Megan was the ICU nurse assigned to Jungkook today. She was float-pooling for a nurse who called in sick. She hadn't been a nurse for Jungkook so she thought it would be an easy day. Brain injury patients don't get demanding. They don't treat you like the hired help for everything from a box of Kleenex to dumping a total of 10cc's of urine from their urinal or better yet being the demented patient that doesn't understand the Foley catheter is there for a reason and tries to yank it out balloon intact. Today would be anything but that day. Jungkook had now gone two days without sedative medication and was making slow but steady progress to waking up. He hadn't purposefully opened his eyes but it looked like he was making attempts. He would squeeze the nurse's hand without being prompted to do so and in response to Yes/No questions. He was slowly coming around. Megan had stepped over to the nurse's station to chart some information when suddenly she hears this loud screaming noise coming from her patient's room.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!! Jwimin-ssi!! Jwimin-ssi!!! Where are you? I can't see you! Where are you?" He is sitting up in the bed with his eyes opened." Megan goes running into his room with a syringe of Ativan thinking she's gonna need it. He starts to scream again. "Chim Chim, I need you! Chim Chim, I love you!" All in Korean.
In a calm voice Megan begins to talk to Jungkook who is highly agitated. He is looking straight ahead and breathing deep heavy breaths.
"Jung. Jung. Look at me honey. Look at me. You are in the hospital. Do you hear me?" She walks carefully toward Jungkook.
In Korean he begins to scream out again. "Where's my Jwimin-ssi? Where is he?" He starts to cry and throw whatever is in reach.
Megan doesn't understand what he is saying. She leans her head out of his room and starts yelling for any of the other nurses to come and help her.
"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!! Chimmy I need you!!!! Where did you go!?!" He is sobbing uncontrollably.
"I could really use some damn help here! I don't understand what he is saying and he's throwing things! Call a Code Grey Stat!" Megan screams.
One of the nurses initiates the call for security to ICU. "Code Grey, ICU. Code Grey, ICU, Code Grey, ICU." One of the nurses that runs in to the room is a short stout Asian woman. She hears what Jungkook is screaming and starts to speak to him...softly...in Korean.
"Jung. Jung. Listen to me. My name is Mai. I'm a nurse. You are in the hospital. Do you understand me."
Through his tears Jungkook nods. He understands her. He looks at her with pleading pathetic eyes and asks...
"Where is Jwimin-ssi? Please where is my Jwimin-ssi?" He is sobbing again.
"What is he..." She's shoved to one side as security comes bursting through the door. She yells..."Stop!!! Don't touch him. He just woke from a coma. He's scared and doesn't know where he is."
"Jung. Calm down. We'll help you but you have to calm down. Let us help you. Tell me where you are." calming speaking says Mai.
"Why do you keep calling me Jung? That's not my name! Where is Jiminie-hyung?" He has calmed down but is still agitated. "You say I'm at the hospital but I don't know why."
"Will you let me come over and talk to you? I'll explain everything." Mai says.
He nods with tears still in his eyes. Megan tells security to go ahead and leave that they have it under control now and they walk out.
"Megan give me some time with Jung." Megan nods and walks away leaving Jungkook and Mai alone but not before secretly sliding Mai the syringe of Ativan.
"I'll be just outside if you need me." Megan walks out of the room.
"Tell me what your full name is? she asks him.
"Jeon Jungkook. Where am I?" He asks
"You're in the hospital. You had a terrible accident. Do you remember what happened? Mai calmly asks Jungkook.
"No. When can I see Jiminie?" He pleads.
"Do you know what year it is?" she asks.
"Why do you ask such silly questions? It's 2018. No, I don't know what happened. I remember Jiminie and after that I don't remember anything else." He says with irritation in his voice.
"Who's Jiminie?" she asks.
"He's my bo-, he's my friend. My best friend." Even with the trauma sustained he managed to stop himself from saying in public, what he has hidden for 3 years.
She thinks she understands. Jiminie isn't his best friend. It's his boyfriend. "Are you from Korea?" she asks.
"Yes. I live in Seoul with my brothers. I have 6 brothers. Where are my brothers? I want to see them. Please can I see my brothers?" He ask again in a pleading tone.
"Where are they Jungkook?" she asks.
"I don't know. I don't remember. Please help me find my Jiminie and my brothers. I want to go home." He begs.
"I promise I will help you find your brothers but will you promise me you will rest? You have been through a lot today and it won't be good for your recovery. I will work on finding your brothers but you must rest." As she is saying this Jungkook is unaware that she has slipped 1mg of Ativan into his IV line. Within about 5 minutes Jungkook is sleepy and lays his head back down to sleep.
