Erin bursts through the door of her and Jin’s shared apartment. She’s completely panicked as she searches for Jin. “Jin! Jin! Are you home?”

Her best friend appears at the end of the hallway. "Erin, what's the matter?"

She turns into a teary-eyed mess and tries to speak through choked sobs. "It's Marie. Jin, she--she's been in an accident." Another loud choked sob escapes. "B-Barry called. She's been rushed to the hospital and is being operated on. Jin, she's eight months pregnant--the baby. She's shaking, chest heaving.

“Oh my god..” Jin trails off, then covers his mouth.

They stand there looking at each other, crying. Then, Erin runs to Jin, nearly knocking him down.

Jin keeps a hold of her. "You have to go, honey. Hurry and pack. I'll secure a plane ticket."

Erin let’s go of Jin and wordlessly walks away. Shock has taken its hold of her.

~~

It was a grueling fifteen-hour flight. Erin had sporadically broken into tears and apologized to neighboring passengers for at least ten of those hours.

Marie. The baby.

Erin cannot wrap her head around it. She's has been with Marie through all of the phases of her pregnancy--her first and possibly last pregnancy. Erin is mentally beating herself up. She abandons the only person, other than Jin, who has given a damn about her. Erin dries her eyes for the umpteenth time. Even though she's turned out to be a disappointment at least Marie has her boyfriend, Barry, by her side. She doesn't know much about Barry, but from the time she had spent around the man, he seemed like a decent person.

It’s time to deboard the plane and this time Erin doesn’t really care for being polite; she pushes past everyone. Erin needs to make every second count now, time is much too precious and she might not have much of it. She skips the baggage claim because, thankfully, she only brought the one carry on; she rushes to the exit. If she were being honest, staying inside of that airport makes her feel worse. Marie was the one who had brought her here the day she left for South Korea. It was emotional. She had looked back right before continuing toward the plane and Marie was walking away with her head down. That wasn't an ideal memory of Marie.

Erin rushes through the door and walks to the curb. She holds out a shaky hand to hail a taxi. Within a minute a yellow vehicle halts to a stop in front of her. She enters."To the hospital, please."

The taxi driver nods as he puts the vehicle in drive. It's a wordless twenty minutes.

They pull up at the entrance of the hospital. Erin pays the driver and makes a quick exit. She takes a deep, shaky breath before making her way inside. She passes through the sliding doors and walks straight to the information desk. "Excuse me. I-I'm here for a patient, Marie Davenport."

The nurse gives her a room number and directions.

Erin thanks her as she does her best not to break down again. The walk to Marie’s room felt endless when in reality it was barely two minutes.

Room 8--

Erin steels herself before seeing Marie for the first time after six months. She walks in slowly and is met by the sight of Barry sitting in a chair next to an unmoving Marie, who is hidden under various cords and a hospital-issued blanket. They are surrounded by beeping machines; some are displaying vital signs and there is one breathing for her. Erin crosses the room with forced, steady steps. "Barry," she whispers.

The man focuses his attention on her. "Erin..hey."

She nods at him, then looks to the bed. The person lying in that bed is supposed to be Marie--the beautiful Marie who is usually so energetic and animated. This person whose features are swollen just lays there lifelessly. Her strawberry-blonde curls are laying loose and unkempt over her shoulders. Some of the strands are matted with blood. This isn't Marie; it can't be Marie. This is just a dream--a terrible, horrible dream. And Erin will wake up any minute now.

“Erin, we-we need to talk about Marie..and the baby.”

~~

There she is, standing at the window of the NICU. She looks to the baby boy laying inside of an incubator, so small and covered in cords.

“That one is a fighter.”

Erin's trance is broken by the voice of a nurse. "Huh? Yeah. Yeah, he is."

She looks back to the sleeping baby; he is unbothered. He had just been involved in a horrific wreck, is two months premature, and diagnosed with Down syndrome. Yes, he is a fighter.

The nurse continues cautiously, "I know what I am about to say will sound intrusive; I know that his biological father walked out without acknowledging him and that the responsibility of the mother and baby is now in your hands. That is a lot to take in at once. Do you have anyone you can talk to about this? Anyone who can help you make some difficult decisions?"

This isn't a dream.

Erin takes no offense in her words. The nurse only voiced the truths that she herself could not. Erin has two lives in her hands now. Her eyes are extremely puffy and dry. She tries to blink away the sting.

"Yes. Yes, I do," she confirms.

The nurse places a hand on Erin's shoulder and offers her a sympathetic smile. "Okay. There's still some time for you to make decisions. Don't feel rushed."

Erin is left alone at the window of the NICU. She pulls out her cell phone to call Jin.

