"Jungkook? What happened?" my heart stops for a moment, and I feel the fright run through my veins. "He...I, I was— I mean," he stutters and struggles but only worsens the state I am in. "His ex's dad came to the coffee shop today...and I...When I got to the parking lot to leave a bit after him, I found Jungkook, and he was— he is, he's been severely injured...and I really feel like it's because of that guy—"

"Where is he right now? Are you with him?" I cannot even stand up, my heartbeat going the fastest it ever did. This is happening again. That first time, which traumatized me, was not the last like I hoped it would be. "Yeah, I'm with him. We're in the hospital because he could barely breathe anymore when I found him, but he's alive. The doctor, the nurse, I can't even remember, told me that he's not in a...in critical state, but he'll need some...some good time to recover."

"Tell me what hospital it is, please," I instantly break down into tears, my weakened body shaking under some sudden and serious stress. "The nearest one. Do you want me to come pick you up?"

"No, stay with him. I'm coming," I rise from my spot and already walk up there, knowing where it is. "Are you sure you're okay? The nurses are here for him, so it will only take a few minutes to bring you here."

"No, I'm fine. I need to hang up, I'm sorry," I do it as soon as I get an answer from him, and I let it all out when he cannot hear me anymore.

40 minutes later...

The hospital finally coming within sight as the tears are still going, I make my way up to the front doors where Luca said he would be waiting for me, and someone shouts my name.

"Hey, I'm here," he places his hand behind my head, but I remain quiet, and he leads us to the inside. "He's unconscious and in a bad state for now, so I'm warning you before you see him, the injuries are very obvious, and he's intubated, so this might be difficult to look at him," he makes sure I know what to expect, and I listen but do not care. "I just want to see him..."

He moves his hand down to my back, probably trying to comfort me, help me stay up on my feet. "Alright. I just wanted you to be ready. If it's the first time you see someone like that, it's hard, especially for you since you love him," opens a door that takes us to a long hallway, and I wipe my tears, but he slows down.

"Here. He's in this room," he points his finger at the door, the closed blinds hiding what is behind the window. He opens the door for me, and I go in without thinking twice.

I step forward and reach out the closed curtains as Luca is remaining behind me, but as soon as I catch sight of Jungkook, my heart breaks, and I have to cover my face with my hands and turn around to not see him anymore.

That same feeling I had when I found him in his bed spreads through my body to mentally and physically break me, and I cry my eyes out.

"He'll recover. Just focus on that," Luca takes me in his arms. I feel like collapsing, my body is lacking so much strength that I can tell it is on the verge of dropping to the ground. "I'm gonna fucking find and kill that fucking asshole who did this to him."

"You're not like them. Don't let your anger take the upper hand, you know Jungkook wouldn't want you to put yourself in danger anyway," he holds me and rubs my back, showing more maturity than I do.

I wipe my tears away with my soaked sleeves but stay still. "I'm scared to look at him..."

"You can wait until he's doing better," he takes his hands off me, and I take a moment to slow down my breathing. I think about the fact the is alive, his heart is beating, he is in a hospital, so he is not alone and people will take care of him.

"Thank you for being here for him. I don't even wanna imagine what would have happened if you didn't save him," I show him how grateful I am, how happy I am that he cares about the one I love. "Don't thank me. That's normal. Everyone should do this."

"Yes, but not everyone does. Especially for him, a lot of people disklike or doesn't even care about him," I risk going back to some heavy sobs with these words that hurt me the most whenever I think about it. "Those people are assholes, and let me tell you, if he was extroverted, he'd have a lot of friends. If he doesn't, it's only because he doesn't go towards others, but he's a sweet and lovable person, and I think you know it more than anyone," he manages to put a smile on my face, and I nod.

Now feeling good like I cannot leave him alone anymore, I turn around and look at him but get closer.

I cannot tell what is the worst. The tube in his mouth is very unsettling to me, I hate that, and it scares me, but the deep bruises on his face, the cuts, and the lifeless look his face reflects has to be the most aching sight.

I glance away from his damaged face and peek at the heart monitor, the sound of it echoing through the silence of the room. I try my best to not cry, the tightness in my throat nearly preventing me from swallowing.

"Sit here," Luca stands behind me with a stool, so I thank him and sit down. I bring my arms down on the bed and look down at Jungkook's hand to check which is unsurprisingly wrapped in bandage.

