Trusting (KTH)

Chapter 21

Clara had been so engaged in the show she didn't notice the security guard tapping her to get her attention at first. He eventually resorted to tugging on her arm, pulling her along out of the stadium while she stumbled a bit to follow along.

"What's wrong?" She asked as soon as they were in the main corridor and away from the overwhelming noise of the concert.

"I just got a note that one of the boys had a small accident. He's on his way to the hospital and you need to go now. A car is coming to the back of the stadium now to take us."

"Wha...what? What do you mean there was an accident? Who was hurt? Is it serious?"

"I don't know yet, let's go and I'll try to find out more ok? Right now we just need to be on our way. Apparently they can't treat him fully until you or Taehyung are there."

Clara felt like she could barely breathe. Her life was plagued by accidents and she was already envisioning the worst. Was it just one boy? Both? What had happened? She was driving herself crazy with her thoughts as she ducked into the car door that was being held open for her.

They sped through the city, reaching the hospital in just over fifteen minutes. Clara jumped out and ran through the emergency room door looking everywhere for the boys.

"I...my son is here he had an accident!" She shouted to the lady behind the desk.

"Ma'am, I need you to calm down please. Who are you looking for?"

"My son, he.." Clara was cut off by another manager who came around the corner and motioned for her to follow him. She quickly took off in a run, afraid to waste even a second.

"Follow me Ms. Kim" he gently guided her. "Your son is in a room over here."

Clara could hear the baby screaming as they got closer to the door. Bursting through she ran directly to his bed preparing to scoop him into her arms.

The manager pulled her back before he could grab him. "You can't pick him up right now, they need to send him for x-rays first. I know it's upsetting but please be careful."

Clara nodded in dazed understanding. Instead she stood over her little cub who was strapped to a board on the bed. She gently caressed his hair and his cheek trying to shush him and hold back her own tears. Seeing him so inconsolable broke her heart and she couldn't do anything about it.

Without turning away from her son she asked the manager what happened but was interrupted by the doctor.

"Ah, Ms. Kim, are you the mother?"

Clara nodded.

"We'd like to do some X-rays but we need you to sign the consent form first since we'll need to sedate him. Can you do that and we'll take him back? It should only be about 15 minutes and he'll be back."

"Yes of course!" Clara quickly grabbed the papers from his hand and scribbled her name. "Is he going to be ok?"

"We're just going to take a quick look now, ok? He should be back in no time."

Clara nodded as tears began to stream down her face. She was terrified and had no idea what to do.

It was only then she noticed Tae's parents were in the room with her, her mother in law holding the little tiger.

"W-what happened?" Clara stuttered, going to grab the tiger knowing she needed to hold him close to calm herself.

"We set him on the bed for a moment and he rolled off onto the floor. We weren't sure if he was injured so we called an ambulance just in case."

"Wait, why was he on the bed alone? Weren't you watching him?"

"Clara," her father in law cut her off, "You never told us he could roll over. We had no idea. If you had let us know we never would have been in this situation."

"But...I...I..what?" Clara could barely get a word out through her tears.

"Really Clara, you should have told us. It's the least you could do if you were a caring mother. I mean leaving the kids to go to a concert is irresponsible enough but now this too?"

Clara couldn't even think of what to say so she just held her little tiger closer as tears ran down her face.

"But you were watching them. I thought they would be ok." Clara finally squeaked out.

"They would have if you had told us what we needed to know. This is our grandson and now look, he could be seriously injured. How could you do this?" Her father in law was beginning to shout, drawing attention from those around them.

"Why...why are you so mean to me?" Clara managed to ask through her tears.

"Clara, let's be honest. Since he met you Taehyung's life has been a mess. Think of everything that has gone wrong! I don't know how you got your claws in him but his life has been ruined! Everyone knows you aren't good for him, I'm not sure why it is so hard for you to understand. If you really cared for him you'd leave so he can restart his life without you weighing him down."

Clara remembered Taehyung's instructions that he wanted her to stand up for herself. This probably wasn't really what he had in mind but it was getting out of control.

"I think you should leave now. I can take care of things from here." Clara tried to be polite but it was hard to control her emotions at the moment.

"You can't send us away, we are his grandparents! Taehyung isn't here so we are here to take care of the baby on his behalf. I always knew you were selfish but this is really too much, even for you Clara."

"No," Clara insisted. "It's time for you to leave. I don't want you here right now. I can take care of it myself."

With that Clara turned her back on the couple, continuing to clutch tight onto her little tiger as she held herself from totally breaking down. She didn't want them to see her fall apart. They would just use it against her. Right now she needed to be strong.

She could hear the parents leaving, complaining loudly about Clara the entire time. As soon as they left she collapsed into the small chair in the room, body shaking with both fear and anxiety.

A manager offered her a glass of water but she declined. "Where is Tae. I think we need him." She sniffed back her tears.

"There is about ten minutes left in the concert. As soon as he is off stage they will bring him here. It should be less than 30 minutes at the most."

"Ok" Clara whispered. She really didn't have any choice. Instead she'd smother the infant in her arms with hugs and kisses and pray for the little one who wasn't in her arms. She still had no idea how serious the situation was and she couldn't help but imagine the worst.