January 28, 2022
Nabi woke up to dim white lights and a dusty white ceiling in front of her.
Her head felt like it was being hammered through and Nabi winced in pain when she tried to move her left arm, a sharp pinch like pain jolting through her left arm.
Nabi briefly moved her head down to look down at her left arm, lifting it slightly so it would be easier for her eyes to accomodate and saw a needle poking through her skin.
That's when Nabi realized she's laying down on a bed in an unknown surrounding.
Just where is she?
"Nabi? Are you awake?"
Nabi tilted her head to see Mia walking towards her with concern etched on her head.
"Unnie?" Nabi tried to speak normally but her voice came out as cracked and hoarse.
"You are awake. Wait, let me call the nurse," Mia said, helping Nabi sit up slightly as she saw that Nabi was trying to get up.
"Where am I unnie?" Nabi asked, squinting as her eyes felt heavy and tired and she rested her head against the pillow as she slowly sat up.
"The hospital. Here, have a sip of water," Mia replied, handing Nabi a half filled glass of water.
"The hospital?" Nabi questioned, confused.
"Don't you remember? You fainted at work Nabi," Mia told her gently.
"What-I don't-"Nabi tried to speak but trailed off when she remembered what had happened earlier. She does not exactly remember fainting but Nabi most definitely remembers feeling sick and dizzy.
Mia sighed and said, "Let me just quickly call on the nurse, okay? Then we can talk."
Nabi slowly nodded her head in understanding and Mia quickly got out of the room, leaving Nabi alone.
While Mia was gone, Nabi took the time to take in the details of her surroundings. Nabi noticed that she was the only patient in the room, which was a tiny room made to accommodate one patient and another companion.
At the right side of Nabi's hospital bed was a couch with a large window on top. The curtains were drawn and Nabi could tell that night had already fallen on the city as the skyline was illuminated by the brightness of the streetlights and building lights.
In front of Nabi's bed sat a chair, which looked as if someone had been sitting on it not too earlier, and at the left side of her bed was a small side table with a small fake plant beside it. The furniture was nothing special, just stereotypical hospital like.
It really was a small room but just enough for one patient.
The last time Nabi was in a hospital room was the day her father passed away. She didn't really have much of a reason to visit private hospital rooms after that. She doesn't really have trauma of being in hospital room, as some may do, but it isn't the most pleasurable feeling either.
Hearing the door open, Nabi turned her head and began, "Unnie i-" only to stop when she saw that Mia wasn't the one walking in.
"Oppa," Nabi said in surprise when she saw Sehun walking in instead of Mia.
"Nabi, you're awake," Sehun stated as if it weren't obvious.
"What are you doing here?" Nabi asked.
"Looking after you of course," Sehun answered, "How are you feeling? Still dizzy?"
"No," Nabi shook her head, "But my head hurts."
"It must be the side effects from all those injections they put in you earlier. I'll ask the nurse to give you a painkiller," Sehun said.
Nabi frowned when she heard Sehun and asked, "Injections? What injections?"
Sehun crossed his arms across his chest and began to speak when he was cut off by the door opening with Mia walking behind a nurse this time.
"I'm back," Mia announced and then she spotted Sehun and her voice tone completely dropped, "Oh. . .you're back too."
Sehun closed his mouth and gave Mia a suppressed smile, deciding to wait until the nurse was done checking up on Nabi before explaining anything to her.
"Park Nabi-shi?" The nurse walked towards her with a clipboard in her hand, "How are you feeling?"
Why was everyone so hell bent on asking her that question. She had fainted earlier. Was it not obvious that she's clearly feeling like shit? What else she supposed to say. That she's perfectly peachy?
Instead Nabi said, "I'm feeling fine."
"Really? You don't feel any pain?" The nurse asked, taking out a thermometer.
"My head hurts," Nabi admitted, "And my body really feels heavy but I don't feel any kind of strong pain."
