When the day begins to draw to an end we tend to become lazier. Tired, clumsy and absent-minded. Weāre only human after all. After a busy day, we long for the warmth of our homes, the love of our families, the promise that there is some softness in this cold hard world we live in. Of course, for most people, that promise gets fulfilled, but it seems Daisie isnāt most people. Her home is not warm and cozy, but upturned, ransacked, tarnished with the memory of a trauma sheās not sure sheās processed yet. Her family sits divided, her love estranged, her support system crumbling. No promise of anything sitting around the corner. And when everyone goes home at the end of the day she sleeps stiff in a hospital bed surrounded by the smell of hospital grade disinfectant and the incessant beeping of machinery. The worst thing? Sheās been here before.
Ā Ā They could be such dreary places.
All that white and for what? Drab was all she could see and hear and touch in sterile absence. Maybe hospitals werenāt as clean as they thought they were, that is of course if they could think at all. Waking up to the same scene every time makes her wonder if she even wants to wake up at all. Tired eyes attempt to blink away the lethargy in her face but to no avail. Nothingās changed. The flowers her mother had brought still sit on the bedside cabinet, reminding her to grow despite feeling as if sheād been torn from the ground at the roots. By the door sits an overweight police officer, slouched over in the chair provided, a baton across his lap, hat partially tilted over his face.
When the door to her room creaks open he snaps upright. Rubs a fist against his eyes and offers a meek grin to the nurse who checks the chart at the end of Daisie's bed. She goes about her duties in a professional manner, but when sheās done she sits at the edge of Daisie's bed, smiles like the sun and produces a pot of jelly from the pocket of her scrubs. āFor peanutā but Daisie already knows. She sets the pot down beside Daisie and rises to her feet. āIāll see you tomorrow petal,ā she says all smiles whilst flicking off the light. And then sheās gone again allowing for Mr podgey in the corner to slouch back down and watch the clock tick down the minutes until he can leave too. Daisie does the same for what feels like forever until the door creaks open again, but this isnāt a part of the same routine.
Stood in the doorway, haloed by the light in the hall stands a man. But he doesnāt stay that way for long. He is no angel. He has no halo. She recognizes him for who he is.. Ā āO-ā she chokes, a sharp pain in her ribs. With a grimace she tries again āofficer--ā this time thereās an urgency to her voice, but he doesnāt look up until itās too late. Doesnāt look up until Woojin has his fingers curled around the baton. With the force of ten men (thanks to the adrenaline running through his veins), he strikes the police officer around the head. Thatās all it takes for him to slip into unconsciousness, and all Daisie can do is watch, until he turns to face her. Malice in his face, this boy is filled with cruel intentions.
Unbeknownst to either of them, a knight in shining armor approaches accompanied by a plump woman somewhere in her forties. Once upon a time, she would have had a passion for her job, but now she just goes through the motions. Someone gets sick, she tends to them. She doesnāt care like she used to. The world has made her hard. She stops a few steps shy of the room ānext time you make the payment in full.ā she states, glancing down at the watch attached to her front pocket. āYouāll have a couple of hours until one of the nurses come in to check on her.ā Ā The conversation continues, whilst struggle ensues within the room.
Woojin drops the baton to the ground, it lands with a dull thud and rolls until it hits the body of the officer out cold on the floor. He decides heāll prefer to use his hands. Heās dreamt about it before, closing his hands around the column of her throat, and squeezing until the life left her eyes. Daisie kicks the sheets off her and manages somehow to slip off the bed and stand albeit wobbly on her feet. But thereās only one way in, one way out, and before sheās able to figure out what to do he forces her down onto the bed. Every bone in her body aches, she opens her mouth but he clamps a hand over it to silence her. In moments he uses his other to squeeze at her neck lightly for a few moments until he clambers over her, sits across her waist and pins her down fully. Beneath him she lay struggling, hands reaching up frantically in an attempt to pinch, scratch, hit anything that she could reach, but his iron-tight grip only gets tighter. Her movements slow, and he begins to cackle. He thinks heās won. She does too.