I still touch it, with the most delicacy possible, and I wrap mine around his fingers. "What is he intubated?"

"Apparently, from what the doctor told me, a lot of hits must have been given to his chest, or he may have fell or been punched against something which got his chest to be...I mean, I don't want to go into detail, but his sternum got injured, so they had to sedate and intubate him because the pain will be so bad for him that he won't be able to properly breathe on his own," he explains with clear words but makes me imagine what must have happened to him, which destroys me even more deeply. "Did you see him wake up?"

"No, but the nurse told me he woke up right before they took care of him. They just had to sedate him after though," he tells me something positive, something I can find relief in. "And when do you think he'll wake up?"

"I'm not sure, but I think they'll have to keep him under sedation for a few days," he does not lie to make me happy, so I understand and accept.

I set my eyes back on Jungkook, brushing my thumb over his skin and hoping for him to know we are here with him. "Do you think he can hear us?"

"I'm not sure, I've heard that people in comas can hear you, even if they can't really process what's happening and will probably not remember, they can, so I do want to believe he can hear us," he nods his head and sparks some optimism inside me. "Do you want me to leave you both alone? I'll stay in the hallway if you need me."

"If you're okay with it, I'd like to be a bit alone with him...but only for a few minutes," I ask him as kindly as I can, and he smiles at me. "Sure. I understand and know how important this must be, so take all the time you want and need," he stands up to leave, and I thank him again.

He walks out of the room and closes the door, and I give all my attention to Jungkook. I cannot find the right words to say yet, so I remain quiet but move up from my stool, and I move closer to his face. I run my fingers through his hair, making sure I do not touch his big band-aid, and I lean in to press a kiss on his cheek but barely press my lips against it, fearful of causing him pain.

"I'll always stay with you from now on, I won't leave you alone anymore," I comb his hair and keep touching him in case a part of him could be conscious and aware of his surroundings. "I'll be done with school next week anyway, so I'll stick to you like glue," I mumble but feel the tightness

Not willing to fight against my emotions, I end up tearing up but do not let myself get overwhelmed. I would not want him to know or feel my sadness.

I move away and go back on the stool to hold his hand.

I feel so empty already. Not being able to talk to him, hear him, or do anything with him is already so painful and hard. I do not know how I will handle it.

•••

11:20 pm.

The door of the room opening warns me of someone coming in, and I turn my head to check who it is this time.

"Hey," Luca smiles at me and walks up to us, and I return the same kindness. "Hey, you didn't have to stay alone for so long."

"Don't worry. I wanted to make sure you'd have some more time with him," he sits down in front of me, at the other side of the bed. "I wanted to ask you because I looked for them, but where are his ring and bracelet?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," he moves towards the bedside table on his left and opens a drawer. "Here, I put them here."

"Ah okay. You can leave them there, I'll ask the nurse if I can put them back on him," I keep my hand in Jungkook's one, never letting go of it. "I think they'll advise you to keep them with you instead because he's going to have to go through a surgery tomorrow, and the nurses also have to take care of him every day, so it'd be better to bring them with you."

"Hm. Yeah, I didn't think about that," I do not show my discontent but only focus on one thing. "What's the surgery tomorrow though?"

"Rhinoplasty, that's why they put something on it. It's broken, but they couldn't do the surgery today, and I think it will help him breathe better too," he tells me, only adding more anguish and affliction.

The person who hurt him is going to regret it. I do not care who this is.

"You should go home, you have exams going, so you need some sleep," he finally gets to what I wanted to avoid and ignore. "I don't want to leave. What if something happens while I'm away? I won't be able to focus on my exam anyway. And it's the last one, on top of that."

"One more reason to give your whole. You know Jungkook would want you to try your best. Think about the time you'll be able to spend with him if you graduate, you'll enjoy it to the full," he makes good points that I cannot disagree with, but which encourages me. "And I'll take a week off to be there for him when you can't, and for you too, so you don't have to worry about it."

I raise my eyes up to him, feeling very touched by his actions and how considerate he is. He probably does not even have any idea how meaningful it is to me to see someone care about Jungkook so much.

"Really? Won't you get into trouble?" I ask to make sure he does not risk anything, and he shakes his head, which is enough to reassure me. "No, I have the right to take it, so don't worry."

"Good, I'm relieved," I drift my eyes back towards Jungkook to look at him, wondering how I will be able to even close an eye tonight and not think about him during my exam. "I drive you home, and I'll come back here right after, so if he ever wakes up, or if they do the surgery, I warn you, okay?"

