✧･ﾟ: * nineteen *:･ﾟ✧

Taehyung paces the floor as if he's the one going into surgery. In a strange way, it feels like being in the hospital with his father all over again, waiting outside the door to hear if he was revived from cardiac arrest or not. The news hadn't been good then. Taehyung had walked in circles afterwards saying they could try again, that it wouldn't be permanent. That he would walk in and see his father smile at him.

That didn't happen.

And now he's relating that experience to this. He knows there's a very slim chance of Maddie actually dying from this, but he's worried nonetheless. He's thinking about everything that could go wrong now, taking Maddie's place of doing so. He had assured her it would be fine and he believed it, but now that she's actually gone, he's losing his mind.

The nurse had told him to go back to the waiting room after she took Maddie back so they could continue seeing patients. He tries to sit down, but within two minutes he's standing and pacing again.

"That was your girlfriend that went back, wasn't it?" a man to his right says, startling him.

Taehyung takes a minute to process the sentence, then his eyes widen. "Ah, no, no. My friend."

The man smirks. "Looked like more than a friendship to me."

Taehyung isn't entirely sure what that sentence means, but the man's smirk alone is enough to make Taehyung's cheeks go red, which only makes the man laugh.

"I know how you feel, man. We came from the states so my girlfriend could get a cyst removed from her wrist; she just went back. It took me two years to get her to go out with me. She kept saying she 'wasn't ready for a relationship,' even though we acted like a couple everywhere we went. She had a douchey ex, though, so I guess it was understandable. He's batshit crazy, man."

Taehyung doesn't have a clue what just came out of the man's mouth so quickly, so he awkwardly takes a seat next to the guy and slouches back. "Sorry," he murmurs. "I don't speak English well."

The man looks at him, almost seeming shocked. "Really? You two looked like you were having a conversation, though, and I heard her speaking English."

Taehyung shrugs, making a gesture with his index finger and thumb to signify a small amount. "I speak a little bit. I want to, uh, learn more. For her."

"Dude," the man says. "That's some romantic shit. She must be something special."

Taehyung smiles softly. "Yes," he says. "She is very special to me."

"So she friendzoned you?"

Taehyung blinks at him, not having a clue what that means.

The man laughs. "Right, my bad. Did she say you're 'just friends'?"

Taehyung frowns. Neither of them have even spoken about the topic, really. Except when he did tell her he wanted to be with her, but both of them know it's practically impossible. She never said they were just friends, either, though.

So what exactly are they?

Maybe in an alternate universe this wouldn't be so difficult.

"We go home tomorrow," Taehyung says instead of answering his other question. "Apart." There's another word for that, but he uses the one he knows for sure is correct. It's much more embarrassing to get something wrong with a stranger than with Maddie.

"So?" the man practically scoffs. "Long distance relationships are a thing. They may not have the best track record, but you seem to care about her a lot, dude. I'd say go for it."

With a bit of wits, Taehyung is able to piece together the words he does know to the ones he doesn't to make a logical conclusion to what the man said. The man thinks Taehyung and Maddie could work? Taehyung sighs. Only in his dreams.

"No," Taehyung mumbles. "That is... impossible."

The man shrugs. "Just saying. Doesn't hurt to try. I'm Max, by the way. If you care to know."

"Taehyung." Oddly enough, Taehyung has gotten used to "handshaking," though he used to think it was the strangest concept to hold hands with a stranger. Then Maddie came along, he supposes, is when that view started to change.

A nurse pokes her head out of the hallway, causing both Max and Taehyung to straighten with anticipation. Her eyes meet Max's and she says, "Liana is awake and asking for you," with a kind smile to ease his nerves.

He lets out a deep breath, standing up. He turns to Taehyung with a grin. "My girl is good to go. Nice talking to you, man. Don't let her go, okay?"

Taehyung nods as the man claps him on the shoulder, causing Taehyung to blink in confusion. Americans are very blunt when touching other people they don't know.

Nonetheless, Max had given him a little bit of company to pass the time, and now Taehyung is alone again with his leg bouncing rapidly. He glances around the still busy waiting room, his eyes catching on the clock. It's been almost two hours since Maddie went back. The doctor said the operation shouldn't be much longer than an hour. Had something gone wrong? Did it not work?

He gets to his feet, pacing again.

Then his phone rings, scaring the life out of him.

He rubs his forehead as he answers, in Korean, after reading the caller ID. "Hello?"

"Taehyung? You haven't been answering any of our calls," Seokjin replies on the other end. "You had all of us worried."

"Sorry, hyung," Taehyung murmurs, sitting back down. He stands right back up, walking the length of the floor yet again. "I'm okay."

"Where are you? It sounds like a hospital or something," Seokjin questions, panic beginning to lace his tone. "Taehyung, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Taehyung purses his lips. "Ah, no. I helped someone to the emergency room after they had a... bicycle accident."

Seokjin is quiet a moment. "A bicycle accident?"

"Yes."

Another moment of silence.

Then Seokjin clicks his tongue. "How did you get into a bicycle accident, Tae? Didn't we talk about looking both ways before you cross the street—"

"Ya! It wasn't me in the accident," Taehyung cuts in, rather offended.

"I thought you might have been embarrassed about it."

Taehyung lets out a breath. "When do I get embarrassed about anything?"

Except every time Maddie looks in his direction, but Seokjin doesn't need to know about her. Not yet, anyways.

"Fair point. I was just calling because I know you know better than to not answer my calls, and we were all starting to get a little worried since you're supposed to be coming home soon."

"Yeah, I'm okay. I didn't mean to worry all of you."

