Midnight Drift | jjk 🏁

25| chaos within tragedy

There are days the dawn proceeds as if it were not ready to come, yet schedule demands an entrance, and so the sun rises as a canopy of gold, bright amid the blue, bidding the stars to take their nightly rest. As darkness surrenders, every colour changes from tinges of charcoal to a vibrancy.

One would stop and stare, breathe in the view, but your thoughts were scrambled as your feet paced on the disinfectant marble floors.

Nowhere is the chronic underfunding more evident than in the hallways. They are for the most part crammed with patients on trolleys, some tended by strained relatives and some alone. Each of them lies on their back, strapped in- eyes toward the naked fluorescent tubes that flicker as though they are on their last legs.

In the brief gaps between these unfortunates who cannot afford the exorbitant private fees, the pale blue walls are deeply scored by the metal framed trollies, the drywall showing though like white scars. The cheap prints on the walls are insipid, so lacking in vibrancy that they appear sun-bleached in the windowless strip. The confined space magnifies the groans and wails to no avail, the nurses have seen it all before and are immune, hardened by repeat exposure and over-work.

It was around 4 AM when your phone had started to buzz. Peaking at the unknown number, you had cut it a few times in order to not disrupt your peaceful sleep. But when it became uncontrollable, you had furiously accepted the call and were ready to scream but before you could, the voice of a lady reached your ears. Confused, you glanced at a half awake Azalea as you cooperated with the lady, only for your world to crash down the moment her soft voice spoke the main sentence, burning your heart into ashes.

'Mr. Min Yoongi is admitted in the ICU due to a severe brain injury and multiple broken bones.'

"Aera, please!" You couldn't hear any sounds, even Jungkook's as he tried to catch up with you except for the loud pleas repeatedly playing like a broken tape recorder in your head from the time you heard the dreadful news.

'Please hold on, please hold on, please...'

Your eyes raked every single door trying to find the words 'ICU Ward 5' as you sprinted like a madman, blinking your eyes several times to keep them at bay and not blur them, atleast not before you see him. Taking a sharp turn, you finally noticed the letters written in bold red at the very end of the dull corridor. They had told they found him at the brink of death, a little more delay and.....NO, you didn't even want to consider thinking about the latter.

You burst open the door, the loud bang reverberating in the silence of the dimly lit room, but you didn't care. You couldn't care because your eyes finally found him. You froze in your steps, your eyes solely focused on him and just him. Hands limp by your side and breath heavy, you gazed your eyes across your precious brother's entire body that lay there almost lifeless.

His head was wrapped in a bandage like a thick bundle of books stacked together. His left hand was in a cast and his legs. You covered your mouth as a sob broke past your lips. Both his legs were supported by a cast hung up to the ceiling. The fog forming in the oxygen mask around his mouth and the audible beep sounds from the heart rate monitor were the only objects which assured you he was alive and breathing. Not being able to take it anymore, you started stepping backwards but before your legs gave up on you, a strong arm wrapped itself around your waist, steadying you.

In a haste, you had forgotten about Jungkook who was standing in silence behind you the entire time. You turned around in his arms and looked up at him. His eyes were filled with tears as he averted his stare from Yoongi and onto you. "J-Jung-kook...." You tightly clutched his shirt, pointing your finger where your brother lay peacefully as your face contorted in pain, almost as if you could feel what he was going through.