|Luhan|

The hallways are white and clean and empty.  Cold wind blows from the aircon above, and for god’s sake, it’s always so cold. Luhan shivers, wraps his numb fingers together, and leans forward on the hard plastic chair.

He thought he wouldn’t ever need to come back here ever again, but Baekhyun’s relapse has dragged him, reluctant and unwilling, to this place. It doesn’t help that Baekhyun’s doctor happens to be the despicable Kim Joon Myeon. The punk thinks he’s some posh genius or something. A PHD at just the age of 22 years certainly is something great, but he needn’t go around boasting about it.  Luhan snorts contemptuously, his lip curling. Ugh. Doctor Kim Joon Myeon. The name puts a sour taste in his mouth.

But come to think of it, he is pretty good looking, and within Luhan’s age range. A pity he isn’t gay.

Luhan then sighs. A pity everyone isn’t gay. He certainly could use some much-needed company now.

Just then, Kyungsoo passes by, pushing a trolley as he goes along cheerily. Kyungsoo the nurse. The one and only. A familiar face.

“Hey Luhan,” Kyungsoo smiles brightly. Then he frowns. “I heard Baekhyun’s in relapse.”

“He is,” Luhan replies dully.

Kyungsoo awkwardly pats Luhan’s shoulder. “I’m sure it’ll turn out fine. But why are you waiting down here?”

“Chanyeol kicked me out. I was making too much noise watching television,” Luhan snorts. Kyungsoo smirks.

“Figures.” And he wheels the trolley away.

Just then the double doors swing open. The doctors wheel in a patient, and the sound is harsh on Luhan’s ears. He cringes slightly, but his eyes follow their hurried progress towards the emergency room. Kyungsoo turns his trolley sharply around to watch them half-jog in a frantic pace, their long white coats swishing as they pass. The nurses push open the doors and they wheel the man in.

And that’s when Luhan notices the four boys that follow. They stand boldly in the middle of the hallway, fanned out on either side, as if imitating a flock of flying birds. Luhan peers at them curiously. They’re all macho and tough looking, ripped jeans and all.

“Hey, you can’t smoke here.” Boldly, Kyungsoo snatches a cigarette from one of the boy’s mouth. Luhan smiles to himself. He knows Kyungsoo is strict about rules.

“Hey! Give it back!” the guy with red-dyed hair reaches for it petulantly, like an angry teenager.

“I’m sorry,” Kyungsoo says, and extinguishes the flame in his bucket of water. “It’s hospital protocol. You know, with all the sick patients.”

When the guy stares at him in a confused manner, Kyungsoo adds,” smoking…is bad.”

 He ignores Kyungsoo and looks to the man standing at the front. “What do we do now Kris?”

“I don’t know, Tao. Ask this guy.” Kris turns back to Kyungsoo. “You’re a doctor, right?”

Kyungsoo sniffs. “I’m a nurse.”

The four of them stare at Kyungsoo as if he’s crazy. Kris goes wide-eyed for a second, and smiles tiredly. “Whatever. Do you know what they’re going to do with my friend there?”

“What’s his name? They should have put his name down somewhere and analyzed his condition.”

“Xiumin,” the guy at the back says.

“Sehun, it’s Kim Minseok, remember?” The one in the middle hisses.

“Oh, right.” Sehun ruffles his hair abashedly. Luhan snickers.

And then they all look at him.

Luhan shrinks in his seat, while Kyungsoo just smiles amusedly.  Crap, he thinks. As they approach him, Luhan’s pulse races. They’re all so good-looking.

And then his mind goes blank. He stares at them, they stare at him rather frightfully, waiting for him to speak. Luhan doesn’t want to make eye contact, so he just stares at Kris’ hairline, awkwardly rubbing his shoes together.

“And who are you?” Kris questions.

“Um. I’m Luhan.” Luhan forces himself to meet their eyes.

Kris raises an eyebrow. “He looks like a crackpot,”

The tanned guy in the middle, who Luhan presumes is called ‘Kai’ because of the nametag he wears, snickers loudly. Then they all crack up.  Kris offers a hand. “Nice to meet you anyways. “

“How’s your friend?” Luhan asks, taking Kris hand. He looks at the rest, and they all nod in acknowledgement, except Tao, who’s busy taking out another cigarette.

Kris’s grip slackens slightly, and the sides of his mouth point downwards.

“Sehun here found him breathless in the basement. I don’t know how it happened. Heart attack. But he’s so young.”

Kyungsoo snatches the cigarette from Tao and extinguishes it again. “Look at how much you guys smoke. It’s no wonder."

Kai speaks up. “I thought you’re a nurse.”

Kyungsoo looks mildly horrified. “Doesn’t mean I’m dumb.” And he swiftly snatches another cigarette from Tao who is sneakily trying to light it. Tao groans in protest. Kai snickers again.

