So that last chapter was a very different type of heart-wrenching, according to the seven instantaneous comments I found XD (I LOVE YOU ALL)

This one reverts back a little. So I hope you's enjoyzee.

Also, I made up the hospital stuff. FYI. I don't remember how procedure is in a hospital. Sorry.

And lastly, Kyungsoo's pneumonia is actually something that happened to me. So have confidence in the fact that this can happen.

Kyungsoo woke up three times.

The first time, it was dark and cold. He lay in the middle of a dark room, everything hidden and invisible. Kyungsoo turned his head to the side. Nothing but unending darkness. One of his ears felt strangely heavy. He tried to feel it, but none of his limbs moved. 

Finally, his eyelids went heavy, and he drifted back to sleep.

The second time, he was in a hospital room. Flowers leaned over from the bedside table, their smell almost overpowering. A teddy bear lay by his feet. Sharp pain lanced through Kyungsoo's side when he tried to reach for it. He grimaced.

Two people sitting next to the bed stood up. For a moment, their names didn't click; one was just a leopard hybrid in bandages and the other was a Labrador with dried tears on his face.

Chanyeol. Baekhyun.

A wave of colorful memory flooded Kyungsoo's mind, and he tried to sit up, wincing at the pain in his side.

Baekhyun put his hands on Kyungsoo's shoulders. "Hey, what are you doing? G-get back down." He sniffled. 

Kyungsoo brushed off the other boy's hands. "Where am I?"

Chanyeol put an arm around Baekhyun's shoulders. "St. Lawrence's Hospital. Instensive care unit."

Kyungsoo looked down at his hands, wrapped in soft white gauze, then looked back up at his visitors. "How long have I been here?"

"Just a day or two."

"Just?" Kyungsoo threw his blankets off, head suddenly spinning. "I have to-- Where-- I need to get back--"

A blur of pink and yellow swirled around him, and strong arms laid him back down.

The third and final time Kyungsoo woke up was past sunset, an indeterminable time later. Outside in the hallway, two people were arguing.

"...family members can stay overnight, and he needs to give his permission."

"He would say yes, believe me, please, he would say yes--"

"No, sir, I'm sorry, but he's not awake so he can't--"

Kyungsoo yanked on the cord for the blinds of his window, scaring the people outside.

A young nurse flinched, clipboard pulled quickly against her chest. The tall young man across from her was, for a moment, a stranger. Tanned skin contrasted with ice gold hair and silver ears, and sharp red eyes softened at the sight of Kyungsoo. A familiar childish grin spread across his face.

"Soo," Jongin said.

Kyungsoo put his hand up to the glass window, and Jongin placed his own over it. The nurse sighed and disappeared past the border of the window before the lock of the door clicked open.

Jongin rushed in like a puppy, tail beating his legs and ears whirring like helicopter blades. "Soo! Soo!" He threw his arms open, then stopped a foot away from Kyungsoo's bed, smile vanishing. "Oh."

Kyungsoo opened his own arms carefully, hyperaware of the IV drip and machines around him. "Nini?"

Jongin approached slowly, wrapping the smaller cat hybrid up like a fragile doll. "You weren't awake the last few times I came in."

"You're here now."

Kyungsoo kissed Jongin gently on the nose, and the wolf hybrid smiled.

The nurse cleared . "Uh, Kyungsoo. Are your parents here?"

Kyungsoo opened his mouth once, then shut it, unsure of what to say. "I, uh...I don't think so."

"Should we contact them?"

"Yeah. Sure." He recited his adopted mother's cell phone number, and the nurse left, closing the door behind her.

Jongin sat down on the bedside chair, attention immediately caught by the flowers on the table. "Who brought these in?"

"No idea. I was still out." Kyungsoo stacked his pillows against the headboard and leaned back. "How's school?"

Jongin blinked. "Oh. Uh, fine. School's fine. It's lonely."

"I'll be back soon."

"Don't force yourself." Jongin scratched the back of his head. "Sorry."

"For what?"

"I didn't know that that guy..."

Kyungsoo shook his head. "No one did. Not your fault. Okay?"

"...yeah."

Kyungsoo reached out his hand, and Jongin took it, squeezing softly. For a few moments, the only sound was of the ventilation system, and Kyungsoo closed his eyes.

"That guy was a former student here." Jongin leaned forward in his chair, the creaking noise alerting Kyungsoo. "He wasn't a werewolf, just really angry. They had to use tranqs on him in his time here too, because he would have fits. Yonghwa told me about him. He was drunk, apparently."

Kyungsoo blinked open. "How'd he get in?"

"Held a guard at gunpoint. He's in prison now. Don't worry." Jongin brought Kyungsoo's hand up to his lips, and the older boy realized, with some surprise, that Jongin had started crying.

"Nini?" Kyungsoo blew hair out of Jongin's face and scrutinized him. "What's wrong?"

