The Nights

ten

"He said 'one day, you'll leave this world behind, so live a life you will remember.'"

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Jin - Senior
Yoongi - Senior
Serri - Senior
Hoseok - Junior
Namjoon - Junior
Jia - Junior
Jimin - Sophomore
Taehyung - Sophomore
Jungkook - Freshman

Jia's bag was flying out behind her as she pushed through the emergency's doors, tears streaming down her face.

"Miss you can't be back here!" Two nurses hurried over to Jia, pushing her backwards. But nothing could stop the sister of Namjoon, desperate to see her brother.

"Kim Namjoon!" Jia cried out, breaking out from the nurses. "He was in the bus crash! Please! Wher-"

That's when Jia saw him. Down the hall, his bloodied body was being pushed on a bed, several doctors and nurses shouting things around him. Jia sobbed out loud and fell to the floor, her phone ringing in her purse, Jimin calling her. A nurse hugged Jia as she continued to cry.

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Jia was in the waiting room, staring straight ahead of her, her eyes burning and throat dry and scratchy. But when several pairs of feet could be heard running, her eyes locked with Jin's. Jia cried out and ran to Jin, sobbing into his shoulder, finding a little comfort in her older brother, memories of her father coursing through her mind.

"Why the hell can't you tell me anything?!" Yoongi slammed his hand on the desk, the nurse jumping slightly. "He's my goddamn brother and you can't even tell me if he's alive!"

Serri and Jimin had their hands linked, fingers intertwined. They were gripping each other so tightly that Jimin's fingers turned a little white, but he couldn't bring himself to care. "They don't know? Or they can't tell us?" Jimin asked as clarification, but the chaos around him was too caught up in itself for anybody to reply.

So he guided his fragile looking sister to a pair of chairs in the waiting room and they sat silently, heavy gases only lifting when Jin and Jia entered the room, followed by the rest of the siblings. The trail of siblings ended with Yoongi, angry tears tracing his face and bruised and bloody knuckles wiping them off his face.

"Yoon," Jia sniffled, parting one of the chairs beside her. Yoongi's relief must have been clear on his face as he settled in beside her, immediately reaching for her free hand. He longed for comfort, comfort in his baby sister.

Jungkook and Hoseok shuffled over to join Serri and Jimin, while Taehyung stumbled to take a spot next to Jin. He leaned his head into the eldest's shoulder, quiet tears sliding down his cheeks. His mind screaming and illustrating everything that could go wrong.

This family was stuck, locked in this waiting room. What once was nine, left eight, fragile siblings. This room trapped their thoughts with the eight, imagining the worse for their brother, the one that completed them.

Twenty nine hours. The siblings waited in the hospital for twenty nine hours. They took turns sleeping, getting each other coffee. The only thing that kept them going was no doctor came out telling them that Namjoon was dead.

"The Kims?" A nurse asked as she looked up from her clipboard after entering the waiting room. "You can see your bro-" All eight of them shoved past the nurse and began running through the halls, not even waiting for a number of his room. Jungkook sobbed and fell to the ground in front of the door he looked into, the first to find his brother. Hoseok pulled Jungkook from the ground and walked into the room, but stopped in the doorway. The rest of the siblings crowded around him.

No one could move. They've never seen Namjoon look so lifeless. They've never seen a leg bent like that. Jia ducked underneath Jimin's arm and took the first step to Namjoon. "Oh Joonie."

The rest of the siblings swarmed into the room, grabbing Namjoon's hand, sounds of relief clashing with the beeps of the monitor beside Namjoon. Namjoon smiled weakly as he tried his best to watch the frenzy of his brothers and sisters. "Jungkook you can sit on the bed with-" Namjoon didn't even finish his sentence and Jungkook was right next to him, holding on to him tightly, but avoiding Namjoon's legs.

Jia held onto Jin tightly, the two letting the others talk and hold onto Namjoon. Jia noticed Jin was shaking and whispered gently, "Let's go sit down." Jin and her walked slowly to the couch in the room and Jin immediately started scratching himself as he stared at the ground. "Jin." Jia held Jin's hand still, slightly straining against his strength. "I know you blame yourself, but there is nothing you could've done. It isn't your fault at all." Jia interlaced her fingers with Jin's and smiled up at her brother, leaning against him.

Jimin sat next to Jia, hugging her arm tightly, digging his head into her shoulder. "He'll be okay, right?" Jimin mumbled, finding comfort in his older sister. Jia sighed.

"I have no doubt that he will be fine." Jia reassured her little brother, guilt eating inside her. "But Minnie, Namjoon will probably need help walking for a long time." Jia patted Jimin's hand lightly in an attempt to comfort him, but as she was just as on edge as he was, it didn't have much of an effect.

"Hyung, are you tired?" Jungkook asked softly, turning his head to meet Namjoon's eyes, their sides touching from Jungkook's everlasting hug. Namjoon just gave a tiny smile and a nod, scared to talk. Scared to listen to how weak he sounded. Jungkook looked at Jia, his doe eyes widened. "Does that mean we have to leave?" He asked her. Jia crumbled with anxiety, everyone's eyes on her. Why was everyone asking her? Why not Jin, or Serri?

Jia was quiet for a moment before she shook her head, quietly rubbing her thumb against the back of Yoongi's hand. "No, Ggukie. We can stay here tonight. Go ahead and get comfy. If you need to move because of any reason, the nurses or I will wake you up." She tried her best to reassure him with a smile, but he only nodded and laid back down on his side, holding Namjoon in a tense silence.

"There's not enough room for all of us in these three chairs;" Serri said in a tiny voice, looking around nervously at her siblings. Jia instantly got up and led Serri to the chair, Jimin leaning against her now.

"We can steal some chairs from the waiting room." Yoongi said, his arms crossed firmly as he stared outside the window. "There's a hundred out there."

And so the family of nine all piled next to one another, complaining softly about one another, but ended cuddling with those beside them. The nurses smiled at this tight family bond these kids share. Nothing could break them. Only death, God forbid.

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"I'm going to actually strangle my band director." Jia clenched her phone as she looked up at Namjoon, who was eating his pudding.

"What did she do now?" Taehyung asked, stopping from chewing his chip.

"She wants us at the game tonight." Jia stood up, a glare on her face. Taehyung's eyes widened.

"Doesn't she know that Joon is in the hospital?" Hoseok's leg tapped with agitation. He didn't want the mood and peace makers gone. Not during this time.

"Yeah well since we both lead our sections, we can't miss." Jia growled and snatched her keys from the table. "There better be a running clock tonight." Taehyung hurried after Jia, sending a nervous look back at his siblings.

Jin gave Jia and Taehyung small smiles of encouragement, nodding his head as they made their way out the door with a lingering goodbye. "Jimin, you should eat." Serri said, her voice drained of emotion as she turned back to look at the rest of her brothers. Jimin didn't say anything for a moment, staring at the sad looking hamburger she'd ordered for him to eat.

"Not hungry." But once he saw all of his siblings looking at him, he cracked. He couldn't have Namjoon staring at him with disappointment. "Fine." He quietly began eating, already feeling the familiar discomfort and pain settling in his stomach. This is why he hated eating. Every bite he took, he choked on it, his body rejecting the food.

"Hey Jimin." Namjoon broke through his wretched thoughts, them instantly moving to the back of his head. "Do you wanna play a game with me?" Jimin smiled and sat on the bed with Namjoon, the game and his siblings washing away all thoughts of the bathroom and the hamburger. Because they're the ones that make him feel good about himself.

And only them.