19| elemental
Changbin sat at the kitchen table, one arm outstretched and ready to be used as a means to get blood in order to save Felix's life. Seungmin had tied a tourniquet around the upper part of the raven haired boy's arm as a means of stopping the flow of blood through one of his veins in order for the redhead to be able to easily draw the liquid from Changbin's body. As he watched Seungmin pull a pair of light blue latex gloves onto his hands, he continued to pump his fist in order to keep his arm from falling asleep. The tourniquet was tight to the point of pain, but Changbin refused to back out of the process, even though Seungmin gave him that option many times. The raven haired boy was absolutely terrified of the needle that would be going into his flesh. After years of feeling nothing but pain and suffering at the points of needles, he certainly wasn't the happiest person about having to face one yet again. But, he knew that there was a chance that his blood could save Felix's life, and Changbin would do absolutely anything to save him. Anything.
"Are you sure about this?" The redhead asked for what felt like the hundredth time within the span of five minutes.
"Yes," he nodded.
"Now hurry up and do it."
He wanted things to be over quickly, but Seungmin seemed to be taking his sweet time. He'd gathered a needle that was smaller than any of the others he'd ever seen, and it had a short, thin line of tubing that connected to a syringe that would catch Changbin's blood. Normally, the syringe would just be connected to the needle itself, but because the redhead didn't feel confident enough to use a large needle, he was settling for a more complex contraption that would make the risks less prominent. A butterfly needle as he called it was being used in the collection of Changbin's blood, and though it would take a minute or so longer to get the full amount needed, it was the safer option. The raven haired boy's veins were a bit smaller than normal, so Seungmin needed to be extra careful. And while the redhead was very smart, he didn't trust himself enough to be able to stick a large needle in Changbin's tiny veins and be successful with it. The butterfly needle was their best bet, for Seungmin's mental state as well as Changbin's well being.
If anything were to go seriously wrong, the raven haired boy could be in serious trouble. Seungmin wasn't technically a medical professional, but he did know how to properly draw blood. Despite that though, he was nervous, and his hands were shaking ever so slightly. Because he didn't want to freak Changbin out, he didn't explain the dangers of what he was doing (which were pretty damn horrifying). If Seungmin made even one drastic wrong move, the vein in Changbin's arm could be ruptured, and if that were to occur, any number of things could happen. It could result in the raven haired boy having to have the arm cut off if the blood flow to the limb was severed completely. However, if the ruptured vein led to sepsis, then Changbin could possibly die before help arrived.
"You know that this probably won't work, right?" Seungmin questioned gravely as he cleaned off a spot on the raven haired boy's arm with a alcohol prep pad.
"What?" Changbin questioned, his eyes widening slightly.
"I thought you said you know how to draw blood!"
The redhead shook his head.
"Not about the blood drawing, Changbin. I'm saying that your blood probably won't save Felix. You're not a Human Vessel. Just because Crimson Vector tested on you doesn't make you one. It just means that you're lucky to be alive right now," Seungmin told him bluntly.
And, for once in his life, Changbin realized that he really and truly was lucky to be alive. He was lucky because he got to meet Felix, and speak to Felix, and hold Felix, and sleep next to Felix...He was lucky because he was alive at the same time as Felix, and the younger boy was the only person that had ever made Changbin feel like his life wasn't just completely and utterly meaningless.
"I have to try," Changbin replied.
"Even if it's pointless?" The redhead asked.
"It's not," the raven haired boy stated.
"It'll never be pointless; not when it's Felix's life on the line. If I had to, I'd drain every last drop of blood from my veins if that's what it would take to save him."
Seungmin gave him a blank stare for a few seconds.
"Wouldn't you do the same?" Changbin questioned.
"What if it was your partner? What if this was happening to Jeongin and you knew that there was a chance you could save him? Wouldn't you do it?"
"Of course I would," the redhead replied immediately.
And that's when Seungmin truly understood Changbin for the very first time.
"Just don't make any sudden movements," the redhead warned.
"And you might want to turn your head away."
Changbin really didn't want to see his own blood being drained from his body. That wasn't something he ever wanted to see again. So, he took Seungmin's advice and he turned his head in the opposite direction so that he wouldn't have to look. The redhead didn't give him a warning. He simply drove the needle into the skin on Changbin's arm, and the raven haired boy clenched his jaw at the burning sensation that came along with the needle. He refused to open his eyes, but he could practically feel the blood being taken from his vein. His jaw clenched and his stomach churned, because God knows after years of having needles jammed into his body on a day to day basis, he really wasn't a fan of the pointy objects. He tried not to think about it, so he squeezed his eyes shut in hopes of blocking out the feelings altogether.
"Don't tense up," Seungmin said lightly, and Changbin did his best to calm himself down so that the redhead could be done quicker.
