’t need to remind you, but just don’t take care of him if you feel that you are falling sick. He can easily contract any illness, especially when his immune system is weakened by the flu virus.”
Hankyung nodded, making sure to take care of everyone so that they could all care for Kyuhyun. Heechul volunteered to send the doctor out while the rest began packing the things they believed Kyuhyun needed - clothes, phone, the box, elephant, and blanket. Kibum, Hankyung and Eeteuk wiped the sweat that covered Kyuhyun’s body, so that he did not catch a cold from the evaporating sweat. They also help Kyuhyun change out of his sweat-soaked shirt and pants. Throughout the whole thing, Kyuhyun never reacted. The only comfort was that Kyuhyun was sleeping deeply and not in a coma. Once they were done packing - there weren’t much to pack anyway, Hankyung slowly lifted Kyuhyun into his arms, frowning at the fact that Kyuhyun was even skinnier than the last time he had carried him. He vowed to cook more to feed Kyuhyun. Kibum and Eeteuk hovered around Hankyung, making sure that Kyuhyun would not fall or that Hankyung would make it safely down the stairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heechul led the doctor to the door but stopped the doctor from leaving.
“Doctor, can you tell me what this medicine is?” Heechul took out the packet from his pocket. He wanted to make sure that it was what he thought it was.
“It’s normal flu medicine. Why?”
“Nothing. Thank you, Doctor, for your help. We really appreciate it.” Heechul bowed.
“It’s nothing. Just make sure you take care of him alright? I want to see a better and happier Kyuhyun-sshi the next time round.” The doctor patted Heechul on the shoulder before leaving.
Heechul stared at the packet of medicine after the doctor left. Kyuhyun really contracted the flu from the mother. How come she never noticed anything at all? Any syndromes? Where is she anyway? Heechul could not believe the mother. She was the 21st century first class idiot who needed to get her eyes checked for missing such a gigantic piece of jewel in front of her.
We will take care of him.
Heechul waited at the door for the rest to come home. They were finally heading home with everyone in the family, though it would be best if Kyuhyun was going home willingly - not that he would not be willing - instead of being carried home like this. We’ll prepare another welcome back party for him. He deserves it.
They all piled into the two vans, with Kyuhyun lying between Eeteuk and Kibum with a jacket draped over him. Eeteuk was holding a cold pack against Kyuhyun’s forehead. As the van began its motion home, Kibum stared at Kyuhyun.
You’re finally going to be home. We will take care of you. I promise.
yay!i'm done with this chapter. it was a hard time writing it. with all the description. i hope i got the medical facts correct. i think the chapter seemed a bit rushed. so if there are any confusion or error please forgive me. -bows-
hope you enjoy the chapter!
Author: vic_sim
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot. I apologise for any incorrect portrayal of people or any inaccurate details mentioned in my story.
Pairing: None at the moment.
Category: Angst
Rating: NC-16 (just to be safe)
Summary: The discovery
Arc I Arc II
Kibum rushed in, stepping over Kyuhyun’s body. He gently flipped Kyuhyun’s body such that his face was facing the ceiling with the help of Ryeowook. Kibum cradled Kyuhyun’s head in his lap, patting his face gently, flinching at the heat that was emitting from Kyuhyun’s face.
“Kyuhyunnie. Kyuhyunnie. Answer me.”
Ryeowook stared on anxiously, waiting for any reaction from Kyuhyun.
Hankyung appeared at the door. He saw Kyuhyun being cradled by Kibum.
“Kyuhyun!”
He rushed in, bending down next to Ryeowook.
“How is he?”
Kibum shook his head. “He’s not reacting.” Kibum said, his voice trembling. He looked back down and continued in his efforts to induce any reaction from Kyuhyun. Anything was better than him lying so still.
Hankyung let his hand fall to the floor. His hand touched something wet and sticky. Hankyung looked down and saw red. Blood. It was a pool of blood with some smudges at the side. Hankyung’s eyes travelled across Kyuhyun’s body, trying to spot where the blood was coming from. There!
Immediately, Hankyung reached forward and gently took Kyuhyun’s hand from the other side and pulled across Kyuhyun’s body. There were cuts all over the hand, especially the knuckles. Hankyung looked around for anything that could stench the bleeding.
