JIMIN POV:

"(Y/N)?!" a voice called out from next to me, his usually deep warm voice hoarse and full of horror; Tae. We were all looking with a sinking feeling at the horrific sight in front of us. She was lying there, motionless, complexion pale and eyes tinged with dark circles that looked like bruises. There was no healthy flush that usually decorated her cheeks and her lips were bloodless. She looked like a corpse. I panicked when I saw her but if it hadn't been for the slow mechanical sound of her heartbeat, I don't think anyone would be able to tell there was life in her.

I didn't want to know what had happened that had brought her to this state, she looked like she was fighting a battle between life and death. I felt sick looking at her, stomach churning and my heart pounding uncontrollably. I knew my feelings were being magnified by the suffocating silence that descended over the room and the feeling that was transmitting through the bond.

We stood at the foot of her bed, all of the other guys looking exhausted, worried, sick with fear. They all had red puffy eyes indicating they hadn't gotten any sleep and dried tear tracks staining their cheeks, their clothes were dishevelled, and they all leant on each other for support.

I realised (Y/N)'s condition was worrying and there was something being held back from us.

"What is it guys?" Jin hyung asked but there was fear in his tone.

The guys stood there blankly, unsure as to who should broach the topic.

"Your worry and fear is drowning me at the moment, tell me what's wrong...please." Jin hyung asked, voice losing strength as he was overwhelmed by the emotions of everyone in the room's and his own.

They tried to avoid looking at us, but it was Mark hyung who stepped forward, hand resting on JB hyung's shoulder, squeezing it briefly.

We tensed, bracing ourselves for the words that were going to be spoken.

But when he did speak, I felt a crushing weight settle over me, disbelief and despair settling.

TAE POV:

"(Y/N) is your final soulmate." Mark hyung said.

Disbelief, sorrow, confusion and overwhelming sense of panic flooded the bond as I felt my soulmates and me react to the news. (Y/N) was the final piece to our puzzle? It was true? My suspicions were correct? So, was it my fault that she was lying here on death's door? It was my fault she looked so weak, fragile and vulnerable?

I should've shared my suspicions, but I didn't want to give my soulmates false hope if it turned out she wasn't, it would be better for me to suffer the disappointment alone. But I should've said. Maybe we would've gotten to this conclusion before and she wouldn't be here suffering.

"I don't want to sound horrible, but how can you be so sure?" Yoongi hyung asked, voice tinged with caution. He was always the wary one, ready to protect us all and shield us from harm; both physical and mental. It was that trait playing out, he wasn't rejecting it, no-one would make a lie like that in such a situation, but he wanted some shred of proof.

Jaebum hyung looked saddened and understanding of the words that left Yoongi hyung's mouth, hands slowly withdrawing from (Y/N)'s hand looking as though the act had physically pained him. He slowly and gently pulled the sheets covering her body downwards exposing her body clad in the hospital's patient attire. His hands gently moved to her waist, pulling the oversized shirt upwards until her the right side of her torso was exposed, revealing to us the mark we'd seen on each other more times than we could count. The mark that was so familiar to us, a reminder of our love and proof of our connection on her body.

A pained groan left my mouth as I saw how vicious the red was surrounding her mark, looking as though it had been forcefully etched into her skin, an angry vicious mark because of us. Because we hadn't found her and now, she was hurting.

I felt the others beside me flinch as they took in the sight before Jaebum hyung slowly covered her skin again, drawing the covers back over her again.

The bond thrummed with a sorrowing recognition of finding our last soulmate, of all the romantic and wild scenarios we imagined where we would stumble across the final person who could truly complete us, not in our worst nightmares did we envision this scene.

I heard a choked breath come from slightly behind me.

"Why is she like this...?" Hobi hyung asked, all of us fearing the answer.

"Because she kept rejecting the pull to you all, but it got to this because she accidentally made physical contact with one of you and didn't complete the bonding process." Jackson hyung said, voice void of his usual cheeriness only fatigue washing over it instead.

My eyes widened, she had bonded with one of us and we didn't realise, I felt sick and nauseous as I realised that we were unknowingly the reason for her state. It felt like the breath from my lungs had been stolen, an empty hollow space where my heart should be beating.

