*Minho’s POV*

I opened my eyes to see a white ceiling above me. My ears picked up on a steady beeping sound, but otherwise the room was silent. I lifted my head up groggily and looked around the room. The walls were white and I was surrounded by machinery foreign to me. I became conscious of an IV stuck in my hand.

Just then a nurse came walking through the door. She smiled when she saw me. “You’re awake!”

“What happ-,”

“Hold on honey. Let me get this mask off you,” she said, coming over and removing an oxygen mask from my face. “Now what was that?”

“Where am I?” My throat felt really scratchy and I immediately went into a coughing fit.

“Shhh, take it easy,” the nurse said calmingly, helping me sit up a little and putting a hand on my chest. “Do you want me to raise the bed a little?”

I just nodded and continued to cough. Soon the head of the bed was tilted up and I leaned against it so I was sitting upright.

“Thank you. So… what happened?” I managed in a whisper.

“Well for starters you have pneumonia, which is understandable considering you were found lying outside in the rain. When they brought you in you were burning up with a temperature of 104ºF. You gave us quite a scare, but we put you on oxygen and got your temperature down. Nobody’s quite sure how long you were out there, but one of the girls said you’d knocked on her door maybe two hours before someone found you. I’d ask what you were doing, but I don’t want you to start coughing again-,”

“Paige we need you in room five,” someone in a white uniform peaked in the doorway.

“Okay, I’ll be right there,” she sighed. She then turned to me and said, “You just rest up. I’ll be back in a little while to check up on you.” And with a quick smile she was out the door.

I exhaled and let my head lay back, closing my eyes. There was so much to take in. Had I really been out there in the rain for two hours?  Who was the one that found me? Nicole said I’d knocked on her door. She helped me, right? I then found myself asleep once again.

*Nicole’s POV*

I sat in the waiting room with the others, scrolling through my phone and trying to act like it was no big deal. Inside I was freaking out.

Why didn’t I open the door? Why didn’t I let him in? This wouldn’t have happened if I just let that babo talk to me, right? Gosh, there I go with the Korean again. I need to stop. I’m the old Nicole now. Minho means nothing he’s just another guy on the list- gosh Minho why are you doing this to me?! Please be okay! If anything happens to you…

“How are you doing?” I looked up to see Annie standing in front of me.

I just shrugged, not in the mood to talk. Instead of leaving, she sat down in the chair next to me.

“He’s going to be okay,” she told me.

I just shrugged again. “That’s good. He’ll be up and ready to go and break another girl’s heart. That’s just wonderful.” I didn’t take my eyes off my phone.

“Nicole-,”

“Will you just leave me alone? I don’t need you to help me. I’m fine,” I snapped.

She didn’t say a word, but got up and went back to sit with Jonghyun. I saw him wrap an arm around her and kiss her neck. If it had been yesterday I would’ve found that cute, but I was the old Nicole now. I just laughed to myself and went back to my texting. Every bit of me was crying to have a relationship like that, but I knew I’d be better off protecting my heart and having flings. Heartbreak was something I never wanted to go through again.

*Taemin’s POV*

“Hyung,” I whispered to Onew who was sitting across from me. He was holding Rebecca in his arms, wiping away her tears. She was the one that found Minho lying out there in the rain. She was still convinced that this whole mess was her fault, so she was taking this all pretty badly.

“Yes Taemin-ah?” Onew asked, lifting up his head which had been resting against Rebecca’s.

“Do you think this will hurt his voice? Will he still be able to sing?”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Onew gave me a weak smile. “He’s just got some water in his lungs.”

“What if he doesn’t get better though? What if he’ll never be able to sing again and SHINee becomes four? What’s going to-,”

“It’ll be all my fault,” Rebecca’s voice squeaked from Onew arms, her face buried in his chest. “I’ve ruined SHINee.”

“Shhh, no you’ve done nothing of the sort,” Onew comforted her, petting her hair. He looked up at me as if to say Don’t-Say-Anything-More-We’ll-Talk-Later.

I sighed and slipped my hand into Carolyn’s who was sitting next to me. She smiled and gave me a soft kiss on the cheek.

“He’ll be okay,” she reassured me.

“What the heck happened?!” We all turned to see the manager standing in the doorway of the waiting room.

“Sir, please keep your voice down,” the lady at the desk advised him. He just shrugged her off and walked over to us.

“I left you guys for three days for business, and now I get back to find Minho in the hospital? And what’s this I hear about a fight?” the manager questioned, staring at us in disappointment and disbelief.

“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Onew said, looking up at him.

“Why is Rebecca crying- and what happened to her eye?!” he asked when Rebecca turned to look at him.

“Well she kind of got in the way during the fight, and she’s just upset about Minho,” Onew explained, rubbing his hand over back comfortingly. “But everything will be okay.”

“Aigoo, you guys! You realize we’re going to have to stay until Minho is strong enough to travel. You have schedules to keep back in Korea! Interviews, CFs, photo shoots… this is going to throw everything off!”

“But, that means we’ll have a few extra days together right?” Key piped up, smiling at Brianna.

“No,” the manager stated firmly. “The girls will still be leaving tomorrow. You boys will have to stay in a hotel because our time in the mansion will be up. You’ll need to practice your singing and dancing every day, just like you would if we were back in Seoul. Vacation is over.”

I looked down at the ground in sadness. This was definitely NOT the reality that I wanted.