Stand by Me

Chapter 39

Jimin felt his consciousness fading back in, filling his veins and bringing his senses back in full force. His body felt like lead and every inch of his skin ached. He forced his eyes open slowly, blinking as the bright white lights of the room blinded him. He squinted, surveying the room slowly as his vision cleared and sharpened, bringing the hospital room around him into focus. For a second all he felt was confusion. He didn't remember arriving at the hospital. 

Jimin scrunched his eyes shut, tensing as the memories of his attack flooded him with panic and fear. The heart rate monitor next to him accelerated, beeping frantically and reinforcing the reality around him. He clutched at the blanket on his lap, trembling under it as he scanned the room for any sign of Hoseok. Instead of finding Hoseok and his murderous gaze, he found Jin. 

Jin slipped back into Jimin's room quietly, two trays of hospital food in his hands. He hummed along softly to Mary had a Little Lamb as he moved over to Jimin's bed. He stopped, falling silent when Jimin's frantic heartbeat on the monitor caught his ears. He set down the trays of food carefully and turned to Jimin's bed, gasping in shock as their eyes met.

"J-Jimin..."

"H-Hyungie..." Jimin whispered, his body flooding with relief knowing that he was finally safe with Jin here. "Am I... in a hospital...?"

"Yes..." Jin whispered. He smiled through his stray tears, wiping them away quickly and perching on the side of Jimin's bed, "You were attacked by Hoseok, do you remember that?"

Jimin nodded slowly, blinking several times as he tried to recall the memories. A few of them were sharp and clear, but others were fuzzy and difficult to remember. "Y-Yeah... mostly I think..."

"Joonie and I got there when he was attacking you. We called the police and he was arrested and then they brought you here for surgery. He stabbed you in the leg, and they had to do surgery to fix the artery he cut. The knife cut your femoral artery, and you lost a lot of blood, but it was only a nick. It wasn't fully cut thankfully." Jin spoke softly and slowly as he tried to explain everything as best he could. Truthfully, when he and Namjoon had spoken to the doctor who performed Jimin's surgery, they didn't understand much of the medical jargon he used but they caught the gist of it. 

"So... he's locked up right...? Does Y-Yoongi know...? How long have I been out for?" Jimin reached for Jin's hand weakly, flinching as he squeezed Jin's hand. Every little movement of his hands and arms hurt due to his injuries. 

Jin held his hand delicately, careful not to squeeze or touch anywhere he knew had a cut, "He's locked up at the station down town. They've charged him with attempted murder and drug tested him. He was high on drugs when he attacked you, but they're fighting to have it labeled as a premeditated murder. We told Yoongi, he was... very upset obviously, but now he's just happy you're okay and he'll be thrilled to hear your voice now that you're awake. You've been out since last night."

"Can I call Yoongi? I want to talk to him as soon as possible." Jimin whispered, his voice a hoarse whisper.

"We'll call him tonight then, but you need some lunch first." Jin smiled at him as he spoke. He grabbed the lap tray and carefully set it up for Jimin, setting a tray of food on it. He uncovered the dishes and put a straw in the apple juice for him. 

"Can you hold your chopsticks or do you want me to?" Jin asked as he opened up the set of metal chopsticks for him.

"I want to do it." Jimin said softly. He pursed his lips, eyebrows knitted together as he slowly wrapped his fingers around the chopsticks and picked up a piece of chicken. His pace was slow and it took a lot of effort to move his chopsticks due to all the bandages on his fingers, but he managed. With every bite of food the color returned to his cheeks, bringing back his soft pink flush and tan skin. His eyes sparkled and brightened as he became more alert and energetic despite his sore body.