Mina spends the evening trying not to cry. It has already been five hours since her mother called her, but she is still unable to push the bad thoughts away. So she is hiding in her bed again, thankful that there is no schedule that day.

She swears if their dog, Ray, dies when she is not home in Japan, she will never forgive herself. It has been months since she last saw him and she misses him so. If he was to die without her being able to say goodbye…

There’s a lump in that refuses to leave. She tries to breathe properly, but it hurts.

It just breaks her heart to think about the pain he must be in and how scary it must be to go to the vet. As he has gotten older, he has become even more anxious in strange places and vary of people that he doesn’t know well.

She can practically hear him whining in a sterile room with lights that are too bright and cold.

He’ll be fine…

But he is already 10 years old…

He’ll make it…

What if he doesn’t?

Mina feels a hand on her shoulder and lets out a small squeal. It only takes a second for her to realize who it is. Her body’s instant reaction is to relax and it annoys her. Like she is melting just from a simple touch.

“Hey…” Jihyo says and sits down by the edge of Mina’s bed. “You’ve been in bed for hours now.” She states it as it is and it doesn’t sound like an accusation or anything negative. Jihyo could probably insult others and they wouldn’t realize because of the way she talks.

“Any news?” Jihyo continues as Mina doesn’t say anything.

“No yet,” she answers and tries not to let the bad thoughts in. She seems to fail at that and it shows on her face, because Jihyo frowns and starts caressing her hair.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine. Your mother wouldn’t take him to just any vet.”

“I know.” Jihyo is right of course. She is not the only one who loves Ray so much and thankfully her family has enough money so that they don’t have to get picky. Cost what it may, it wouldn’t be a problem.

The older girl’s hand on her hair manages to calm her down a little.

“Would you like some company?” the leader asks, and searches her face. “Or would you rather just be alone?”

Just as Mina is about to answer, her phone goes off. She sits up immediately and crabs it, answering so fast that the voice on the other end of the line sounds surprised.

“Mina?” her mother’s voice makes a lump rise higher in .

“Is he okay?”

“He is fine. The operation went well.”

“Oh,” Mina breathes, unable to form any coherent sentences.

“He can go home later this week, probably on Thursday. He’s just about to wake up. I’ll call you later, okay? I don’t want him to be around unfamiliar people, or he might feel agitated.”

Silence.

“Mina?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Okay, bye love. Talk to you soon.”

“Bye.”

Mina lets her arm drop and tosses the phone on the blanket. She lets out a heavy sigh and buries her head in he