This isnāt what Che expected to see when he opens the door. He couldnāt figure out for a second: knock or open. But then he remembered he loves the look of surprise on her face so he opens the door. This isnāt what Che expected to see. āHey!ā He says loud enough to hopefully alert someone, the cop out cold on the floor is useless. He gains the attention of Woojin and they meet eyes. Che sees his hands around Daisieās neck; fight or flight? He picks fight. Throwing the grapes at Daisieās assailant he misses his mark - he was aiming for his head. He hurls the cup second and it lands, multi-colored ice sliding down his face and staining his shirt. Just in time. His grip eases up in the slightest allowing for that breath she was so desperately struggling for. Somewhere above her head, the pillow sinks down. She doesn't know it yet but there's a bunch of grapes there now. The voice is familiar but she can't quite grasp who it is not in the heat of it all. Not until Woojin leans back and suddenly she's wet. There's panic in her face. Was that blood? No. It's cold it can't be. He turns his attention to Chester leaving Daisie choking, gasping to get her breath back. Woojin picks the baton from the floor and brandishes it, swinging it at Chester with rage in his eyes. He's always getting in the way.
For once Chesterās height isnāt only good for just reaching for things on the top shelf. Chester leans back, narrowly missing the baton taking his chin out and yells out again, why is hospital security so shitty around here? Heās not about to sword fight with some lunatic and punches him square in the face. If he wasnāt keyed up on adrenaline, Chesterās fist would really hurt right now, but it doesnāt.Ā
That same rage that Woojin has?Ā
Chester holds inside, itās the driving force behind his fist colliding with Woojinās face again. Finally, the piece of shit hits the floor but itās not enough. Giving him a taste of his own medicine, Chester pins Woojin, his heavy body sitting across Woojinās waist as he punches him over and over. Even when Woojin can clearly not defend himself, Chester tugs him up by the collar of his shirt to punch him again, his nose splattering blood onto Chesterās fist, itās swollen and crooked from Chester breaking it. He could punch Woojin all damn day. She doesn't know why her eyes are wet but they are, and dangerously close to overflowing too. She can't bring herself to do much else than sit up slightly, gown damp from the slushee remnants. She watches with her mouth agape. Without a weapon, woojin doesn't stand much of a chance against Chester. Ā But he takes the beating like a champ, smiling at him through bloody teeth, until his nose cracks. Ā He swings at Chester, but barely grazes the line of his jaw. Security finally makes their entrance, pulling Chester back at first. Before restraining Woojin, covered in blood but still smiling. Always smiling.Ā
Chester resisted when he got arrested and heās resisting now, trying to fight out of their grasp, he does for a second lurching at Woojin but more security come to hold him back, heās a big guy after all. āIāll fucking kill you!ā Chester bellows, he repeats himself as he dragged out of the room, shoes skidding black marks on the floor. āLet me go,ā he demands, trying to yank himself free.Ā
Soon it's not just Security, it's nurses and doctors to all flooding into the room, and the only person Daisie wants to stay is being dragged away. Slipping off the bed she uses what strength she has to push past a nurse blocking the door and slaps at the guards hands around Chester "leave him alone," it's supposed to be instructive, firm, but it's more of a broken plead between heaved sobs that hurt her chest. She doesn't stop. Not until the guard eases up on Chester, but there's still another holding tight around his arm. With a shaking hand, she cups his face "are you okay?" She asks between the commotion, not caring to glance back at Woojin. āIām... are you āā he sees the bruising from Woojinās hands around her neck and Chesterās rage lights up all over again. God, if he could kill a man with his bare hands he would. āAre you okay? He hurt you āā Chester canāt do much with Daisie in front of him and security separating them from Woojin. āI...ā his forehead is sweaty but he rests it against hers. She looks so small and frail in a hospital gown. āIām okay.ā He whispers for only Daisie to hear. āIām okay now.ā He turns in against her hand, reveling in her touch.Ā
She nods because she doesn't want to worry him any more than she already has. She can see it on his face, hear it in his voice. Shuffling forwards closer she drops her hand from his cheek and sneaks her arms around his middle, face buried somewhere in the fabric of his shirt. Despite the circumstances it's nice, she'd never thought she'd have this again but there they stand as the storm settles. Finally, the security guard lets go of Chesterās arm and heās wrapping both of them around Daisie, pressing his cheek on the top of her head. He breathes out a sob, the idea of losing her like this scares him so much. He wouldnāt know what to do with himself. It feels so good to have her this close, sheās anchoring him so his anger doesnāt let him fly. Daisie is the calming sand that stamps out his fire. He breathes her in and doesnāt let go.