“Ryeowook, grab that towel on the rack and pass it to me. Then go search for the first aid box. We need to stop the bleeding quickly.”
Ryeowook stood up and pulled the white towel down, passing it to Hankyung. Ryeowook rushed out of the toilet, only to crash into his hyungs who were rushing into the room. Ryeowook prepared for the impact as he fell backwards. But it never came.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eeteuk, Heechul, Kangin, Siwon, Yesung and Shindong were the first to reach the room. All had worried looks on their faces. As they dashed into the room, Yesung being the first one crashed into Ryeowook. Reacting quickly, Yesung reached out to grab one of Ryeowook’s flaying arms, pulling Ryeowook into his arms.
“Wookie, are you okay?” Eeteuk asked from behind Yesung. Ryeowook nodded, removing himself from Yesung’s arm. Once he was free, Ryeowook asked without delay.
“Anyone knows where the first aid box is?”
First aid box? Why does he need one? What happened? Yesung was downright confused.
“I saw it downstairs at the kitchen.” Siwon said. “I’ll go get it.”
Ryeowook nodded and turned back to enter the toilet. The rest hurried after him, feeling coldness griping their heart as the frown on Ryeowook’s face became more pronounced.
“Hyung, Siwon went to get the first aid box.”
Hankyung nodded without looking up.
He had wrapped the towel around Kyuhyun’s hand, applying pressure in his attempt to stop the bleeding. Kibum stared silently as the towel slowly soaked up the blood, turning the white towel red. Kibum felt nauseous, knowing that the blood was Kyuhyun’s. He looked down at Kyuhyun’s face, refusing to see the bleeding. He was really troubled by the hotness he felt under his hand. His frown deepened as he listened to the rasping breaths that Kyuhyun was taking. It looked like it was hard for Kyuhyun to breath.
Hankyung applied more pressure when the bleeding didn’t seem to stop. It was unusual for so much blood to be coming out of such small wounds. Is he haemophilic? Hankyung was flustered. He would not know what to do if Kyuhyun was a bleeder. All he could do now was try all he can to stop the bleeding.
Ryeowook quickly grabbed another towel and passed it to Hankyung. The white towel had become saturated with blood. Hankyung wordlessly passed the towel back to Ryeowook who threw it to one side, not wanting to touch it.
Eeteuk, Heechul, Kangin, Yesung and Shindong froze as they saw the sight.
Is that blood at his hand? Did he…? Eeteuk shook himself out of those thoughts.
“Get him off the floor. Kangin, bring him to the bed.” Eeteuk immediately took charge, after snapping out of his shock of seeing Kyuhyun on the floor.
Eeteuk’s voice got Kangin moving. He bent down next to Kyuhyun and gently lifted him up, bridal style. He frowned as he could feel Kyuhyun’s bones through his shirt. He should not be this thin.
Heechul had walked up to Kibum in front of Kangin and tenderly removed his grip on Kyuhyun. Kibum’s hands fell limply to the side as he watched. Then without warning, Kibum turned and buried his face in Heechul’s chest, his hands twisted around Heechul’s shirt. Heechul wrapped his arms around Kibum, understanding the fear Kibum harboured in him. Heechul could feel Kibum shaking, but Kibum refused to cry. But one rebellious tear rolled down his face.
Eeteuk followed next to Kangin, taking over Hankyung in trying to staunch the blood flow. It did seem to be slowing down, so Hankyung relinquished his job.
Shindong had froze behind Yesung. He was the last one to enter the toilet. It was rather amazing at how big the toilet was that it could fit all of them in it. As he looked into the toilet, Shindong was immobilised after letting out a small gasp. Kyuhyun was lying in Kibum’s lap, unmoving.
Kyuhyun was on Shindong’s lap, gasping hard for air.
“Kyuhyun!” Shindong’s voice echoed as Kyuhyun fell limp in his lap, not responding the pats. “Kyuhyun!”
Shindong could feel the same helplessness curling itself around his heart, the fear that Kyuhyun would never wake after losing consciousness. He wanted to tear his eyes away from the scene, but he was unable to.
