Always Loved You || Jikook ✅

18.

JIMIN POV

He had followed the ambulance to the hospital, then had
followed behind the stretcher
for as long as he could until
they made him wait at the
doors to the emergency room.

For several minutes that had stretched out like hours, he simply stood there, feeling completely alone despite the
fact that the hospital seemed
to be busier than normal.

Whatever normal was for a hospital.

Definitely busier than the last time Jimin had been there
with Pop, though.

Like... a lot busier.

The waiting area outside
the emergency room was completely full, the walls
lined with people who
couldn't find a seat.

It felt like half of the town
was there for whatever reason.

But his mind couldn't dwell on that right now.

There was only one resident
of busan that Jimin was concerned with at the moment he was on a stretcher on
the other side of those
emergency room doors.

Jimin stopped a nurse that
was rushing back and forth
from the admitting desk to
the operating room but she
couldn't tell him anything.

And in the back of his mind
he knew there was nothing
to tell yet.

It was too early for anyone to know anything about Pop's condition.

Jimin didn't need a medical degree to know that the way they had been crowded around him on the stretcher
was serious, though.

And the way they had rushed him into the emergency room, past all the people who
were still waiting in the lobby?

Yeah, not a good sign.

He paced the small area,
feeling suddenly claustrophobic as the people waiting nearby looked on.

He would have liked to step outside for some air but there was no way he was going to
risk not being right there the instant someone came out
with news about Pop.

No way.

Not happening.

He made himself stop pacing
and take a deep breath as he found an unoccupied space against the wall where he
could stand.

Freaking out and having a breakdown in the waiting
room was not going to help
Pop, no matter how tempting
it was to just start screaming
for answers.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

He barely even remembered sending the text to Jungkook after he got to the hospital but that had apparently happened.

Although... was the time right?

Could that really have only
been a few minutes before?

It felt like Jimin had already
been there forever, really but it had literally only been a few minutes, if the time stamp
on his phone could be trusted.

Jungkook was probably asleep, no doubt exhausted after Jimin had insisted on keeping
him awake all night.

Not that Jungkook had
seemed to mind at the time.

Jimin thought about texting
him again Or calling.

But if he hadn't replied to the urgent message Jimin had already sent, that could only mean that he hadn't seen it.

Sending another one wasn't going to change that.

He put his phone back in his pocket and tried not to stare
at the clock on the wall, tried
not to jump and hold his
breath every time the
emergency room doors
would open and close.

Tried not to think about the
fact that he might have to get through this alone—that he might have to get used to
being alone all the time if
the worst happened.

It was something he didn't
want to think about.

He had to stay hopeful, for
Pop's sake as much as his own.

Pop would be okay.

He had to be, right?

And Jungkook would come to
be by Jimin's side eventually.

Probably.

Hopefully.

And then?

Jimin wasn't sure what would happen.

But he knew that if, by the
grace of God, they all three
left the hospital together,
Jimin would have to do
some serious thinking.

He would have to make
some serious decisions.

Because for all the uncertainty right now, he was absolutely
sure of one thing—he didn't
want to be alone like this
ever again.

Nothing in New York was
worth feeling like this.