All Grown Up

Fifteen

I walked into the hospital room then smiled softly as I saw Mrs. Lee and Mr. Lee watching over their son.

"Shouldn't you be doing your schoolwork?" Mrs. Lee asked, and I chuckled.

"I'm going to do it here, with him. You two can go rest." I said and sat in my chair beside Chan's bed, pulling out my books and setting them up on the table.

"Okay. Please call us if-"

"I promise." I swore and Mr. Lee nodded, giving his son a look before they both left. I sighed when the door shut the started to work on my homework, comforted by the sounds of Chan's heartrate and the ventilator. A couple hours after I arrived, I looked back as the door opened and saw Nurse Hong coming in, holding a tray of food.

"Here, Seungcheol!" She said and set the food down for me.

"I figured you'd be hungry." She said and I smiled softly.

"Thanks." I said and set my pen down, grabbing my chopsticks instead and starting to eat.

"He's lucky to have such an amazing friend such as you!" She said and I looked at her then chuckled.

"Yeah, uh, I don't know!" I laughed and shook my head, looking at Chan.

"I feel like I'm the lucky one, you know?" I said and looked at her.

"When-when I met Chan, his family had just moved to Daegu. His parents had gotten new jobs and they needed someone to watch their kid, so I-I offered. I was in a bad place at the time, mentally, but they seemed desperate to have someone watch their kid. He was four years younger than me, but... It didn't matter!" I laughed and looked at Chan again, watching his face and studying how his lashes fell over his cheeks, how his lips looked so soft, how his hair fell over his forehead.

"Here was this goofy ass kid, excited to have a new friend and go to a new school, and he just... I think that, if he hadn't shown up when he did, I wouldn't be here anymore." I whispered and looked up at Nurse Hong.

"Ah, I'm sorry! I dumped on you-"

"It's alright! It's rather sweet to hear!" She said and smiled.

"Well, fingers crossed that he wakes up so you can tell him, okay?" She said and I nodded, smiling as she left me to eat. An hour later, a different nurse came in to take the tray and I got back to work on my homework. When a doctor came in, he started to check on Chan and I watched him carefully. It's how I noticed the little furrow in his brow.

"What?" I asked and he looked at me.

"His-his body is rejecting the ventilator." He said and I licked my lips.

"Does-does that mean something?" I asked and he nodded.

"It's a step closer to him waking up." He said and set his clipboard down, carefully extracting the ventilator tube from Chan's throat and settling just the oxygen mask on his face now.

"A step closer? So-so he's getting better?!" I asked and he nodded, smiling at me.

"It seems so, son! Whatever you're doing, keep doing it!" He said and took the ventilator out, leaving now as I looked at Chan and smiled, tears brimming my eyes as I grabbed his hand and softly kissed his knuckles.

"You hear that, baby?! You're doing so good! You're fighting so hard, baby! You're coming back to us!" I sniffled and kissed his hand again. I took a deep breath and set his hand down on my knee, holding it there as I got back to work. By the time I finished my homework, the sun had long set and Nurse Hong came in.

"Are you staying tonight, sweetheart?" She asked and I nodded, smiling at her.

"The doctor said he's getting better. I want to be here when he wakes up." I said and she smiled, checking on Chan before eyeing me.

"Well, I'll grab you some blankets and the bed, hmm?" She said and left the room. I sighed and leaned forward, resting my elbows on the edge of the bed now as I held his hand and watched Chan.

"I'm right here, baby! When you're ready, I'm right here!" I whispered and looked over my shoulder as Nurse Jung came in with the folding bed for me and some blankets.

"Here you are, Seungcheol!" He said and set it up, making me smile.

"Thank you, Nurse Jung." I said and he nodded, saluting me before he left. I sighed and looked back at Chan, grabbing my phone to call Mingyu.

"Seungcheol? Any change?" He immediately asked and I huffed.

"Good change. They took him off the ventilator. The doctor said his body was... rejecting it? It's basically a sign that he's one step closer to waking up, so I'm sticking around tonight. You know, in case." I said and he let out an airy laugh.

"That's the best fucking news we could have-"

"What's happened?!" I heard Seokmin yell and chuckled, shaking my head as I laced my fingers with Chan's, holding his hand now as I watched him.

"Seungcheol says the doctors took him off the ventilator, that he's one step closer to waking up!" Mingyu said and I took a deep breath.

"If things go well, I hope he wakes up in the next couple of days!" I said and brought his hand up to my mouth, softly kissing him.

"Even if he does, Cheol-"

"I know!" I sighed and Mingyu huffed.

"He's going to be on suicide watch and they're going to keep him on a very strict schedule for a while until they're sure he's not going to do this again. Not to mention therapy and-"

"I know, Mingyu!" I repeated and licked my lips, playing with his limp fingers.

"But at-at least he'll be awake! He'll be alive, Mingyu, and I can tell him and hold him and-"

"I know." He chuckled and sighed.

"Just keep us updated, okay?" He asked and I nodded.

"You know it, Gyu." I said and hung up, setting my phone down on the table beside me. I huffed and laid my head on Chan's belly, watching him for a few moments before I went to bed. I don't remember falling asleep, but I do remember someone laying a blanket over me as I slept in the chair.