"Hmm," The nurse took Nabi's temperature and said, "The anesthesia must still be working then. Your fever has also lowered down but it isn't gone yet. I'll talk to the doctor and give you a painkiller according to the amount you can have. You had fainted earlier Nabi-shi and you also had very high fever. We also had a look at your back while you were unconscious earlier. The doctor who treated you earlier is currently in the operation theater but he will come see you once he is done."
Nabi slowly nodded her head. The nurse was speaking quickly and it took Nabi a couple of seconds to wrap her head around what she was speaking about.
"We will also have to take quick rapid Covid test from you. Its hospital policy to have every admitted patient take a test but we couldn't do one earlier since you were unconscious and couldn't give your consent," The nurse said.
Nabi nodded and said, "I understand."
"If you have any questions, you can ask me or you can ask the doctor when he comes. He'll explain more about your treatment and your condition," The nurse informed Nabi as she quickly pulled out a rapid Covid test kit and said, "Could you please open your mouth?"
Nabi opened her mouth and the nurse quickly took a saliva swap and put it in the tiny test kit.
"I believe you should be fine," The nurse said, "I shall take my leave then."
Nabi nodded and the room fell quiet until the nurse left.
"Hold on," Nabi said once the nurse was gone as something suddenly dawned on her, "How does she know about my back?"
Nabi was really asking no one in particular when Mia answered her question, "They saw your back when they were changing you in the hospital gown."
That was when Nabi looked down at her body and realized she was no longer in the clothes she had worn to work in the morning.
"What happened? You fainted at work," Mia asked, standing in front of Nabi's bed with her arms crossed in front of her chest.
"I. . .I don't know," Nabi said truthfully, "I just remember being really dizzy."
"If you were feeling this sick since the morning, you should have just stayed at home and rested," Mia said.
"It wasn't even that bad in the morning," Nabi said.
"What about your back? What happened to it? The doctors had to give you injections so it won't worsen when you lie on your back while you were unconscious. Apparently its in a really bad condition," Sehun spoke up.
"Oh. . .I just had a really bad fall the other day," Nabi lied naturally, trying her best to sound convincing.
"That must have been a really bad fall then," Mia commented.
"What happened at the office?" Nabi asked Sehun carefully while trying to change the subject.
Sehun shifted his weight from one leg to another and spoke in his dark voice saying, "Well, after you fainted we brought you to the hospital. Me, Jang and Yoon. We had you admitted and had a check up done. The doctors didn't really find a big problem. They think you fainted mainly because of your high fever and stress. Just mental and physical exhaustion."
"Oh. . ." Nabi responded, unsure of how exactly she should be reacting.
"Don't worry about the hospital expenses," Sehun continued, "Jang paid for it. He feels guilty cause you've been overworking a lot lately. He feels he has helped causing your fainting."
"What? But that's not true. Jang did nothing to me," Nabi protested.
"I know that but just enjoy this treatment. He's probably going to go easy on you for a while, take advantage of it," Sehun said a bit mischievously.
"Where are they," Nabi asked, wondering.
"Yoon and Jang already left earlier. It's after nine already and I told them I'll stay here until you woke up. Yoon was really worried, she was sitting next to you the entire time," Sehun told Nabi.
"Really? I'll text unnie later," Nabi said, feeling touched.
Then looking at Mia, Nabi asked, "But how did you know?"
Mia opened her mouth to speak but Sehun beat her to it and said, "Jang looked through your personal profile earlier to call your family. But you had left the space completely blank. So he called Mia cause you both are close."
Nabi looked away from Sehun when he mentioned her family record. When Nabi had joined the company two years ago, she had left the area blank as she didn't have anyone family member she could put down.
It wasn't like her mother was around to ever respond to any of her calls or texts and Nabi is sure her grandmother would most certainly not enjoy entertaining anything related to Nabi. Her brother was still a minor at the time and so Nabi had just left the area blank.
