CHAPTER SIXTEEN
FRESHLY picked yellow tulips decorated the table beside jisoo.
sun was shining brightly in the sky that morning, finally breaking through the dark clouds. the sunrays being the same colour as the flowers next to jennie, maybe even resembling the orange jisoo's nails were painted in. hints of reds and pinks traced along the horizon, almost as if the world knew it had been sleeping for too long, and now, it was coming back to life.
jennie's eyes were focused on the doctor in the corner of room, standing by the heart monitoring machine. they were gradually flickering through pieces of paper clipped to their clipboard. jennie observed their facial expressions, watching every eyebrow twitch, every subtle mouth movement, waiting for them to say something, hint that everything really was okay with jisoo. but it was quiet, extremely quiet, and she just wanted to reach over the bed and swiftly take the pages from them.
a hand placed on her own, and she looked down.
i'm okay. don't stress.
words written in black marker against the small whiteboard.
"promise?" jennie spoke in a trembling whisper, afraid if her voice raised any higher it might somehow wake her up from this incredibly lovely dream. even if she knew she definitely wasn't dreaming. it was all real—jisoo was real.
sentence erased and a new one quickly scribbled on the board: i promise.
corner of jisoo's lips twisted upwards, only slightly, not quite causing the cute creases to form next to her eyes. it was enough for jennie, though.
she breathed out. "i was so scared of losing you."
"there's no need to be scared," the doctor's voice intervened, and she had her eyes on them once again. "the recovery may take some time, but jisoo will be okay," they talked steady and calm, completely opposite to how jennie was feeling on the inside. no memory loss, no long term damage, was what they announced. thank, god. the information creating jennie to blurt out her gratefulness, cheeks began to hurt as she couldn't stop smiling. there was nothing to worry about, not anymore, because as she looked at her girlfriend, alive and safe, she knew they would both recover from everything; they would both be okay in the end.
hours later, after the room was cleared of nurses, their family and friends, it was just jennie and jisoo.
i heard you.
messaged rubbed out, more words written on the whiteboard.
everything you said to me when i was in the coma. i heard it all. i wanted to reply but, you know, i couldn't. jennie could basically hear jisoo's laughter in the words. she smiled, reading the rest. there is one thing that's been on my mind since waking up. i need to tell you.
"tell me what?" jennie leaned in closer, fingers pressed against jisoo's shoulder.
thank you for not giving up on me.
the black inked letters turned to a blur in a matter of seconds. jennie read them over. again. and again. and then just one more time.
she let out a shaky laugh, turning her head away and closed her eyes to suppress the tears from building up. however, with the feeling of jisoo's warm fingers wrapped around the hand that still laid on her shoulder, jennie allowed her eyes to flutter open. in that moment, with her full attention on the girl, jennie was entirely convinced it was possible to fall in love with someone all over again; maybe, everyday, she fell a little bit deeper for jisoo. a soft smile from said girl, and jennie slowly leant down further, placing a kiss on her forehead.
"jisoo," heart pounding, she said, "i would never give up on you."
