TWINEMY (Hyunjin FF)

((49))

~ Felix ~

I woke up slowly, feeling half out of sleep for a long time before my eyes finally opened.

I groaned. Someone was holding my hand to my right. My mom.

I tried to smile, but my face hurt too much to.

"Mom," I put out.

She stirred and sat up to look at me with sorrowful eyes. "Hey, baby. You're awake."

"Yeah.. I am." I closed my eyes because they felt too dry, like my lids were sandpaper.

"How are you feeling?"

"Kinda numb. I can't really feel anything."

"That's good. They gave you some meds so it didn't hurt."

I nodded, but my head pounded the moment I did. I guess it felt okay only if I didn't move.

"I didn't die?" I opened my eyes to see her response.

Her eyes widened and looked at mine. "Oh, baby!" She put her head back down on the bed and shook with sobs. "That must've been so scary!"

My heart hurt at her crying, and a tear dropped from my eyes without me noticing. "It was..."

She brought her head back up and brushed the hair out of my face. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be too much."

I shook my head, at least I thought I did, but it barely moved since it'd hurt if I did. "It's fine."

"You tired still?"

"Yeah. How long was I asleep?"

She glanced at the clock on the wall above me and calculated real quick. "Almost 16 hours. They said you were passed out when they got you."

"Wow. Wait, how'd they find me?" My brain was still fuzzy.

"Some man in the neighborhood called the cops. He told them he saw you run out of the apartment building and the person who hurt you chased you out. He said he made the other guy leave and then helped you."

"Oh." I racked my brain to remember but it wasn't coming. The last thing I can remember half-clearly is getting on the bus home.

"Is that true?"

"I.. I don't know. I can't remember well."

"Maybe it's the pain killers. When you're off, the cops want to talk to you and find out what happened so we can help."

The thought made me shiver in anxiety. Cops never mean anything good for poor people like me.

"How about you get more rest? I'll go get us some breakfast from the cafeteria."

"Okay." I exhaled and closed my eyes, even though it hurt to. This is going to take so long to heal. Just like last time.

——

"Can I have my phone?" I asked my mom as she fed a bite of scrambled eggs into her mouth. I finished what I felt like eating, which wasn't much. Being in the hospital is no excuse to gain wait. That'll just cause me more problems.

She handed it to me from her purse.

I opened it up and saw only a few notifications.

Chaeee :)
You coming to school late today?

Changbin
Why aren't you here yet?

The rest were the usual unimportant ones. I decided not to answer the texts, though, since I didn't want to worry them. I didn't want to lie and day I was fine either, so.. yeah.

I brought up the texts between Hyunjin and I. I wanted to tell him what happened.

I saw two missed calls from my end with an answered call from him at the end.

"Mom? You called Hyunjin?"

She swallowed before responding. "Yeah. He came over earlier, but I sent him to school after a bit because you weren't awake yet."

"Oh. What'd he say?"

"About what?

"Was he worried?"

She reached over to hold my hand. "Of course, sweetie. He didn't want to go, but it's best to not miss more school. He said he'll come back after school."

I nodded, barely, once again.

"Why don't you eat more? You didn't touch most of it."

My heart rate picked up, but I ignored it. "I still don't feel to good, and I'll throw it up if I eat too much."

"Oh. Alright then."

"Wait. Mom, are you missing work for this?"

She frowned slightly. "Of course. I'm not gonna leave you all by yourself."

"But.."

She shook her head. "Don't worry. I'll just take some extra shifts later."

It made me feel kind of sad, since she already works so hard and barely gets enough sleep.

Her phone rang and I noticed her coworker's name on the screen. Her eyebrows furrowed and she went to decline, but I stopped her hand.

"Mom, it's fine. You should answer it. I'll be fine in here."

Hesitating, she did as I said and pressed a kiss to my cheek before going out in the hall to talk.

I glanced to my left at the two other beds. Ugh. This is going to be a long recovery.