#82
Something felt strange, as if something was gripping his vocal cords. It was when Eunsol grabbed his throat and blinked rapidly.
“Patient, are you alright?”
Eunsol’s condition was immediately noticed by the medical staff who had been monitoring him 24 hours a day. The hospital room door opened roughly as a group of medical staff entered.
The attending physician examined Eunsol first thing upon entering. Looking at the erratic, rough graph readings, the doctor wiped his forehead, which was beading with cold sweat, with the back of his hand.
“Ugh, ah…”
At that moment, a groan that could barely be called speech escaped through Eunsol’s lips. Eunsol’s eyes were wide open, wavering like a water surface facing a storm.
The metallic sound was his own voice, yet it was so painful to hear that one would want to cover their ears.
Obvious confusion flashed across both Hyun-oh’s and the doctor’s faces.
“Lee Eunsol!”
Hyun-oh, who had been sitting beside the bed, jumped up in surprise. Seeing the large hand reaching toward him, Eunsol curled up his body as much as possible.
Unconsciously, his trembling hands were cradling his stomach. The sudden movement caused sharp pain from the back of his hand where the IV was connected and from his chest bound with a medical binder, but he had no chance to properly register it.
“It’s okay. You’re in the hospital. There’s nothing here that will harm you, Lee Eunsol.”
Hyun-oh reached out again to grasp the chaotically shaking shoulders in an attempt to comfort Eunsol.
However, Hyun-oh’s warmth only pushed Eunsol deeper into fear.
“Huu, ugh, ah…”
Hot tears flowed continuously down his tightly closed eyes.
He desperately wanted to plead to be left alone, but the words floating in his mind kept breaking apart before becoming syllables.
Eunsol had no choice but to curl up and tremble violently.
If he could think a little more rationally, he would know that Hyun-oh’s pheromones enveloping him were flowing more gently than usual, but Eunsol’s mind continued to shake like duckweed.
“Patient, are you alright?”
The attending physician spoke with urgency. The brief relief he had felt after Eunsol woke from his comatose state was now churning with anxiety.
Despite having just wiped it away, not only his forehead but now his back was damp with cold sweat.
“Call the psychiatric department immediately.”
After quickly assessing the situation, he gave instructions to the nurse standing by.
Until then, Hyun-oh couldn’t take his eyes off Eunsol. The doctor put his hand on Hyun-oh’s shoulder and shook his head.
Hyun-oh, who had been frozen with his hand on Eunsol as if half out of his mind, barely managed to stand up.
“Please come this way for a moment.”
The doctor led Hyun-oh toward the doorway.
Since Eunsol had been brought to the hospital, Hyun-oh had constantly remained by his side.
He was someone who had been desperately waiting for the patient to wake up. While the doctor could understand Hyun-oh’s shock at being pushed away as soon as Eunsol regained consciousness, the most important thing for the doctor now was Eunsol’s recovery.
Seeing Eunsol’s reaction today confirmed it. He was currently afraid of Hyun-oh.
Judging by Eunsol’s state alone, his reaction was so dramatic that one might mistake Hyun-oh for the perpetrator of the traffic accident.
“It seems that the patient is… afraid of you, his guardian.”
It was a killing blow. Hyun-oh could only bow his head like a guilty person and listen to what the doctor was saying.
“Hoo, hoo…”
Only after Hyun-oh moved away from him did Eunsol slowly catch his breath.
“I’ll tighten your binder again. Just a moment, please.”
Currently, Eunsol was wearing a binder due to his fractured ribs. The nurse slowly laid Eunsol flat on his back, facing the ceiling.
Eunsol’s eyebrows drew together as he felt a stiff sensation in his body.
After tightening the loosened binder with appropriate strength, being careful not to put pressure on the uterus, the nurse pulled up the lowered blanket to cover Eunsol’s body.
Although the air in the room was warm, she did this because she saw Eunsol’s shoulders trembling finely.
“Would you like me to call your other guardian?”
The nurse whispered quietly, just loud enough for Eunsol to hear. Eunsol blinked his eyes, momentarily confused about who the other guardian was, until he realized she was referring to Kang Ye-ryeong.
“Ah…”
Reflexively trying to say he was fine, but unable to produce sound, Eunsol just shook his head quietly.
Feeling like a half-wit who couldn’t even speak properly, Eunsol lowered his eyes and anxiously inhaled.
