Zhen, Jungkook and Cho Hee arrived at the hospital around seven, and were told they needed to wait until eight thirty, during visiting hours, to see Mallory, so the three moved to the waiting room and sat quietly, waiting. Zhen did ask the nurse how Mallory was doing, and was told that when Mallory’s assigned nurse returned, he would tell her.

Not too long after Zhen was beginning to nod off, the rest of BTS arrived, walking quietly through the automatic doors of the wing and offering small smiles to Zhen. “When are we allowed back?” Jimin asked immediately, sitting across from Zhen.

“Eight thirty,” Zhen answered, sitting up taller. “They said when-”

“Excuse me,” A quiet voice asked, and the group turned to see a younger man in nurse scrubs standing at the end of the row of chairs they’d been sitting at. “Are you here to see Mallory?” He asked. Everyone nodded and he smiled. “Hi, I’m Joon Dae, and I’ve been working with Mallory since the accident. I just wanted to let you know what’s been going on before you go in and see her.”

Cho Hee nodded. “Please, sit,” She said, gesturing to the open seat in the middle of the group, and Jin had moved so Joon Dae could sit down.

Joon Dae smiled. “Thank you, but not everything I have to tell you is good.” Everyone was silent. “Well, she is stable, and it doesn’t look like she’s going to need anymore surgeries before the end of the week. However, this morning, she overly exerted herself, and reopened the bullet wound on her side.”

“Bullet wound?” Rap Monster asked.

Jin squinted at the nurse. “She was shot?”

Joon Dae nodded. “Yes, she was shot some time before the accident.” He knotted his fingers together. “We had her on medicine earlier this morning that put her into a medically induced coma, but her boyfriend asked that we take her off those medicines.” Zhen smiled at this. They really thought Suga was her boyfriend? He hadn’t corrected them? “So for now, since she did reopen the wound and is in a lot of pain, we ask that you don’t do anything to make her overly… excited? We did pump some medicines into her IV fluids, to help with her pain, so she may be a little out of it, and she can’t talk because she did puncture her lung in the accident, but that’s about it.”

“When did she reopen the wound?” Zhen asked immediately after he finished.

Joon Dae bit his lip. “Around six, maybe six thirty. We did fix the stitching, and have asked that she not be raised too high in her bed for anything other than eating, so it should be on it’s way to healing again.” He stood. “One more thing. Her aunt and uncle asked that you enter one at a time, so the dog doesn’t get too excited.”

“Dog?” V asked. 

Zhen nodded. “They must have gone and gotten Kirby for her.” She said, moving to her feet. “Can we see Mallory now?” Joon Dae nodded and asked that they follow him to her room. He opened the door and smiled, gesturing for them to go ahead inside. Zhen ignored his earlier comment about the dog and hurried into the room, straight towards Mallory’s bed. Mallory had turned her head to see who was coming in, and reached her arms out to Zhen, who immediately hugged her, trying to be light about it. “Oh my god, you look so pale.” She said, pulling back and frowning. “Are you eating?”

Mallory let out a weak laugh. “Are you… my mom?” She asked, making a face as she spoke.

Zhen laughed. “I may as well be, since I’m the only one out of the two of us who thinks reasonably.” She turned and found Chin-Hwa standing behind his wife, Kyung Mee, who sat in a chair with Kirby on her lap. Suga stood off to the side, half sitting on the windowsill, looking incredibly uncomfortable.

“Zhen,” Kyung Mee smiled, moving to her feet.

Zhen walked towards her and gave her a hug. “It’s so nice to see you again.” She said, smiling brightly at Kyung Mee before hugging Chin-Hwa as well. “Did Mallory’s parents ask you to come?”

Chin-Hwa nodded. “Yes. They took an early flight this morning from Cuba and should be here either tonight or early tomorrow morning.” He smiled and placed a hand on Zhen’s shoulder. “You’ve grown.”

Zhen smiled and turned to the others. V was sitting on the end of Mallory’s bed with the small teddy bear he’d brought for her in his hands, messing around with it childishly. Jimin had just bent to give Mallory a hug, and Suga was bristling beside her. Rap Monster was placing the vase of flowers they’d brought beside her bed. Jin was telling her about something that had happened in the dorm, and both J-Hope and Jimin rushed to correct him, as the story directly attacked them, which made Mallory laugh.

However, this laugh led to a fit of coughing. Everyone stopped moving, stopped breathing, and Suga leaned towards Mallory. She covered and, in the process, knocked her air tubes from her nose. Suga immediately corrected this.

“So,” Kyung Mee started. “Are you all Mallory’s classmates?”

V’s nose crinkled. “Mallory doesn’t go to school.” Both Kyung Mee and Chin-Hwa looked surprised by this, and Mallory frowned.

Zhen turned to the couple and smiled. “She hasn’t s