Yesung felt a spike of fear in his heart when he saw Kyuhyun and the blood. He wanted to take a step forward closer to Kyuhyun, but did not. He let Eeteuk-hyung take charge for Yesung did not know what he could do. He heard the soft gasp behind him, and turned. Shindong’s face had turned white and tremors went through his body. Yesung asked, “Shindong, are you okay?” He took a step closer to Shindong.
Shindong slowly nodded his head with hesitation. That told Yesung that he was not fine. Yesung grabbed Shindong by his arm and led him out the door. One was not to block the doorway, and two was to bring Shindong to a corner, in case he broke down. Yesung didn’t know what was wrong with Shindong.
Shindong followed Yesung’s lead, not registering anything in his head as the memories of that accident filtered through his mind. Shindong believed that he was over the incident, only to have the memories brought back in full force.
“Shindong?” Yesung held Shindong by the shoulders, forcing Shindong to look up at him.
Yesung was taken aback by the terror and vulnerable look in his eyes. But Yesung knew that those were also reflected in his. “Shindong, what’s wrong?”
“It’s like that night. That night when I held Kyu in my lap, trying to wake him up. It’s exactly the same.” Shindong whispered, looking back to the ground, wishing that he could bury himself in the ground.
Yesung was unsure. He would have loved to be able to tell Shindong that it was nothing like that accident, that Kyuhyun was fine. Yet, the words refused to leave his mouth. He didn’t want to give false hope to Shindong. He knew how much it hurts for someone to promise that, but in the end never fulfilled the promise. Yesung just brought Shindong closer to him, allowing Shindong to lean into him.
Heechul tried to gently guide Kibum out of the toilet, not wanting to remain in an area with so much blood. Kibum refused to take his head out of Heechul’s chest. He was afraid that if he did so he would see Kyuhyun lying in his own pool of blood. Kibum could not get that image out of his mind. No matter how Heechul tried to pry Kibum’s hand off his shirt, Kibum refused to let go.
“Kibum, let’s get out of the toilet, k?” Kibum nodded, but refused to relent his hold on Heechul’s shirt. Heechul sighed, but he could not fault Kibum for acting like a child now. Heechul lifted Kibum off the ground, and made his way out of the toilet.
Ryeowook pulled Hankyung up and pushed him towards the basin. Hankyung’s mind was still absorbed in his attempts to stop the blood flow, thinking about what else he could do, that he merely walked towards the basin with Ryeowook’s help. Ryeowook turned on the tap, before placing Hankyung’s bloodied hands under the water. Ryeowook soothingly washed away any traces of Kyuhyun’s blood on Hankyung’s hands, exposing the smooth tanned hand that was covered beforehand.
Hankyung came out of his thoughts when he felt water and something warm rubbed against his hands. Alertness slowly reappeared in his eyes as Hankyung looked at Ryeowook who was intently washing his hands. Hankyung let his eyes drift from the basin up as he enjoyed the thorough cleaning of his hands.
The mirror was cracked. There was a circular break which indicated the point of impact with jagged lines spreading out to the whole mirror. Blood stains were also present in the mirror. Hankyung withdrew his hand from the tap and clenched it into a fist. Ryeowook paused in his washing and looked at Hankyung with a blur look. He saw Hankyung drew his fist back and threw it towards the mirror.
“Hyung!” Ryeowook managed to exclaim softly, jolting in surprise at Hankyung’s action.
Hankyung stopped his fist just before hitting the mirror. His fist was in the middle of the circular breaks. He now knew for sure that it was Kyuhyun who broke the mirror. Why did he do that?
“Hyung?” Ryeowook pushed Hankyung’s hand away from the mirror, afraid that he might really smash the mirror the next time.
Hankyung turned his head to Ryeowook. “Sorry, Wookie. I just wanted to be sure.”
“Be sure about what?”
Hankyung merely pointed to the mirror. Ryeowook let his eyes travel to what Hankyung was pointing to.
Why didn’t I notice it just now? Ryeowook gaped in shock at the damage the mirror sustained. He also came to the same conclusion - Kyuhyun broke the mirror.
Hankyung reached for the tap and turned it off. He wiped his hands dry on his shirt before prodding Ryeowook out the toilet. He didn’t want to be in the smell of blood any longer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sungmin, Donghae and Eunhyuk were dashing up the stairs when they met Siwon halfway up.
