After the Darkness, the Dawn

Chapter 15

Chorong wakes up twice before she actually does. The first time she doesn't remember at all, and Bomi tells her she'd only been conscious for a few minutes before passing out again. She vaguely recalls the second time, remembers waking up with this groggy, nauseous feeling, unsure of where she was while her entire body ached, especially her lower stomach. She remembers Chanyeol at her side, screaming for the doctor when he sees her eyes open, and all she had wanted to do was shush him, afraid he'd wake up the neighbors, for some reason thinking they were at home despite the unfamiliar room, but her throat is so parched it barely comes out as anything more than a raspy groan. She remembers the doctor and nurse checking on her as Chanyeol and Bomi watch on anxiously from the side, and she wants to ask them what happened, what's going on, where's Junmyeon, but there's a tiredness she can't seem to fight off, and she inevitably drifts off again as the doctor speaks with her brother. She finally wakes up after another half day of sleep, and this time when she wakes, she's awake.

"Unnie!" Bomi exclaims from her bedside, sitting up in her chair. "Unnie, you're awake! I'll go get the nurse," she yells as she runs out into the hall.

"Noona," Chanyeol sobs from her other side, and when she turns to look at him, cries again, "Noona!". He rushes her for a tight hug, half on the bed with her to do so before he pulls back quickly when she winces, her body still aching, particularly that spot on her stomach. "Sorry, sorry," he apologises, pulling back, wiping at his tears, and Chorong chuckles, or she attempts to, her throat still dryer than the desert. She reaches out to hold his hand, smiling, and Chanyeol smiles tentatively back.

"Where's Junmyeon?" she croaks worriedly, "Is he okay?"

Chanyeol's smiles drops in an instant, his frown steely, and it takes him a moment before he replies, short and blunt, "He's fine."

"What about the stalker?"

"Arrested." And relieved, Chorong doesn't catch the upset tilt in Chanyeol's replies as she nods and smiles contently to herself at the news.

"But where is Junmyeon then? Is he coming back soon?" she asks just as Bomi comes back with the doctor and nurse, and Chanyeol takes the opportunity to deflect and ignore her question.

"Doctor, she's awake again," he greets, and Chorong lets the subject drop, letting the doctor do her job and check up on her once more. She was still incredibly tired, despite all that sleep, and Junmyeon would come visit soon enough once he hears she's awake. Everything had worked out so well, there was no need to worry at this point.

Or so she'd thought.

"What do you mean he's not coming?" Chorong asks two days later, now well enough to sit up and argue despite the recommendations of her doctor. "Did you call him?"

"Yes," Chanyeol replies curtly, and she waits for him to clarify, to elaborate, to say anything beyond a simple yes, but he doesn't, focused instead on tidying up her room and folding up spare changes of clothes.

"And?" she finally prompts, beyond irritated at this point, and still her brother tells her nothing.

"And nothing."

"What do you mean 'And nothing'? What did he say?"

"He said nothing," Chanyeol replies, ever brief, and she doesn't like it, doesn't like the way he says it, the way he refuses to meet her eyes when he says it.

"Did you say something to him? While I was out?" she guesses quietly, and Chanyeol pauses tellingly in his movements. "You did, didn't you? What did you say?"

"What needed to be said," he finally replies after a long pause.

"Chanyeol-!"

"I'm not having this argument with you," he declares with finality, finally turning to look at her. "The doctor said you need to rest, and arguing is not resting. He's not coming, that's all you need to know." And no matter how much further she yells or begs or argues one-sidedly, Chanyeol ignores it all, changing the topic and pretending as if he doesn't hear a word she says on the subject.