Blurred Lines | ✓ [1st Edition]

23 | Lullaby

"누군가의 한숨
When someone sighs,
그 무거운 숨을
A breath as deep as that.
내가 어떻게 헤아릴 수가 있을까요
How can I possibly understand it?
당신의 한숨
Your sigh,
그 깊일 이해할 순 없겠지만 괜찮아요
Even though I won't be able to understand its depth,
That's okay.
내가 안아줄게요
I will hold you."

"You're going to fight," I croaked out-or practically demanded the words that were on the tips of everyone's tongues, eyes stinging with fresh tears. Everyone in the room was holding back, or at least trying to hold back their emotions, and desolation hung over us like a dense vapour. "You will not die today."

Robin glanced up at me, his eyes softening a fraction before he looked away again.

"It's not up to me," he said quietly, refusing to meet my eyes. April, who sat quietly by his bed, tightened her hand around his. Everyone was here today, standing around the room with grim expressions on their faces.

Not a single one of us cracked a smile, or a joke. Which for Logan is definitely a new record.

"No, don't you dare let your mind wander," Yuko suddenly spat, his warning laced with urgency and fear. It seemed to me like he had read the thoughts in Robin's mind, and it seemed like the thoughts were toxic. "You have your whole life ahead of you. You have us to live for."

"We're family, Robin. Maybe not by blood, but we are family," Emily said softly, lifting her baby blues to look at her. Her bloodshot and watery eyes held a glimmer of hope, and she mustered enough strength to give him an encouraging smile.

"She's right," Asher said, glancing at Robin and back at his fiancé. "We're family, Robin. Live, for us."

Slowly, Robin's lips pulled into a smile and he nodded.

"Okay," he said quietly, although his words were filled with some sort of renewed vigour. "I will."

Logan, usually the most talkative, stood at the door next to Siobhan with his arms crossed in silence. When Robin caught his eye, he gave him a firm nod and an encouraging smile. His eyes shined dully with hope. They were all so hopeful, clinging on to the last, unreliable thread that the world offered them.

Emily jumped in fright when there was a sharp knock on the door. Without waiting for a reply, the door was opened and Reuben, Robin's older brother, accompanied with a nurse, walked in.

"It's time," the nurse said softly, giving Robin and the rest of us a sympathetic smile. Without a word, the nurse began to roll Robin's bed out into the hallway.

Everyone followed, creating a protective rectangle around him as we approached the operating theatre. All we could do was stare at him, at his pale face and hollowed cheeks, bloodshot eyes and bone-thick limbs. He had changed physically and mentally these past months, and definitely not for the better.

Somewhere to my side I heard Reuben speak to the doctor in hushed tones.

"Make sure the operation is successful," I heard Reuben say to the doctor that accompanied us. "This is my brother you are dealing with."