San paced in the waiting room, wringing his own wrists, as he and Yeosang waited for news on Wooyoung.

It had been several hours and was now after midnight.

"Sannie... Please sit down. You need to try and get some rest." Yeosang whispered from where he was sitting on a couch in the corner.

"I can't! Why is it taking so much longer? The other crew members who caught this were out of the hospital after a few hours."

Yeosang stood up and wrapped his arms around San from behind.

The younger let how a content sigh as Yeosang kept on and hooked around his waist and let the other on drift gently up and down his arm. "San, please."

San nodded and let Yeosang pull him to the couch, the older sitting first and pulling San into his lap. Then he turned and buried his nose in Yeosang's neck while wrapping his arms around him. "I'm sorry."

Yeosang shush him quietly while resting his head on top of San's. "You don't need to apologize. I'm scared too. We just need to be patient."

He was right. San nodded into his neck and let out a small whimper. It didn't help that he was also worried about Lila right now.

He had made sure to send her a least one text an hour, but they were all the same.

No updates yet.

A few of the other cast and crew members had come in and out to check on Wooyoung, but the only ones who stayed were the director, San, and Yeosang.

And they had to beg for permission to stay.

Rachel had to be escorted out because she threw a fit about not being able to see Wooyoung, so that provided a brief moment of entertainment, but San knew they would pay for it later.

As the hours passed by slowly, San dozed off and on in the comfort of Yeosang's arms. He was so thankful he had his boyfriend by his side, otherwise he wouldn't know what to do.

It wasn't until the waiting room had filled with light that a doctor came out to talk to them.

"How is he?" The director asked, standing up quickly.

San and Yeosang stood up as well, holding onto each other as the doctor ran a hand through his hair. "He is doing ok. I know you brought him to me thinking this was a stomach bug like many of you have caught since you've been here. But I fear that it's not. He hasn't responded to any of the medication we've given him."

"No..." Yeosang whispered. "What... What is it then?"

The doctor sighed. "I found a beetle bite on his foot. I fear it a virus that is passed through these bites. Several of the smaller villages around her have been reporting similar illnesses. And... We don't have a cure. It's a new virus that is just making itself known."

San's heart dropped at the doctor's words. There was... No cure? No medicine Wooyoung could take?"

"So... What does that mean? What does this virus do?" The director asked, worry crossed his face.

"From what we know about it? All we can do is wait it out. Do you know if he's had a history of any illnesses or anything current on his medical records? We are still waiting for them to be sent to us from the states."

The director turned to Yeosang. "Do you know of anything?"

San glanced at him too and saw that Yeosang was having a hard time keeping a straight face. He grabbed Yeosang's hand and squeezed. "There is nothing that I know of. There were a few years we were apart, but I don't remember him telling me that he ever went to the hospital or anything." Yeosang covered his mouth to try and stifle his sob.

"That's a good sign." The doctor said, reaching out to place a comforting hand on Yeosang's shoulder. "We've been finding that the people who are strong and healthy are having a better time fighting through this."

"Can we see him?" San asked.

"Yes. It's not contagious, so we don't need to worry about you getting sick. But you need to know, he doesn't look good."

"Thank you." The director shook his hand and led San and Yeosang down the hall once getting Wooyoung's room number.

They walked in slowly. The couple was terrified of what they'd find in the room and they both squeezed each other's hand as hard as they could.

All three let out a small gasp when they saw the young actor.

Wooyoung was propped up in the small hospital bed with several tubes and devices attached to his arms and chest. And oxygen tube was also placed around his face and into his nose.

He looked paper white, but there were large, red blotches covering his face and arms. San had a sneaking suspicion that they probably covered the rest of his body too.

Yeosang moved to his side and ran a hand through Wooyoung's hair. "Youngie? Can you hear me?" He reached down and grabbed Wooyoung's hand. "It's your Sangie."

San walked forward to place a hand on Yeosang's back, trying to comfort him, while their director pulled up a chair and sat on the other side of the bed.

"Youngie?" Yeosang asked again, leading a little closer.

A small moan came from Wooyoung as his eyelids fluttered. They opened slowly and a look of confusion crossed his face. "Sang..."

"I'm here. Do you remember what happened?"

Wooyoung moaned and blinked a few times. "I'm... In the hospital." He said weakly.

San watched as he looked around and his eyes widened when he saw their director sitting next to him. "Hey son." He said, leaning forward. "I'm glad to see you're awake."

"Hey boss. I'm sorry to ruin the shoot like this." He said, managing a small smile.

Yeosang chuckled and shook his head, "You're such an idiot..."

Wooyoung rolled his head to the side to look between San and Yeosang. San could see the question in his eyes as they lingered on him and San just shook his head once.

"You don't need to worry about it. Honestly I think we only had one or two more scenes left and I'm going to see if we can do without those. You need to focus on getting better." He turned to Yeosang. "Have you contacted his parents?"

"Yes, but they didn't answer..." Yeosang glanced at Wooyoung.

From what San understood, Wooyoung's parents were always traveling for either work or pleasure. It made it so he spent most of his childhood alone or with Yeosang and his family. That was part of the reason why Wooyoung had followed Yeosang to L.A.

"Well try them again in a little bit. Can I do anything for you before I leave?"

"No, thank you though." Wooyoung said, nodding to the man before he nodded and left the room. "How long have I been in here?" He asked, turning to look at San and Yeosang.

"Almost twenty four hours now." Yeosang answered, lifting Wooyoung's hand up so he could hold it in both of his hands.

The younger's eyes widened in surprise, then he turned his head away as he started coughing violently. When he started to spit up blood, San ran into the hall looking for a nurse.

