𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫. | BTS |

chapter 106 ~ 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓

        Cowering back against my pillows, I tried to regain steady breathing as I waited for Yura to come back and tell me when I was going to be discharged. When he was going to take me home. When my limited freedom would finally be shut off the minute he closed our door behind us.

_

     Since it had already been late by the time Yura had shown up, I was advised to stay the night and until later the next evening just to be on the safe side. I'd go home with my fiancé and come back again in another two weeks for a check-up with another doctor to check on my concussion. My recovery had surprised not only the nurses but my doctors and the surrounding long-time patients who'd heard my story. Apparently, I was well known on the sixth floor of wing A but everyone had been informed of Yura's twisted version of the story instead of the real one. 

       He brought me my meals from the cafeteria, went about the hospital to get me snacks or drinks from the vending machines when I dared enough to ask him, even got me a stuffed pink bunny from the downstairs gift shop that was about the size of my forearm. At first, I believed it was only an offering to butter me up so that I wouldn't throw a fit, but eventually, I warmed up to the cute doll and began cuddling it every second I could.

       Now, Yura stood at my bedside with his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his sweats. "You ready?" he asked me.

       "For what?"

       A smile bloomed on his face. Genuine. "To go home?"

       It was roughly six in the evening of the following day and my nurse had allowed me to change into some new clothes Yura had brought from our apartment. I'd tried to fit into the outfit I'd been wearing the day I was emitted but over the past three months, I'd lost significant weight and had shrunk at least two sizes. I was skin and bones, although the fat still remained around my midsection and thighs.

       I exited the bathroom on shaky legs to find Yura waiting outside the door, his arms crossed over his chest and a small paper bag clutched in one of his hands. "Medication," he explained, holding the bag up for me to see. He extended his arm and pulled me to his side for support as he ushered me quietly out the door and into the well-lit hallway. The nurses bid me farewell with gentle smiles curving their mouths wide and high. It felt somewhat wrong seeing the bottom halves of their faces; in the back of my head, I felt that they should be covered but the more that I thought about it, the more my head began to ache.

       Yura's truck sat up front in the cram-packed parking lot. My vision began to blur and I clutched onto his waist tightly as I feared I would fall over. We paused in the drop-off zone in front of the hospital.

       "You look horrible," he commented, bending closer to wipe at the underside of my eye. 

       "Thank you," I muttered drowsily.

       "Wait here. I'm gonna go bring the truck around."

       Soon enough, with fuzzy eyes and a cloudy head, Yura had me buckled up in the passenger seat and was on the road headed for home. I felt a sickening feeling settle in my stomach and not just from the meds I'd been given shortly before leaving. I leaned my forehead against my window and watched the scenery fly by as he stepped on the gas. His hand slowly reached out and grasped mine, letting them rest together on my thigh while his thumb circled atop my palm. Yura talked me through the drive as he tried to keep me awake but I couldn't be bothered to respond. My heart thundered in my chest, fighting between the love I still had for him and the hatred that was beginning to bubble up from my core once more.