"Are you ok?“

He nodded.

“I'll wait outside again, alright?" Taeyang patted his shoulder.

"Yeah, thank you."

A nurse was inside the room, just getting ready to leave when he entered.

“How's he doing?”, Jiyong asked her.

She shrugged and smiled sympathetically.

“His condition is stable.”

She hesitated, Jiyong wasn't a relative so she briefly thought about what else she could tell him. “We still can't tell when he will wake up.”

Jiyong closed his mouth again as that would have been his next question. The nurse apologized and left.

Everything inside the room looked exactly like the day before yesterday: Small and completely unadorned with nothing but the bed and the blinking machines in front of the window.

Jiyong closed the door carefully behind himself with a light kick.

"Hi, Jiho, it's me."

Jiyong tried to visit as often as he could in between his own therapy sessions and the ongoing trial.

Jiho was breathing steadily under his mask.

Over a month had passed now since the doctors had saved Jiho's life. They said the coma came from the shock he suffered because of the bloodloss. They couldn't tell Jiyong as much as Jiho's close relatives, but Jiyong hoped with all his heart that the younger would finally recover and wake up again.

Jiyong sat next to Jiho's bed on one of the two empty chairs. He avoided visiting when Jiho's family or his fellow band members were here. Since the kidnapping, being around people was... awkward sometimes.

Jiyong reached over and carefully locked his fingers with Jiho's. It wasn't easy as only his fingertips stood out under the plaster he still had on both hands. The doctors said his fractures would heal, but Jiyong didn't care much as there were more things that required healing in his life at the moment. He couldn't focus on everythings at once.

He always took Jiho's hand when he visited. And like always, Jiho's fingers were a little cold. That way, he could connect with Jiho somehow and Jiyong believed that Jiho was aware of his visitors. The doctors said that comatose people partly realized what was happening around them.

For a few minutes, Jiyong just sat and looked alternately outside the tiny window and back at Jiho's calm face. Only a month had passed but the younger's hair had already gotten longer.

“I miss you, Jiho. Please come back, okay?” He sighed. “I need to get better myself, but the police and the attorneys are bustling... they want to start the trial as soon as possible.”

He closed his eyes and carefully Jiho's fingers. “Could really need you support right now.”, he mumbled.

The first times it had felt strange sitting here alone, talking to someone who would not answer. Now it made Jiyong feel at ease. Here he wasn't scared of being alone like was practically all the time everywhere else. Jiho's room was basically the only place where Jiyong didn't need to surround himself with people he trusted. Here it was only him, Jiho and the silence. Outside, Taeyang was waiting for him. Waiting for Jiyong to come out and to protect him from his fears again. To help him as good as he could. Jiyong was so grateful that he had such understanding friends and bandmembers who supported him.

“I'm still wondering if you're having nightmares, too.”, Jiyong said. “I hope you don't. But if you do when you wake up – let's talk about them, ok? My therapist says it would surely help to talk to each other about our... adventure.”

After some more moments of silence, he heard Taeyangs mobile outside the door. Or his own mobile, in fact. Taeyang kept it for him. Jiyong sighed and stood up. He had an appointment with his attorney in an hour.

He touched Jiho's forehead. A part of him shortly wished to switch placees with the younger. Jiho seemed so far away from the stressful times by day and horrible dreams at night.

“I haven't forgotten, Zico, we're still going to karaoke when you're back. When we're both a bit better.”

His fingertips brushed over Jiho's temples, pushing a few strands away from his eyes, down to his cheek. Jiyong smiled weakly.

“I promise.”

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A/N:

Hey there, thank you so much for reading this fanfiction. Sorry for the delay – Christmas holidays kept me busy. If you're celebrating Christmas as well, I hope you had wonderful holidays =D

I hope you enjoyed this story and you can cope with the ending. Special thanks goes to tinggi22 for commenting a lot, it's always great to get some support :) I was always happy to read your comments!

Bye^^