taehyung awoke in the middle of the night with a start, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead as his phone began to ring loudly. it was the hospital. his heart leaping in hope, taehyung answered the call.
"hi, this is taehyung," taehyung began, unable to hide the excitement in his voice.
"taehyung," the woman on the opposite side of the call responded, her voice urgent yet professional. "please come to the hospital as soon as possible."
taehyung's hopes died a little at the urgency of the woman. "i'll be there in a couple of minutes," taehyung murmured and hung up. he stuffed his phone in his pocket; he fled his apartment and sprinted down the stairs, two steps at a time, not bothering to wait for the elevator. he leapt into his car and drove off, not caring about the speed limit. besides, no one drove at a time like this.
he arrived at the hospital in record time. he parked his car crookedly, but he couldn't care less at the moment. he arrived at the front desk, still in his striped blue pajamas, his hair unkempt and disheveled. "i'm here for park jimin," he exclaimed, leaning his hands on the marble desk. he let his wild gaze travel across the waiting room; there were only a few people this late at night, but they all seemed to be asleep.
the woman at the front desk nodded, her hair neatly wrapped in a tight bun. "follow me," she murmured and pushed open a wide door, her heels clacking against the marble floor.
unable to keep his heart from pounding, taehyung followed the woman with a light jog. she led the tall boy to a small room, decorated in posters full of the human anatomy and basic health information. "a doctor will be with you shortly," the woman informed him as she guided him to a fiery, orange couch before turning around and leaving taehyung behind.
almost a few seconds later, a short, chubby man walked into the room, breaking taehyung's train of thoughts. "you must be kim taehyung," he murmured, his voice tired and dull. "i'm afraid i have terrible news."
taehyung's breath stopped as his heart skipped a few beats. his eyes widened in shock. hadn't jimin squeezed his hand today? hadn't he smiled?
"jimin's heart stopped. i'm sorry," the doctor muttered, fiddling with his pudgy fingers as he stood up to leave taehyung alone. "we're doing everything that we can do. prepare for the worst. again, i'm so sorry."
taehyung let tears slip down his cheeks as the doctor exited the depressing, white, room.
this couldn't be happening. this wasn't possible.
he lay down on the couch, which reminded him so much of jimin's beautiful hair. he stroked it, pretending that it was jimin; his mind refused to accept that his beautiful boyfriend was gone.
jimin, jimin, jimin.
jimin was gone. why had taehyung been such an idiot?
jimin, jimin, jimin.
he squeezed his eyes shut and pinched his arm harshly, hoping this was all a dream. it wasn't.
taehyung remained on the couch, thinking about jimin and nothing but jimin, before the door squeaked open. the same woman from earlier walked in; her gaze seemed brighter than before. "mr. kim," she began. "you may want to come see park jimin now."
taehyung scoffed in disbelief, his eyes red and puffy from sobbing. "why the hell would i want to see his dead body?!" he cried out as he sat up, throwing his hands up to emphasize his words.
ignoring the boy's vexed response, the woman turned around, her hair bobbing behind her. "follow me."
grudgingly, taehyung followed. he did not want to see his pretty boyfriend's dead body, lying on the hospital bed, but he was left with no choice.
they walked for what seemed like hours. the only sounds that echoed down the silent, white halls was the clacking of the woman's heels and taehyung's quiet sobs. suddenly, the woman stopped in the middle of a hallway, in front of a wide, tall door. she pushed it open, allowing taehyung inside before shutting the door behind him. taehyung clenched his fists and forced his eyes open; his gaze immediately landed on jimin.
taehyung, surprisingly, was the only person in the room, other than jimin. like always, the fiery-haired boy was lying on the white sheets of the hospital bed, deathly still. his eyes were still glued shut, his hands were still resting by his sides, tubes still poked out of him.
what shocked taehyung was jimin's heart monitor, still resting beside jimin's bed.
it was rising in steady beats, beeping evenly.
"oh my god," taehyung breathed out shakily before rushing over to jimin's side, clasping his hand, intertwining their fingers. "oh my god, oh my god," he repeated, his heart thudding in both disbelief and relief. every emotion flooded him into the same time, overwhelming him and making stars dance in front of his eyes. "you're alive. jimin, you're fucking alive. oh my god."
jimin peeled his eyes open for the first time in a month. he gazed around the white room, squinting, before his gaze landed on the boy squatting next to him, his eyes brimmed to the top with shiny tears. jimin smiled softly, slowly rubbing small circles around his boyfriend's knuckles with his thumb.
for the first time in a month, taehyung knew that everything would be okay. he watched, shaking uncontrollably, as jimin opened his mouth.
"hi, taehyung."