Because of the size of the needle, the blood flow wasn't very fast. But, a lack of hydration caused the vein in the raven haired boy's arm to give out before the tube was completely filled. Seungmin adjusted the needle, moving it left and right as he hoped for just another few spurts of blood. But, it was clear that he wasn't going to get them, and it was clear that the moving of the needle inside his arm was making Changbin queasy. So, Seungmin pulled out and quickly placed gauze over the tiny mark to catch the blood.
"Keep ahold of that for a few seconds," the redhead requested, and Changbin did as he was told.
He held two fingers over top of the gauze to keep the blood inside his body, putting pressure on it to stop the bleeding. As soon as Seungmin was done capping off the plastic tube that was housing Changbin's blood, he sat it to the side and placed a band aid over the mark on the raven haired boy's arm.
"Are you sure that's enough?" Changbin questioned as he looked at the plastic tube.
It wasn't filled to the top, but Seungmin figured that there should be enough to combat the Lykyde in Felix's system. That is, if Changbin's blood could even be used to help the Australian at all.
"It should be; but just barely," the redhead commented.
They wasted no time chatting, and the two of them made their way to Felix's bedside. Changbin watched as Seungmin put his blood into a syringe that had a large needle at the end of it.
"W-Wait, are you going to use that on Felix?" Changbin stuttered out, feeling very unsettled by the size of the needle.
"Yeah, I have to. It's the only one that's sure to inject your blood straight into his own bloodstream from the back of his neck," Seungmin answered.
"Can't you numb the area first? I...I just don't want him to be in anymore pain," the raven haired boy said.
Though the redhead was moved by that, he didn't have time to dwell on Changbin's words. He needed to get the blood into Felix's body as soon as possible, because the Lykyde was already beginning the early stages of killing his vital organs.
"I can numb the area," Hyunjin said from the doorway, having heard the conversation from his and Minho's room across the hall.
"Hyunjin, where did you- oh there you are," Minho sighed in relief as he joined his partner in the doorway of Changbin and Felix's shared room.
"Hey...What are you guys doing...?" Minho questioned as his eyes fell upon the large needle in Seungmin's hand.
"They're trying to save Felix," Hyunjin answered quickly.
The injured boy limped forward, but Minho was quick to give his partner a shoulder to lean on in order to help him walk.
"I can numb the area if I make his skin cold," Hyunjin stated.
"No!" Minho exclaimed, pulling on Hyunjin's arm.
"You already over exerted yourself during the ambush. You can't risk using anymore power right now!"
"I'll be fine, Minho," Hyunjin stated confidently.
"If it'll help them save Felix, I have to do it. When I got the gash on my leg, Felix cared for me even though he didn't feel well either. When you weren't around, it was Felix that got me water, made me lunch, and brought me anything that I asked for. And after all that he did for me, I won't just let him suffer."
Though Minho still wasn't sure about the idea of Hyunjin using more power, the dark haired boy's words left absolutely no room for discussion.
"Changbin, you and Minho should leave the room for a few minutes. You don't need to see this," Seungmin said quietly.
Changbin's eyes looked longingly towards Felix, and Seungmin picked up on that gaze.
"Don't worry," the redhead said lightly.
"He's in good hands."
The raven haired boy met Hyunjin's gaze. Though Changbin didn't know him (or any of the members apart from Felix) very well, he felt that he could trust the both of them to take good care of his partner, -his best friend-, and he nodded his head lightly before making his way out the door. He didn't go far though. He stood right outside the door, ready to run back inside the room if anything were to happen. Minho too was weary of leaving his partner alone, but Hyunjin slipped his arms around the brunette's neck and hugged him tightly; just to reassure him that everything was going to be okay.
"It's alright," Hyunjin assured.
"Just go wait outside."
Feeling the warmth radiating off Hyunjin's body made Minho feel secure, and he nodded his head, whispering a few soft words into his partner's ear before hesitantly letting go and stepping outside to join Changbin. Nervously, Minho glanced at the raven haired boy using his peripheral vision.
"I'm not working with Crimson Vector, Minho," Changbin stated quietly, and the brunette's eyes widened a bit at those words.
"Um, I didn't..." Minho trailed off, not exactly knowing what all to say.
The truth was that he did believe Changbin was a part of Crimson Vector. At least, right up until that very moment he did. He knew that Seungmin was right about the boy in the file looking like a younger version of Changbin, and he couldn't get that out of his mind. And, because of that, he'd started to question Changbin's true intentions when it came to being a member of Supernova.
"You saw the pictures, right?" The raven boy asked him.
"W-Well...Yeah, I-I did," Minho stuttered.
"So, that was really you? In the pictures, I mean."
Changbin nodded.
"Yeah. It was me," the raven haired boy admitted.