"We don't have time to figure out who it was, but you all need to bond with her, or she'll slip further..." Bambam said, eyes welling up.

Further...further into what? I hadn't realised I had spoken aloud until Yugyeom looked me in the eyes.

"Soul Paralysis, there's only so long her body can hold out." He whispered but the words echoed throughout the family.

Ice flooded my veins, numbing me from feeling anything else except a need to get closer, to bond, to help her.

My feet move automatically, walking towards the bed, I tentatively reach out a hand and cup her cheek, my hand looking so large in comparison, sighing as I feel the bond settle in me, a euphoric feeling of the soulmate link being complete. But through the bond I can't feel her, it's an empty void of nothing, a blankness that makes me worried. The rest of the group come forward, JB hyung steps back and they all back up to give us space as we surround her bed. I can't bear myself to remove my hand, so I stand there staring at the way she still lies still.

Skin to skin contact is needed for the bonding to happen so Yoongi hyung and Kookie both hold one hand, intertwining their fingers with her smaller ones. Jin hyung reaches forward to press his plump lips to her forehead, tears slipping free as they land in her hair. Namjoon hyung's hand reaches to settle in the crook of her neck, trying to steady his wavery breathing by feeling the slow thrum of life beneath her skin. Hobi hyung gently settles his hand on her other cheek, thumb gently rubbing back and forth over her cheekbone. Jimin steps forward, tears slipping down his cheeks as he presses their foreheads together, trembling slightly as he feels the bond complete.

The bond between us all fills us with a breathless feeling before we all attune our souls to hers, seeking for the bond binding us together. However, where I can feel the rest of my soulmates, none of us can feel her, it's like a blank, impenetrable wall.

The door opens and we all instinctively block (Y/N) from view of whoever may be entering, it's a need to protect her from harm, from threat and with her so weak and vulnerable, our senses our heightened and we spin to shield her.

It's an old female doctor who enters, eyes widening as she takes in the number of people in the room. She hurries to our side examining the way we crowd around (Y/N), still physically close to her as we can be and smiles sadly at us.

"You're her soulmates." It's not a question more of a confirmation of a fact.

"There are too many people in here, I'm afraid it's on a priority need-to-stay basis now." She says looking apologetically at the guys huddled together on one end. They smile sadly but walk over to us. There's no way for them to get to (Y/N) but JB hyung looks at us; a silent order for us to move and as much as we don't want to, we respect his wish and slowly and unwillingly part.

They all step forward pressing kisses to her forehead, her cheeks, their hands briefly holding hers before they retreat. There's a moment of silent understanding and communication between them and the doctor before she nods, and they walk out, but not without lingering glances back at the bed as though in fear that (Y/N) would vanish. The door slides shut.

"We don't know how long it'll take for (Y/N)-ssi to heal but we estimate it should be by sometime tomorrow. You all will have to stay here; we cannot risk her life by you leaving." Her voice was stern but also gentle as she looked at us.

Why on earth would we leave? We had just found the last piece to our soul, why would we let her go?

She looks at us all, a sad look in her eyes before she leaves us to our thoughts and (Y/N).

JIN POV:

The door slides shut, and our eyes meet each other's before resting on (Y/N). I don't know what'll happen but I'm praying for her to be okay, for her to recover, to wake up.

"It's all, all my f—fault." Kookie whispers, voice thick with emotion and our eyes fly up to him, wanting to reassure and sooth him.

He shakes his head.

"It must've been me. A week or so ago (Y/N) was about to fall down the stairs and I caught her, and when I was letting go my fingers brushed hers slightly. But I didn't think anything of it. I was just filled with happiness of helping someone, of making amends for bumping into her, that I didn't realise it was the bond trying to settle." His voice is shaking and thick with guilt.

Our poor baby. He's blaming himself for something that was just an accident.

Namjoon's hand squeezes Kookie's who breaks down into tears, small sniffles leaving him as he moves closer to the bed.

"I'm so so sorry." And I know he's saying it to (Y/N) and to us, his body is curling up on himself.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, I thought she could be our soulmate and I never told any of you." Tae mumbled.

There was a chorus of dissent and we all voiced our thoughts.

"We all felt she could be." I said, bitterness heavy on my tongue, our actions were not only because we liked (Y/N) as a person but we all felt an unexplainable pull to her.

