~ Together by a String ~ (Jiyoo)

~21~

Awake.

She was staring at the wall, with no thoughts behind those eyes. I slowly made my way towards her and she turned her head to look at me. All of the tubes were removed and just the injections were replaced.. She's awake.. My Hyeonie is awake.. I sat on the chair and held her hand. I got teary eyed the moment I saw her eyes blink. She didn't smile nor react to my appearance. I slightly squeezed her hand out of joy and she extracted it away, slightly startled by it.

"Hyeonie? Do you recognize me?"

She didn't answer. I stared into her eyes and saw.. nothingness. No emotion, no thoughts.. just nothing.

Soon, one of the nurses from earlier entered and recognized me as the one that ran out the bathroom. Yikes.. She showed me a slight smile and handed me a piece of paper that had Yoohyeon's diagnosis.

"Ms. Kim Yoohyeon has unresponsive wakefulness syndrome, simply put - she's in vegetative state. She's awake and has basic reflexes like blinking, drinking liquids, eating food and moving her body, but has no sense of awareness."

I was.. in shock. The nurse bowed down and left the room after explaining more into depth what happened to Yoohyeon and I couldn't help but start tearing up after she left. I turned to look at Yoohyeon and she still had that emotionless stare. I didn't know if I should be happy or sad. I wiped my tears and smiled at her.

"Baby, I'm sorry you have to see me like this.. But don't worry, I'll be with you until you get better.."

I sniffed a few times and leaned to look to the ground. I didn't want her to see me crying even though she probably didn't even know what was happening. I had to stay strong for her and show her how happy I was that she was back to us, no matter the state she was in.

I didn't show it, but I was actually overjoyed. Yoohyeon was finally awake. The girl I love was finally back to me and I couldn't express how happy I felt that moment, but I was more saddened than glad. She was still the Yoohyeon I loved and will always be the one I love no matter what, but it was still hard.. I shakily grabbed my phone and dialed Bora to inform her about everything.

"Hi Minj- Wait are you crying?? What happened?"

"*sniff* Yoohyeon.. She woke up."

"WHAT? You're not joking around, right? Because if you are I'll actually kill you."

"I'm serious Bora.. Thought, it's not exactly what we expected.."

"What do you mean..?"

"She's awake, but.. she's not herself.. When you're back from your trip, you'll see."

"Don't leave me uninformed like that! What is it!?"

"Just.. it's hard to explain.. It's better if you see her yourself."

"Oh my god- We'll be back in a few weeks, so no matter what, update me if something else happens, you hear me!?"

"I will. Bye Bora.."

She hung up but I still held my phone near my ear. I didn't want to move. I was having so many thoughts. What if it was permanent? What if she didn't remember any of us? Would this affect us? Would she.. see me differently?

All these thoughts made me sigh loudly and I noticed her slightly flinch because she got startled by the sudden noise. I panicked for a moment and started apologizing immediately. As if she'd understand..

Her stare was still emotionless, but something about it made me feel happy. It might have sounded cheesy, but I knew she still had feelings and love behind those eyes. It wasn't visible, but I could feel it.