health | jungkook

xvii.

sorry I just love this picture sm :(

Jungkook stayed with Taejin for the rest of the day, helping her with any and everything he could. Currently, he was sitting in a chair beside her bed as she finished up her lunch. Jungkook frowned at the girl when she pushed her plate away, seeing not even a fourth of the dish gone.

"Baby, why aren't you eating?"

Taejin sighed, fiddling with the hem of the blanket. "I'm full, Kookie. I don't want to throw up later because of me eating too much."

Jungkook remembered what his nurse had told him about her eating habits and only nodded, taking the plate of her tray and setting it on a nearby counter.

"Kookie, I'm cold."

"You want me to tell Jimin-hyung or Jihye to bring you more blankets? Or I can give you mine from my room? I don't need them anyways. Or you can have my jacket? Or-"

"I don't want any of those," Taejin interrupted with a small giggle before extending her frail arms and making grabby childlike hands. "I want you."

Jungkook felt the tips of his ears heating up as he smiled softly. "Alright baby, let me scoot you over first." And so he gently shifted the girl to the side before laying down on the thin bed next to her, wrapping his arms around her small body.

This isn't how I remembered cuddling last time..

Jungkook swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat, feeling Taejin's spine prominently under his hand. He vaguely remembered how fluffy she felt in his embrace compared to how fragile she seems to be now. Almost as if with one wrong move, he'd break her into tiny pieces. The thought made him loosen his grip as the girl rested her head on his chest, right above his heart.

"How you feeling, Taejin? Do you need anything?" Jungkook said after clearing his throat.

"Only more time with you," the girl answered softly.

Jungkook felt his heart crack more than it already has throughout the course of the day. It was probably on the verge of needing layers of glue, staples, and duct tape. He pressed a kiss on her head, eyes slightly burning.

"Baby, if I'm still here," Taejin's voice caught on the last word and she cleared her throat before continuing. "If I'm still here by the time you're discharged, you'll come see me right? You won't forget about me, right? I mean, you don't need to be here 24/7 because I know you want to see your family and friends and catch up on everything you've missed out on, but at least once a week?"

Jungkook smiled sadly down at his girlfriend as he began to rub her back gently. "Of course baby, I'll be here every single day next to you. And you will be here by that time, because you are strong- the strongest girl I've ever met, okay? I'll be rooting for you from my room, and I'll do everything I can to have this recovery process happen fast because these last few days without you were hell for me, baby, and I don't know if I can last two weeks without you."

Taejin felt a lone tear escape her eye, leaving a wet trail on her cheek as she slowly wrapped her arms around his waist. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Everything. I pushed you away and made your life harder than it already is, and left you when I was supposed to be celebrating this milestone in your health journey...a-and now I have to leave you alone-"

"Hey," Jungkook moved his finger to lift her chin, revealing her tear stained face. He wiped at her face gently, feeling his own eyes grow wet at the depth of their situation. "It's okay, it's not your fault. And this is a great celebration. I mean, I'm here with you, feeling your warmth and being able to see your beautiful face. Let's not think so negatively right now."

With wobbling lips, Taejin sighed, "Now I made you cry."

Jungkook rolled his eyes, blinking back his tears. "My eyes are just sweating, now go to sleep for a little."

Taejin only frowned but reluctantly laid her head back on the male's chest. She closed her eyes, the remaining tears slipping down her face. Slowly but surely, with Jungkook's heart beat as a lullaby, she fell asleep.

Jungkook felt the girl's head grow heavy, and when her even breaths were the only sound in the room, he let himself cry silently. He looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes, his pleads almost inaudible.

"To whoever is up there," he whispered shakily. "Please give us a miracle. Just this once. Please."

•••

"Hey dorks- what the hell happened to you three?" Yoongi closed the door to the on-call room, eyes concerned for his three coworkers that look as if all their motivation to live was drained out of them.

"A patient, Dr. Min. Just a patient," Jimin said warily, rubbing at his red eyes.

"She's not just a patient, Park," Jihye corrected sternly, voice uneven. "She's my best friend."

"Whose patient?" Yoongi questioned as he moved to grab his lunchbox.

"Mine," Hoseok answered. "Only two weeks guaranteed left for her...she's still so young, she has her whole life ahead of her."

Yoongi furrowed his eyebrows. "You talking about Jungkook's girlfriend? She has pancreatic cancer, right?"

The three of them nodded solemnly.

"And you've tried everything?"

"Chemo, radiation, immunotherapy. Everything we can. But that rumor is spreading like wildfire into different places that I can't even see through our scans," Hoseok explained as Jihye felt her eyes prick again for the umpteenth time that day.

"What about ex vivo surgery?" The eldest of them all said nonchalantly as he opened up his lunch container full of weonjo kimbap and kimchi fried rice.

The three of them perked their heads up, eyes wide. Yoongi turned to look at them as he bit into a piece of his kimbap, "What? You want some..?"

"Ex vivo surgery," Hoseok said breathlessly. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Yoongi you're a genius!" Jihye exclaimed, eyes twinkling. "God, I could literally kiss you right now."

The elder doctor smirked. "What's stopping you?"

"Don't even try it," Jimin quickly said. Everyone turned to look at him in surprise, but he didn't say anything else.

"But would the surgery actually work? There's so many risks to this. I mean, vascular leaks and biliary obstruction," Hoseok proceeded.

"Well the other alternative is death, Dr. Jung," Jihye rubbed at her face. "We have to at least try."

"Jihye, I've never had to do this type of surgery. Of course I studied it in med school with human dummies, but never on an actual human. Something could go wrong because of me," Hoseok sucked in a tight breath. "Us telling her about this will take her to cloud nine, I can't be the one to tell her it didn't work because I fucked up."

"I can work with you," Yoongi interjected. "Jimin and I can be of assistance. This is a complex surgery, you need as much help as possible. I've done quite a few of ex vivo surgeries. My experience will be of guidance for you."

"But who am I supposed to leave Jungkook with?" Jimin asked.

"He's most likely going to be too caught up in her surgery to need anything," the eldest doctor reasoned. "But if he does need anything, we can have Namjoon handle it. He needs more experience anyways."

The three others nodded in agreement.

"Maybe we can save this girl's life," Jihye said. "We just need to be careful."