The ambulance arrived quickly. By that time, most of the Phoenixes and Griffins had left to dispose of the dead bodies – agreeing to meet Jimin, Jennie and Chaeyoung at the hospital afterwards. The only other members remaining were the injured ones who required medical treatment. Chaeyoung could feel relief wash over her when saw the medical team rushing towards them, even recognizing some of the paramedics from her encounters with them in the emergency department. She wiped her tear-stained face and pulled herself together, allowing her nursing instincts to kick in as she focused on helping Taehyung.

“24 year-old male, suffering from a penetrating gunshot wound to the upper, left side of the chest distal to the sternum,” Chaeyoung began reporting to the paramedics as she helped them strap his body onto a stretcher, “fell unconscious about 1 minute ago, likely from severe blood loss. Pulses are present on all 4 limbs but weak, heart rate of 60, respirations are 10.”

“Thank you, Nurse Park,” one of the paramedics said with a polite nod as they ran towards the open back doors of an ambulance, “we can take it from here. One of you can accompany us in the ambulance, but I’m afraid the rest will have to find their own transportation.”

Chaeyoung looked at Jennie and Jimin, whose faces mirrored the pain she was feeling, to silently communicate that she wanted to be the one accompanying him. She felt guilty for her request, especially given how much Jimin was beating himself up over the fact that Taehyung saved him. He blamed himself, despite Jennie and Chaeyoung’s attempts to reassure him otherwise.

Jimin nodded at her, his eyes red and swollen, “we’ll meet you there.”

With that, Chaeyoung climbed into the back seat – in front of Taehyung’s unconscious body. The doors slammed shut and the sirens began to wail from above as two paramedics began hooking Taehyung up to multiple monitors and supplemental oxygen. She clutched one of his hands and hoped that it would be a short trip. ‘I don’t have much time’, Taehyung’s words echoed in Chaeyoung’s ears throughout the car ride like a constant, painful reminder.

Taehyung was immediately rushed to the operating room, and despite Chaeyoung’s attempts of scrubbing in on the procedure, she was denied entry into the restricted area and was left to wait with the rest of the ‘family members’.

She was sitting on a bench outside the operating room doors, sandwiched between Jimin and Jennie as they silently prayed and cried together. Her hand was interlaced with Jennie’s and her head was resting on Jimin’s shoulder, constant tears dripping onto his blood-stained shirt.

It felt like an eternity, but was probably more like an hour, when a resident walked through the doors for their first update.

“Are you the family of Kim Taehyung?” the young, slender male asked while untying the top straps of his surgical mask.

“Yes,” all three of them answered simultaneously.

The resident nodded, leading them to a more spacious meeting room, “My name is Dr. Choi, I’m one of the surgeon’s main assists for this case. I’m going to need you to take a seat.”

Chaeyoung’s heart dropped at those words, as a thousand awful thoughts whirled through her mind. But she shook these thoughts off adamantly, telling herself there was no way things could have ended so quickly. Taehyung was a fighter.

“So, as you all probably know, the area the patient was shot is dangerously close to his heart. Although the bullet didn’t completely puncture through the heart, it did graze the membranes of the right side as well as injuring the left lung,” Mr. Choi began to explain, “because two of his vital organs have been comprised, it’s going to be a very invasive surgery and it could be a very long wait.”

Chaeyoung furrowed her brows in disapproval. She hated when doctors were so ambiguous with their words.

“Just give it to us straight, doctor,” Chaeyoung requested impatiently, “what are the chances of survival?”

The doctor sighed, eyeing her carefully, “Norma