And now look where she ended up.

It wasn't the time to blame ourselves, it was time to become pillars of support for each other and more importantly to band together and help (Y/N).

---

DOCTOR POV:

I entered the room silently the next morning, the sun peeking through slightly, I saw as (Y/N)'s bed was crowded around, all of her soulmates sleeping in chairs or couches, having rearranged the seats to be as physically close to her as possible, each one of them touching her in some way, perhaps a reassurance she was still there.

I smiled at the sight and moved closer to check on the numerous monitors, making sure the drips were still operating and connected securely, her vitals still healthy but when I glanced at the screen I frowned when I saw that her heartbeat was yet to pick up the pace to its normal one. An oxygen mask would help, I paged the nurse and walked over to her to ask for an oxygen mask to be set up. He walked forward, gently worming his way through the barriers the boys had unconsciously made around (Y/N), instincts keyed in to protect her even when asleep.

He reaches out to attach the oxygen mask, lifting her head up to slip it around her properly before covering her nose and mouth with it. He sets it up properly making sure the amount of oxygen going in is at the safe level but his movements jostle one of them who blearily awakens, becoming alert as his hand darts out to yank at his wrist.

The nurse is startled, jumping slightly before turning to meet their eyes.

"What do you think you're doing near my soulmate?" he hisses, eyes narrowing to slits.

I walk forward to intervene as the nurse tries to pull his wrist free. I wince seeing the fury build up in his posture.

"I asked WHAT. DO. YOU. THINK. YOU'RE. DOING. NEAR. MY. SOULMATE?" his voice rising in volume, alerting the others who begin to wake up and sit up, alertness settling in as they take in the scene.

"It's okay, he's just helping (Y/N). He was just putting on an oxygen mask on her." I say, trying to soothe the situation, pushing out a calming sensation into the room.

His grip slackens and he lets go, attention onto his soulmate. All the others wake up, worry lining their features.

"Why does she need one?" one of them asks, mouth twisted downwards in a triangle shape.

"Her heartbeat needs to get closer to normal, and we're scared she may not be getting enough oxygen pumped around her body." I say and they nod, shoulders still tense.

The nurse retreats, leaving the room and I turn to follow seeing her soulmates gather around her.

I hope she'll wake up.

YOONGI POV:

I watch as the nurse and doctor leave, senses to keyed up to (Y/N) and mind not fully able to shut down that I woke up the moment someone jostled me. My blood had begun to boil see someone near her, she was meant to be as close to us as we could, the bonding needed time and someone- I didn't know who he was and because of that he was a threat in my eyes.

I frowned as I saw the oxygen mask, worry welling up inside me. She had to awaken today, otherwise we didn't know what could happen. The rise and fall of her chest was still too slow and as much as I wanted to get some food into the guys, I didn't think it was safe for anyone of us to leave her.

"One of us will need to make a food-run." Jin hyung voiced my thoughts, his voice brook no argument, he wasn't going to let anyone else's health deteriorate in the slightest.

All of us looked at (Y/N), I couldn't bear myself to leave her and I knew from the looks on their faces that no-one was.

Luckily, our silent musings were broken when Jinyoung slid open the door and came in holding two bags and behind him Youngjae holding a tray of drinks. They set it down onto the table before coming forward.

They winced when they saw (Y/N), still immobile and unconscious.

"We've brought breakfast, we figured you wouldn't be able to leave, the bonding isn't complete." Jinyoung said, eyes soft and sad.

"We won't intrude for long but please, please call us when she wakes up." Youngjae pleaded, eyes wide as he looked at her.

I nodded, not trusting my voice not to break or speak past the lump in my throat.

They left shortly after, all of us settling down to eat as quick as we could. The food tasted like sawdust and it took me ages to try and chew each mouthful, but I knew Jin hyung wasn't going to let anyone go from under his watchful eyes.

Hours dwindled by but there was no change and I could feel my heart sink. Why wasn't she stirring? I tried to reassure Hobi, but my own heart was crying in agony, I kept my hands drawn around him, my head hiding into his back as I tried to control my emotions.

