Beyond Repair (Min Yoongi)

4. Details

Yoongi had to be drugged in order to be convinced to come out of the corner he'd settled into. Luckily for everyone (except maybe Yoongi himself), when he had fallen out of the bed, the IV line in his arm had stayed in place, allowing a nurse to administer a mild sedative without touching him. It didn't knock him out right away, just made him spaced-out and pliable, but even then, it had taken a fair bit of persuasion and quick thinking to coax him back into bed. After a gruelling half-hour, Yoongi couldn't fight the effects of the sedative anymore, and his body gave in to the drug.

His head hurt when he woke up again. He was glad the lights had dimmed. Or was it just dark outside now? He couldn't tell, nor could he ignore the pounding in his skull. As he slowly sat up in bed, every part of his body loudly protesting to the movement, Yoongi was half-tempted to call out for someone. But he knew better, knew it was only a matter of time before he would be punished, knew that he didn't want to make things any worse for himself when it finally happened.

Fortunately, Yoongi didn't have to suffer alone for long, because shortly after he woke up, the door opened and in walked Namjoon and a man in blue scrubs and a long white jacket, both of them with coffee in hand and speaking English too fast for Yoongi to make out more than a few words here and there.

"Oh, hey, buddy. Awake already?" the doctor asked, seeming surprised to see Yoongi with his eyes open.

Yoongi just looked down, picking at a plaster on his arm.

The doctor turned to Namjoon. "Does he not speak English?"

"Oh, no, sorry," Namjoon said. "He can understand some but he can't really speak it. Give us a second?"

"By all means." The doctor stepped back as Namjoon stepped forward.

"Yoongi," Namjoon said, speaking Korean now, "I know your English was really improving before...," he trailed off. "Can you understand what the doctor is saying?"

Yoongi glanced up at Namjoon for a second, just to let him know he was listening, but didn't make eye contact before averting his eyes once more.

"You know you can talk to him, right? And to me. And you can look at us, too. You don't have to, but you can, if you want to."

At that, Yoongi looked up at him fully, then looked at the doctor, who was staring expectantly at Namjoon.

'So, what's the verdict?' the doctor seemed to be asking.

"Yeah, he can understand what you're saying. Just try to speak clearly. I'll translate if there's anything he's not going to understand."

"Cool." The doctor smiled, turning his attention to Yoongi. "Hey, friend, how are you feeling?"

Yoongi shrugged, then winced at how the movement hurt his shoulder.

"Yeah, they told me you're not big with the talking. That's okay, though, as long as you can understand what I'm saying. I'm one of your doctors, Dr McMahon. But thanks to a little issue in my residency here with my non-dyslexia-friendly handwriting, most people call me Dr Mothman, so please feel free to do the same."

Yoongi looked up at Namjoon, unsure if he had heard correctly, but when Namjoon just repeated what the doctor had said, he couldn't help the small smile that formed on his lips. A puff of air that was almost a laugh escaped his nose around the oxygen cannula. Mothman? It was so random, a dead American meme that had been ridiculous, to begin with.

"I'm sorry I didn't get to meet your earlier," the doctor continued. "I would have been in last time you were awake, but I had to deal with another patient giving the nurses trouble. She's a crotchety old lady who doesn't like to take her pills."