“Siwonnie! Where are you going?” Eunhyuk paused and asked.
Siwon did not bother slowing down as he replied. “The first aid kit in the kitchen.”
Sungmin and Donghae also halted. First aid kit? They shared a confused look before resuming their dash.
They went straight to Kyuhyun’s room. They saw Kangin carrying Kyuhyun out of the bathroom. Sungmin stopped abruptly, causing the two to brake suddenly. Sungmin and Donghae rushed to the bed to remove the things left on the bed - the box that Mrs Kang gave and a card addressed to Kyuhyun. Donghae arranged the pillow before backing up to let Kangin put Kyuhyun down. Eeteuk let go of the towel for a moment to let Kangin place Kyuhyun on the bed. After which, Eeteuk immediately resumed his spot on the right of Kyuhyun. Sungmin winced as he listened to the harsh breathing of Kyuhyun. It sounded as if there was a lot of phlegm in his lungs. Eeteuk glanced at the sweat on Kyuhyun’s forehead, worried.
“He’s very warm, Hyung. I’ll call for the doctor.” Kangin said, reaching for his cell phone as he walked to out of the room. Eeteuk nodded, not shifting his glance from Kyuhyun. Even unconscious, Kyuhyun’s face seemed to scrunch up in pain.
“What happened to his hand Hyung?” Sungmin asked, horrified at the blood that the towel was rapidly soaking up.
Eeteuk shrugged his shoulders.
Eunhyuk stopped when he caught sight of Kyuhyun in Kangin’s arms. The pain and lifelessness in Kyuhyun’s face brought him back to the accident. Eunhyuk remembered staring from afar at Kyuhyun, who was lying motionlessly on the ground. He remembered not being able to do anything but try to comfort Eeteuk. He remembered the fear when he was waiting outside the operating theatre. He remembered promising himself that he would not see Kyuhyun like this again. The promise was broken barely a few months after it was made. Eunhyuk took a step back. No, this is not real. It’s all my imagination. Another step back. And another. Then Eunhyuk spun around and darted out the room, ignoring Siwon’s call for him.
“Eunhyuk-hyung!”
The shout caused everyone in the room to turn their heads to the door, in time to see Eunhyuk running off. Donghae immediately took off after him.
Yesung and Shindong snapped their heads up. Shindong had calmed down and was now staring anxiously at Kyuhyun. Yesung kept his arms around Shindong, periodically glancing at Kyuhyun and Shindong.
Ryeowook and Hankyung had just came out of the toilet when they saw Eunhyuk running out of the room. They were puzzled.
Kibum finally looked up from his position in Heechul’s arms, worry visible in his eyes. He moved to follow, but Heechul held him back. Heechul shook his head, indicating that Donghae would handle it. Kibum nodded, trusting Heechul. He inched towards Kyuhyun, who looked even paler than when they first found him. Kibum reached out a hand hesitantly to stroke Kyuhyun’s head. It feels even warmer.
Siwon was coming back upstairs with the first aid box when he saw Eunhyuk running out the room. He shouted, but Eunhyuk ignored him. Siwon entered the room only to have Donghae running past him. He brought the first aid box to Eeteuk who looked at him thankfully. Sungmin took the box from him and begun to take out the antibiotics.
“The doctor will be reaching here in ten minutes.” Kangin walked back into the room. He was startled in the middle of his conversation when he saw Eunhyuk and then Donghae running out of the room. Kangin had spotted the fright in Eunhyuk’s face, wondering what had happened. No one answered him as they did not know the answer, though Shindong could guess the reason. Sungmin continued with his cleaning of the cuts on Kyuhyun’s hand. He wrapped the bandage tightly around Kyuhyun’s hand to stop the bleeding. It was the best he could do before the doctor came.
Heechul bent down to pick up the blanket and spotted the phone on the floor. He passed the blanket to Kibum to drape it over Kyuhyun, who seemed to be shivering before picking up the phone.
“So this was what happened to his phone.” Heechul raised his hands to show everyone the phone. He wondered what had happened to cause Kyuhyun to remove the battery from the phone.
“How’s his hand?” Eeteuk asked Sungmin who just finished bandaging. Sungmin shook his hand.
