Soundless

Chapter 21 - Hold on now

They played it back and now the track hit me deeper than I expected. Everyone was in tears now and so I let go too.

"You always find gems", Harry said, annoyed at Jay.

"No Harry. In this equation she found me", Jay said laughing.

"No funny tricks guys, ok. She is taken", Harry added after seeing the men all looking at me in awe.

He understood the track message and Jay too. Jay, who didn't drink, offered to drop me off while the guys were still vibing.

"Seems like you had a long and rough day", Jay said seriously.

"Yes", I said as I recounted what happened to him. He slammed on the breaks when he heard the confession of Chan.

"Why the hell did he do such a poor job??", he shouted. Why was he so upset about it?
He continued to drive as I begged him to move. People were getting angry.

"What a dude", he said exhausted.

"It was perfect. You know he caught me in the right moment. I needed the truth", I said smiling.
"Ok ok", Jay laughed.

"I wish it would have been without collateral damage", I added huffing.

I didn't want to tell him what was being said. Why all the wind up?

I could never not blame myself on this.  He nearly died because of me. I wish he would not feel pressured. What has this done to me?
Jay dropped me off and I arrived home and fell asleep. My body was so heavy and mostly exhausted. I slept deep.

I woke up and looked to see Chan sat on a chair next to me. He looked worried. Was I dreaming? I sat up and looked at him.

He jolted forward and embraced me in a hug.
"Thank god!", he shouted relieved.

I was confused and noticed an IV on my arm. The door opened and Leo stormed inside.

"For god sake Ira. We were so worried. You just slept for 2 weeks and every doctor was confused on the reason. Finally you are awake", he exclaimed.

Chan let go and I stared at both wordlessly. Leo and I know that this can happen to agents under a lot of stress and no breaks. Just sleep for weeks as a protective mechanism of the body to restore energy.

"Sorry guys... not like I planned to do it. Wait Chan, why are you here?? You should be at the hospital", I shouted at him.

He chuckled.

"My wounds are healing nicely and the doc allowed me to stay here and rest. I hope it was ok that I crashed your couch. I was too worried to stay put", he said with a soft smile.
My face was frozen. I felt numb. I made him leave the hospital for me.

"Leo can you give us a moment please", Chan requested and Leo left the room.

"Ira, this scared the living shit out of me. I couldn't picture a world without you by my side. So please don't run away, just stay close", he said, tearing up.

I noticed that I was crying long before he was. He hugged me again but this time it made me feel the love and despair he felt. He did love me.
"Chan I won't", I reassured him.

We heard some voices next to Leo's and some more people barged in. It was Jay, Pumpkin, Han, Felix and Changbin. Chan did not let go of me. I was surprised that nobody poked fun at him.

"You better hold on tight", Felix said with a relieved smile.

Everyone was and that made me realise how much they worried all about me. They stuck by me. The men let us alone and left the room after some time. I asked Leo to drive the guys back home while Chan insisted on staying with me. Jay got the cues and also grabbed the rest and left.