Several came running in, shoving Yeosang out of the way as they worked to help Wooyoung sit up more and brought a cloth to his face to catch the blood.

"Try to take a deep breath honey. I know it hurts but your body is trying to get the virus out of your system."

"That's it, we've got you."

"Watch his hands, don't let them get tangled in the cords."

San and Yeosang clung to each other at the side of the room as they watched their friend convulse as he continued to cough. It didn't sound like he could breathe. All his body could do was expel the blood and whatever gunk it sounded like was in his lungs.

Yeosang turned to bury his face in San's neck, sobbing as he kept saying 'make it stop' over and over again.

The younger bit his lip and rubbed his hand up and down his boyfriend's back. He shushed him a couple of times as he watched the nurses try to keep Wooyoung calm.

But it didn't seem like they knew what they were doing. Not fully.

Wooyoung needed to be back home and with the best doctors. This was a small town hospital that could barely afford to upkeep the machines Wooyoung was attached to.

He made a mental note to talk to the director about it. It would be risky, but maybe they could keep Wooyoung stable enough to fly him home...

But that would mean crossing the Pacific Ocean.

It might be his best shot though.

And San knew Wooyoung would do so much better if they could manage to sneak Lila in to see him. As soon as he got his coughing under control, he was going to ask about her.

Several minutes passed before the nurses felt comfortable enough leaving Wooyoung alone again.

If it was possible, he looked even whiter than he did before.

Yeosang ran back to his side and pulled up a chair, taking the younger's hand again. "Youngie..."

"Sorry..." Wooyoung whispered, his voice hoarse from the coughing.

"Don't apologize, you can't help it." San said gently, moving to stand behind Yeosang.

"Does Lila...?"

"She knows you're sick. But that was when we still thought it was a stomach bug... I haven't had the chance to give her an update yet."

Wooyoung flinched and closed his eyes.

"Wooyoung, I think we should see if we can get you flown back to the states. They have better medicine there and you'll be more comfortable than in this... place..." San looked around the room. It didn't even look that clean. There was no way the hospitals back home would look like this.

His friend sighed and closed his eyes. He looked so weak...

"Wouldn't that be dangerous though? Moving him in this condition?" Yeosang looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Yes, it could be." They all turned to see the doctor walking into the room. He had a concerned look on his face as he read over Wooyoung's file. "But it could also be what saves his life." He leaned against the end of the bed so he could look directly at Wooyoung. "I'm not going to sugar coat it. This virus has been deadly. And we have no medicine that can treat it other than trying to give you things to counter the nausea, coughing, things like that. And my resources here are limited. You are lucky in the sense that you are just a visitor here and have the option to try and fly back home."

"So it could be done?" Yeosang asked. San could hear the hope in his voice as he moved closer to his friend.

"It wouldn't be easy. But it's... possible. We could get him set up with a portable IV and enough things to replace it. There are special hospital beds that are meant for air travel. It wouldn't be easy to get ahold of everything, and it wouldn't be cheap either." The doctor rubbed his chin.

"I want to do it." Wooyoung said before looking at San. "I want to go home."

San nodded in understanding and stepped out into the hallway.

The first call he made was to the director, informing him about Wooyoung's decision. He said he would get his team of medics on it right away to try and get Wooyoung home as fast as possible. He also said that there was no more filming that needed to be done, so he and Yeosang were welcome to go home too.

That was the best news he'd heard all day.

The second one was the harder of his calls.

Lila picked up after the first ring. "How is he?"

"He's doing ok... Lila, it's worse than we thought." San said, trying to keep his voice calm for her so she didn't sense how scared he was.

"What do you mean?" Her voice was already getting shaky.

"The doctors think he got a rare virus that is transmitted by a beetle bite. He's really sick Li..." His heart broke as he heard her work to keep her crying under control.

The worst part about this, besides the fact that Wooyoung was sick in the first place, was that Lila was there by herself... She had no one to help her through this.

"I kn-knew it was s-something more than-n just a b-bug... I c-could feel it."

"Take a deep breath. The doctors say he is in a really good place because he is a healthy person. So we need to stay strong for him and help him through it. We are working right now on a way to get him home."

"Really?"

"Yes." San said, feeling some strength coming back to his own voice. He needed to believe Wooyoung was going to be ok. He knew he needed to be the strong one for everyone. "Our director is going to scrap the last few scenes he was planning on doing. We can all come home."

Lila's sobbing resumed in full force and he knew this time some of it was out of joy. "H-How long is that going to t-take?"

"I don't know yet. The decision was just made. It's going to be risky transporting him, but he's going to get more help from our doctors back home. But he wants to take it, and it's his choice to make." San glanced up as the doctor walked out of the room. "Hang on a sec."

He stepped back inside and saw Wooyoung trying to drink some water. The younger looked at him and his eyes widened when San nodded his head.

Wooyoung held out his hand and sat up. "Please?"

San handed over the phone and returned to Yeosang's side as Wooyoung slowly brought the phone to his ear.

"Lila?"

Her sobs could be heard as she started saying something to Wooyoung and his eyes lit up at the same time as tears started to form.

"I'm ok. I'm coming home." He said, closing his eyes. "You have no idea how much you're helping me right now." A weak smile crossed his face.

San wiped the tears from his own eyes as he rubbed the back of Yeosang's neck with his other hand. His heart felt so full as he watched some of Wooyoung's color come back just from talking to Lila.

Yeah he needed to go home. And once he was there, San would do everything he could to get her into the hospital. She was going to be the best medicine for him. Wooyoung would fight to live for her.