Though he was conversing with the nurse, he kept fighting the urge to look at Hyun-oh standing by the door, drawing on all his patience to resist. His heart was creating such a commotion in his chest.
If he were in normal physical condition, it would be different, but he worried that his psychological state might negatively affect his lucky one.
“Hello?”
A stranger approached while Eunsol was worried. The person, who introduced himself as a psychiatrist, asked Eunsol questions and observed his physical responses.
Since Eunsol was unable to speak, the examination continued for a long time. Eunsol didn’t know what diagnosis had been made, but he was so exhausted from just that that he was slightly panting.
He tried to recall memories that might calm his anxious heart. It was by chance that he remembered the dream he had before regaining consciousness.
The moment he recalled the warmth shared by the rabbit that had approached him in the dream, his rapid breathing calmed considerably.
“…Lee Eunsol.”
But the peace didn’t last long. When the low, deep voice echoed in his ear again, Eunsol’s breathing, which had momentarily returned to a normal rhythm, began to become irregular.
He could feel the gaze on his face. However, instead of meeting his eyes, Eunsol desperately tried to focus only on the wrinkles in the clothes of the other medical staff standing nearby.
“I’ll be going now. So don’t worry and… get plenty of rest.”
Fortunately, instead of approaching Eunsol, Hyun-oh left the room after saying just those words. The soft sound of footsteps seemed to drip with lingering attachment, making Eunsol feel strange.
After Hyun-oh left, the medical staff explained the current situation to Eunsol in kind voices and then only checked his physical condition to make him as comfortable as possible.
Although being with strangers was also uncomfortable, he endured it because their actions were for his lucky one’s sake.
It was while a nurse was removing an empty IV pack and connecting a new one.
As Eunsol blankly watched the transparent tube connecting to the back of his hand, he heard the clicking sound of high heels.
“Darling, are you feeling a bit better?”
When the nurse attending to Eunsol discreetly asked if she should call her in, Eunsol had expressed his refusal.
Hyun-oh wasn’t the only person Eunsol had run away from. He had disappeared without a word to Kang Ye-ryeong as well.
Knowing how much she cared for him, he couldn’t face her shamelessly.
But when the familiar voice called to him, filled with worry, his vision blurred helplessly.
“Uuu, hu…”
A suppressed sob resonated gently throughout the hospital room, transcending the bed.
“Have all the necessary measures been taken?”
“Yes.”
“Then could everyone please leave for a moment? I’ll press the nurse call button immediately if there’s an emergency.”
Unlike when speaking to Eunsol, a cold, imposing voice was directed at the medical staff. Soon, only Eunsol and Kang Ye-ryeong remained in the spacious hospital room.
“Your chest will hurt if you keep crying. Stop crying.”
Kang Ye-ryeong sat down beside Eunsol and took out a handkerchief from her pocket. The touch that wiped only his tears, careful not to irritate his delicate skin, was comforting.
“Darling.”
When the tears that had been flowing from Eunsol’s eyes showed signs of subsiding, Kang Ye-ryeong removed the handkerchief. Instead, she pulled back the blanket and held the hand that wasn’t connected to the IV.
Only then did Eunsol realize that Kang Ye-ryeong’s hand, which had appeared calm, was trembling slightly.
“Thank you so much. For having the courage to run away despite how difficult it must have been, and for waking up safely despite the serious accident.”
The black pupils that had momentarily stopped crying became covered with a film of tears again. Eunsol moved his lips, trying to return some words to Kang Ye-ryeong.
“Uh, ah…”
Only sounds that couldn’t form words escaped through his lips. As if to say it was okay, Kang Ye-ryeong reached out with her other hand that wasn’t holding Eunsol’s and gently brushed back the soft hair from his forehead.
The oxygen mask covering his small face seemed particularly harsh on Eunsol, whose breathing was still unstable.
It was painful enough that this fragile child had set out on a harsh journey to protect the life in his belly, and then to suffer such a serious accident.
Although Kang Ye-ryeong was making an effort to maintain a composed appearance, her ankle, not visible to Eunsol, was tightly wrapped in bandages. The back of her hand, which had received multiple IV fluids after seeing Eunsol hovering between life and death, also had a bandage on it.
“You don’t need to force yourself to speak. If there’s anyone who underestimates you because you can’t talk, would you let me know their name right away? I’ll fix their way of thinking so they never think that way again.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
