The Fishtail Story

Chapter 14

The rain was heavily pouring that night Jisoo once again decided to visit the hospital to check on Jeonghan. At first he hesitated whether to go and visit but despite the scene from the other day, Jisoo was still Jeonghan’s friend and he still wanted to check if his friend was doing alright.

Jisoo arrived at the hospital soaking wet because of the heavy rain from the outside. Despite wearing a thick jacket that he was sure to protect him from the cold, he was still trembling. Good thing was the hospital was a lot warmer from the inside and the shiver lessened when he arrived at the said place. He asked the information desk first about Jeonghan’s room and that was when he was informed that Jeonghan had already changed rooms and was now rooming in one of the private rooms on the fifth floor.

When he arrived in front of Jeonghan’s room that said 503, he heard muffled voices from the inside. He wasn’t sure to whom those voices belong but he didn’t dare enter in as they were still inside. After a few minutes, a nurse, together with Jeonghan’s mother came out of the room and when they disappeared on the corner, Jisoo took it as a cue to enter inside. Jeonghan beamed upon seeing him but he doesn’t seem that well by the looks of him. An oxygen mask was still on his face and there were different breathing machines attached on his body. His skin had gone pale and his cheeks had sunken a little bit.

“Yo!” Jeonghan greeted him trying to sound energetic.
“How are you doing?” Jisoo asked, setting himself on the stool next to Jeonghan’s bed and putting a box of what looked like oranges on the table next to Jeonghan’s bed. It was a lot warmer inside Jeonghan’s room and Jisoo was a bit relieved about that but the soaked clothes and shoes were still very uncomfortable.

“Cool.” Jeonghan muttered lowly. He was still heaving and it looked so obvious to Jisoo that it was difficult for him to breathe still.
“You don’t look that fine to me.” Jisoo admitted, running his fingers on his soaked hair as Jeonghan watched him patiently.
“You should dry yourself up or it will be you who’s getting sick next.” Jeonghan said in between coughs. “They said I’ll be better after a few more days but won’t be able to sneak out. The dust and pollution are not helping..”
“Of course it isn’t. Look. You should get better okay? I mean I still want to talk to you, Minghao has starting rumors that you won’t be returning.” Jisoo muttered while Jeonghan could only shake his head. Of course Minghao would say something again to get people’s attention even if it means Jeonghan dying.
“Ignore him.” Jeonghan said irritably. “I’ll be back soon.”

After a few minutes of Jisoo telling what has been happening at school and Jeonghan’s short and heavy answers, Jisoo has to left because he still have the shift at the restaurant. Jeonghan doesn’t really like the idea of Jisoo quickly leaving and all because he will be alone once again with the accompaniment of only machines and the strong smell of hospital bleach the cleaning lady always use to clean the bathrooms.

Jeonghan was not allowed to use hand phones either so his only entertainment was the TV who only shows boring and stupid cartoons playing. He also got the hang of reading novels but even before he could finish a chapter, he would quickly doze off and woke the next morning not remembering anything that he has read. His teacher visited him once and advised him to take care of his health but he was sure that that teacher was just being kind because his father was there at the same time. Jeonghan’s father was friends with the school’s chairman and maybe the teacher was expecting a promotion so he was showing off. Jisoo didn’t appear any more after that rainy night he’d visited and then before Jeonghan knew it, he was already fine and kicking and he was ready to return back at school.

Being bedridden was Jeonghan’s most absolute nightmare. Every hour, a nurse would appear before him, checking his vitals and sometimes poking his skin to get blood or making him drink nasty tasting pills and he hated it that much. Though he wished not to return back to the stupid hospital anymore, he had no choice because there will be upcoming checkups for him in the near future.