She never thought it would actually ever come to use.
"Thank you for coming unnie," Nabi said.
"Are you kidding? Do you have any idea how scared I was?" Mia spoke in a stern voice, "You know I would drop everything for you right?"
"But still. I feel bad the two of you had to waste your time here doing nothing when you could be out there doing something better," Nabi said, looking down at her lap, "You don't need to be here."
"You undervalue yourself too much," Mia told her.
"No seriously. I'm fine, I really am. I must have just gotten the seasonal flu or I must have just caught the cold. Jang shouldn't have to pay for my expenses," Nabi said, frowning as she stared at her hands in her lap, already beginning to worry about the work she missed today when she was busy being unconscious.
"Are you seriously-" Mia began speaking but was abruptly cut off by the door slamming open.
Before the three of them could even process anything, something came zooming in and the next thing Nabi knew was that she was being slammed back to the bed as someone engulfed her in a crushing teddy bear hug, knocking her out of breath and causing her to wince in pain from the contact her back made with the bed.
Nabi didn't even need another second to know who was hugging her.
She could already tell from their loud sobs who it was.
"Noona!" Suho cried loudly as he buried his face in her neck, "Noona. I'm so sorry. Please don't die."
Even though Nabi did instantly know who it was, it still took her a moment to understand what was going and respond to him.
Suho only continued to cry and Nabi could feel his tears beginning to soak her hospital shirt.
"I-I I'm so sorry noona. I don't want you to die," Suho continued to wail loudly.
Nabi awkwardly patted his back and said, "Suho. . .get off of me."
But Suho only clutched her harder, squeezing the air out of her and saying, "No! What if you go away when I let go."
"Suho," Nabi said, this time trying to push her brother away.
"You're going to suffocate her to death," Mia said, walking over and pulling Suho back by grabbing her collar, coming to Nabi's rescue, "And she's not dying."
Suho pulled back and Nabi got to see him properly. His face was red from crying and his eyes were also swollen from crying. No matter how old he got, Suho still cried like a baby.
"B-but you fainted," He said, stuttering.
"That doesn't mean I'm dying," Nabi told him, "And stop crying. I'm all right."
"No! You're not!" Suho exclaimed loudly, "You're in the hospital!"
"Listen, I'm fine," Nabi said, trying to calm down her hysterical brother.
However Suho just continued to cry, "I'm so so sorry noona. I swear I'll never ignore you again. I was so stupid. Just please don't go away."
Suho leaned in again to hug Nabi, this time a bit more gently than before.
"I guess we should get going then," Sehun said, getting up from the couch he was sitting on.
Nabi nodded and sat up a bit more straighter.
"Jang told me to tell you that you don't need to come to the office tomorrow or the day after either," Sehun told her as he wore his jacket, "Call me if anything happens, okay? I'll help you out."
"Me too! You better call me if something happens," Mia said, more in a threatening voice, "And seriously stop overworking yourself and starting eating properly more. Don't think I don't realize how you've been loosing weight recently. It's obvious from your face."
"Unnie you should leave too. It's getting late," Nabi said.
"But you have to stay the night in the hospital. Someone should stay with you," Mia frowned.
"Suho's here now," Nabi pointed out, "I'll be fine. Besides, it's not like I'm seriously sick or something. If I feel really unwell then I'll message you."
"Yes, don't worry Mia noona. I'll take care of her," Suho said, still sobbing slightly.
Mia contemplated for a while before hesitantly saying," If you say so."
"Come on. I'll drop you off," Sehun offered to Mia.
Mia threw him an awkward glance before looking away awkwardly again and nodded her head.
"Well then. Make sure to text me before you sleep and text me as soon as you're awake. I'll come here in the morning to take you home," Mia told her and Nabi nodded in understanding.
Once Mia and Sehun had left, Nabi turned to Suho and said, "You can go back to your dorms too you know."
