Astronomy // Duty After School

Chapter Sixty-Two.

(Y/n) momentarily believed she truly had died and gone to heaven when she found herself staring up at a brightly illuminated ceiling. She realized, however, that this was not the case as she had been hearing the nurses and doctors talking for the past two weeks. Two weeks she had been conscious but not awake and only two days ago had she heard the nurses sounding so proud that she had rolled over in her sleep. Two weeks and she had heard not one familiar voice. Had she forgotten the people in her life? Was that why she recognized no voice? Surely she would have been visited by at least someone in her circle.
(Y/n) wasn't sure how long she was staring at the ceiling, racking her brain for each and every person she had met. She was able to recall them all quite easily as it had been just her and her mind for two weeks. Her nurses were thrilled to see she was awake and it was then she realized how fatigued she was to the point she couldn't even sit up on her own. One of the nurses hit a button on the side of (Y/n)'s side, tilting the bed up to a slanted sitting position.

"Depending on your progress, I give it no more than a week before you're released," one of the nurses was saying. "All of your injuries happened to the upper body, so you'll have to come back for daily physical therapy to get back on track, but as long as you don't collapse or pass out, you're on track for release."

"How long... have I been out?" (Y/n) asked groggily. Her voice felt so foreign after not hearing it for so long added to the fact she clearly hadn't used her voice box in some time.

"Nearing four weeks," the nurse answered grimly. (Y/n) stared at her for a long moment.

"F-Four?"

"Yes. You lost a lot of blood," the nurse murmured. "You were even technically considered dead for... 2 minutes and 3 seconds, according to your previous medical team." (Y/n) raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Yes, yes. Quite a tale for your future children..." The nurse was quiet for a moment. "You dating any of those boys that turn up daily?"

"Visitors?" (Y/n) repeated, perking right up.

"Yes. Your platoon members always come in to see if you've woken up," the nurse said. "Unfortunately, we can't allow visitors that aren't direct family to the patient due to already having limited space." (Y/n)'s lips turned up. She was delighted to know her friends were indeed trying to see her and that they hadn't been transferred elsewhere. "We've learned their names by now, coming to see you every day and all..." The nurse shook her head in exasperation, glancing up as the second nurse returned with a tray of food.

"I hope it's to your liking," the nurse said, moving the table attached to (Y/n)'s bed over the girl's lap so she could set down the tray. "I made sure the chef thinly shaved the vegetables in your soup and you can just dip the riceball in without needing to worry about moving back and forth..."
That day, (Y/n) could not even close her hand around her spoon, let alone raise her arm without being in immediate pain. The nurses had her sit on the edge of the bed and stretch her legs from there, informing her that she'd be working with a yoga ball the next day. As the sun set and (Y/n) was left alone again, she took a chance to look around. She requested a lamp over the hospital lights due to their brightness. There were little gift bags in the unused chairs as well as a poster set in the corner of the room. She couldn't see the entirety of it, but she could see it was a Get Well Soon sign with more writing. Her eyes then landed on a bag— Her camera bag, more specifically. She looped her arm through the strap, wincing over the weight that ultimately pulled down on her shoulder as she hastily moved the back onto her lap. She clasped her palms onto the zipper, struggling immensely but soon getting it open. She quickly took out the two cameras inside, flipping through her personal camera first, which now had more pictures than just the latest pictures from the amusement park.
Three pictures included several girls pausing to hold up peace signs. It appeared they were signing the very same poster in the corner of (Y/n)'s room. There was a very nice shot of a full moon with two colored dots in the background. (Y/n) immediately assumed the picture was taken on a night two planets were also visible. She teared up as she realized how well her classmates knew her. What surprised her most was seeing a picture of Ae-seol, Na-ra, and Yu-jeong in what appeared to be a kennel of some kind, visiting what she knew well to be of her cats. In another picture, Jang-su and Chi-yeol were walking Ukiyo, (Y/n)'s dog, with Song-gi in the distant background talking to the same three girls. (Y/n) set aside her camera and picked up the camera, wanting to know what she missed. What she found was a video with several pauses in it in which it cut to another kid. Very few kids had smiles on their faces when they started their videos, but a smile occasionally broke out when it came to addressing (Y/n). They all looked tired and emotionally drained, trying to hold themselves together as they waited for (Y/n) to wake up.