Lila broke down as soon as San hung up the phone. She had stayed on the phone with him until he fell asleep, doing her best to keep her voice steady for his sake.

It would only make him worse if he worried about her.

She took a few minutes to compose herself and get her breathing under control before unlocking her phone to follow San's second request. It was obvious that he didn't like it, but she knew he was worried about her being alone...

The phone rang and Lila chewed on her thumbnail as she tried to stay calm.

"Hey, Lila!" Nate's cheer filled voice came from the other side.

"N-Nate?" She said, feeling her strength failing her. She knew the lie she needed to tell. But it was so hard to get the words out.

His tone changed immediately and she heard keys jingling in the background. "What's wrong? Where are you?"

"S-San's..."

"I'm on my way." She heard a door slam.

Lila could feel the shadows of her demons creeping in on her. "W-Will you stay on the line with m-me?"

"Of course. Let me put you on speaker." Nate clicked the phone over and started his car. "What happened?"

Curling up into a ball on her bed, Lila listened to the sound of his engine running. She focused on that to keep her mind away from darker thoughts.

She knew Wooyoung had been in worse shape than San had said... It was a gut feeling. And now... He could...

A new wave of tears came and she heard Nate swear and a car horn blare. "I'm coming. I'm almost there." He said.

Lila tried to latch onto his words, but she felt herself drifting away slowly. She couldn't lose him... His weak voice started to play through her mind, and the thing that was hardest was that she couldn't be there with him.

She wanted to be able to hold him and tell him everything would be ok...

Stay strong... She had to stay strong...

But it was so much easier to give in and just fade away.

That's all she wanted to do right now. She was losing her will to fight.

The front door burst open, slamming against the wall, and she heard someone calling for her.

But it was the wrong voice, so she didn't respond... It wasn't him...

"Lila!" Nate cried out when he came into her room. He was at her side in an instant and pulling her into his arms.

Her body stayed limp for a moment before she slowly turned her head to bury her nose in his chest, but she couldn't find the strength to hug him.

"Lila, sweetie, what happened?" He asked, rocking her back and forth. A hand came up and started running through her hair.

She hummed in response and felt him drawing her out a little at the comforting touch. Taking a deep breath, but keeping her eyes closed, she whispered, "Its San..."

Nate tensed a little and looked down at her. "What happened?" He asked again.

"He's..." Her voice caught in her throat. "He's s-sick..."

"Oh no." Nate gasped and held Lila closer to him.

Now she turned and fisted his shirt as the tears came pouring out of her. All her fears. All her worries. They flooded from her at the thought of losing Wooyoung.

"It's bad, isn't it..."

Lila whimpered and nodded.

"I'll stay for as long as you need me to. It's going to be ok. One way or another..." Nate moved them so they were laying down and he held her close, not saying another word as she continued to soak his shirt with her tears.

.

.

.

.

Wooyoung awoke to more coughing. His entire body ached from the convulsions he had fairly constantly.

And once again, he withdrew his shaking hand from his mouth and winced at the blood he saw there. It was dark and lumpy, which made coughing it up hurt even more.

Yeosang took his hand and rubbed a damp cloth against it before moving to his mouth.

Wooyoung managed a small smile as he watched his friend from underneath his eyelashes. He was so thankful to have his best friend by his side through all of this, because he was terrified.

He didn't feel like he was making any improvement. In fact, he was worried he was getting worse.

It was getting harder and harder to stay awake. He had an IV in his arm to constantly pump fluids into him and he had heard talk of a feeding tube because it was too hard for him to chew or even swallow.

His doctor was working tirelessly to try and get the equipment needed to send him home. The biggest hurdle was making sure they had enough fluids so he could still have the IV and enough oxygen to help him breathe.

With this being a small hospital, they had very limited supplies.

"Thanks... Sangie..." Wooyoung whispered as he closed his eyes. He barely felt Yeosang take his hand and squeeze it.

"Just right and rest Youngie. We will hopefully have you out of here soon."

Wooyoung nodded slowly and groaned as fire flowed through his veins.

He wished Lila was here. She was all he thought about when he was conscious. And when he was unconscious. Her laugh filled his dreams and soothed his nightmares.

The fire started to fade, but it left Wooyoung even weaker than before.

Soon he was drifting toward the darkness...

.

.

.

.

Lila opened her eyes and sat up quickly.

Her heart was pounding as she looked around her room for her phone and she was surprised to see she was alone.

Taking advantage of the moment, Lila dove for her phone and saw one text from San waiting for her.

There was no new update on Wooyoung... They were still waiting for supplies and a plane.

She sighed and set her phone down right as the door to her bedroom opened. "Hey, you're awake." Nate said coming to sit next to her. He handed her a mug with warm hot chocolate in it. "I know you don't like coffee, so I found this in the cupboard."

"This is perfect." Lila gave him a strained smile before taking a sip from the mug. It was the perfect temperature and it filled her with a pleasant warmth.

Nate lifted a hand up and wiped away the tear that ran down her cheek before wrapping an arm around her. "Any news?"

Lila shook her head.

"Come on, I got the living room set up. Let's get situated out there and then when you feel like it, we can order some dinner. Change into something comfortable and I'll see you out there." Nate said before he stood up and left the room.

