❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎

"Please help!" Joshua screamed, running into the hospital lobby with Seokmin's unconscious body in his arms and Seungkwan by his side.

A stretcher rolled towards them and Joshua laid Seokmin down gently on the surface, making sure he didn't fall off. "What's happened to him?" The doctor questioned as they all rushed down the hall.

"He was beaten up badly, he h-has a bullet wound in his shoulder." Joshua answered, his hand still attached to Seokmin's as they fled down the hall.

"We'll need to check his vitals right now." The doctor put his stethoscope to Seokmin's chest, listening for a few seconds before taking it off. "Heartbeat and pulse rate has slowed down drastically. We'll have to do an electrocardiogram."

Joshua nodded fervently. He didn't understand half of the terms the doctors were using but he knew it was all to make sure Seokmin was okay and that was all he wanted.

"Please help him, please, don't let him die." He begged and the doctor along with his partners nodded, "We won't Sir." He assured Joshua before turning back to Seokmin who was slowly regaining consciousness, his eyes consistently fluttering and closing.

"He's coming back! Let's get him to the room!" The doctor instructed as they picked up the pace, headed for the operating room. "His injuries are concerning Doctor Kwon, we need to examine them." One of the nurses spoke up and Dr. Kwon agreed immediately, opening the door into the OR.

"No outsiders are allowed past this point Sir, please wait." Dr. Kwon stopped Joshua, pulling his hand away from Seokmin's and closing the door.

Joshua fell to the floor with Seungkwan by his side as his tears formed patterns on the rubber flooring, his breaths random and heavy and his vision blurring as he stared at the door waiting for it to open.

Seungkwan hugged his boss tightly, soothingly brushing his hair down. Joshua completely broke down, intense sobs coming out of him as he let each shaky breath out.

He felt suffocated by it all. He had been the reason why Seokmin had almost died today, he had been the cause of it all.

Because of him, Seokmin was in the operating room. On his fucking birthday.

He felt broken, ripped into pieces as the despair and agony clung to him with a strong grip, refusing to let him go.

He felt guilty. He should've been the one on the operating bed but no, Seokmin had risked his life for him, again.

He didn't deserve this kind of protection and now, because of him, Seokmin was hanging on for dear life while death sucked him down a black hole.

"Please be okay." He murmured, his words muffled into Seokmin's cardigan. It had barely been 5 minutes since Seokmin was taken away from him, detached from his hands and Joshua could already feel his heart aching, calling Seokmin's name.

There was nothing he could do but wait. So why did it seem like the hardest task ever? How could he just wait around for Seokmin to heal? How?

There had to be more, something he could help with, something that could bring Seokmin back to him.

Maybe he was fine, maybe the doctors would be able to restore him to life completely safe and sound like nothing had ever happened.

But why did the chances of that happening seem strangely low? Was Joshua just grasping for straws? Straws that seeped through his hands no matter how many times he tried to hold them.

He started to remember all his memories with Seokmin as they began to be tainted by guilt and sorrow. Only if he had maybe tried to just hear Seokmin out and forgiven him earlier on, none of this would have happened.

"It's my fault." He muttered, enraged at his own stupidity. Seungkwan shook his head, his hand lowering to Joshua's back as he forced him up.

"It's not your fault Sir. I know it's not." Seungkwan comforted him as he led Joshua to the seats outside the operating room where they would have to wait, wait because there was nothing else they could do.

"Excuse me sirs, do any of you happen to be Lee Seokmin's family members?" One of the nurses came up to them, holding a form. Seungkwan shook his head, about to reply when Vernon rushed in, placing his hands on his knees as he spotted them.

"No, but his brother will be here tomorrow." He answered and the nurse nodded, handing over the form. "Okay, I need one of you to call him and ask him for answers to this form, it's important." She handed over the form to Seungkwan who nodded while Vernon got his phone out.

"Thank you, once you're done, please hand it to our receptionist." She added before leaving the three. Joshua hadn't heard anything she'd said, he couldn't hear or see or think or even breathe properly, he could only hope for Seokmin to be healed.

"How do you have his number?" Seungkwan questioned and Vernon tapped on the call button, raising the phone. "I did some research and booked a flight for him in about an hour."

Seungkwan nodded, a bit impressed by Vernon's rational response to emergency. Yes he was annoying but he was also pretty smart.

"Hello Wonwoo-ssi, we need your help to fill out a form."

.............

Patients were rushed in and out for the next couple of hours. Various footsteps scrubbed against the rubber floor as people walked all around in different directions.

Some of the hospital lights started to go off and the sun began to set, a testament to just how long they'd been waiting for updates, news, anything they could hold on to.

Joshua had maintained the same sitting position for the past 4 hours as he struggled through the grueling curse that was time.

Both Seungkwan and Vernon had urged him to eat but Joshua refused. Seokmin couldn't eat because of him so why should he have that privilege?

As another hour passed by, Joshua almost gave up, almost fell to the floor again in an unmanageable feeling of despair but right when he was about to, Dr. Kwon exited the operating room, stopping in front of the three men.

"Is he okay?!" Joshua shot up from his seat, Vernon and Seungkwan following. His voice was hoarse from all his crying and his face was still stained and dry from his tears.

Dr. Kwon nodded, a consoling smile on his face as he explained Seokmin's state. "We managed to finish the surgery successfully and get his vitals up but he did suffer from blunt force trauma to the head and dozens of other fractures and injuries to his face region, neck region and his torso."

Joshua's eyes glimmered, shining with hope despite the rather depressing words that exited the doctor's mouth. Seokmin could do it, he could recover from this.

"All these factors lead to a concussion which we treated by administering him with acetaminophen and we expect a speedy recovery from the concussion within this week, however, he still hasn't woken up."

Joshua's heart dropped, the glimmer in his eyes fading into utter despair. It had been 4 hours and Seokmin hadn't woken up. It was his birthday for fuck's sake.

"B-but he was regaining consciousness." Joshua pointed out in a quiet mumble which Dr. Kwon was able to catch. "Yes but due to the impact on his brain, he, in basic terms, shut down and fell into a coma." He elucidated and Joshua sighed, a tear falling down his right cheek.

"But we expect him to wake up soon, as long as we continue administer the medication in the right doses and at the right times, we'll monitor him closely Mr. Hong, you don't have to worry."

Joshua fell back unto his seat, hiding his face in his palms as he began to cry again. He didn't have to worry? Seokmin had just entered a coma and he didn't have to worry?

That was exactly what he needed to do. It was all he could do. Worry, worry, worry.

Worry if he would ever see Seokmin, awake, again. Worry if he would ever reach the day where Seokmin's plug would be pulled. His mind was a destructive mess but there was nothing he could do about it.

The situation had called for it.

He couldn't stay positive, not now, not with the news he'd just heard.

"Can Mr. Hong see him?" Vernon asked Dr. Kwon who sighed before he shook his head. "Right now, only family members are allowed inside but in an hour or two, once we move him from the OR and hook him up to his monitors, you'll be able to visit him."

Joshua's heart dropped for the second time. More time frames, more waiting. He just wanted to see his love as soon as possible, coma or not.

Was that so hard to ask?

❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎

Ⓒ︎𝐎𝐇𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐎𝐇𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐎𝐇
𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 - 06/10/2024
𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 - N/A