"Wow! Thank you, Mai! That was awesome! I tell you never a dull moment. Is he resting ok?" says Megan.
"Yeah but we need to find his family and fast. I think he also has a boyfriend. He wouldn't say for sure but that's not surprising. Homosexuality is a big no-no in my culture. Thank you, grandma for always talking to me in Korean." May points to the sky and makes a small bow of respect.
About 30 minutes later Karen comes in to visit with Jung. She was in for a big surprise.
"Hi, Mai, Megan! So how is the patient in bed #3 doing today?" Sounding chipper as usual.
"Oh my God! Girl! You missed the fun and festivities. He woke up today. He started screaming and throwing anything he could get his hands on. I couldn't understand a thing he was saying but Mai sure did. She talked him down from the ledge. Didn't you hear the 'Code Grey' called earlier? Megan says with excitement in her voice.
"No. I was down at the MRI with a patient. What happened? Is he okay?" She became concerned for this boy she was falling for like her own. She really didn't know him but he reminded her of Tyler.
"Well he started to scream for Jimin, then Chim Chim, Chimmy, then Jiminie. I think it's the same person. I talked to him for a while until he calmed down. Thanks to a ride on the van...the Ativan. His real name is Jeon Jungkook. He doesn't remember what happened but he says he has 6 brothers but this Jimin is his best friend." She uses air quotes when she says best friend. "He's from Seoul but I'm not sure why he is out here. I wonder if he's an exchange student from USC or UCLA. Anyway, he kept asking for this Jimin. We are going to call those detectives from Rampart when he wakes again and is calm and hopefully, we can solve his mystery. Although, we did give him a name close to his own when we called him Jung. Usually, Korean names are three parts like American names. The last name is first and first name is actually two names like a first and middle. So, his real name is Jeon Jung Kook. Since we don't follow those rules here he only got half his truth. All I know is that this Jimin is very important to him and we need to find him if he's here. You can go look in on him if you want. He's sleeping again." said Mai.
Karen was just floored. He woke up. It's not unusual for people in comas to awake in a highly agitated state. It is a combination of not knowing why and where they are at that moment. She walks into his room and he is rolled over facing the window that looks out over downtown Los Angeles. He is peacefully, sleeping and she can hear his soft breathing. He still looks like a bit of a train wreck but it is getting so much better every day. She thinks he will be back to his handsome self soon. She takes a chair next to his bed and sits next him. She strokes his dark brown hair gently and a tear steals itself from her eye as she remembers times like this with Tyler when he was dying but she knew that would not be this young man's fate. She takes his hand in hers and starts to talk to him like she has done since the first day she brought him here.
"Well hello Jung Kook. I hope I say that correctly. It's your favorite nurse coming to see how you are today. [laughs] I suppose that sounds funny. You haven't met me yet at least not officially. I know I told you my name is Karen, so 'Hi! It's Karen!' You had quite the eventful day today didn't you son? I'm glad to learn your real name. I hope we find who you are looking for soon. I know you must want to go home and be with your family. I will miss you so much though when you leave. Well from what I hear from Mai you don't speak English or at least much. She is a good nurse and I hope she helped you some today. She will help you find your family. Well, since you woke up today, albeit a bit agitated that is good because they will step you down soon. That means you will probably come to my floor. You will like it there. All the nurses are young and pretty girls and they will surely faun over you. You will be quite well cared for I assure you. Well I can't stay long but I hope we can talk soon...even if we need a translator. Keep getting better young man and I will see you soon."
Karen got up from her chair and walked out of the room. A couple of moments later, Jungkook opened his eyes again. A tear rolled down his cheek onto the pillow. He whispered to himself...
"Oemma, Oppa, Junghyun, I miss you. Please come find me. Where is my Jiminie? I love you Jiminie." Another tear rolled down his cheek and he closed his eyes again. He thought about the nurse who had talked to him in Korean. He knew he was scared and upset and she was really trying to help. He barely understood anyone else except the woman named Karen. He hadn't seen her yet and he didn't understand too much of what she talked about but he felt comforted. He felt so alone in this place that didn't understand him nor did he understand them. He didn't know or remember what happened but it was a harsh feeling. He felt a gnawing in his stomach and realized it had been a while since he ate anything. He just didn't realize it had been three days since his last meal. He sat up in the bed and looked around the bed and the room. He saw some buttons on a control panel. One looked like a light button, one was arrows that went up/down and left/right, one looked like it controlled the TV and one had a figure on it. He assumed that was to call for someone so he pressed the button.