"That's okay. Next time just—"

Another nurse pokes her head out, Taehyung's heart faltering. It skips a full beat when her eyes meet his this time, a smile to ease stress on her face. "Madeline wants you there when she opens her eyes."

Taehyung's stomach churns in anticipation, his heart suddenly beating very fast. The people in the waiting room give him fond smiles, and someone even yells a "good luck" to him as he stands.

He interrupts Seokjin again, "Yeah, yeah, I have to go now. See you soon."

Seokjin is in the midst of raising his voice when Taehyung hangs up, shoving his phone deep in his pocket as he walks quickly to the nurse, his stomach in knots.

***

Madeline has never felt more nauseous in her life. Maybe it's the anesthetic wearing off in her system, or it's the suspense from waking up. Whatever the case, she feels sick. She tells a nurse, who assures her it's normal and gives her a cold rag to place on her forehead. Madeline can feel the gauze on her eyes, the tape pulling on her cheeks and forehead.

She asks if it worked, to which the doctor had said, "There is no certainty," every single time she asked. So about ten times. She isn't sure if he even knows if it worked, or if he's simply trying to surprise her with it.

Or disappoint her.

Maybe it failed and he doesn't want to admit that she's unfixable.

The nurse comes back, asking if she wants anything to drink, though she strongly suggest Madeline has a few sips of water to keep herself hydrated. Madeline does so, albeit it's hard to swallow, then she catches the nurse's wrist.

"Can you please get Taehyung," Madeline croaks, still groggy from being unconscious. "The man I came in with. Please."

"Of course. Let me make sure the doctor is okay with it first, all right?"

He damn sure better be. Madeline needs something familiar right now to comfort her, and one of Taehyung's hands in hers would feel incredible at this moment.

She still feels sleepy, though, she's fighting the urge the best she can. She doesn't want to fall asleep again. She wants to know. She's dying to take the gauze off.

The door clicks open, her heart in her throat as she waits to hear Taehyung's voice, but it's the doctor instead. "Hi again, Madeline." She hears a chair being pulled up beside the bed. "I just wanted to run you through what the next couple of hours will be like, okay?

"We'll take the gauze off in another twenty or thirty minutes. I want you to understand that if the procedure worked, your eyes will be indescribably sensitive to light. I have a pair of prescription sunglasses for you in that case that I need you to wear outdoors for at least two weeks. Gradually introduce your eyes to the sun by going out early in the morning and late in the afternoon before you stand out at noon..."

He continues running through the list of precautions and what she should and shouldn't do during her recovery time. He keeps reiterating the ifs, like he's trying to keep her expectations low. He says he can't guarantee it because of how rare her case is. It better have worked or he's going to be out a couple thousand dollars.

The door opens again, this time with Taehyung's voice following it as the doctor leaves. "Maddie." The way he sounds so relieved makes a lump swell in her throat for some reason. She hadn't felt like crying until she heard his voice.

She doesn't cry, though. She's scared to.

What if it did work and her being a melodramatic crybaby ruins it?

She feels the back of his hands on her cheeks, baffling her. What is he doing?

"Your face is red," he says, sounding extremely concerned. "Very hot."

Madeline is on the verge of laughing in relief of hearing him when a nurse says, "It's just from the anesthetic wearing off and how her body is reacting to the procedure. She'll be fine, I promise."

"She's okay?"

The nurse chuckles, replacing the rag with a colder one to help with Madeline's nausea. "Yes, honey, she's fine." She pats Madeline's knee. "I'll be back to check on you, all right?"

Madeline nods with a smile, grateful she'd gotten polite nurses and a diligent doctor. It makes the process a lot less stressful.

Taehyung uses his index finger to turn her face, angling it towards him. "Why is there... paper on your eyes?"

"It's gauze," she says, settling back into the pillows comfortably. Her anxiety and nausea is finally wearing off. "To give my eyes more time to heal."

"You can see?"

"I don't know yet."

He sits on the edge of the bed, then grabs her hand. "You feel okay?"

"The nurse told you I'm okay, Taehyung."

"I know, I know... but are you?"

She giggles. "Yes, I'm okay." She falls quiet while the realizations begin to really sink in. "Hey," she says in a softer voice, the playful tone gone. "Thank you, Taehyung. Really. Even if it doesn't work, you didn't have to do any of this." He didn't have to bring her to Rome on his trip, or wait in the waiting room for nearly two hours, and he especially didn't have to pay for anything that he has. Most importantly this operation.

She's going to be working the rest of her life to pay him back for it all.

"I want to," he tells her. "It's for you."

She doesn't know how to reply to something so surreal and sweet, so she squeezes his hand instead, hoping the emotion gets through.

It isn't long before the doctor returns, and Madeline's heart is officially doing leaps.

"It's time," he says with a voice that she knows has a smile along with it. "Are you ready, Madeline?"

Taehyung gets off the bed, probably to get out of the way, but Madeline grips his hand tightly so he doesn't go too far.

"We're going to dim the lights," the doctor instructs. "When you open your eyes, do it very slowly and blink as much as you need to, okay? Let us know if it's too bright."

The way he's talking like she's really going to be seeing everything is making her so antsy. She sits up in the bed, her hands officially trembling. Taehyung chuckles as he clutches the one, as if to get it to stop. Her heart is pounding so fiercely, she swears she hears it in her ears.

She feels the doctor and nurse go on either side of her head. The doctor repeats his previous question. "Ready, Madeline?"

She inhales a deep breath, then releases it heavily. "Yeah, I'm ready."

The tape begins to peel off her skin, she squeezes Taehyung's hand so tightly her own starts to go numb. She holds her breath, pinching her eyes shut as she feels the gauze being removed. She manages to breathe out.

Then she opens her eyes.