Jongin tried for a smile and failed. "My episode is starting in two days. So I'm just getting all emotional, as usual." He laughed nervously. "I started crying over your Pokémon game once, remember?"

Kyungsoo sighed. "Well, get home quickly, okay? And stay with Yonghwa this time. What if it starts early?"

Jongin bit his lip. "Yeah. About that. I might be on withdrawal from the tranqs this time, because they're cutting down more. If I...do something, just...feel free to call the police on me."

"I can't do that."

"And I can't have you dead."

Kyungsoo released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Okay."

Jongin smiled into the back of Kyungsoo's hand, then looked up, a glint returning to his eyes. "Hey, did anyone tell you yet? Suho was the one who took the guy down."

"Really?" An image of Suho in a flowery pink apron beating Sehun over the head with a broom came to Kyungsoo's mind. 

"G-d, it was scary. He came after you and when that dude shot you, he just flipped. It was...if I were having my episode and had to fight an angry Suho, I would lose badly." 

"Damn."

"He knocked out that other dude in maybe three seconds and just wouldn't stop until Sehun came out."

Kyungsoo winced. "Wow. That's brutal."

"That guy deserved it, though." When Kyungsoo opened his mouth to protest, Jongin held up his hand. "I stand by that statement."

With a sigh, Kyungsoo leaned over to rest his forehead against Jongin's. "Fine."

Jongin pressed his lips gently on Kyungsoo's and pushed forward.

1:47 am

I just woke up. Don't feel too good; my head is really heavy and uncomfortable. Like there're cotton balls stuffed in there. It feels bad. I think I'll call for a nurse. I hope Nurse Lee is--

S .

Baekhyun's teeth rattled loud enough for Sehun to hear them from the other side of the waiting room.

"It's not cold," the lion hybrid said, raising a neatly trimmed eyebrow.

"I had a b-bad day, ok-kay?" Baekhyun stuttered.

Sehun grunted. "Well, I missed two tests and I've been eating hospital food for the past six hours."

Baekhyun looked as though he were about to throw something at Sehun.

Chanyeol pushed through the front doors, panting and eliciting nasty looks from the workers. He waved in apology and dropped down beside his boyfriend. "What happened to Soo?"

Sehun rubbed his temples. "Apparently the wound got infected. He's been doozy all day. Doesn't look good."

"F . And Kai's been here too?"

"Yeah, he got here really early and then called me."

As if on cue, Jongin pushed through the doors into the waiting room, head bowed and face dark. Baekhyun and Chanyeol stood up.

"Kai, how is he?" Chanyeol asked, moving to put a hand on his roommate's shoulder.

Jongin forced a smile. "He's asleep. It's not too bad, but it was really sudden. The shot tore and started bleeding, and I guess it wasn't really clean..." He sat down. "I'm exhausted."

"Go back to the dorm. We can keep an eye on him."

"I'm not leaving."

Sehun rolled his eyes. "Look, I know you're trying to be a hero but--"

The look Jongin gave him froze the words coming up Sehun's throat. He held his friend's glare before pushing the rest of the sentence out. "--but you need to take care of yourself too. You can't take care of Soo if you're not well."

Jongin stared, then looked away. "What would you do for Suho?" he said.

There was a long silence. Finally, Chanyeol spoke. "He's right."

Baekhyun nodded. "If I were sick, I'd want Chanyeol to take care of himself first, too."

Jongin seemed to shrink beneath the watch of his three friends. "I--I don't--"

Sehun lifted his friend up by the arm. "Get some rest."

Jongin pursed his lips and sighed.

Kyungsoo had pneumonia in fifth grade. The whole thing had started off innocently enough with a cold. In a matter of days, it evolved into deep chest coughs, fevers, chills, shaking, and--perhaps the most vivid memory of the experience--a strange dream.

The dreams were of Kyungsoo in a room, a plain and empty room. It was cool and smelled like a brewing thunderstorm. He stood in the center of the room, breathing in the smell of impending lightning. Slowly, water would creep down the walls and pool around Kyungsoo's ankles, and he would find himself unable to move. Just as the water rose to his chest, everything would vanish, and Kyungsoo would lie awake in bed, sweat soaking his sheets and cooling in the ridge between his shoulder blades. 

That dream would return every time Kyungsoo fell very ill or was hurt. When he self-harmed, when he had bedridden with bronchitis, when he was tripped down the stairs and his head throbbed with every breath--the dream returned.

And now he found himself with that dream for the first time in a year.

Kyungsoo gasped for breath, pushing off his blankets and groaning at the soreness in his side. A dark wetness seeped into the bandages, and he slammed the call button. 

The nurse came quickly, and Kyungsoo closed his eyes as she changed his bandages, the cool air searing as it met his burning skin. In the dark behind his eyelids, each heartbeat felt like a thrumming guitar string, and Kyungsoo reached out for someone's hand.