implausible - woosan

chapter ten

san wooyoung

03.07.17

"no change?" yeosang asks sympathetically, offering a hot flask of coffee. its distinctive scent overwhelms his nostrils, and wooyoung is suddenly extremely glad for caffeine.

he shakes his head, accepting the drink gratefully with a greedy sip. "no. the doctors said she's stable but... still comatose."

his friend squeezes his shoulder pityingly, sitting on the arm of the chair the boy almost has not moved from for the week since the accident. he can hear the monotonous beeping of the monitor indicating his aunt's stability, almost glad he can't see her unmoving condition on the bed. it would be too jarring.

"any word from my parents?" wooyoung asks, disheartened. he wonders how his mother would react when she discovers her sister to be in a coma consequent to her son's actions. would she blame him, like he does himself?

"none yet," yeosang's words confirm what he had already suspected. "the last email states they were in madrid, following a lead about a case similar to your own."

the blonde sighs, body sagging in the chair as he fiddles with his fingers thoughtfully. "they've dedicated their lives to my cause, you know." he observes, narrowing his eyes. "to me. but they may as well not be in my life."

he lets loose a short laugh, almost forgetting he's supposed to have made his peace with their lack of involvement. "you'd think if they loved me so much they'd come home once in a while."

"wooyoung..." yeosang starts, but can't say anything to make him feel better about their absence. he doesn't disagree with him.

"still not coming back to school?" he asks instead, changing the subject. wooyoung makes a face at the notion. "you missed another day."

"i will," the younger assures him, rubbing his face tiredly with his hands. "haven't exactly been sleeping or thinking clearly lately." another hearty sip of the coffee.

"you really need to get out of this hospital." the brunette chides him, patting his shoulder decidedly.

his friend is right, as he usually is. wooyoung has smelt nothing but antiseptics and breathed nothing but artificially "clean" air (choked with chemicals) for the past week, and it continues to give him more and more of an excruciating headache. i suppose my presence or lack thereof will make no difference to her condition, he figures, agreeing grudgingly with himself to leave her side.

reaching for his cane, his fingers curl around the familiar handle firmly, gripping the smooth wood in his palm and pushing himself out of the chair. he reaches out the inanimate extension of his arm, avoiding the obstacle of the bed it is met with and stepping around it.

beloved coffee in his left hand, he angles his head back in yeosang's direction to throw him a tired but grateful smile before tapping his way out of the door and into the hall. he figures he can find his way out eventually without help, wanting solitude to comfort his thoughts.

alas. although independence is often his forte, hospitals are a repetitive labyrinth of increasingly frustrating passages that all feel the same, each step only adding to his confusion. you would have thought he might have been familiar with the building's interior by now- but he has not been anywhere but his aunt's room, the journey there a hysterically blurry memory he struggles to recall.

finding the nearest wall, wooyoung leans against it and sighs, raising the flask to his lips and shloshing the remaining steamy liquid about before sipping it more slowly. perhaps he'll try again in a moment to navigate the exit, unless someone with human decency takes pity upon his clearly disheveled and lost appearance and helps him themself.