~~

Roughly seven thousand miles across the world, Jin is worriedly pacing back and forth in their apartment. Almost twenty-four hours have passed and he has not heard

from Erin.

"Baby, please..come here sit down," Namjoon carefully advises.

Jin opens his mouth to fight, but he’s exhausted. He plops on the sofa and immediately slumps onto Namjoon.

Yoongi and Jimin are there with them; silent and supporting. They had arrived the night before right after Namjoon had gotten off the phone with a frantic Jin.

“I’m so worried and I miss my best friend. Poor Erin,” Jin cries out.

Truthfully, they all share the same emotions but not to the extent of Jin. None of them knew Marie, it’s still sad nonetheless.

The ringtone Jin has set for Erin fills the air. Jin quickly retrieves his phone, answering in a panic, "Hello?!"

“Jin..hi.”

The small, exhausted voice of his best friend causes him to break.

Namjoon takes the phone from Jin.

“Erin, it’s Joonie.”

She cries.

“I’m going to put you on speaker. Yoongi and Jimin are here too.”

"Okay." She manages to say. After a few minutes and many tears, all is calm enough for her to inform everyone. "Hi everyone. I miss all of you so much and I wish you guys were here with me. This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do." After all of the guys take turns expressing their sentiments Erin continues. "Maire was on her way home after a quick shopping trip from the grocery store. It was late at night, while Barry was at work when she had a persistent craving. He was the one who usually went out for her because she had developed the habit of randomly falling asleep. She'd often fall asleep during normal day-to-day tasks. On that night she called Barry but was sent to voicemail. She left him a detailed message of her plans and assured him that everything will be fine." There is a pause and some sniffling on her end. "When the ambulance and police officers arrived at the scene, I assume, they didn't have high hopes. Marie's car had been T-boned with great force; the driver's side had been crushed in. They suspect that she had fallen asleep behind the wheel causing her foot to slowly release the brake. The car rolled into the intersection. The other driver was texting and sped through the green light. Well, she was rushed in and operated on. Uh, they were able to save the baby, but she is barely responsive. She's hooked up to a machine that breathes for her. There are two options. Wait and hope for progress or unplug her. Chances are slim the longer we wait for her to regain consciousness."

Jin is clutching his chest and has Namjoon’s hand in a death grip.

Jimin is leaning on Yoongi and sobbing.

Erin sighs before continuing, "The baby. He-his...Barry walked out. He didn't sign the birth certificate, he wants nothing to do with the baby. The baby is two months premature and has been diagnosed with Down syndrome; he-he has no name." Erin burst into tears again. "I'm the only family Marie has left. She-she never told me about the baby. She made me believe that everything was fine. I-I.." she trailed off. Everything is flashing through her head all at once. She knew, in her heart, there is only one option. "I have to take care of him. I can't let them take him away."

Jin speaks up. "Erin, give Marie time, as much time as they will allow. And if things don't turn out well, then you bring him home with you." Jin looks to the guys.

At some point during their call, everyone had surrounded the coffee table and joined hands. They are looking to Jin and nodding in determination.

"We are your family and we will be with you and baby every step of the way." He finishes.

That's all she needed to hear, confirmation that her friends are and have been her anchor. For the first time in twenty-four hours, a glimmer of positivity enters her heart. She wipes at her tear stained cheeks. She takes a deep breath.

"I truly love all of you. Now, one more thing...we need to decide on a name, you know just in case."

After an hour they all agree on a name, Hyeon Lee. The only thing they had instantly agreed upon was giving the baby a mostly-Korean name considering that South Korea is where Erin has already begun to put down roots.

Erin is back in the room with Marie. She is sitting on the bed next to her and has a hold of one of her cold hands. "Marie, it's Erin. There are no words to describe how much I miss you. How much I wish to see your smile. Barry is gone, but I'm here. Your son is fine. Premature, but fine. Doc and the nurses say he's a fighter." She lets out a heavy sigh. "They're giving us a maximum of four weeks for you and for the baby, well it depends on how he progresses. I will do my best hold on to hope." She starts to cry. "But if at any point you cannot hold on..it's okay to let go. Everything will be just fine. I have a backup plan and a name for him. Wanna hear it?" Erin laughs. "Hyeon Lee. What do you think of that, hm? A white baby boy with a Korean name. Well, a mostly-Korean name. I have a middle name in mind, Mariano. It's a bit out there but I want to commemorate you. I made a list of names that had variants of your first and last name combined. Hm, I don't know. I guess that's the one that stood out the most." Erin lets out another heavy sigh as tears roll down her cheeks. "Your son is in good hands, Marie. I love you."