The wheels squeaked at every turn Kate made, but it wasn’t as heavy as she thought it would be, especially when Yoongi is sitting in it with his dextrose by the side. Kate agreed to help and be there by his side until he gets released from the hospital. The Doctors were positive— this is a permanent loss of sight as damaged by the truck that hit him. However, she refuses to believe this would be the end for him. There are still plenty of things he could use to make it work, as Kate imagined; he could use her as his eyes in making his music at his apartment. And she'd be there 24/7.

"Yoongi." He froze, with Kate stopping his wheelchair in place.

"May I know who you are to Yoongi, sir?"

"His Father." Yoongi gulped at how it sounded right. Good thing he couldn't see the face of the devil right now. It would've been chaotic.

"Oh," Yoongi fumbled through his arm rest to search for her hand and held it in, as if telling her not to leave his side. She crouched down to listen to his whisper.

"It's going to be okay. Don't panic."

She went back to assisting him behind his chair before Mr Min finally told them they should be talking in private. Yoongi let her leave after that, for now. So he was stuck with him, fingers uncontrollably fidgeting with each other, his heart pounding so loud he could barely breathe made it worse. He needed to go home. He wanted to go home and record and tell this to his therapist, knowing nothing of his next move in life. Yoongi needed his advice to calm himself down.

Yoongi closed his eyes and chanted, ‘You're going to be okay.’ assuming his Dad was there to tell him off.

Instead of receiving what should have been a list of endless bickering and belittlement, he felt warmth. Someone was hugging him. And the sound of someone sobbing on his shoulder was all too good to be true. Taehyung was the only person he felt that did this. This time, it was his Dad; who seemed to have long forgotten him.

"I. . I'm sorry. . I'm sorry this happened to you. . If only I'd been the Father you needed. . ."

Foreign. Exactly how he felt about this phenomenon. Yoongi's hands were scrambled over, unsure if he should put them around him, too, but in the end, he let himself be pulled into his Father's hug.

🎧

That night

The nurse in charge of looking out for and taking care of Yoongi made sure to explain the whole situation and the full list of the medicines he has to take on a daily basis in full detail. Kate made sure to remember every single one, listing them down on her phone if she ever forgets one on the list.

Yoongi is permanently blind for the rest of his life, but there was still hope. He could either go through therapy sessions for rehabilitation or have an eye surgery. Kate kept them both in mind, that's how she feels a little assured given his state.

"Do you need to use the bathroom? Need to call anybody? I have your phone right here." She felt a sense of relief, knowing how they saved each other's finger prints on their phones so they wouldn't go through the trouble of unlocking them when one isn't around.

On the other hand, Yoongi wasn't speaking. He didn't move an inch and was simply shuffling his back on the pillow, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in.

"Aren't you going home any time soon?" He asked.

"Yeah, but only after you fall asleep." Mr. Jung was waiting outside the building, drinking coffee and checking out school reports along with the final papers.

"I haven't wished you a Merry Christmas yet." Kate leaned in, kissing him on the forehead, which caused him to flinch, moving away for a bit. She was surprised. "Oh, sorry. I must've startled you."

"How many days has it been since I've been hospitalized?" Kate counted on her fingers and answered back, "About 4 days now, including today. You were unconsicous, after all. We were waiting for you to wake up..."

Yoongi swallowed, nodding in return. Kate decided to join him in bed, helping him scoot a bit, so she could lie beside him. She managed to not hurt any part that were broken. Especially with his arms and legs.

"I'm getting kind of sleepy now." She admitted, wrapping her arm lightly on top of his stomach.

"You should go home and rest. You've done more than enough for today. . ."

"You sure? I'm going to wait until you sleep."

"No, I'm sure. Your parents might be worried sick of you by now. ."

She couldn't help worrying more; his parents didn't intend to stay at all. None were in sight, she observed. "Who's going to take care of you?"

"The nurses will. It's fine, stop worrying about it and get some rest. Go back tomorrow." Yoongi insists, tapping her on the hand. And as she promised to do anything he commanded, she got out of bed and kissed his lips before saying, "I love you. Goodnight."

She gets her coat from the chair nearby, slowly walking away as she watched Yoongi from the window of the door. Tomorrow will be a new day, she'll ask him about it first thing in the morning.

Unexpectedly, as soon as she left, the door she left was opened by someone else. That someone came into Yoongi's room, carrying a bouquet of flowers, almost choking as they saw him in bed.

"Oh, my goodness,"

"Who's there?"

The stranger coughed, clearong her throat before she finally walked towards him, holding on to the side of his face to check if it was really him. "It's Jisoo. Jin told me about this."

Jin. Of course he did. "You came in so late. How long have you been waiting to come in?"

Jisoo went and placed the flowers in the vase on his bedside table. "About an hour. I couldn't let Kate see me.. she might get the wrong idea. I brought you flowers, by the way."

"Why did you come, anyway?" Jisoo found herself speechless when she was asked. How could someone ask an old friend that question if he genuinely wanted her there? Unless he doesn't want her there.

"Was I interrupting something? I'm still concerned about you." Not as an ex, she told herself. But as the close friend she was before they started dating. "Don't worry, I won't be long. I just wanted to check up on you."

She stared at his free hands on top of his stomach, reluctant to touch them herself. "Are you. .  really blind now?"

Yoongi shrugs, nodding along. "Blind as a bat, as the saying goes." He tried faking a chuckle, but it didn't work through her sensors. Who would be happy being blind? It's losing a huge part of you and your senses, especially when he still has dreams and goals to achieve.

"How long are you going to be in here?"

"The Doctors told me the healing process is going to be about 3 months long. But I can go home after a month and a half."

3 months? He's going to miss the last moments of sophomore? How will he ever graduate as soon as he planned? Yoongi would have to repeat sophomore year in the next school year, considering he's going to miss tons of homeworks, quizzes and exams.

"Do you need help by then? Because I can."

"Jisoo, it's okay. Kate is going to be here."

"Ah," was all she managed to give as a reply. "I see."

"It's best if you go home right now. Is it dark right now? What time is it?"

"It's 10 o'clock. But I can stay a bit longer. I won't see you for three months." She wanted to stay as far away as possible whenever Kate was around or else it'd be awkward between the three of them. Kate might get suspicious even if she shouldn't be.

"You can visit from time to time."

"Yeah, but I'm going to be busy with school, so."

"Makes sense. But yeah, you can come by anytime you want."

"Okay,"

[ posted DECEMBER 18 2018 ]