Last Chapter Recap, Kim Kibum's POV

Jonghyun-hyung sat next to me, and wheedled out all the information I knew. He sighed in frustration at how little information I had. Thankfully, Manager-hyung returned at that point to relay what he had just learned. And it wasn't good.

End recap.

Choi Minho's POV

Sometimes, I just want to go curl up in a corner and die. I think that this is one of those times. I don't want Taemin-ah to leave me all alone. I don't want to be by myself. Please, don't take Taemin-ah away. I love him. Let him stay. Please, let him stay…

Kim Jonghyun's POV

Ahhhh, information. That of which we can use to help Taemin-maknae. As it all turns out, whatever it is that was ailing him could turn fatal. The name of the illness was some rather long word that I couldn't say even if I tried. That, however, doesn't matter. I looked over at Jinki, who nodded at me. .

Lee Jinki's POV

'Well, this is bad.' I thought as I nodded to Jonghyun-ah. Taemin-ah could die from the disease that he has. Manager-hyung tried to explain it to me in simple terms. Somehow, it starts off like a simple cold or a cough, and progresses to spread around the body and begin to cause everything around it to deteriorate, starting from the farthest parts of one's body and spreading inwards. Almost every single record ended in the words 'patient death'. I had asked why. It was because if the person suffering wasn't dead from organ and tissue degeneration first, the disease had eaten away part of the heart, the last place it actually affected, and the patient had died from holes opening up in the walls of the different chambers of their heart. It sounded to me like Taemin-ah more than likely wouldn't make it past next week, if he was lucky.

Right now, I was holding a completely broken-down and crying Minho-ah in my arms, trying to get him to calm down. It was times like this where I hated being the leader of the group. I looked to Kibum-ah, who smiled sadly at me and gently took Minho into his arms from mine. I got up to talk to manager-hyung.

"There's only a ten percent chance of him getting though this, Jinki," he told me, "and even then, if he survives, he probably won't be able to ever perform again. He may never heal completely, and he may not-" I cut him off with a glare. "Why do you have to be so negative? Hmm? Have you considered that he actually has the chance to live? We'll find a way. I don't care how. You've seen him when he performs. SHINee is all Taemin-ah has. We're his family. And we're not letting him go," I said angrily, turning my back on manager-hyung to go speak to Taemin-ah's doctor, who was in a heated discussion with another nurse. He waved the woman off the moment he noticed me standing there, fuming. "Can I help you, sir?" he asked me. "Yes. I would like to know if my band-mates and I can see Lee Taemin now," I asked. He looked at his clipboard, flipping between a few pages, and nodded. "Yes. He's stable right now. It's perfectly fine to see him. Just don't let him strain himself," the doctor said, and walked away after telling me the room number to go to.

Kim Kibum's POV

Jinki-hyung came to get the rest of us, saying it was alright to go see Taemin-ah now. I coaxed Minho-ah up out of his chair and let him lean on me as I followed Jinki-hyung, with Jonghyun following behind us. Manager-hyung made to follow, but Jinki-hyung gave him the most hateful glare and he stopped right where he was. I glanced back, but did nothing. Manager-hyung had made Jinki-hyung angry. It wasn't my business.

Kim Jonghyun's POV

We followed Jinki-hyung down numerous hallways until he stopped outside a partially open door. He just looked at Key-umma, who took Minho-ah in first. Jinki-hyung went next, and I followed after them, closing the door behind me.

Let me just tell you this. I hope you never have to see anything near like what I saw that day. The scene is forever burned into my memory. I don't even want to describe it. But I will.

Minho-ah was on his knees at Taemin-ah's bedside, both hands clasped over one of Taemin-ah's, tears leaking steadily down his cheeks. Key-umma and Jinki-hyung stood at the end of Taemin-ah's bed, tears in both their eyes, hands intertwined. Taemin-ah, almost as pale as his sheets, had reached his unoccupied had over and was now slowly running his fingers weakly though Minho-ah's hair, smiling sadly. Such a sight brought tears to my own eyes as I tried to ignore the whirring and beeping of the machines that they ('they' being the doctors taking care of our maknae) had hooked to Taemin-ah. I went to stand next to Jinki-hyung, who wrapped his free arm around my shoulders.

Lee Taemin's POV

I'll be honest, I was more scared at that moment than I had ever been in my life. I felt horrible. I couldn't do anything on my own. And I hate having to rely on others. That's why I log so many extra hours of practice when we're promoting. Why I'm always looking out for my hyungs when they should be looking out for me. Maybe that's why I'm in this mess, with Minho-ah weeping beside me. This wasn't right. We should all be back in our rooms, resting before tomorrow's dress-rehearsal, not here, all but one near tears, another weeping, with myself as pale as the sheets beneath me and potentially dying. I ran my fingers through Minho-ah's hair again weakly, whispering sweet nothings to him. But he just knelt there, his face buried in his arms and his hands clasped around one of my own.

I hate that Minho-ah is crying for me. I hate the depressed looks on my Hyung's faces. I hate that Jonghyun-hyung looks as if he's about to break down into tears too. I hate that Onew-hyung and Key-umma are trying to stay strong for me. I know it sounds selfish…and it probably is…but I want my life back. I want my Hyungs to smile again. I want my boyfriend to be happy. And I want to dance. Right now, I'd give anything to get up out of this hospital bed, go back to Korea, and work on our next repackaged album. I don't want to leave Minho-ah. Please don't make me leave him. Please don't. I love Minho-ah.