"Are you crazy," Suho threw her a 'are you crazy' look, "I'm not leaving you alone. Especially after you fainted. Did you even eat anything yet?"
Nabi shook her head and said, "I'm not that hungry."
"Noona you need to eat something to get better," Suho said, then tearing up once again he continued, "Do you know how shocked I was when Mia noona called me and said you've been admitted to the hospital. Why don't you ever tell me when you get sick."
"I would have if you would have picked up my calls," Nabi told him.
Suho blushed from embarrassment and said, "I'm sorry for ignoring you. I was just being dumb."
Nabi only sighed in response. She wasn't sure what to say because she knows that Suho will one day go back to ignoring her when she doesn't give him what he wants.
A loud clear knock was heard on the door and the two siblings turned their head towards it as the door opened and a head peaked in.
"May I come in," A middle aged man asked and Nabi quickly identified him as the doctor.
Nabi nodded and the doctor walked in.
"I was told you had awoken so I wanted to meet with you once before I leave for tonight," The doctor said.
"Thank you for worrying about me," Nabi politely said.
The doctor smiled and said, "You seemed to have fainted earlier due to extreme low blood pressure. It happens sometimes in normal fevers, although it isn't common. I hope you are feeling better now."
Nabi nodded her head and said, "Yes I'm feeling much better now."
"Great! We had to take a blood test earlier to check your sugar levels, but we noticed you have severe vitamin deficiencies. Definitely much more than a person your age should be having. I normally recommended having a more balanced and healthy diet however since your vitamin levels are so low, I would suggest you to take some supplements daily."
"Yes doctor," Nabi said.
"Now. . .there is another matter I would like to speak to you about," The doctor began, the smile coming off of his face, "We had a look at your back because it was in such a bad condition. You have seemingly bruised your muscles."
"Bruised my muscles?" Nabi frowned.
"Yes. Bruised muscles heal depending on their severity and it looks like you've have worsened yours by seemingly having it come into contact with another surface continuously. They will at least take two weeks to get better, three weeks at most."
"That long?" Nabi asked.
"Yes. Like I said, you've bruised them severely," The doctor explained, "Look Ms. Park, I've encountered many bruises in my career and I know bruises like yours aren't just caused by simple falls."
The doctor suddenly cuts himself off and looks at Suho.
"He is my brother," Nabi said, seeing the hesitance in the doctor's gaze, "You can speak in front of him."
"I know domestic violence case when I see one. Ms. Park, you can be honest with me. Is someone abusing you at home," The doctor asked, all serious.
Nabi felt the blood in her veins go cold as a slight wave of fear washed over her. She could tell Suho was as equally taken aback too because Suho's facial expressions became sour and his body became stiff.
"Ms. Park?" The doctor said when Nabi didn't respond, "You don't need to be afraid-"
"It was ou-" Suho cut the doctor off only to get cut off by Nabi herself.
"You have it wrong doctor. It really was a fall. And an accident. We both were kind of messing around and Suho pushed me but I accidentally slipped and hit my back strongly against the wall," Nabi explained, "It's really not what you are like thinking. And besides, it wasn't even that bad in the beginning, I think I just made it worse by not taking proper care of it."
The doctor exchanged careful gazes between Nabi and Suho, as if he weren't fully convinced and said, " Very well. . .I see. I'll take my leave now. Our nurses will guide you tomorrow morning on your medication when you leave."
"Thank you doctor," Nabi smiled at him.
"Thank you," Suho mumbled too.
The siblings waited until the doctor finally left and Suho turned to Nabi and demanded, "Why did you lie?"
"What did you expect me to do?" Nabi said, "Tell him what exactly happen."
"Yes! Of course! Because of her you're in the hospital and you're hurt. She's really crossed the line this time," Suho said angrily.
"Suho what do you think will even happen if I told him what had actually happened. Do you think the police would have gotten involved?" Nabi asked.
