Sleeping Beauty Syndrome

24

Three weeks went by and nothing happened, nobody fell into a coma, nobody woke up and I didn't get sick. However, the vaccine promised for me didn't arrive either. At some point, we started to feel a bit safer again, hoping that things could only get better from now on... Unfortunately, things usually turn out differently than you hope. Three weeks of lying next to Wooyoung, holding his hand, stroking his cheek, kissing his silent lips, playing with his hair or just listening to his regular, soothing heartbeat while my head rested on his chest.

My smile had gone, without his laughter, his loud and cheeky manner, without his hugs and kisses, without his love that he had shown me so willingly by taking my hand and playing with my fingers, cuddling me on the sofa or giving me sweet little smiles. I missed him so much... As so often, I lay next to him and cried on his shoulder, hoping he would finally wake up, but he just didn't.

"You know, Woo... As much as I sometimes wished that you would shut up... I think this is over the top. Sure, some people like silent boyfriends, but I'd give anything to hear your voice again right now. Don't you think you've rested long enough now?" I spoke to him, hoping that he could hear it. Maybe my voice could get through to him and give him the strength to fight his way through the fog. But, as always, he gave no answer. Sadly, I started to move his legs, doing all the exercises Lee had shown me so that his muscles wouldn't regress and he would still be able to walk when he woke up. I made a special effort, doing this 3-4 times a day on him, arms, legs, neck and upper body... always twice as long as was actually necessary, but I knew how much he liked being fit and that the minimum would not be enough for him. After the exercises I was usually totally exhausted, moving someone's body parts without them being conscious was hard work. Completely exhausted, I snuggled up to him.

"Exhausting myself in bed with you was something else I had imagined..." I complained, but I didn't get an answer to that either and sighed in frustration. But what did I expect? There hadn't been a single case in the whole world where one of the coma patients had woken up again. Still, I could hope for a miracle... couldn't I?

After a while, Lee came to me and sat down next to us. She looked at me sympathetically and then gave me one of her few encouraging smiles. We had become a little closer recently, even if she would never be a replacement for Juhee. Juhee was the warmest and most loving person I knew, except maybe Seonghwa, but Lee was more the analytical, serious type. She didn't smile often, was more of an observer than a talker, and yet she was always there for you with small gestures. She probably hadn't always been like that, she carried a heavy load and a lot of responsibility, which is probably why she had withdrawn into herself. But who was I to judge her? I was no longer my positive self. Who could still be fun and carefree at a time like that? But I kept refusing to give up completely, there was still some will to fight left in me.

"He will wake up again... They're investigating the reason why they're in a coma. As soon as they find out, I'm sure they'll be able to fix the problem. Be patient, at least their lives aren't in danger." she tried to comfort me and I gave her a grateful smile.

"I'll certainly never complain about him talking too much again in our lives, no matter how long that may be.... You wouldn't believe how many times I've told him to take a breath or shut up while I was styling him. I'll be so grateful for every word that leaves his lips," I told her and I meant every word.

"He'll certainly take advantage of that and your ears will bleed at some point." she said with a grin.

"I can always kiss him if it actually gets too much for me." I replied, shrugging my shoulders.

"Effective and simple, should work. And now come with me, we're having a barbecue on the roof today, we're inside too often, I've prescribed you an extra dose of vitamin D as your doctor. The sun is shining and we should make the most of it."