"Miss Kim" one of the nurses calls firmly, making their way from the room to stand before the pair. "You'll need to get back in bed please" despite the please it isn't a request it's an instruction. But daisie doesn't want to let go, she doesn't want to move at all not until there's a hand placed on her shoulder to peel her away from Chester. As she turns she faces woojin being held up by two guards each of his arms around their necks, he stands sandwiched between them. Her heart sinks into her stomach when he winks at her, even more so when he spits a mouth full of blood towards Chester, but she stays stood in front of him to keep him grounded. "Not here" she whispers quietly to him.
Chester pants heavily until Woojin spits blood at him and he's growling, ready to rip that son of a bitch apart. Chester's whole body moves with every inhale and exhale that leaves him. If Daisie wasn't in-between them he would try again. He wants to rip his eyes out of his face for winking at Daisie, Chester remembers the crazy smirk on Woojin's face as he punched him over and over, he wants to rip his lips off. He could have kept punching him. His fists are bloodied, skin hanging off of his knuckles and it's nothing he's not used to.Ā
Once he's out of sight the nurse ushers Daisie back into the room, but not without her dragging Chester behind her by the wrist. She doesn't want to hurt his hands, doesn't even want to look at the red that coats them. "Sorry you can't bring him here," she says nodding towards Chester with a raised brow. "Please" daisie mumbles "for peanut" she speaks even quieter and the nurse sighs, shutting the door behind them so that only the three remain in the room. The nurse helps daisie back into the bed and examines her slowly. A silence fills the room and she's uncomfortable. "I'm fine" she lifts a finger and points it to Che "check his hands.ā
"I'm fine too." He doesn't look at the blood on the floor from when he got Woojin on his back. "Really..." but the nurse takes his hands and inspects them. It's a hospital so of course, they have what they need in the room for her to clean up and wrap his hands. Blood still steeps through the gauze and she wraps more around his fists until you can't see it. "Thank you," he says quietly. He didn't mind it but he didn't want to worry Daisie. The bruises from security restraining him will fade with time, just like the bruises around Daisie's neck and along her body. "I came as soon as your mother called me." He explains to Daisie since he didn't get the chance to do that earlier.Ā
A single cleaner makes their way into the room midway through Chester getting his hand bandaged up and cleans away the blood on the floor until there's not a trace of it left. When they leave the nurse sighs and stands. "What happened?" She's just as confused as everyone else. Daisie shrugs but she wishes she hadn't. "I don't know" there's a pause and then she has her hand outstretched for Chester, the one the nurse isn't fussing with at least. "He saved me."
'He saved me' Chester doesn't feel like a hero, he feels like a fool, shame pushes his stomach up and up and up and he dashing off to the in-room toilet and he lets it out, heaving as he throat burns and his nose begins to run. He coughs more until there is none left and he wipes at his lips with the back of his hand before going to the sink to rinse his mouth out as best. "Sorry about that, it kinda just hit me and I couldn't stop it." Chester apologizes once he's back out. Ā Hopefully, a nurse would be understanding of his reaction.Ā
This is normal. So the nurse doesn't up sticks and follow him into the bathroom and she coaxes daisie to do the same. She has to hook her back up to the heart monitor anyway. By the time Chester emerges without the contents of his stomach, she's all ready. Laid out in bed as if she'd never left it in the first place. "Will you be staying the night sir?" She asks but knows full well his name. Daisie nods for him, shifts over as much as she can and pats the space beside her.Ā Daisie has already answered for him with her scooting over for him to sit with her but he still speaks anyways. "Yeah, I'll stick around." He doesn't want to leave Daisie alone, not after that. He walks over the hospital bed and slips his shoes off and sits down in the spot. "Hi," he says quietly as he looks at Daisie, with a small smile on his face for the first time since he's gotten there.
