His Sweet Addiction (BTS ff JJK)

Chapter 13

Maddy headed to the bathroom and pulled back the shower curtain. Jungkook appeared to not have moved a muscle. His eyes were opened wide, as if in shock over what just occurred as he stood there in the tub, in his stocking feet. Maddy took his shoes and coat from him and Jungkook followed her out of the bathroom as she said, "Sorry about that. Good job keeping quiet."

Jungkook moved back to the same spot on her bed where he sat before and watched Maddy as she started putting away the laundry into her drawers and the closet. She was walking back and forth from the bed to the dresser to the closet as she talked about anything to steer the conversation away from what her mom said. "I can't believe it, that was so close. I thought for sure we were found out when she went into the bathroom. And I could totally see your outline in the shower curtain. I'm so glad she didn't notice. Ugh. Not that she would have been that mad. But I'd like the keep the window escape to myself for a little while longer, in case I need it again."

She was done putting away the laundry and Jungkook hadn't said anything. She looked at him and saw an intensity in his eyes. "What? Why are you so quiet?"

His eyes didn't waver from hers, "Come here." He patted the bed next to him. Jungkook heard Maddy's mom say something about a hospital visit and he needed to know what this was about. He felt like it would be an important piece in his never ending quest to understand Maddy's personality. He was really hopeful that it wasn't serious. He wasn't even letting himself consider that it could be.

Maddy came over and sat next to Jungkook. This was the closest she had been to him all day. She was tempted to touch his tattoos but she would wait to see what he wanted first.

"Tell me." Was all he said. Her eyebrows came up like she was confused. He tipped his head to the side. "I heard what your mom said, tell me."

Maddy sighed. "It isn't a big deal. I used to be sick. I'm not anymore. But I have to get check-ups every six months." Maddy smiled hoping this explanation was sufficient. It wasn't. 

Jungkook scooted down to laying on the bed and pulled her hand so she would join him. As they were laying there on her bed, side by side, he turned on his side to face her. "Start at the beginning, how old were you when you got sick? Tell me the whole story, Maddy." He put his hand on hers while he said it and she comfortably took it and started mindlessly tracing the tattoos while she spoke. His intense eyes still looked at her face as he listened to her talk.

"Alright. I thought we might be friends longer before I told you all of this, but here goes. When I was seven and a half years old, I started getting headaches and nausea and I had a seizure at school. I went to the doctors and after a bunch of tests, they said I had a cancerous brain tumor. Because of where it was located, the best options were radiation and chemotherapy, instead of surgery. They thought if they cut it out, I might not be able to walk or talk for the rest of my life. I went through two rounds each of chemo and radiation before they decided nothing more could be done. When I was nine and a half they told my parents I had about six weeks to live."

Maddy could see fear and sadness in Jungkook's eyes and wanted to comfort him. She reached up to touch his cheek. "It's okay, there is a happy ending. I'm right here and I'm almost seventeen."

He smiled to reassure her that he was fine. But really his sadness was about the fact that, at such a young age, she had to go through all of this. "I'm okay. Tell me the rest."

"Well, because I had such a short time to live, my parents tried to make my last weeks nice. They gave me ice cream, took me to the beach, and let me play with puppies. Anything they thought would make my last days better. We got word that there was an American doctor that wanted to try an experimental surgery on me. He had not been allowed to try it on people yet because it was considered really risky. But because my death was imminent, both the Korean and American governments allowed him to do the surgery. It was a combination between a regular surgery with a scalpel and a new type of laser surgery. The new lasers were designed to target the inner parts of the brain without damaging the outer parts. I was too sick to go to the United States, so the surgeon came here. We traveled to Seoul to get the surgery done."