Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
ROUTINE -
NANAMI HAD A NEW DAILY ROUTINE
that he stayed faithful to every, single day. He'd wake up in Mieko's old bed at Anna and Johnny's house. He tried to get ready in the quickest amount time possible and most days he left before anyone else was awake, Christopher occasionally woke up before him but neither exchanged words amongst themselves. Using a taxi, he'd go to the hospital Mieko was staying at and get a small breakfast at the nearby cafe from across the street. He always tried to get in Mieko's room exactly on time when visiting hours reopened, just in case she had been awaken by the doctors.
While he walked down the bright-lit white hallways of the hospital, breakfast sandwich in one hand and his coffee in the other, he met with two female nurses who gushed instantly upon seeing him. They turned to each other, whispering behind their hands back to one another,
"That's the man that takes of his girlfriend in the coma. He brushes her hair everyday."
"I heard he even washes her face for her."
"Every girl could only hope for man like that."
Nanami smiled widely as he passed the woman, his glaze fixated on the linoleum flooring. The nurses gushed and blushed some more at the fact he smiled at them, though that was further from the truth. He smiled in hopes that Mieko would feel the same way they did when she woke up.
When he reached her hospital room, he sat in the chair beside her bed rested side, eating and drinking his meal before he took off his blazer to roll up his sleeves. He filled up a basin of water in order to carefully clean Mieko's face with a washcloth. When he finished, he tried figuring out all the serums and creams inside Mieko's bag, and what order they went onto the face to the best of his knowledge. He brushed her hair, then put it back up in a ponytail or some other hairstyle to keep her hair out of her face. From there, he sat in the silence of the hospital room, usually completing some digital work he could do from the comfort of the chair he sat in, or updating the others on any information of Mieko's condition, and from times he picked up doing cross-word puzzles provided by the hospital's newspaper.
Eventually, visiting hours would be over once again, so Nanami would head back to Johnny and Anna's where they had dinner prepared for him. Most days, they all ate in silence until Nanami would thank Anna for the meal and offer to help clean the dishes but she would dismiss him regardless. He'd thank her once more, before heading into Mieko's old room, getting ready for bed.
As he brushed his teeth in his pyjamas, he couldn't help but examine the many photos of Mieko and Kwang-Ho that sat on the shelves of the room. He particularly stared at the family photo of Mieko, Kwang-Ho and Seojun at an amusement park of some sort. He picked the picture frame up, staring at it all while he brushed his teeth. He managed to chuckle through his bubbly toothpaste at the picture, seeing at how the young boy faked a smile so dramatically, while Mieko and Kwang-Ho looked genuinely happy in the moment. The minty foam in his month started to burn, causing him to quickly put the photo away and finish up brushing his teeth.
