Worst Behavior

31. back to reality

[ 31. back to reality ]
T A E H Y U N G

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"Glad to see you're feeling better," Rachel's voice is the first thing he wakes up to the next day, but it's not the first thing he worries about.

He turns his head towards his window, squinting slightly as he notices sunlight pouring through the cracks. Taehyung realizes he didn't go to Jeongguk last night to comfort him. Of all nights to miss, he can't live with himself for not being there.

Taehyung shoots up in his bed, but the moment he tries to move he cries out when something sharp stabs at his ribs. He grimaces, slowly lying himself back down, confusion swarming his mind. The pain lingers, aching and pinching at his insides.

"Your dad said to take deep breaths," Rachel says, and he can hear the click of her heels against the wooden floor. He squeezes his eyes shut, following her instructions yet each breath he takes seems to be more labored than the first.

It takes him a moment to understand what's going on. He doesn't remember returning home last night, and the last fragment of his memories that he can clearly picture is Jason lunging at him. After that, he can't quite remember anything; his mind is just a tangled mess of vague moments poorly put together.

"What are you doing here?" Taehyung says, sucking in a deep breath. Rachel sits herself down beside his bed.

"I live here," She chuckles. Rachel helps him lift his shirt up, surprisingly being careful as she places the ice pack over his ribs.

He hisses, the ice burning at his tender skin at first. After a couple minutes, his body begins to feel better slowly but surely. Rachel gently takes his hand into her own warm hands, helping him hold the ice in place.

It's been so long since the last time his mother and he had sat together in silence. Neither one of them are fighting or screaming. Rachel's actually doing her part as a mother, though Taehyung can't seem to ignore the tug in his gut.

"Why?" Taehyung asks. None of this feels right to him. Rachel looks up at him, and for a split second he can see the mother he used to love in her eyes. It's gone in seconds, however, as Rachel replaces her softened expression for one made of hard stone.

"Don't forget that you're my son," Rachel says. Taehyung nods stiffly, not entirely believing her. He watches Rachel take a glass and a napkin off his sidetable. She hands it to him, telling him to take it.

"Pain medication your dad left," She explains. Taehyung doesn't hesitate any further and swallows it down, craving for a remedy to heal the aching sensation licking flames up his chest.

"What do you really want Rachel?" Taehyung gives her the cup, and she takes it back, setting it on the nightstand. Rachel stays silent for a moment, her piercing green eyes meeting his for a brief second before she turns her gaze back to her lap.

"Didn't your dad tell you?" Rachel murmurs. Taehyung shakes his head, the skin between his eyebrows creasing slightly. Rachel's lips pull into a gentle smile that doesn't suit her at all.

"We got a call from your therapist earlier today, and they said you were healed," Rachel says. Taehyung's eyes instantly splay wide, "W-What?"