“It doesn’t look very serious. It’s just that the wounds don’t seem to stop bleeding.”
“Do you know how Kyuhyun injured his hand?” Eeteuk never voiced out his question but everyone knew what he was asking. After all it was the same thought that ran through all their minds when they saw the blood.
Did he cut himself?
Hankyung cut in immediately. “No. He did not do that. He punched the mirror.” Hankyung’s voice was angry but firm. He couldn’t help but be infuriated by the fact that all of them immediately assumed such a thing from Kyuhyun. Hankyung was also upset with himself for thinking that. But it was not surprising for them to think in such a way seeing how the problems kept piling up on Kyuhyun. Hankyung believed he would have collapsed from all the stress a long time ago.
You should have more faith in him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Donghae chased Eunhyuk down the stairs. “Eunhyuk!”
Eunhyuk ignored his shouts and continued to run. “Hyukjae! Stop! Hyukjae!”
Eunhyuk ran out to the front yard. He would have continued running if he had not stumbled and fall in the middle of the yard onto the grass. Eunhyuk pushed himself off the grass, but remained kneeling on the grass. Donghae caught up with him, braking in front of him.
“Hyukjae! Are you alright?” Donghae placed his hands on Eunhyuk’s shoulder and scanned up and down Eunhyuk’s body, making sure that he was not injured when he fell. Donghae gave a sigh of relief when he could not find any visible injury on Eunhyuk.
“Hyukjae, why did you run?” Donghae kneeled down in front of Eunhyuk.
Eunhyuk mumbled to himself. “It’s not true. It’s not true. It’s not true.”
“What’s not true?”
“It’s not true. Kyuhyun is not lying motionlessly in Youngwoon’s arms. It’s just my imagination. Hae, you didn’t see it right? Tell me I imagined it. Tell me.” Eunhyuk grasped Donghae’s hands.
“Hyung!” Donghae extracted his hands from Eunhyuk’s grasp and grabbed Eunhyuk by the shoulders and shook him.
“Hyung. It’s true. It’s not your imagination.”
“No. I promised myself that I’ll never see Kyuhyun like that again. I did. I don’t want to feel the helplessness again.”
Donghae didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know how to comfort Eunhyuk.
“Hyukjae, remember when I told you about me and Sungmin’s meeting with Kyu’s best friend’s brother? I also felt helpless then. I too didn’t know what was happening. Just like now. You’re not alone. None of us want to see Kyu like that. But I also don’t want to see you like this. We will get through this together and make sure that we never feel that way again.” Donghae said passionately.
Eunhyuk stared at Donghae, wondering if he should believe him. Actually all Eunhyuk wanted was to know that he was not alone in his feelings. All the rest always looked so strong, that Eunhyuk felt ashamed that he was so weak. Eunhyuk slowly nodded, agreeing with Donghae.
“Don’t think too much, hyung. Let’s just concentrate on now, not the past, not the future.” Donghae planted a kiss on Eunhyuk’s forehead before pulling Eunhyuk up. Eunhyuk smiled slightly at that gesture, feeling the love and concern. The despair was still there but it had lessened to a manageable level. As the two stood and headed back to Kyuhyun, the door bell rang.
“It must be the doctor.” Donghae said and ran to let the doctor in. The doctor was someone familiar to them. He always treated Super Junior whenever one of them was sick. He was also their doctor for their annual check-up. The two quickly directed the doctor to Kyuhyun’s room.
The rest all backed away as the doctor approached Kyuhyun. They waited anxiously for the doctor to finish his diagnosis. Finally the doctor turned towards them.
“Kyuhyun-sshi has contracted a flu virus. It’s fortunate that you caught it today, if not it might have worsened to pneumonia. And that would not be good considering that his lungs are still a bit weak from the accident. And he had fainted in a combination of the illness and exhaustion. I don’t know what he has been doing the past week, but he has not been eating or sleeping enough. I want you all to keep an eye on that. He’s running a fever now. If it does not subside in 12 hours, call me.”
“Doctor, what about his hand injury?”
“One of you had done a good job at staunching the bleeding. You just need to change the bandage every five hours to apply the antiseptic to ensure that the wound would not be infected. An infection is the worst thing that could happen now.”