"Of course, why wouldn't they-"
"And then what? She's a senior citizen. She's past the age of seventy, do you actually think the police would arrest her? The most that would happen would be the cops telling her to not pull a stunt like this again and let her go," Nabi said, "She already hates me, I don't need her to give more reasons to even hate me more."
"Then why can't we just let her go to a senior citizen home? That way we can let go of any connection we have with her?" Suho said.
"Suho! What the hell is wrong with you! She's our grandmother for godsake. We have to take care of her," Nabi told him sternly, nearly yelling at him.
"No, what the hell is wrong with you noona. Why do we keep on seeing that horrible woman when all she does is sit on your money and do nothing and still complain all day long about you," Suho said.
"Well do you make it any easy for me? Don't pretend like you don't talk crap about me to her. And why are you so upset? She loves you," Nabi pointed out.
"I only tolerate her because of you," Suho snapped back.
Nabi sighed and closed her eyes, "I don't have the energy for this right now. I'm really not in a mood to have an another argument."
Suho too sighed and said, "You're right. I'm being an idiot again. You're sick. I'm sorry."
Nabi opened her eyes and said, "You should go back to your dorms now."
"I'm not leaving you alone," Suho said.
"Suho, I'm fine. You have university tomorrow. You should go and sleep. You're too big for the couch too," Nabi said.
"You're allowed one visitor for the night. I don't mind staying. What if something happens to you in the night," Suho said.
"It's just one night. And I'll be sleeping for the most part. You heard Mia unnie, she'll come pick me up in the morning. I won't need any help in the night and I'm better now. I don't feel dizzy, my fever is down and my blood pressure is up too," Nabi told her brother, "If I feel anything then I'll just call onto the nurses here."
"But-"
"Suho, just go. I'll be alright," Nabi assured him.
Suho slumped his shoulder but nevertheless said, "Alright. I'll leave then."
Nabi nodded and Suho moved to hug her gently one more time.
"Also don't cry like that. Nothing's going to ever happen to me," Nabi told him when he pulled away.
"That's what dad said too," Suho mumbled quietly.
Nabi paused then continued, "Yeah but nothing's really ever going to happen to me."
"Yeah, I know," Suho mumbled, "Bye. Good night."
"Good night," Nabi said back and watched as Suho left.
After he was gone, Nabi picked up her phone from the tiny hospital side table, turning it on and seeing a few missed notifications and emails.
None of them were really important, just a few automated mails from work and insurance companies and some few automated advertisement messages.
Nabi saw that her bag, which she carried to work this morning, was also here, probably due to Yoon.
Nabi slowly laid down, opening social media apps on her phone to kill time since she wasn't particularly sleepy at the moment. As she scrolled through aimlessly, she came across an instagram update Scoups, showing him grilling meat as he cutely smiled at the camera. Nabi unconsciously liked it and swiped to see the next picture, showing him with Jeonghan and Mingyu.
Nabi pondered. Should she call him? She should, shouldn't she. After she had just fainted and he should probably know being her boyfriend.
She hesitated right before dialing his number but did it anyway, her heart beating fast from nerves even though she isn't sure why she is nervous in the first place.
Nabi waited for him to pick up the phone as she held it to the ear, letting if dial.
However after no one had picked up after the fifth dial, Nabi quickly cut the call and buried her head in her hands.
Gosh, she feels like an attention seeking girlfriend right now. Of course he wasn't going to pick up. If he was free tonight then he would have most likely messaged her already.
Its already so late, he's probably either really tired or has late night dance practice again.
Nabi sighs in disappointment.
She doesn't know why she even tries after all these times.
When will she ever learn her mistake.
Sorry for the late update but I literally wrote over a 1000 words in the past hour to finish this chapter. Also, I wanna say, I know I have grammatical mistakes and spelling mistakes all over the place and that's on me and my laziness and I'm just sorry you have read all the errors.
The next chapter will have some exciting action so stay tuned for that!