Bubble

30. Frenzy

Traffic lights seemed to become nonexistent as Felix drove them towards Seoul as fast as he could after hearing what happened. They thankfully didn't get stopped by the police, but it still felt like a lifetime passed before Felix came to a screeching halt outside the hospital's ER entrance. Bonita threw the door of the backseat open, rain clicking off the roof of the car from the storm that had started on the drive back. Bang Chan tried to move to get out of the backseat too, but Bonita turned to stop him.

"Remember what happened when you were admitted here," said Bonita, "Besides, you faked your death when you were here in order to escape it. Felix is going to park the car, and you stay there with him until we come back."

Bang Chan opened his mouth to protest before immediately shutting it, knowing that Bonita was right. I.N got out of the passenger seat, using his jacket to try and shield Bonita's head the best he could as they both raced into the ER. Despite the jacket shield, the two of them still stood like drowned rats in the chaotic ER. Bonita in her panic kept sweeping her eyes about the chaos before her, looking for Minho's face. I.N moved away from Bonita briefly to go over to the reception desk, asking for a patient that came in with the name of Lee Know. Just as the woman behind the desk was going to question his relationship to the other, Bonita spotted him as a curtain was briefly pulled back.

Racing across the area that separated them, Bonita was soon by Minho's bedside, surprising the nurse that was attending to him. Bonita grabbed one of Minho's slack hands in hers. His eyes were still shut and an oxygen mask was currently over his mouth.

"Is he okay?" she asked as she turned from his face to look at the nurse.

"Are you family?"

"I'm the only family he has left," said Bonita flatly.

The day that Minho had confided in Bonita what his real name was, he gave a very succinct background as to why he had changed his name. It was so airtight and brief that it didn't leave room for questions and Bonita didn't ask. She knew that Minho had his reasons. She was just honored that he trusted her enough to tell her who he was and let her in.

The nurse looked like she was going to argue when Changbin suddenly appeared. He reached out and put a hand on the nurse's shoulder.

"I've got this handled," said Changbin, watching as the nurse walked off, leaving him to focus his full attention on Bonita by Minho's side.

"Is he going to be okay?" asked Bonita, desperation edging into her voice.

Before Changbin could answer, a slight cough was heard beside her. Turning her head, Bonita looked at Minho as he slowly opened his eyes. Even though his eyes were only opened enough to look like slits, she still saw his familiar onyx gaze flicker to look at her as a very weak grin took over his lips under the oxygen mask.

"I'm like a cat...have nine lives..."

Bonita didn't know whether to laugh or cry, blinking back tears at hearing Minho speak. She kept her hand in his as his eyes flicked from her to looking forward. She could immediately tell something was up as his eyes widened and he managed to get out, "What are you doing here?"

- - -

Felix had parked the car after dropping I.N and Bonita off at the entrance. The rain was now drumming a steady rhythm on the roof as Bang Chan sat awkwardly in the backseat.

"Do you think he's okay?" asked Bang Chan finally to fill the silence.

"I'm sure he's fine..." said Felix, his phone suddenly ringing.

He answered the call before immediately frowning, covering his free ear with his unoccupied hand in an attempt to hear who was on the other end of the line over the rainstorm.

"I.N...is that you? I can't hear you...you need to speak louder..."

Bang Chan turned his head to look out the window as Felix continued to shout at I.N like he was hard of hearing. Through the streaks of rain rushing like mini waterfalls off the window glass, Bang Chan could just barely make out a lone individual standing outside the hospital. They had a black umbrella over their black cap hatted head and were just starting at the automatic doors of the ER. It seemed odd, especially with foot traffic making its way around the person and into the ER like he was a rock in a stream.

After another minute or so of staring at the hospital, the person turned and started to walk away into the storm in a calm and measured way. From where he was in the car, it was hard for Bang Chan to see clearly what the person looked like. However, it didn't stop him from getting an uneasy feeling just from looking at them.

Since Felix was still preoccupied with his call, he didn't notice Bang Chan as he slipped out of the backseat of the car and into the rainy night. Not caring about the storm, Bang Chan tried to follow a distance behind the mysterious person without them noticing. Soon they both rounded a corner and disappeared from view.

"Geezum...apparently Lee Know is fine," said Felix as he hung up the phone, "but there is a situation going on at the moment that..."

Felix's words died out as he turned around to look at an empty back seat. Panic raced through him as he leaned backwards to search the backseat as if Bang Chan had shrunk himself down and was hiding himself somewhere.

Cursing, Felix immediately got out of the car and stood in the downpour as he looked in all directions to see if he could figure out where Bang Chan had run off to, but he couldn't see a trace of him anywhere.

"Oh I'm so dead," said Felix as he got back into the car, calling I.N again.

The chaos that he had heard in the background was only amplified this time, leading I.N to answer the call with a loud, "Something wrong?"

"Yeah...just a bit. Bang Chan has disappeared."

- - -

AN: I know this chapter is a little short, but I had to divide the ensuing chaos for...purposes. 😂

See you in the next chapter. 😉