Bruises | l.mh

14

WHEN I OPEN MY eyes, my head starts throbbing.

I have to close my eyes again because the light is so bright. I push my hand against my forehead and will the pain to go away.

As my eyes close, I see the bus moving toward me, pressure against my left side, and falling onto my right side. After my head hitting, everything is black.

I force my eyes to open again and look around the room. It's an unfamiliar room. I have no idea where I am.

My breath starts to speed up.

It looks like a bedroom. I'm lying in a bed with white sheets, there's a closed window on the right, and a desk across from the bed. There's nothing on the desk besides a small lamp.

Where am I? Who took me here? What am I going to do?

Before I can do anything else, the door swings open.

My heart leaps into my throat, but it settles when I notice him standing in the doorway.

"Yena?" Minho asks quietly, going to shut the door again. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to check if you were awake."

"It's okay," I say, my voice hoarse.

He cracks the door open a bit more. "Are you okay? How are you feeling? Do you remember anything?"

I press my hand against my head, shutting my eyes tightly as a pain ripples through my skull.

"I'm sorry, your head must hurt a lot. Let me get you some medication." Minho leaves without another word, leaving the door open slightly.

I'm in Minho's room. He took me here. He pushed me out of the way of the bus.

Once he comes back, he has medication and a glass of water in his hands. I sit up and gladly take the medication, then gulp down half the water glass.

"I'm so sorry, Yena," Minho says quietly. "This is all my fault."

"What?" I squint at him. "No... you pushed me out of the way."

He shakes his head. "The bus stopped in time. You would've been okay. But I pushed you, and your head is hurt, you might even have a concussion..."

"It's okay," I whisper. "You didn't know. You were trying to save me."

"Still, I'm sorry."

We say nothing for a long moment.

"Oh my God," I exclaim suddenly, throwing the sheets off of me to reveal my clothes I was wearing last night. "What time is it? I have to get to school, I--"

"Shh, it's okay," Minho says gently. "It's five in the morning."

"I have to get home," I plead with him. "If my mom finds out--" I bite my tongue.

Minho frowns. "Yena, you were almost in a car accident. You might've gotten a concussion. You were clearly intoxicated, having been standing outside of a bar with a strange man. The last thing you need to be worrying about is school."

I involuntarily let a tear slide down my cheek. "Why didn't you take me to the hospital?"

Minho looks down. "I thought... maybe taking you there wasn't the best idea. I know you won't tell me how you know how to cover up bruises, but I have an idea and I don't think taking you to the hospital and making everything legal would be the best idea."

He looks back up at me, staring into my eyes.

I can't help myself. I break down. I put my head in my hands and let the tears fall as a headache slowly begins to form in my temples. My shoulders shake as I try to keep my sons quiet, but it's almost impossible.

"Yena, I'm so sorry."

Shockingly, I feel arms wrapped around me. They're big, strong, and warm. They're wrapped around my shoulders, stopping the shaking. I feel my cheeks heating up and my body getting warm. I've never known human contact like this before.

Minho lets go and I realize I've stopped crying.

"I'm sorry," he says quickly. "I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have--"

I shut him up by wrapping my arms around his waist and pressing my head against his chest. He wraps his arms around me again, and I feel the warmth.

"Thank you," I whisper.

Minho's body relaxes a bit. He holds me tighter. I can hear his heartbeat.

"Don't worry about anything right now, okay?" He whispers. "We'll figure it all out. Don't worry about your mom or school or anything else."

"Okay."

And we stay like that.