Eeteuk nodded, listening and memorising every word that the doctor said. He would make sure that every step was carried out as instructed.
“I need to warn all of you to make sure that Kyuhyun-sshi does not get any open injuries. If he does, try to stop the bleeding immediately. He is a mild haemophilic, meaning that his blood does not clot properly. The clotting agent is present, but in a much smaller amount as compared to us. And it’s best that he does not have any major surgery anytime soon as his body may not be able to take it as he is still recovering from the previous surgery.”
They all nodded seriously, hanging to every word the doctor said. They wanted to take good care of Kyuhyun.
“I’ll prescribe some medicine for him - antibiotics and painkillers. Make sure that he finishes the full dosage.” The doctor started to take out some medicine from his medical bag.
“Doctor, can we move him? We want to bring him back to our dorm.” Kibum asked. He wanted Kyuhyun near to them where they could see him and touch him and take care of him. And not leave him alone in this dreadful house where nobody notices that he was ill. He didn’t care if any of the rest didn’t agree with his decision. By hook or by crook, Kyuhyun was going home with him today. Kibum didn’t have to worry about any protest. Everyone was against leaving Kyuhyun in an empty house, with someone who did not recognise the treasure in front of her.
“You can as long as it is not very long journey. It’s less than one hour to your dorm from here right?” Receiving nods as answers, the doctor continued. “Alright, you can bring him back. Just make sure that he’s bundled up as it can get rather cold at night. And I would suggest that you change his clothes and wipe dry the sweat before bringing him to the van. It would not do him good to be exposed to the wind with his flu. I supposed I don’t need to remind you, but just don’t take care of him if you feel that you are falling sick. He can easily contract any illness, especially when his immune system is weakened by the flu virus.”
Hankyung nodded, making sure to take care of everyone so that they could all care for Kyuhyun. Heechul volunteered to send the doctor out while the rest began packing the things they believed Kyuhyun needed - clothes, phone, the box, elephant, and blanket. Kibum, Hankyung and Eeteuk wiped the sweat that covered Kyuhyun’s body, so that he did not catch a cold from the evaporating sweat. They also help Kyuhyun change out of his sweat-soaked shirt and pants. Throughout the whole thing, Kyuhyun never reacted. The only comfort was that Kyuhyun was sleeping deeply and not in a coma. Once they were done packing - there weren’t much to pack anyway, Hankyung slowly lifted Kyuhyun into his arms, frowning at the fact that Kyuhyun was even skinnier than the last time he had carried him. He vowed to cook more to feed Kyuhyun. Kibum and Eeteuk hovered around Hankyung, making sure that Kyuhyun would not fall or that Hankyung would make it safely down the stairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heechul led the doctor to the door but stopped the doctor from leaving.
“Doctor, can you tell me what this medicine is?” Heechul took out the packet from his pocket. He wanted to make sure that it was what he thought it was.
“It’s normal flu medicine. Why?”
“Nothing. Thank you, Doctor, for your help. We really appreciate it.” Heechul bowed.
“It’s nothing. Just make sure you take care of him alright? I want to see a better and happier Kyuhyun-sshi the next time round.” The doctor patted Heechul on the shoulder before leaving.
Heechul stared at the packet of medicine after the doctor left. Kyuhyun really contracted the flu from the mother. How come she never noticed anything at all? Any syndromes? Where is she anyway? Heechul could not believe the mother. She was the 21st century first class idiot who needed to get her eyes checked for missing such a gigantic piece of jewel in front of her.
We will take care of him.
Heechul waited at the door for the rest to come home. They were finally heading home with everyone in the family, though it would be best if Kyuhyun was going home willingly - not that he would not be willing - instead of being carried home like this. We’ll prepare another welcome back party for him. He deserves it.
They all piled into the two vans, with Kyuhyun lying between Eeteuk and Kibum with a jacket draped over him. Eeteuk was holding a cold pack against Kyuhyun’s forehead. As the van began its motion home, Kibum stared at Kyuhyun.
You’re finally going to be home. We will take care of you. I promise.
yay!i'm done with this chapter. it was a hard time writing it. with all the description. i hope i got the medical facts correct. i think the chapter seemed a bit rushed. so if there are any confusion or error please forgive me. -bows-
hope you enjoy the chapter!