The Cry of Detritioning Bones [Oneshot]
Title: The Cry of Detritioning Bones
Author: erodedveins
Rating: PG
Genre: Angst
Pairing: Onho
Word-count: 646
"If anything, it was Lee Jinki who needed your help... even though there was none you could've given."
The morning Minho came to work with his head freshly shaved, his coworkers stared at him with pity visible in their eyes.
And really.. He didn't understand how they knew. Did he smell like a hospital? Did he smell like last night's vomit? Did he look pale from lack of sleep? He didn't feel any different. Except, yeah, maybe he was a little more hollow inside. But wasn't that to be expected? When you find out someone's dying, you don't exactly jump for joy.
His boss had called him into his office and told him that if he needed to talk... Minho tuned him out. He didn't need to hear all that. He'd heard it from soooo many therapists and nurses recently. It was useless by now.
Jinki was the love of his life, and to learn that he had stage III renal cell carcinoma... It was devastating. His kidneys had shut down within months of the prognosis, and last week they'd told Minho the cancer had metastasized. It had spread to both of Jinki's lungs. And despite treatments, it was continuing to spread and affect other organs.
In the most basic terms, Jinki was going to die whether they wanted him to or not. There was no way to stop the spread. They'd told him yesterday that time left was always difficult to judge, but... at the rate the cancer was metastasizing, Jinki had about 3 months. If that.
Minho stayed with Jinki, even though he hadn't spoken a word since learning he had 3 months to live. He walked out of the hospital that day like a zombie, and it was hurting Minho to see Jinki so broken. He could literally hear a pin drop in their apartment.
Jinki wasn't able to stay in their apartment for long, though. After about a month and a half, Jinki had to be put in the hospital permanently. Even though he was receiving each weekly infusion of Tivozanib well, Jinki grew paler and skinnier. His long, beautiful hair that he'd been so proud of was completely gone. The day Jinki's last clump of hair fell out was the day Minho went and had his head completely shaved. When he came back to the hospital, Jinki had only stared at Minho with dead eyes.
Minho was startled out of his daydreams when his boss patted him on the shoulder.
"Minho.. Go home," it wasn't really so much a request as it was an order. And Minho wasn't as grateful as he could've been. After all, it was expensive to keep someone in the hospital as long as Jinki had been there. A full paycheck was more appreciated.. no, more needed than ever. He went back to the hospital, and he headed down the familiar terminal ward feeling nostalgic. He'd kind of miss this place once Jinki was gone. The people who worked on the ward were warm and funny people. They kinda had to be.
When he reached Jinki's room, though, he was met with a neatly made, empty bed. Jinki's belongings were in a bag on top of the mattress, and Minho knew then what had happened. He had seen too many movies on the subject to not know, and oddly.. Minho couldn't feel a single thing. Or maybe not so oddly. A doctor was passing by the room, and saw Minho standing and staring at Jinki's bag of belongings.
"I'm sorry sir, but the patient in this room died earlier today...," the doctor trailed off when he saw the dead look in Minho's eyes. He frowned. "There's plenty of hospital staff to--"
"Spare me the bullshit, please," Minho didn't care if he was being rude. "I've heard those words so much in the past few months. I've heard them so much they're empty. Don't you dare act like I'm the one who needs help. If anything, it was Lee Jinki who needed the help." Finally, Minho felt tears come to his eyes. "Even though there was none you could've given."