Liking the sound of it, Lila pulled out a pair of fuzzy pajama pants with cats on them and an oversized hoodie she had stolen from Wooyoung. The hood had a makeshift shark mouth on it and was so large she could hide in it completely.

She hugged herself as she breathed in all that was her love. She had never been able to pinpoint a specific scent, but in a way he smelled incredibly sweet, but still had a... a manly scent to him too. There was no way she could ever describe it. But she knew she would be able to identify him.

"Please be ok..." Lila whispered as he lifted the front of the hoodie up to cover her nose.

After a couple of minutes, she stepped out into the living room and saw the couch piled high with blankets and pillows with junk food laid out on the coffee table.

A smile crossed her face as Nate stood up and grabbed her hand before leading her to the couch and forcing her to sit down. "I think it's time we start marathon." He said, winking at her before pressing play on the remote. Then he turned back to her and looked over her. "Nice hoodie..."

Lila pulled her knees up to her chest and covered her nose again before wrapping herself in a blanket.

Nate let his hand rest on the back of the sofa as he settled in and the familiar song introducing The Shire flowed from Lila's speaker.

She loved this soundtrack so much and the peaceful melody helped her relax a little.

.

.

.

.

More coughing erupted from Wooyoung as the nurses came running in just one time. His heart rate had dropped to the point that the machines were going off.

The beeping rang in his ears and he wished he had the strength to cover them.

"Up the flow of oxygen."

"Check his other vitals."

"Make it stop..." Wooyoung moaned. "Please..."

"Hang in there son, we are doing the best we can."

"Lila..."

.

.

.

.

A knock at the door made both Nate and Lila jump. They had been so engrossed in the movie they hadn't been aware of their surroundings.

"Oh that must be the food! I have a surprise for you." Nate said, jumping off the couch.

Lila watched curiously as he opened the door and greeted whoever had brought the food.

"I've got something to cheer you up." Nate walked back into the room and stepped off to the side. He crossed his arms and glanced back at the front door, smiling for only a brief second before nodding his head.

A strangled cry escaped Lila's mouth as Seonghwa walked in carrying bags from his restaurant. "Hey gorgeous." He said, setting the bags down as Lila jumped over the back of the couch and ran into his waiting arms. "It's ok, I've got you." He whispered while wrapping one arm around her waist and placing one hand on the back of her head.

Lila's legs gave way as she felt herself succumbing to her fears again.

"Nate, will you get that in the kitchen please and set the oven to warm? That way it won't get cold." Seonghwa asked, his voice gentle but firm.

He friend must have done it because Seonghwa lifted her off the ground and carried her to the couch. "What's wrong? Tell me what happened."

"It's Wooyoung..." Lila whispered through her sobs. "I'm worried he's dying... He's sick."

"No..." Seonghwa breathed before holding Lila tighter. "Nate thinks it's who?"

"S-San..."

"Are he and Yeosang ok?"

Lila nodded into his chest.

"Ok, you don't need to give me the details, if you give me San's number I'll call him later. What can I do for you now?" Seonghwa asked, tilting her head up by her chin so she could look at him. His piercing blue eyes were full of the concern she needed right now.

"Just stay here? If you can... I don't want to take you away from the diner."

"I can stay as long as you need me to." Seonghwa said, kissing the top of her head.

"You're staying?" Nate asked, a strange tone to his voice, but Lila didn't have the energy to read into it.

"Yes." Seonghwa said, turning his head to look up at Nate. "Do you have a problem with that?"

Nate didn't answer, he just sat down on the opposite end of the couch from where Lila was sitting in Seonghwa's lap.

As the movie resumed, Lila pulled herself deeper into Wooyoung's hoodie and closing her eyes. She loved the feeling of Seonghwa's hand running slowly along her back and arms while his gentle voice hummed along with the music.

For the first time that day, Lila felt at ease.

.

.

.

.

San held onto Yeosang as he cried into the younger's shoulder. "Why isn't it w-working?"

"You can't give up hope, Sangie." San whispered. "Wooyoung is strong."

He glanced at the door leading to Wooyoung's room where he could hear the muffled voices of the nurses and doctor.

Wooyoung was strong. He had to get through this.

He had to.

.

.

.

.

"We should get her into bed."

"I'll take her, I know where it is."

"Why don't you just tell me?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Just tell me where her room is, I already to have her."

Lila let out a soft moan as she was lifted off the couch. "I've to her. Thank you for coming, but you can go. She asked me to stay with her."

Someone sighed heavily and stopped away while she floated to her room.

Then she sighed as she felt her cool sheets beneath her before someone started unzipping her hoodie.

For a moment she let them, then she remembered she didn't have a shirt on underneath the hoodie and tried to turn away.

The person next to her froze and sucked in a breath. "Lila..." He breathed and she felt cold fingers against her stomach.

Lila tried to come further into consciousness, but it was almost like there was a force keeping her pinned to the bed.

A pair of lips kissed her forehead as the fingers travelled over her skin, but never touched anything intimate.

The hoodie was zipped up again and she could feel the lips moving against her forehead. "You're beautiful Lila... I wish you'd give me a chance. I'd love you and protect you forever."