Minho paused because he wasn't really sure what to do next. He turned to face Changbin, but he sensed vulnerability coming from the raven haired boy. It wasn't his usual cold air...He was in a defenseless state. Changbin himself knew that he was in one too. He felt powerless because he didn't know whether or not he was going to lose Felix, and that prospect scared him more than needles, it scared him more than death, and it scared him more than Osiris and the whole of Crimson Vector ever could.
"A-Are you okay now? It's just, you know, those pictures were pretty...Graphic," Minho said quietly.
Changbin was taken aback by the question for a second or so. The only other people that had ever asked that question to him were Red and Felix.
Physically, I guess I'm okay, the raven haired boy reminded himself. But emotionally I'm a wreck, and my life is a mess. My head is a storm and my chest is empty.
But Changbin never got to answer the question properly.
Inside the room, Seungmin pulled the bandage off the area of sliced skin on Felix's neck. In order to get the chip out, the redhead had to take a chunk of skin out of the Australian's neck. That left him with a square of missing skin and that was frankly something that he didn't think Changbin needed to see. Hyunjin reached out, pressing two fingers to the nape of Felix's neck, letting his powers flow through to his fingertips; but not too heavily. It was just enough to bring about a chilling cold that would numb the skin of the brunette's neck, and it wouldn't hurt Hyunjin to exert only that much energy.
"Okay," the dark haired boy said.
"You can do it now."
Seungmin pushed the needle into Felix's neck, injecting Changbin's blood into the Australian's bloodstream, hoping that it would fight off the effects of the Lykyde in Felix's system. After the syringe was emptied, the redhead pulled the needle back out and placed the bandage back over the open wound. Hyunjin removed his hand, and the both of them stepped away, watching the young boy curiously.
That's when the coughing started. Instead of answering Minho, Changbin rushed into the room, quickly coming to Felix's aid. He was coughing and sputtering; but he was moving, and he'd sat up on his own, and he was blinking...The conflicted feelings in the raven haired boy's chest dissipated, and he decided to just relish in the fact that Felix wasn't just lying there anymore. As the older boy tried to help the younger calm down, Felix's nose began to bleed profusely.
"Changbin," the younger boy gasped out, bringing his hand up to his face to catch the blood.
As he did so, he began to cry uncontrollably for two main reasons. One; he knew that he was living and breathing when he'd been terrified of dying without getting to say all the things he needed to say to Changbin. And two; every vein in his body felt like they were literally on fire, and the pain was indescribable. Not missing a beat, the raven haired boy knew that he didn't have the time to go and get something to catch the blood with. So, he quickly removed his shirt and held it under the Australian's nose as he pulled the younger boy to his bare chest. He could feel that Felix's heart was racing wildly, and he knew that the brunette was afraid, and all Changbin wanted to do was to be able to take all of his fear away. Tears were still leaking from the younger boy's eyes, but it was more than just crying. It was the kind of desolate sobbing that comes from a person drained of all hope, and that sound split Changbin's heart in two.
The raven haired boy felt the way that Felix was clasping onto his shoulders; like he needed him as a lifeline. And really, the Australian felt like he did. He couldn't form coherent thoughts. All his veins were set ablaze, and the pain was the worst he'd ever felt in his entire life. As he coughed, the metallic taste of blood formed in his mouth, and his saliva mixed with the crimson colored liquid. Felix moved rapidly, almost knocking Changbin off the bed as he wrapped his arms around the older boy's neck, begging for him to just stay still so that he could find even the slightest bit of peace in his current standings. Though Changbin's shirt caught the majority of the blood spilling from the younger boy's nostrils, some of it began to drip down the skin of Changbin's back. But he didn't give a damn, because he certainly wasn't going to let Felix go.
"How do I make the bleeding stop?" Changbin asked Seungmin, turning to look at the redhead.
"You don't; the bleeding is a good thing. That blood is laced with Lykyde, and his body is expelling it," Seungmin replied.
Those words made Changbin the happiest person alive, because those words meant that Felix was going to be okay. Due to that realization, tears of joy began to slide down the raven haired boy's face, and his grip on Felix tightened. Hearing the ruckus, all the others began to enter the room. Chan and Jisung were first, pausing near the bed as they watched the scene unfold before them. Chan stared at Changbin's arms. He didn't mean to be rude; he was just shocked about the scars and the burn marks, because he hadn't seen nor did he know about the MIA file. Jeongin raced in, Red following behind, and a few seconds later, Woojin stumbled in as well.
But it didn't matter that Changbin was shirtless in front of everyone in Supernova, letting them all see his scarred body. It didn't matter that he was crying in front of them while holding onto the younger boy for dear life. It didn't matter that all eyes were on him; because in that moment there was only one thing he was absorbed in. Felix was alive, and that was all that mattered.
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