This is not edited so if there are some issues with it, I swear I'll fix them up later.  Only thing is that I need to go out of town again (my grandmother is sick and I need to go and help her out) so I won't be able to update for a while so I thought that I would give you guys what I have right now, even if it is not perfect.

 Update: Now edited!

Chapter 32

Taemin felt himself slowly rising to consciousness again.  This time it was different.  The pain was less, though still there but he seemed more aware of everything around him.  He could hear people moving about the room and talking to one another.  He recognized his parents talking quietly not far away.  And was that Onew perhaps?  Talking to Taesun somewhere off to his right.

He didn’t hear Key’s voice, but he didn’t need to.  He felt Key’s calming presence, and his slender hand clinging to his own.  The gentle smell of Key’s soap drifted over to his nose and Taemin smiled.  It was a small smile, but being the first one his face had formed in almost a week over bruises and tender flesh, it hurt, but he did it all the same.

There was a small gasp and the hand holding his tightened and tugged a bit as he felt Key standing up.  “Taemin?” 

And the room went silent.

“Taemin baby, are you awake?” Key voice sounded soft and tender, but somehow unbreakable.  There was a hidden strength to it that made it sound like he didn’t care who knew of his feelings for the maknae, and like everything in his world revolved around the young man.

“Kibum?”  Mr. Lee said questioningly.

“He’s smiling…”  Key said wondrously. 

The others in the room who had come to crowd around the bed weren’t as sure.  Maybe the corners of his mouth were turned up a little bit, but none of them could say for sure whether or not his face had been like that.

Key leaned down a bit, “Taemin, love come on, it’s time to open your eyes.  We’re all here for you, so just open your eyes…”

Key’s voice implored and begged and nagged in the way that only he could do.  Taemin smiled a little wider, and he heard gasps as other’s noticed the twitching on his face. 

Mustering strength, Taemin forced his eyes open and took in the room around him.  It was different from the one he had been in earlier; there was actually some color in here.  And around his bedside the worried and anxious faces of his family, SHINee and Key stood there, waiting to see. 

There was a moment in which no one moved.  No one spoke.  No one thought. 

Then Mrs. Lee screamed in delight and fell on her son crowding him into her arms, and Taemin didn’t even mind the slight pain he felt in his chest as she hit. 

The faces surrounding him were filled with tears and smiles as for the first time in a week they were all able to see Taemin conscious and looking back at them.

The dancer’s eyes turned to Key who stood by his side, holding his hand and rubbing his hair away from his face, paying no mind to the tears that fell down his own.

Slowly, and in a croaking voice, harsh from days of not talking and having a tube pushed down into it, Taemin said, “You wanted to see me smile, right?”

Key barked out a laugh, finally thinking to wipe away his tears, “You heard that?”

Taemin twitched his head a bit, the closest thing to a nod he was really capable of right now.

Key kissed Taemin’s forehead and laughed through the tears that wouldn’t stop.  Mumbling, “I love you,” quietly against his skin which burned through Taemin like a wildfire. 

Right then the doctors came in to check over Taemin’s vitals and saw that he was awake and the massive amount of people in the room.  All of SHINee, Key included, were shooed from the room so that the doctors could talk with Taemin and his immediate family about his condition and go over what happens next.

Key wasn’t mad at being kept from Taemin like he would have been earlier.  For the first time since Onew had received the phone call about Taemin, he felt light.  The future looked promising.  Taemin was awake, and that was all that mattered.  Whatever happened now they would handle together, they would work out all of the kinks together and make sure that Taemin would be ready to re-tackle the world again. 

With the hospital’s official visiting hours actually already over, SHINee left to go back to their dorm after leaving a note with an understanding nurse to give to Taemin once the doctors left. 

The ride back to their dorm was silent, most still locked in their own shock and surprise and euphoria at Taemin finally waking.  Emotionally exhausted, SHINee prepared for bed almost as soon as the walked in the door.  For the first time in days Key looked around and saw the dorm, and almost laughed at the state that it was in when he didn’t run around cleaning up after everyone.  He would clean that up tomorrow he decided with a stiff nod to himself. 

Jonghyun went to the bathroom intent on brushing his teeth.  However, when he reached for his toothbrush, he saw Taemin’s sitting idly right next to it and he couldn’t help it – all the emotions that he had been holding back were suddenly rushing to the surface.  He had spent the whole week worrying over Taemin, praying that his colossal mistake hadn’t cost Taemin his life. 

At the same time he was avoiding phone calls from his family, who were aware of the rumors about Taemin, and was only calling back when he knew that no one would be home to take the call.  He was going to have to make the choice that he had been avoiding for months, trying to pretend that he wouldn’t have to choose between SHINee and his family.  He knew what choice he had to make, but it was going to hurt him more than any pain he had ever known, physical or otherwise.       

A wrenching sob echoed through the room, and Jonghyun fell to his knees and just let it all run through him.  There was no holding this back anymore. 

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