||Tear||

15

╔═══════ ≪ °❈° ≫ ═══════╗

Narrator's POV

"Okay, I'm on my way Taehyung. Just stay calm," The call ends and Taehyung releases a breath knowing someone was coming. He can feel as well as hear Chaeyoung's soft, constant breaths hitting the back of his neck, sending shivers down his spine and causing him to inhale sharply.

Deep breaths, he tells himself as he hoists Chaeyoung up more onto his back and makes his way to a nearby bench. After lowering her gently onto it, he sits down beside her and takes the time to study her. Her eyes are moving below her eyelids and her lips are turned down in a frown, her eyebrows creased. He sees sweat building up on her forehead so he reaches forward and presses the back of his hand to it.

She's burning up.

"But she seemed fine just minutes ago. . ."

Taehyung ponders worriedly about the girl next to him, unaware of the pair of eyes that watch him from a distance. Chaeyoung mumbles in her unconscious state, incoherent words that confuse Taehyung so he gives up on trying to understand.

The sound of tires screeching to a halt wakes Taehyung up from his daze and a relieved breath leaves his lips. The car door opens and a droopy eyed Yoongi along with an alarmed Jimin climbs out, Taehyung runs to Yoongi first and engulfs him in a tight hug.

"Hyung. . .you have no idea how happy I am to see you," he says, tucking his head into the crook of the elder's neck. He hears the sounds of another car door slamming and footsteps running over the bench. Detaching himself from Yoongi to find a lanky figure with blonde hair kneeling in front of Chaeyoung, he doesn't need to be a genius to know that it's Jimin. He's not surprised Jimin is here, he is Chaeyoung's brother after all as well as Yoongi's best friend.

"How long has she been like this?" He asks blankly, not bothering to turn around.

"10-15 minutes I guess, she was still somewhat conscious when I called Yoongi hyung." Jimin nods and considers Taehyung's words before speaking.

"Get her in the car, we're going to the hospital," Jimin glances at Yoongi, who stares back with a glint of uneasiness in his eyes.

"I don't like this Jimin," is all Yoongi says before he turns on his heel to go start the car up again.

"Neither do I," Jimin mumbles as he and Taehyung carry Chaeyoung and place her in the backseat.

The car ride to the hospital is quiet with a few mumbles and groans from Chaeyoung.

"Tae, what did she see?" Taehyung sighs from the front passenger seat, his gaze flitting to the rearview mirror to look at Jimin in the backseat.

"I have no idea, one minute she was happily licking her ice cream and the next she was having a panic attack."

Jimin is beyond frustrated at this point. He feels the weight of everything pushing down on him again, the invisible force his parents put on his shoulders when they died. He promised them and yet he kept on breaking it. He could feel Chaeyoung was starting to slip again, not as easily as she did before but falling back into her unsteady mindset nonetheless. He just hoped that they would be able to save her this time.

~

"She's stable, let her rest for a while and once she's awake we can run some tests," the doctor nods his head towards the three boys and walks off. Jimin releases a breath and sits down on one of the chairs in the hallway. Taehyung and Yoongi eye their friend with sorrow, they knew Jimin would somehow blame himself for this like he always does. He was constantly beating himself up in situations that were out of his control, especially when it came to his twin.

"I'm gonna head down to the cafeteria and get some coffee, you guys want something?" Taehyung looks at Yoongi and Jimin, one leaning up against the wall and the other slouched in his chair. Jimin didn't bother answering him, he didn't want to talk due to his mind being a clouded mess.

"Maybe a bottle of water Tae," Yoongi doesn't look at him either, he was tired, not just sleepy tired, his soul was tired. Taehyung lowers his head and walks off, leaving the two to deal with the inner turmoil they had within them. Only once he's fully out of sight does Jimin speak.

"I screwed up hyung, I screwed up big time," Yoongi expected this from the younger, he's pretty certain he's had this conversation with Jimin before but this time he wasn't going to console his friend. He was going to deliver the confrontation he desperately needed.

"Well you certainly did," he says nonchalantly. Jimin's head whips up and his eyes stare at Yoongi, petrified.

"You're agreeing with me?" His voice is a whisper as he eyes his best friend in disbelief. He was always used to Yoongi chastising and comforting him with empty words of encouragement. This harsher, more raw approach stunned him considering Yoongi was usually a sensible person that took other's emotions delicately.

Yoongi looks up, his black cap no longer hiding the fury swirling in his eyes, "I'm telling the truth." He holds Jimin's gaze steadily and goes onward to tell him even more truth.

"I'm tired Jimin. Tired of always having to pick you up when you fall for absolutely no fucking reason!" Jimin realises then just how frustrated his best friend was, Yoongi never swore unless he was truly angered.

"Five years Jimin, I've had to deal with this for five years! I know you're worried about Chaeyoung, I am too, but if you keep on blaming and tearing yourself down, still up to this day, you're not gonna make it. You need to accept that she's a grown adult that's capable of looking after herself."

A moment of silence passes, Yoongi breathing heavily and Jimin staring wide eyed at him, when a rather quiet Taehyung walks in, three bottles of water and a sandwich in hand. He heard them. Who wouldn't? He was certain that the whole hospital heard them but he didn't comment, it was their issue and if they wanted to involve him, which he could clearly see they didn't, then they would have opened up to him about it.

"I uh, I got a sandwich incase you guys were hungry," he offers the water and sandwich, Yoongi grabbing the bottle of water and chugging half of it while Jimin shakes his head. A soft 'I'm fine' leaving his lips that were swollen from all the biting he was inflicting on them. Silence encases the trio until a nurse approaches them.

"Mr Park?" Jimin stands to attention and nods for the nurse to continue, "You can see your sister now if you'd like." Jimin thanks her and rushes to the room allotted to his sister, Taehyung and Yoongi right behind him. When Jimin opens the door and finds his beloved sister lying down, as if asleep, on the hospital bed, he takes a good look at her and sees things he never stopped to realize, like the bags under her eyes or the way her cheeks seemed more hollow. He also took note of the frown that he knew she would never wear while sleeping. Now he realized just how similar he and his twin looked, because now Chaeyoung looked the way the both of them felt.

A shell of who they once were.

▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