Wildfire And Rain

Chapter Six

Kai's mouth ticks. ".... Dad." he whimpers so softly; that it almost goes by Taehyun's ears.

Almost. Kai cries quietly, a tear gets past his closed eyes and falls to the side of his head.

Taehyun swallows, resting his hand on Kai's stomach. Is he waking up? "Kai?" he calls, confused. The whole situation is not where he thought he'd find himself on Friday night.

He's still not responding.

Taehyun takes his hands off, but-... it's wet?

It's wet.

He's bleeding.

Kai is bleeding. From what? From where? Taehyun has no clue, but his flashlight shows red and in that moment all he knows is he has to get Kai help. Suddenly his flash goes out and darkness again paints over the two. He turns on his phone but it's dead.

He opens Kai's one, but it's password protected. Taehyun groans. Unknowning what to try next.

He can't call an ambulance; he can't leave Kai to call for help in case something happens while he's gone. Who knows, maybe the person who did this is still nearby and wants to finish the job.

Shivers run through Taehyun's body at the thought.

A few moments later, he hoists Kai on his back, despite the other being bigger and taller than him, Taehyun finds his balance and gets up.

A 10-minute walk turns into 30 minutes with the heavy body slumped on his back. He finally makes it to his dorm building, hoping he can phone the hospital from the landline there. But the wetness sipping through his shirt tells him Kai has not time to wait around for an ambulance to come.

He gets into his room, getting past people who assume Kai is just drunk which is not a rare sight in a place like a college. Especially theirs.

They make it to his and Soobin's room and God. It is worse looking in well-lit lighting. Taehyun's hands shake hard as he lifts up Kai's tight shirt and rolls it right under his chest, covering the areas that don't need to be revealed. He's trying to be as respectful considering he doesn't even have Kai's permission to bring him to his room let alone undress and treat him.

The sight of hardened blood makes Taehyun gag. He covers his nose and looks away from the stab wound. His heart races in his ribcage, threatening to bust out of his chest. He breathes heavily.

"Oh... "His voice is Shaky and choked. "Oh my god... "he returns his eyes to Kai.

Kai's eyes squeeze together once more, showing signs of life.

"I can't do this... "Bile rises Taehyun's throat. "I can't," he mutters to himself. But the blood dripping to his room's floors tells him he has to.

But he can't do it on his own. He takes his phone out of the charger and trembles as he calls Soobin, praying that he hasn't gotten too wasted to pick it up. And thankfully, after about 5 rings, he answers.

"what's up, Hyunnie? I'm in the middle of beer pong." There's loud cheering and music over his voice which Taehyun struggles to hear. "I'm killing it." He sounds proud.

Blood paints Taehyun's phone. "Hyung... "He's on the verge of crying, and he sure sounds like it too from Soobin's 180 change in tone.

"What's wrong?"

The music and chattering slowly quiet down until it's fully gone. "Taehyun?"

Taehyun looks at his red palms, staring blankly at Kai's body. He feels dizzy. "Taehyun?! Answer me, damn it?" Soobin sounds increasingly concerned. "Do you need me to come back to the dorms?"

"There isn't time." Taehyun sniffles.

Soobin turns silent. "Time for what?"

"How do I stop someone from bleeding out?" Taehyun asks in a frenzy. Snapping out of freak out as adrenaline releases in big waves into his system. He scrambles on the floor, trying to get up.

"... I don't understand."

"A bleeding! Hyung! How do I stop bleeding from a stab wound?!" he yells, crying out. "... Please don't die."

"Okay, okay... "Soobin "Calm down. You need to get some sort of fabric, in a strip. It can be even a towel or something. And wear gloves! Always wear gloves-"

"I don't have gloves!" Taehyun heaves. He runs to their bathroom and takes the first towel he sees on the floor.

"At all?"

"Should I apply pressure?" Taehyun second-guesses himself.

"Gloves, Taehyun."

"I don't fucking have gloves!"

"Okay, there's no Ubers. I can maybe try taking a ride with someone here, but I don't think there's anyone sober enough."

Taehyun hardly hears him over the buzzing in his ears. He puts the towel on Kai's lower stomach and puts his entire weight on him in an attempt to stop the bleeding. His lips quiver as he looks down at Kai's troubled fare.

His eyebrows are scrunched and his mouth is pressed into a thin line.

"Taehyun? Did you hear me?"

"Please come soon, Hyung," Taehyun begs.

"Taehyun I- Beomgyu is already gone, he had to drive Yeonjun back to the dorms because someone gave him an edible. I don't think... I don't have anyone to drive me. I'm too drunk to drive myself."

Taehyun's tears keep on flowing. "No, I need you here... "He cries.

"What is it, Taehyun? Who's bleeding? What's going on? Please talk to me..." Soobin's tone is now as serious as ever, the strange call from Taehyun is doing well at sobering him up fast. He walks from person to person, asking them for a potential ride back to the dorms.
"Taehyun! You're spacing out, come on!"

"I-..." The white towel soon turns a tint of red. He applies pressure but it doesn't seem to do much, the damage has already been done. He doesn't know how long Kai was outside on that curb. Doesn't even know the time of the injury.

And there he is, slumped on the floor in the middle of Taehyun's room slowly losing color from his lips and Taehyun does not know what to do . "There's so much blood, Hyung... "he hyperventilates at this point, struggling not to when there's a life in his hand. Kai is still warm to the touch, so Taehyun holds his hand to ground himself. He's still breathing.

"Taehyun. Listen to my voice... "

"I-"

"Don't speak." Soobin orders. "Listen. Take three deep breaths." he instructs. "Don't think about the blood, just breathe."

Taehyun swallows his panicked tears and does as Soobin says.

"Find the wound and apply pressure with the towel. Is the patient conscious?"

A sob leaves Taehyun's lips. He shakes his head. "He's not..."

Soobin sighs. "Okay. Is he breathing?"

"Yes."

"You're doing great, Taehyun."

A few of Kai's fingers move around Taehyun's hold. He looks down, Kai is still knocked out. He breathes heavily, but he breathes. And that is enough for Taehyun.

"I'll be there in a few hours, okay? I need to sober up. But I'll be there. Keep applying pressure and don't make direct contact with the open wound. You may cause an infection."

Taehyun exhales, calmer now. His hands still shake, and his heart beats faster than it needs to be beating, but he can hold on for a few hours. He really can.

"My battery's dying. You're doing amazing, Hyunnie-

-Hyung will be there soon, okay?"