Flower ||| Ateez

16

"SAN!" Lily screamed, feeling her vocal cords ripping at the ferocity of her cry.

She watched as the sweet boy stood there for a second, then looked at the blood seeping from the hole in his abdomen. He looked at Lily one more time, then fell to the floor.

"San! San!" Lily kept screaming, her voice getting weaker and weaker.

"Shut up!" her father roared, spinning her around and slapping her so hard she saw stars and she fell to the floor. He cursed her for making a sound as he kicked her stomach and back repeatedly before pulling out his phone.

He pressed a button then lifted it to his ear. "Move now," was all he said before returning the phone to his pocket. He sneered, looking at the boy bleeding to death by the door, then grabbed Lily's hair, dragging her by it to the other door in the room.

"I told you I'd make them pay. This is all your fault. Just like the last time was your fault. You don't learn, do you."

Then the door burst open and several people ran into the room.

The first one was Wooyoung. He faltered when he saw his friend lying on the ground, then turned to see Lily being dragged to the other door. He roared and ran at the man, ducking when he fired the gun again. He was close enough that he only had to dodge the one bullet before he slammed into the man, tackling him to the floor.

His vision turned red as he started to punch the man in the face. Again. Again. Again. Blood covered his knuckles as he continued to beat the man into unconsciousness. But it wasn't enough. He wanted to beat the man until his life left his worthless body.

He didn't stop until he felt a pair of small arms wrap around his waist, trying to pull him off the man below him.

Wooyoung turned to see Lily sobbing, if he could even call it that. Almost no sound came from her mouth. She looked so scared; all thoughts of her father left his mind as he moved to pull her close to him.

On the other side of the room, paramedics had arrived and were tending to San. They had him bandaged up as best they could and were carrying him out on a gurney, wanting to rush him to the hospital.

Yeosang followed them, tears running down his face even though he kept it as serious as he could, hoping to not show his fear.

Wooyoung saw the rest of his friends huddled together, holding onto one another. When San had left the room, Yunho broke away from the group and ran to Lily and Wooyoung, wrapping them both in his long arms. Seonghwa soon joined them, running his hands gently over the back of Lily's head.

The others moved to stand by her father, making sure he didn't move, while waiting for the police to come. They carried the man from the room after handcuffing his hands behind his back.

Hongjoong spoke quietly with the police off to the side. During a pause, he turned to Mingi and nodded. The taller worked to usher everyone from the room and to the garage to get into Seonghwa's car so they could go to the hospital.

Wooyoung carried Lily the entire way, her silent sobs never stopped.

­­­---

Three hours later, they were still waiting for news on San. The only update they had gotten was that he was still in critical condition.

Each of the members were pulled to the side one-by-one to give a statement to the police.

They each told their own recollection of their history with Lily and her father. Some, of course, could give more details than others, causing their interviews to go longer.

When it came time for Lily's turn, the officers refused to let anyone in the room with her. Wooyoung pulled her close one last time, whispering to her that he would be right outside the door, before letting her go. He met Yunho's gaze once, noticing the sadness in his eyes as he watched them, but he just nodded and took up his vigil next to the younger.

In the room, Lily did her best to stay calm, feeling anxious being alone with them in such a small space.

"It's ok, Sweetheart. I know this isn't easy for you, but we need to ask you a few questions while the events of today are still fresh in your mind. Is that ok with you?" Lily nodded. "Ok, can you tell us, in your own words, what happened?"

Lily took a deep breath and started to speak. She had to force the words out of her mouth and strained to make any sense. Her throat hurt so much. By the end of the interview, she had resorted to writing everything down, tears blurring the ink in places when they hit the paper. The officers quietly thanked her, then led her out of the room and over to a nurse, asking her to get something warm for Lily to drink.

Wooyoung and Yunho followed closely behind, ready to step in when they were needed.

After Lily got her tea, she went and found a chair in the corner, curling up in it and nursing the hot drink.

When the two boys went to follow her, Seonghwa and Hongjoong blocked their path. They cut off the protests by holding their hands up. "Give her some time. She will come to us when she's ready." The boys looked at each other and nodded, joining the others in a different section of the waiting room.

The wait was agony.

Wooyoung and Yeosang sat next to each other, holding hands in silence, staring at the door they knew the doctor would come through with updates.

Seonghwa made his rounds, asking if any of his friends wanted something to eat or drink. Most said no, but Jongho asked for some water and the oldest sped to the vending machine to get a bottle of water.

Mingi followed him. "Hwa, you need to rest too." He watched the other pause, then his shoulders started quivering. The taller quickly pulled the other into a tight hug, comforting the one person he knew probably needed it the most right now. He slowly ran one hand down Seonghwa's back, shushing him quietly. Seonghwa gripped Mingi's shirt as if his own life depended on it.

They stood there for a long moment, relishing the others' touch, before returning to the group. Seonghwa gave Jongho his water and leaned forward to kiss the youngest's head before joining Mingi on a couch and laying his head in the taller's lap.

Yunho sat next to Hongjoong, picking furiously at his lip while his leg bounced up and down. Hongjoong placed a hand on his knee to try and calm him but said nothing.

Lily sat by herself. Waiting. Hoping. Praying.

---

It wasn't until the early hours of the morning that they got any news. The surgeon came out looking tired, but he was able to smile softly.

The boys all sprang to their feet, but didn't take a step, holding their breaths.

"He is out of harm's way." The surgeon gave the boys a minute to hug and cry before continuing, "Has anyone contacted his parents or family yet?"

Seonghwa stepped forward, "We're his family. He has no one else."

The surgeon nodded slowly. "He is very lucky. The bullet managed to miss his organs, but we did have to open him up to extract it. His recovery is going to be long, and it won't be an easy one at that. We will keep him here for about a week or so to keep an eye on the first stages of his recovery, but then he will be on bed rest for the next few months."

Seonghwa nodded, soaking in the other man's words. "I will leave some details with the nurses to let you know when he's awake. I would advise that you don't all visit him at once, however. We don't need to overwhelm him." He reached out and shook hands with Seonghwa, nodded to the others, then left through the doors he came from.

The seven boys formed a tight circle, all hugging each other and sank to their knees.

Lily watched from her corner, in too much pain to move to join them. But if she was being honest with herself, she didn't want to...