Timeless Snow ✓

Ch. 50 - Embrace

Kasey's eyes opened slowly, heavy from the dreary dream. She blinked, focusing her eyes as she surveyed her surroundings. It was nearly instantaneous, the sudden surge of adrenaline when someone realized they weren't where they remembered falling asleep. The walls were white and bland. The bed she sat upon matched everything else in the room, white and void of life. The room was moderate size and had two doors she could see. With a heavy breath, she pushed herself out of the lumpy unfamiliar bed and scrambled off the edge as she headed for one of the doors and gave it a tug. Looking in she noticed a hospital-like bathroom brought to light by a motion sensor switch on the wall. 

Abandoning the bathroom, she headed for the other door and ripped it open. Stepping out she looked down an endless white hall. She could hear the faint chatter of nurses at a nearby desk just out of view and an elderly person wobbling down the way. None of this looked familiar. Was she in a hospital? The accident! 

Her eyes went hallow and her body froze in place as she disassociated from reality and begin to try and piece together what was happening. Her brain processes things like a computer on dial-up. There was no way that all of that was a dream...? "Y/N." A voice called out closer to her than she expected. Flinching she quickly retreated a step back toward the door as she turned to look at the tall brunette man standing nearby her with eyes awaiting recognition. 

"Who's that?" Kasey asked hesitantly as her eyes shifted from the man's face to her surroundings and back. He was staring at her so intently it was starting to make her uncomfortable. That sweet waiting look quickly faded at your words. His expression dropped and despite the fact that she didn't know this man, she knew what the look of sorrow looked like. Quickly the man latched onto her arm and quickly stepped toward her. 

The gesture sent Kasey back, following his lead by no other choice. Once back inside your room, Taehyung slowly pressed the door shut. Kasey backed away further, inching back toward the bed she woke upon. "What is going on? Where am I?" The back of her knees hit the bed's frame and she stumbled onto the frumpy mattress. Her hands began to shake as her nerves rattled with unease. 

"Y/N..." The man whispered one last time, his voice a low whisper. Sorrow lingered on his lips as he took a careful step forward. "It's going to be okay. You're safe." He added, his arms outstretched as he started to approach Kasey a second time. "Stop!!" She barked, raising up one of her shakey palms to hold up to him. "My name is Kasey!" Her voice raised and cracked as she tried to fight back the fear in her tone. 

"Kasey?" He repeated as he dropped his hands back to his sides and let himself come to a stop. "Yes!" Kasey affirmed as she backed herself up to sit on the bed and keep some distance between her and the man who couldn't seem to get her name straight. "Do you know who I am?" The man asked, he forced his expression to become calmer. Noticing Kasey's uneasy and apprehension to be talked to or touched. 

"No!" She shouted quickly. Thankfully, the halls were filled with random shouts here and there. A patient two doors down had terrets along with a few mentally disturbed people who enjoyed a good scream every so often. The man pretended that her words didn't hurt him, but Kasey was still able to tell by the twitching frown in the corner of his lips. 

"My name is Taehyung." Placing his hand on his chest he gestured to himself as if introducing himself to a child. It was oddly cute. "Well, Nice to meet ya or whatever," Kasey said quickly as her hand returned to her lap. She took in a breath and swiftly added after. "But can you tell me where the hell I am?" Her body was calming the jitters, but she still didn't plan on trusting the strange man right out of the gate. 

"Chocia's Psychiatric Hospital." He resisted so simply. Kasey's eyes shut briefly before returning to look up toward Taehyung with shock. "Excuse me?" She questioned, not believing what she was being told. "Is this because of the accident? Was I in a coma?!" Kasey desperately tried to find a reason for the madness of her situation. Taehyung's eyes lowered, no words spoken as he wasn't sure how to explain to her what was happening. It wasn't like he knew himself. "Am I... still dead?" 

"What?" Taehyung blurted out as his head raised. Why would she think she was dead? "You're not." Taehyung shook his head, wanting to drift Kasey away from the idea of death while she was in this state. "You are alive." He affirmed. "Then what happened to me?" Kasey's voice cracked as water collected in the corner of her eyes. The fear of it all was making her tear up, but she let her eyelashes flutter away from the droplets and try and contain her composure in front of a stranger. The heavy feeling of losing time. 

"I... I don't know." Taehyung stammered. Biting his lip he lowered his eyes again and tried to swallow the words lodged in his throat. "You're sick, Kasey..." He opted to admit as he looked back up at her from a few feet away. 

"I'm not sick!" She snapped back. "I was in a wreck and then I was..." Her words trailed off as she realized the ending of that statement was death. How insane she must sound. She was dead, at one point, but she wasn't now? Then did she ever really die? Kasey began to breathe heavy as her thoughts raced. Her eyes buldged and her arms wrapped herself. She sunk the nails of her fingers into her arms and clenched her jaw. She was going into a panic attack. "Kasey." Taehyung called out, noticing how her body language changed. "Kasey!" He repeated again, still no response. 

"Y/N!" He yelled, this time using the name of his love. Raising her eyes, she looked to Taehyung and released her jaw to say only a single word. "Help..." Her voice was low and meek as if yelling from the very back of a cave. A soul lost at the bottom of a well. Taehyung's heart broke, but his instincts quickly jumped into action. Stepping back, he grabbed the door and yanked it open. "I need to help in here!!" Taehyung shouted down the hall before his shoes squeaked against the tile floor in his dash to her side. This time, Kasey was welcoming as he came close. He offered to open his arms and the last thing Kasey remembered, was falling into his embrace.