We were all silently sitting there, reassuring ourselves and each other that everything would be okay when a sudden rapid mechanical beeping filled the room. Our eyes flew to the heartbeat monitor where the heartbeat was rapidly increasing, but it was too fast. Kookie's hands flew to press the emergency button and we watched with bated breath as (Y/N)'s body spasmed slightly, limbs jerking slightly, whimpers leaving her throat, muffled behind the mask. She was in pain. Her sounds of pain grew in volume, becoming more distressing, each sound stabbing at me viciously, the bond was suddenly no longer sensing a blank wall but an echo of the agony and pain (Y/N) was suffering. It fried my nerves and senses, my skin feeling poker hot and I knew what she was going through was worse.

The door slammed open and two doctors rushed in, eyes evaluating the situation quickly before changing the monitor settings to ease some medication into her bloodstream.

A pained loud scream tore out from her throat, body twisting away from her right side where we all knew her mark was before her body suddenly slumped back down, flung down like a rag doll, motionless again.

And then her eyes flashed open, blown wide. She was awake.

HOBI POV:

Her eyes flashed open, the doctors sighing in relief as they moved closer to prop her up slightly, putting her into a slightly seated position which wouldn't be strenuous on her.

She was awake. Her eyes were scarily blank and void of any awareness of where she was. She focused on the doctors and then her small hand reached up to pull at the oxygen mask, breathing in large gulps of air once it was removed, air she was breathing in without the help of a machine.

I felt tears prick my eyes. She was awake. She didn't need a machine to help her breathe.

Her head twisted to the side and then she froze as she looked right at me and then her head whipped around to scan all of us sitting around her, leaning forwards towards her, the pull urging us to get closer.

Her hands started shaking, knees drawing in towards her chest, arms clasping them, head dipping to hide behind the barrier she'd made. Why was she afraid? Why was she reacting like this?

I could sense the worry in my soulmates, uncertainty and sad energy seeping into the room at her behaviour. She was shaking her head, eyes wide with unshed tears. It hurt to see her hurt, our bond hypersensitive at the moment, magnifying the feeling even further.

Jin hyung's hand reached out to console her, an overwhelming need to draw her into our arms, but she screamed as it approached her, "STAY AWAY!" she shouted.

She was pressing herself tightly against the frame of the bed as she recoiled against him. Jin hyung's hand froze, expression hurt. Her body began to violently tremble, and she scanned us all with fearful eyes, tears coursing down uncontrollably, the doctors approached her trying to calm her down.

I could hear her repeated mumbles and pleas of "stay away, keep them away please." And it shattered my heart, she was scared of us.

And I had never felt more failed or hopeless. My soulmate was in pain, and I could do nothing about it.

(THERE WE HAVE IT! THEY KNOW, THEY CONNECTED THE DOTS, THEY BONDED, (Y/N) WOKE UP AND THIS HAPPENS! PHEW, WHAT AN EVENTFUL CHAPTER! I WONDER WHAT'LL HAPPEN NEXT, WILL THEY FINALLY LEARN THE WHOLE STORY BEHIND THIS, WHO WILL COME FLOODING THROUGH THOSE DOORS? WE HAVE A LONG LONG LINE OF PEOPLE WHO WANT TO COME AND SMOTHER HER IN HUGS AND HIDE HER AWAY FROM THE BOYS. I WONDER WHO'LL BE FIRST?? AND WILL SHE TELL THEM OR WILL SOMEONE ELSE. SOMEONE GIVE ME A BOX OF TISSUES...I'M CRYING AND TEARING UP. POOR BTS AND POOR YOU! IT'S AN ANGSTY SAD RIDE BUT I'LL TRY SNEAK IN AN OVERDOSE OF FLUFF AND CUDDLES AND LOVE. WHO KNOWS IF IT'LL BE A LONG ROAD TO RECOVERY? LET'S SEE! THOUGHTS? HATE ME FOR IT? I DIDN'T THINK SHE'D REACT HAPPILY ANYWAYS AND THE BOYS DIDN'T EXPECT THE REACTION BUT WHAT CAN YOU DO?? I'M SO SAD NOW AFTER WRITING THIS, I NEED SOME SOFT BTS CONTENT TO CHEER ME UP AND A BLANKET...LET ME KNOW HOW YOU FOUND IT!)

Keep your strength and resolve high!

Borahae! 💜💜💜

PurpleQueenie <3