That's all it takes. A small nod and the nurse is backing out of the room to give them some privacy. Daisie shifts closer and eventually leans over to reach for the jello she'd been left earlier and peels the lid off only to offer it to him. He needs it more than her. He's in shock. At least she thinks he is. "Can you eat for me?" She asks as soft as she can muster, eyes pink from having cried. She just wants to exist in his presence. No words. Just breathe. It'll be good for him to get the taste out of his mouth, it's mostly gone but the faint tang of nastiness lingers and he nods, moving his arm from around her shoulders to squeeze the cup of jello into his mouth, its loads better than vomit. He doesn't know what to say after he swallows. Jello is good though, even if he's not actually hungry. He can't deny Daisie.
When he's done she takes the empty pot, leans across him and discards it before settling against him again. She likes this. Being close. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the party" she can't think of anything else to say. She doesn't want to recall what happened. Not right now, she's tired of people asking her. "Will you forgive me?" She already knows he will but she's asking anyway, her hands moving to hold his ever so gently. "Do they hurt?" She asks shifting attention to him and keeping it there.Ā "Don't worry, I put your birthday cake in the freezer." He was upset originally but that feeling is long gone, happy to be close to Daisie again like this he brings her closer to his side if it is even possible. When she takes his hands he looks at them in hers, finally noticing the size difference. When they met her presence eclipsed her stature, but now seeing her tiny and frail is eye-opening to her many sides. "Nope, they don't." But they will eventually when it finally sets in what happened, the throwing up was stage one, stage two will be the pain. He kisses the top of her head.
The mention of her birthday makes her frown. She'd missed it entirely. Halloween too. Seems there were no treats this year. Just a trick. Pushing her lips into a pout she kisses the back of his hands through the gauze before letting them down but keeps her hands atop his. "When they hurt will you tell me?" Despite being frail she still wants to care for him. Always has. Always will. Her eyes fall shut soon after, resting fully against him, keeping him close as close can be. She feels small beside him. Safe. But she always has done.Ā "Yeah, I will." He looks at their hands as she rests against him, he stays still not to disturb her and he replays the entire day in his mind and it still feels like some type of nightmare or prank gone completely wrong. "I love you so much," he murmurs. "I'll never let anyone hurt you ever again."
The monitor beeps just a tiny little bit faster with his confession. She coughs a little to cover it up, regrets doing so immediately after. She's not used to everything hurting from the most mundane activities. Hopes she never has to get used to it either. "Do you promise?" It's a big thing to promise, she doesn't expect him to but she wants him to.Ā "Yes." He answers immediately. This was an eye opener for him to stop fucking around and be serious about this - not that he wasn't serious about getting Daisie back but now he's even more determined to make things better for them. He makes a mental note to change her room to something more private, get his own security detail around - plain-clothed, no cops. "I promise you, Daisie Kim. I'll protect you forever."
Somewhere along the lines of him speaking she hooks her pinky finger around his and pushes her thumb to his thumb in a promise. "Forever?" She repeats soft, voice just above a whisper. This is probably the most she's spoken since the incident. Swallowing Daisie tilts her head back and leans up to push her lips to his. Something she had thought she'd never get to do again. She doesn't mean to cry but her cheeks are wet. Maybe she's just overwhelmed, either way, she doesn't stop. The moment calls for it.Ā Thumb to thumb he kisses her back, the transfer of her tears on her cheeks to his just makes him kiss her harder. He's always loved it when she cries, can't put his finger on it but her vulnerability warms him inside, like drinking the finest liquor on the planet. "Forever."
When he stops to speak she keeps close, eyes closed lips millimeters from his. This is how she remembers happiness. She delivers a final peck before shifting down to lay her head across his chest again. Every other visit she'd made to the hospital for whatever reason she's always found it hard to sleep. She thinks now if she tried she could do so just fine. But she doesn't want to sleep. Not just yet. Because for now they're victorious and despite not wanting to think bad thoughts she can't help but wonder how long for.
jimmyeatworldofficial
titsay