Stronger || NCT mafia au

Chapter 55 | "come back to us"

Sungchan and Taeyong rush into the hospital carrying Jihyun as Chaeyoung and Nayeon return home. The doctors immediately take notice of the bloody girl, carefully taking her from Taeyong's arms and rushing her into the emergency operating room.

"Boys, they're going to check her out. Please take a seat here and fill this out." A nurse hands Taeyong a clipboard with a patient information form.

The pair take a seat. Sungchan buries his head in his hands, small sobs escaping his mouth. Taeyong puts down the pen after quickly filling out the form and rests a comforting hand on the younger boy's shoulder, rubbing small circles into his back in silent reassurance.

"She's going to be okay, Sungchan. She's tough." Taeyong says with a shaky voice.

"I've never seen her look so hurt, so lifeless, Taeyong. They destroyed her, they nearly killed her." Sungchan sobbed out, now staring at Taeyong with tear filled eyes.

"T-they didn't destroy her. She's our Jihyun. No one can destroy her." Taeyong stuttered out, fighting back his own tears for the younger boy's sake. "She's strong, Sungchan. She's been through a lot and fought through all of it."

"But how much more can she take? How much more can she fight through before it's too much?"

Taeyong remains silent, unable to answer the sobbing boy's question, knowing that he was in the verge of a breakdown.

The doors to her room suddenly burst open as a doctor rushed out, whispering something briefly to the nurse.

"We've almost lost her!"

"Her pulse is weakening, hurry!"

The door slammed shut as the doctor ran back in, Taeyong and Sungchan sharing an alarmed glance at the words they heard. The nurse at the front stands up from her desk and walks over to them.

"They're gonna do everything they can, but she's in critical condition. It's gonna be a while, so go home. We'll call you right away with any news." The nurse said with a small smile.

The pair shakily stands up and slowly makes their way to the car. They drive home silently, both unsure of what to do or say. When they walk in, they're met with 17 nervous pairs of eyes.

"Where's Jihyun?"

"Is she okay?"

"Did she make it?"

All the members start shouting out questions upon seeing the two boys, all making their way over.

"We don't know what's going to happen yet. They said she's in critical condition and sent us home to wait." Taeyong said grimly, laying his phone on the table and taking a seat.

They stay like that for hours, all sitting, unmoving, in complete silence for hours, no one wanting to leave or sleep in their own rooms as they wait for word from the hospital. Near midnight, Taeyong's phone rings, all the members instantly sitting up as he answers.

"Hello?"

"Yes, hello, is this Mr. Lee Taeyong?"

"Yes it is."

"Great, this is the Neo City Hospital calling on behalf of patient Jang Jihyun. Please come down as quick as possible to speak with the doctors."

"We'll be right there. Thank you." Taeyong hangs up the phone, turning to look at the members. "They want us to go and speak with the doctors." Everyone immediately stands up, walking towards the door.

"Wait!" Ten calls out, "are we all going? Isnt that too much?" Everyone backs up into the main room, turning to Taeyong.

"You're right, just the unit leaders go." He replies as Kun and Jaehyun stand up.

"Wait Jae," he stops out, placing a hand on the younger's shoulder, "you stay here and watch over the gang, Yuta will come instead." The Japanese boy  walks past him, going to stand next to Taeyong. "I'm sorry but you're not stable enough right now." Jaehyun nods in agreement.

"We'll let you know what they say." With that, the three of them turn and head to the cars.

- - -

"A coma?" Yuta asks, the three staring down at the girl on the bed. Her eyes are closed, she has a breathing mask over her face and tons of tubes hooked up to her.

"Yes, she's alive, but barely. We were able to give her enough blood and extract the bullet to get her pulse stable, but she's still very weak. Her body took too much damage, we couldn't get her to wake up." The doctor replied.

"How long will she be like this?" Kun asked.

"We don't know. Her body needs to heal. It's a waiting game now. Once her body heals enough, she'll wake up."

"And what if she isn't able to heal enough?"  The doctor let's out a sigh.

"That's the answer you don't want to hear. She's still in critical condition and there's no guarantee that she'll survive this. We'll do all we can to help her." The doctor says, bowing out of the room and leaving them alone.

The three stand there in silence, tears staining Yuta and Kun's faces as they stare down at the small girl.

"She's so young to have gone through all of this." Yuta breathes out. "She's only 20 and having to fight for her life."

"She's strong, stronger than any of us." Kun says, rubbing Yuta's back, "she's never lost a fight before and she won't start now. S-she'll be okay."

They continue to stand in silence, the pair trying to wipe away their tears.

"You two go home." Taeyong deadpans, standing up and shoving the keys into Kun's hand. "Tell everyone what's going on and bring them to visit in the morning. I'll stay here."

Yuta and Kun take one final look at Jihyun, nodding to Taeyong and heading to the car. Taeyong takes a seat at the chair next to her bed, trying to make himself comfortable.

"I don't know if you can hear me, Jihyun, but I believe in you. You're such a fighter and so strong, you have to fight just a bit more, okay?" Taeyong chokes back a sob.

"I can't do this without you. You're our leader. I need you back. The boys need you back." Taeyong finally let's himself cry, the tears flowing down his cheeks.

"We'll be here, waiting for you, when you're ready to come back to us." He sits back in his chair, staring at the girl with tears in his eyes as he slowly drifts to sleep.