I nod but cannot think of leaving him yet. I have been feeling guilty and awful for not reacting earlier when he did not text me. I thought that not spamming him and being annoying would be a better idea, but the worst always happens when I do as he says instead of listening to myself.

"I'll wait for you in my car," he goes back up. "Take time to tell him goodnight, but don't forget about me, okay?" he smiles to ease it, and I let him know I will join him in a few minutes.

He leaves, once again, so I stand up and bring my body closer to Jungkook's face. I run my fingers through his hair to make it look pretty, and I kiss his cheek as gently as I can. "Have a good night and sleep well, but not too tight again, okay?" I rub the back of my hand over his neck, the only spot that is not wounded or bruised. "I love you," I give him another kiss, the last one today, and I look at him for a few more seconds before stepping back.

If Luca was not here or did not plan on coming back, I would have stayed, but he is waiting for me right now, and I trust him.

— Next day —

Thursday, July 8th, 2021.

2:40 pm.

"See you later," I smile at Luca after he drove and accompanied me up here, and he lets out a soft 'See you', then walks out.

My day finally feeling much better now that I can be with Jungkook, I walk up to him and hurry to drop my bag near the bed to kiss his cheek. "Hey," I smile, faintly, happy to be close to him, despite how unresponsive he is.

I take a look at the splinter on his nose, and the marks the surgery left on his skin. "I hope it doesn't hurt too much," I set my eyes on his closed ones, wondering what he would have told me if he was awake. What could have been doing right now, how annoying I would have been with him if he was not asleep.

I breathe out and stay positive, and I look for the stool to bring it closer to the bed like yesterday and sit down. Since I have nothing to study anymore, I take my bag and get my crochet , with my pencil case. I put them down on the bed and start on the second page, and I only write the date for now.

I want to make something for him every day I spend here without being able to talk to him.

This makes me realize how much humans thoughtlessly take those little things for granted. Talking to the ones you love is such an every day thing to most people, yet, you quickly realize how special it actually was when those loved ones cannot respond to you anymore.

30 minutes later...

After finally finishing my second small crochet heart, I slightly squish it and place it in Jungkook's hand too so that he can hold both of them, one with the first letter of my name on it, and the other with his.

Before making another smaller one to put some hearts everywhere around him, I grab my phone and check the text I received from Matthew some minutes ago but did not open or check.

< hope you're doing okay:c you're with Jungkook rn, right? ]

[ yes I am, that's the only reason why I'm okay and not crying again. How about you? Are you doing good now that school is over? >

< Not sure, I'll feel better when you do. Honestly, I won't be relaxed until I know I graduated ]

[ true, I feel like I failed everything so I'm not expecting anything good >

< are you kidding me? I'm pretty sure you passed them all, don't say that ]

[ well then say that to yourself too >

< but I'm dumb, you're not:) ]

[ good to know you're a bit ignorant sometimes:) >

< life is better and easier when you're dumb lmao ]

[ lmao >

I leave my phone down on my chair and focus on my new hobby to create more stuff for Jungkook.

— Two weeks later —

Tuesday, July 20th, 2021.

11:20 pm.

My island getting bigger and better, I walk around it but take a peek over my Nintendo Switch to check up on Jungkook again. 

I am now used to this, this has become a sort of routine. Every day, I come and spend time with him, talk to him, pamper him with some kisses every morning and night, and I wait here, on the same spot until he wakes up.

It is hard not to lose hope, but from what the nurses have been telling me, his state is improving, so I believe he will wake up very soon.

Not feeling in the mood to play anymore, I put my Nintendo Switch down and take a look at my phone, but someone enters the room and catches my attention.

I keep my eyes in the direction of the door and discern Luca's silhouette, and we both make eye contact pretty quick. "Hey," he smiles and comes closer, with a plastic bag in one hand, and I answer with the same word but notice his eyes move towards Jungkook.

Quietly, he laughs and puts the bag on the bed. "The hearts are still here," he mentions the crochet ones I put near Jungkook, and on the bedside tables, and I grin. "We both don't like hospitals, so I try to make it a little warmer for him."

"That's sweet," he opens the bag and gets some food out. "I got you that for lunch," he holds a dish and brings it down to show more snacks and drinks. "And those in case you're hungry."

"Thank you so much," I leave my seat to grab everything and put them in the mini fridge, but someone else enters the room.