The Devil's touch

Thirty

Taehyung was taken to the hospital and was immediately treated. They ran every type of tests on him to determine his state of health. Thankfully, he was out of danger but that wasn't the worst of it.

The most worrisome thing was his mental health. Ever since he was brought to the hospital, Taehyung remained numb, hardly moving or talking but whenever Jimin so much as touch him, he would scream at the top of his lungs and tremble violently. At other times, he just sat and stared straight at the wall acting more like a statue. Jimin was at a loss, he blamed himself for what happened to Taehyung. It was almost like he had lost his soul.

Taehyung began psycho therapy. There was hope that it would help him deal with the trauma he experienced but nothing worked. Taehyung remained as still as a log exhibiting no emotions; no pain, no sorrow except on one rainy day. He was staring out the window when he suddenly started to cry. Jimin was with him and tried to comfort him but he wailed and thrashed around, almost cutting himself. Jimin had to restrain him and pin him to the bed. He called the attention of the staffs and Taehyung was given a sedative that calmed him and put him to sleep immediately.

Taehyung's condition didn't seem to get any better and everyone was extremely worried for him. At the rate he was going, it didn't seem like he would be able to return to school or to his former life.

It had been two weeks since the incident. Jimin decided to have a deep conversation with the psychiatrist in charge of Taehyung. They were at the man's office and the air was tense between them.

"Doctor, please help me. Isn't there something we can do for Taehyung? He isn't getting any better"

The man was quiet for a while before he spoke "As you well know, Taehyung is suffering from a psychological problem called PTSD mostly suffered by rape victims or otherwise sexually assualted people. He is not in a good state right now. He might likely try to harm himself or take substances just to numb the pain and truthfully, he will take months if not years to fully recover"

"I examined him recently and I discovered he seemed to have a small history of mental depression"

Jimin nodded. "Yeah...years back he tried to kill himself"

The doctor nodded. "I see" he stroke his chin thoughtfully. "This young man needs to shed a lot of emotional baggage. He also has a long history of trauma and misplaced identity. The only thing that could help is by being in a familiar environment with people he loves...i'm saying he has to be with his family"

Jimin gulped. "But Taehyung doesn't have a good relationship with his family at the moment"

The doctor shrugged. "That's sad but unfortunately, that's what he needs right now. He needs to regain his identity. The identity he lost. He needs to know who he is and he needs to stay away from bad memories"

The doctor strained his eyes at him and Jimin got confused by the look on his face "What is it?"

The doctor took a deep breath. "I'm sorry to tell you this but you need to stay away from him"

"What?"

"Mr Park. You're a walking encyclopedia of bad memories for that man"

"He doesn't seem to get better when you're around. Instead, his situation only gets worse and I have no idea why that is, so I suggest you stay away at least until he makes some progress"

Jimin lowered his head nodding as he tried to hide the pain in his eyes. "I'm not surprised. I'm the reason why he's like this. Little wonder why he wouldn't want to be around me"

"Mr Park..."

But Jimin cut in and sniffed "I can understand. I kind of expected this to happen. I was going to leave until he was better but I didn't know I would have to leave this soon"