About 10 minutes later a nurse comes into the room. She is sort of startled to see Jungkook so alert.
"OH! I wasn't quite expecting you to be so awake. Well, hello Jungkook, I'm Megan. Your nurse. Do you need something?"
Jungkook thought really hard, it almost gave him a headache trying so hard, then he said...
"I am Jungkook. I don't speak good English. I try but... (he looked like he was thinking hard again) words lost. I am hungry. Can I eat?"
"Well, it's after 8pm and the cafeteria is closed but let me check our pantry and see what I can whip up for you. It won't be much but maybe it will help." She leaves his room with him a bit confused.
Jungkook sees what looks like a TV remote control. He takes it and turns on the TV in his room and begins to flip through the channels. Most of them are boring. He finds a channel that has The Simpsons and he starts to watch. During a commercial break a news report comes on for the concert that is going on that night. They are talking about the the hottest show in Los Angeles with the biggest boy band in the world. He is shocked. How could they do a show without him? Wouldn't they have waited until they found him? The reporter then states that although one member has been in ill-health they continued the show to not disappoint the fans. He doesn't understand everything but surely gets the gist. They were performing without him!
When Megan returned she could see he was upset. She asks...
"Jungkook, what's wrong?" She's afraid of a repeat performance of this afternoon.
"Me! That's me!" He points to the TV screen.
"What are you talking about? she asks.
"Singer...Me! I sing!" Jungkook's agitation is making it hard to find his words in English and he starts to revert to Korean.
Megan, looks out the room and sees Mai just as she's ready to leave the floor.
"Mai, can you come here a moment?" she asks.
Sighs...just 30 seconds earlier and she would have been gone. She walks into Jungkook's room. "Hey Man! How are you doing?"
In rapid fire Korean he says..."That's me! I'm one of the members of BTS! Please can you call them and let them know I'm here?"
She is doubtful. He has suffered a severe head injury and injuries display themselves in different ways. She thinks he might be a bit delusional. Not just that but she watches the news before she goes to bed every night and there hasn't been one mention of a missing member from a wildly popular KPop band. She wasn't totally out the loop at her age of 32 but she really didn't think Jungkook was the singer of any band but the one in his head.
"Please help me. That's my hyung! I need to get back to them!" he insists.
As politely as possible..."Jungkook, they are in the middle of a performance right now and I don't even know how to get a hold of them. We will try first thing tomorrow. Okay? Don't get so agitated. It will be alright. Eat your soup and sandwich."
Jungkook was frustrated that he wasn't being believed. He shoved his food away from the tray. Shut off the TV and rolled over and started to cry.
"Well that wasn't very nice! Megan went to all that trouble to fix you something and you shove it away. I'll see you next week, if you are still here. I'm off for several days. They have a phone translator if you need one." She turns and leaves Jungkook in silence.
Jungkook thought..."Fuck! No one else who speaks Korean! What am I going to do! I don't want them to forget me and leave me here. Why hasn't Jimin-ah come? Where are my hyung?"
Just as Mai is leaving she walks over to Megan...
"Woof! That boy surely had his head rattled. He thinks he's part of this boy band group from South Korea. I'm not into KPop and never have been but I think he is a bit messed up in the head for sure. After the beating he got I'm still shocked he is recovering. " Mai says.
"Yeah, I hear ya. I don't know what to do for him since he speaks such limited English. Finding people who know him is gonna be a stretch." says Megan.
"Well someone has to know who he is. See you in 8 days. I'm on my mini-vacay. Ta-Ta!" and Mai whisps her way out the door of the unit.
"Lucky Bish!" She snorts and heads towards Jungkook's room. "Jungkook can I get you something else?"
He rolls over enough to see her from the side of his eyes and says...
"Yeah! RM-hyung, Suga-hyung, JHope-hyung, Taehyung, Jin-hyung, and my Jimin-hyung!" He managed to understand her question.
Megan doesn't know what or who those people are but she says...
"Tomorrow Jungkook. I promise tomorrow we will help you find your family."
He snorts and rolls back to his side and watches an episode of FutureRama. He understands some of it but he has no humor. He doesn't understand why people aren't listening to him.
What Jungkook really doesn't understand is that the last 3 days he has been in the hospital he has not once taken a look at himself. He's seen the bruises on his arms, torso and legs but he hasn't seen his face. Nursing has purposely done that so he would not become agitate. Honestly, he hadn't thought of looking in a mirror. He just thought to himself 'can't they see I look exactly like the guy in the middle of the group picture of BTS.' It was a little after midnight before he fell asleep again. It wasn't a good sleep either.