Chapter Text
Lee Heeseung isn’t someone who’s easily anxious and dispersed. His friends often describe him as a calm and composed person, always ready to help and keeping it low during arguments. To be fair, he never really gets into heated arguing. When he’s at work, he gives his order in the fairest way possible and listens to whatever complaints he receives. Although no one really has anything to say, since he’s considered as one of the best bosses the company ever had in a long while.
However now, now Heeseung is nowhere near calm. His blood is boiling and he’s rushing to the right aisle of the building, running into people who don’t move aside. When he finally lands his eyes on what he’s been searching for, he takes a deep breath and opens the door.
On the bed, his son doesn’t move. His eyes are closed and he seems unconscious. Only his fists grip on the sheets from time to time, in tandem with his eyebrows furrowing. Not caring about the way the interns of the hospital are telling him to slow down. His son is right here, and he’s not conscious, how could he be calm ?
“Riki..” he says, coming closer, and whispering in his son’s ear, not believing the view in front of his eyes. “I’m so sorry… I couldn’t be there at the time..”
It all happened quickly. Heeseung had a work meeting, and before leaving in the morning, he specifically asked Riki if he could walk back home instead of waiting for him at school like he usually does. However, as Heeseung had a really important meeting, he wouldn’t be there in time. Five years old Riki nodded, showing his smile without teeth, and agreed. Heeseung didn’t know back then that his son would be rammed by a car on the way back home.
It’s only when he received a call from the director of the school during the meeting that he asked for a break. The news shattered him in pieces. He immediately excused himself and ran to his car to go to the nearest hospital where Riki would be taken care of.
He couldn’t handle the loss of his only son, the brightness of his life, not now, not after everything they’ve been through. The death of Riki’s mother, the change of environment, city, heck they even moved out of Korea for Riki to leave the trauma behind. It’s been months since Heeseung last saw his sister and he misses his family so much. But he did it for Riki. And seeing how his son is smiling now, Heeseung believes it's only for the best.
So no, he can’t accept the fact his sunshine is in the hospital, unable to open his eyes, and bruised everywhere.
He squeezes his hand tighter, and feels the way Riki can’t do the same thing, still hopeless and eyes closed, breathing heavily. His heart hurts just by looking at him. The nurse comes into the room, a paper in her hands.
“Sir Lee I believe ?” She asks, worried and compassionate.
“Yes, I am.” Heeseung replies, quietly and quickly regaining his composure, putting his feelings aside for a few seconds. He needs to know more about the accident and his son’s health.
“Your son got hit by a car running over the speed limit while he crossed the road. Luckily his backpack protected his head and his vital condition isn’t engaged. His ribs are broken however and we need to keep him here until he’s able to move on his own. Do you understand ?”
“So his head.. everything is good other than his ribs.” She throws a small smile and looks at the kid still laying on the white bed. He looks so small in the middle of the sheets.
“Dear God protected him this time… and if the backpack hadn’t been there ?” Heeseung asks in a hurry, before his brain processes what his mouth does. He regrets it immediately.
“He could have either.. died on the spot, or we could have saved him, but he wouldn’t be able to talk or even regain consciousness.. I’m sorry Sir. But at least your son is doing fine regarding his cerebral activity, and his ribs will get repaired in a short amount of time. Kids these days are strong, I’m not worried for him.”
Heeseung is still doubtful, but she’s a nurse, it's her job to examine patients and tell the visitors and family what’s the result. But seeing Riki like that, so tired and hurt, it stirs his heart too.
“Thank you, and please thank the doctor for me… for saving Riki. I owe them a lot.” He finally mumbles, sitting on the chair next to the bed. “When will he wake up ?”
“Soon enough, like I said, he’s not particularly hurt in the head, so he’s supposed to sleep for the night, and he will probably wake up in the morning.” She trails off and looks at Heeseung. “Will you stay for the night, Sir ? I have to tell my superiors about it.”
“I will.” He says, without hesitating.
“Good.” She notes something on her paper. “Have a good evening Sir, and I hope your son gets better.”
She excuses herself and closes the door after she leaves the room. The father and son are all alone now, in a cold silence. Heeseung is tired, it’s ten in the evening, and he got up at five in the morning to arrange the last details of his meeting.
Meeting he couldn’t even attend fully since Riki was brought here. Even though it's his least important concern, the fact his son isn’t in direct danger is way better to hear.