“It’s called atherosclerosis. It’s when plaque forms in the blood vessels and blocks the blood flow. Then your friend,” Kyungsoo says as he pockets Tao’s packet of Marlboro cigarettes,” will suffer from that.

“He’s not going to die, right?” Luhan can’t help but ask, while sneaking at glance in Kris’s direction.

They stare at him, horrified.

Kyungsoo calmly tries to reassure them. “Naw. It should be okay. Didn’t look very serious to me.”

“Not serious?” Tao repeats dubiously. “He was gasping like a fish out of water.”

“He wasn’t unconscious yet. There’s time,” Kyungsoo says. “He’ll undergo a minor operation. It should be fine. Don’t worry."

Everyone visibly relaxes.

“So what’s your deal? “ Kris asks.

“Um,” Luhan stutters. “My friend has Leukemia. So I stay with him and his …friend. Yeah.”

Kris looks at him with newfound pity. He doesn’t seem to know what to say.

“Is it bad?” Sehun asks, his tone soft.

“It’s a relapse. Found him crying in the bathtub. He said it hurt everywhere.” Luhan shudders, regretting his choice of words. ‘In the bathtub’ and the memory of Baekhyun shouldn’t be put together.

Then the doctor comes out of the Emergency room, holding a clipboard. Kris and company hurry to him, while Luhan simply sits back in his chair.

Well, this is interesting.

|Baekhyun|

When Baekhyun awakes, Chanyeol is tracing the tubing that snakes downwards and disappears into the hole of his oversized hospital gown sleeve. The water drips into his arm at a constant pace, and he sighs sleepily, embracing the daze like state that has taken over his mind.

“Hey,” Chanyeol smiles.

“Mm,” and that’s all Baekhyun can say, because the moment he starts to speak, nausea suddenly rises up to his throat like the sea at high tide and he gags. Chanyeol hurriedly shushes him and Baekhyun weakly manages to swallow down the thick bile.

Chanyeol pushes him gently back into the comfort of his bed, concern etched onto his face.

Nausea and vomiting is just one of the aftereffects.  Other effects are diarrhea, mouth problems, and most horrifying of all, “ual changes”.

“Where’s Luhan?” Baekhyun asks raspily, his head throbbing.

“I sent him downstairs. He was bored.” Chanyeol replies, his voice hushed. Baekhyun’s afraid to reply. He feels like he might just fall to pieces.

He admits that it’s been hard on Chanyeol and Luhan. A relapse was not expected. And they don’t have to accompany him; he’s fairly well off and can pay for hospital fees. But that isn’t the most of their concerns. The question is whether he’s going to survive or not. Granted, it’s only stage two, and the chance of him, well, dying, is fairly low. But who knows? A chance is a chance, no matter how small.

And furthermore, Baekhyun feels guilty. Chanyeol must be suffering, and it’s all his fault.

Chanyeol looks lost in thought for a moment, and then he perks up. “I’ll get dinner.”

He walks out, long arms swinging. Moments later, Baekhyun hears his noisy footsteps.

And then Doctor Kim Joon Myeon comes in.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.” Baekhyun shifts in his covers uncomfortably. Doctor Kim is his regular chilly mood. His eyes swiftly rake over Baekhyun, searching for signs of bruises or wounds, and then he nods briskly.

He’s always in a rush. Baekhyun notices his pale complexion and his eye bags. Not to mention a sour look that’s drawn with a permanent marker on his face. A smile would do wonders to his features. But that’s not his fault. All Baekhyun knows is that he tries. And in Baekhyun’s case, he does so exceptionally. Despite busy schedules and a lack of sleep, Doctor Kim is always keeping his mood as light as he can. Even though his definition is of light isn’t light, well, not really.

And he’s smart, that Baekhyun knows too. Luhan thinks that Doctor Kim is a stuck-up snob, and that’s really half the reason why he’s not here most of the time. Chanyeol says Luhan’s just jealous that Doctor Kim’s, well, a doctor, while he’s a waiter that needs to rent out rooms to pay for his own mortgage.

Maybe that’s true. And yes, Doctor Kim does have some faults.

“You have a session for radio chemotherapy at 3.00 tomorrow Mr.Byun.” Doctor Kim intones.

Two mistakes:

One, he calls his patients Mr. or Mrs. It kills anything friendly or unofficial about it. Calling someone like that signals for forms and documents and nothing comforting or warm about it.

Two. Damn it, a doctor should never say the word radio chemotherapy ever again.

Baekhyun groans. “Really?”

Doctor Kim smiles slightly. “You know the drill.”

Baekhyun sighs as Doctor Kim goes around replacing the water bag and such. If there ever could be something more horrible than radio chemotherapy, Baekhyun would be damned.

“Oh, and is Luhan here?”

“He went downstairs.” Baekhyun perks up. What would Doctor Kim want with Luhan? If anything, they wouldn’t want anything to do with each other.

“Just tell him he’s causing quite the commotion in Xiumin’s room if he comes back, thanks.”

Xiumin? Who’s that?

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A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter!