The New Life 1
942 Words
Gray had finished the olympiad and attempted to call Stephen, only for his friend to not answer his phone. "Why won't he pick up?"
"How 'bout some Takkan after the olympiad tomorrow? It's been a while since we hung out with Dara, right?"
Gray noticed that he had thirteen messages on Ketalk, all of them from Jeremy Park. 'Why did this guy send me so many messages?'
Jeremy Park:
Stephen Ahn and Dara Na
fell from the roof! They were
picked up by the ambulances.
Jeremy Park:
Stephen's at Gangnam General
Hospital, Room 515.
Jeremy Park:
I'm not sure about Dara
because it seems like his
parents might want a private
room instead.
Jeremy Park:
The emergency treatments
should probably be done by
the time you get there.
Gray's entire body went cold. 'Stephen...Dara...'
XXX
Gray first went to see Stephen. The red haired boy laid unconscious in bed, hooked up to life support. "The patient sustained serious brain damage," Gray heard the doctor tell Stephen's mom. "For now, the chances of him returning to a normal level of health are low. Other than life support, I don't see any other clear options that will guarantee results. He will definitely live, but it looks like he won't be able to live normally for the rest of his life. I'm terribly sorry,"
Gray stood there, beside Stephen for an hour. His face was blank the entire time. Finally, he moved and gently put a hand to Stephen's cheek before leaving to look for Dara's room. Unfortunately, only family was allowed to see him and Gray dejectedly headed home. During his walk, he fell to his knees and broke down in tears.
'Stephen...Dara...'
XXX
"Dara..." Donald Na's poker face had shattered upon seeing his little brother in such a state. "Oh god, Dara..." 'I should've gone with you...I shouldn't have let you go alone...It's my fault you're like this...I should've protect you better...'
"Donald, I know you're blaming yourself," Kingsley put a hand to his friend's shoulder. "But it's not your fault. It's the ones who pushed him off the roof's fault,"
"Dara's seriously hurt," Donald's voice cracked. "He's in a coma, just like his friend,"
"Comas usually last only a few weeks," But Kingsley also knew that sometimes a coma can last for years too. "We have enough evidence to convict the perpetrators,"
"They're trying to drag it out by pushing back the court date," Donald said. "But no matter how long it takes, when the trial comes, we have definite evidence," He held up the pins that Dara and Stephen had worn. "These still are intact and they have video proof of the incident today. There's no way for those fuckers to prove their innocence,"
XXX
Gray didn't attend class for days. But when he did...he beat the s**t out of Oswald Yang, Desmond Kang, and Bryce Oh. Since Dara wasn't there to ask his parents to help Gray out, and because Dara's family have never met Gray before, Gray was still kicked out and blacklisted from local high schools.
When Gray tried to visit Stephen, he was told that Stephen had been moved to a different hospital for better treatment options. With Mrs. Lee's help, Gray was able to enroll at Eunjang High School.
A few days later, Donald Na and Kingsley Kwan also hunted down the trio of perpetrators. They didn't care that the three were still healing from their wounds and proceeded to beat them to near death. Donald and Kingsley created fake alibis to throw any investigators off their trail.
XXX
'Fen Fox...'
Beep...
'Gray Bear...'
Beep...
'Donald...'
Beep...
'Kingsley...'
Beep...
'Mom and Dad...'
Beep...
Dara's eyes flew open. 'Where is everyone!?' He pulled the oxygen mask off of his face. 'What happened to Fen and Gray!?' He got out of bed, only to end up falling to the floor. 'Damn it!' He forced himself to stand back up. 'Where are Fen and Gray!?'
He stumbled out into the hallways where the nurses caught sight of him. "Sir, you shouldn't be out of bed!"
"I'm fine!" Dara rasped out and continued to walk. "Where...where are my friends?" He crumpled to the floor and was in a lot of pain. "Where are they!?"
"Dara!" Donald, who had came by to visit his brother, saw him out of bed and on the floor.
"Where's Fen and Gray!?" Dara demanded.
Donald brought Dara back to his bed. "One of your friends was transferred to a different hospital. He's also comatose like you were. I'm not sure about your other friend because I have never met him and you never told me his name,"
"Fen's in a coma?" Dara whispered. 'That's right...he fell first and then that bastard Oswald shoved me!'
"Oswald Yang, Bryce Oh, and Desmond Kang are in prison for attempted murders," Donald informed. "They tried to deny it but your evidence proved their guiltiness. We also beat them to near death since they kept pushing back the court date,"
"So they're finally punished," Dara sighed in relief. "But Fen...he's still in a coma..."
"I don't know what hospital he was transferred to," Donald said. "But they transferred him so he'd have better treatment options,"
"I need to get stronger..." Dara told his older brother. "Donald, I need to get stronger so I can protect them better. I was...I was too weak. I wasn't fast enough. I..."
"Focus on recovering first," Donald ordered. "You need to heal up first before you get stronger,"
'I shouldn't have held back against Oswald. I should've completely finished him back then. If I had done so, at least Stephen wouldn't have suffered this much,'
- Writer