Slowly, he drifts off, falling in a dreamless sleep..
—
When the morning hits, Heeseung hears small whimpers next to him, and it takes him at least ten seconds to connect the dots. He fell asleep half henched over the bed, and now : one, his back hurts like hell, and two, he feels someone being awake.
Someone being none other than Riki, his son.
“Dad.. ?” He asks in a small voice, his throat dry and itchy. Heeseung resists the urge to throw his arms against him to pull Riki into a tight hug. Breaking his bones once again isn’t a good thing, and he would rather die than hurt him again. It’s already almost his fault Riki is in such a horrendous condition.
“I’m here.. Dad’s here, Riki, can you see me ?”
The kid nods and sniffs once again, refraining himself from crying on the spot. His pride is too big for a five year old. Heeseung lets out a huff of relief and relaxes a bit.
“It hurts..” Riki says, bringing his arm to his chest. He doesn’t apply any pressure on it, yet, the pain still makes him wince. “It hurts so much.”
“I know Riki.. I know. But you’re safe, ok ?” Heeseung ruffles gently Riki’s hair, passing his hand through the strands, untangling it at the same time. It’s dirty, probably a consequence of the accident.
“Dad.. what happened ?”
“You don’t have to worry anymore ok ? It’s ok, everything is ok. Now, we have to wait a bit more to get you out of this place. You’ll be kind to everyone, mainly the doctors.” Heeseung says, trying to phrase it so Riki isn’t afraid.
Luckily, his son is too distracted to even pick up his words, nodding slowly, like lost in his thoughts. Heeseung sighs deeply, feeling relief wash over him. It’s been a stressful night, but now, Riki is conscious, alive , and everyone will take care of him properly.
However, Heeseung has to call his work to tell them he’s not going to make it, at least for the next week. After that, he’ll probably sleep at the hospital, and go to work during the day.
“Dad, I saw someone.”
Uh ?
“When ?”
“I don’t know. But I saw someone and.. they were smiling, to me. It was warm, I felt warm. And I liked it. They were pretty. Was it a dream ?”
Riki has been through trauma, even though he doesn’t remember any of it, he’s going to hallucinate maybe for a little while. No one can get out of such accidents without the mind going blank at times. So Heeseung brushes it off and smiles at Riki, cupping his cheeks with his big hands.
Riki is still just a kid.
“Don’t think about it ok ? Just, relax sunshine, it’s going to be ok. I’ll stay with you until you feel better, and when we’re done, I’ll buy you the best ice cream I can ever find. Does it sound good to you ?”
Still doubtful, Riki nods.
He would do anything to eat ice cream. Interrupting them, the nurse from yesterday enters the room after knocking, this time with the surgeon and doctor following her.
“Sir Lee, I see your son is awake.” She says, beaming at him a small smile. “It’s a relief. I came with Doctor Choi and Surgeon Huh. They both took care of Riki when he was brought here.”
Heeseung gets up and bows at them respectfully, before looking at them more precisely. Doctor Choi is tall… really tall, and has beautiful blond hair. He seems to be quite young, maybe just out of his studies. Nonetheless, he radiates good vibes, and Heeseung likes him already.
Surgeon Huh isn’t what he would have thought. She’s small, has long hair, and doesn’t match the cold image of a surgeon Heeseung made in his mind the previous evening. However, as he sees her joke around with Doctor Choi, he relaxes.
“Thank you for taking care of Riki so well, I can’t even express how grateful I am. You saved his life.” He bows again.
“We’re happy your son is getting better, we were worried too when he came in yesterday, but fate is by our side. Your boy will need rest and time to get back on his feet, but we will do our best to help him.” Surgeon Huh says, grinning.
“We now have to run a few tests, would you mind leaving the room for ten to twenty minutes Sir ? It’s for you, for us, and for your son.” Doctor Choi asks, in such a calm and honey-like voice, that Heeseung forgets he’s talking to a hospital intern.
He shakes his head to reorganize his thoughts and nods.
“Of course, I have to call my workplace. So I will be down the hall, if anything happens, you can always search for me there.”
Both workers nod, and Heeseung exits after thanking them two again, as well as nurse Kim - who he learnt the name of just right now by looking at the tag on her blouse. He goes down the hall just as he said, and gets out his cellphone, ready to tell his colleagues about his absence. Heeseung lets out a relieved sigh.
Everything is going to be ok now.