Minho’s head jerked up at the sound of the closing door. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep but with the quiet of the hospital room and the rhythmic sounds of Jinki’s assisted breathing there was nothing he could do.

Jonghyun and Key automatically took their places at Jinki’s bedside while Sulli moved to the end to examine his chart. Amber hummed softly at the sight of Jinki’s peaceful face. “The bruises have finally healed.” She spoke softly in a tone nothing like her normal self.

“The doctor says that he will have a scar on his face where his cheekbone was shattered.” Minho said, releasing Jinki’s hand and setting it gently on the older boy’s chest. “See.” He pointed out a thin white line on what appeared to be otherwise unmarked skin.

“Its tiny.” Key said reaching over to the scar himself. “I thought that it would be a lot bigger…” His voice trailed off as he recalled the horror that was Jinki’s injuries the night he was brought in.

“Thanks to your dad.” Minho said. “I don’t think any other plastic surgeon would have been able to top him.” The tall boy stared at his unconscious friend.

“Jinki’s chart says that most of his injuries have healed by now.” Sulli said as she ran a finger down the paper, reading the doctor’s notes.

Minho nodded. “Everything physical, but they still can’t figure out why he won’t wake up.”

“What happened to him?” A tiny voice from the door asked causing the friends to jump and remember the new addition in the room. Taemin looked out of place, uncomfortable with his surroundings and unable to fully understand why he was there.

Minho blinked twice, as if to clear his vision and really see Taemin standing there. Then he stood up and walked towards the window, looking back only once at his bed ridden friend. Looking out onto the small courtyard, Minho took a breath, gathering his thoughts about where to begin.

“Its hard to explain.” Minho started, watching a young man push an elderly woman in a wheelchair. “He’s in a coma, has been since last autumn when he was found nearly beaten to death…” Minho’s voice trailed off as it became thick with emotion.

“We told him to stop. Warned him about what could happen. But he didn’t. He just kept searching.” Minho continued. No one else wanted to speak knowing that Minho was the closest to their older friend.

Taemin chewed on his bottom lip. Minho’s words were confusing, but the newcomer didn’t want to say anything that could ruin the best thing he ever had, but Minho went silent after his jumbled ramblings.

“What Minho means is that Jinki was always looking for … something… we think that he was getting close before… this happened.” Key spoke up gesturing to the boy in the bed at the end. “We think that he found something and someone wanted to keep him quiet.”

Minho made a funny noise and his head dropped towards the window, his forehead making a thump as it connected with the windowpane. “He wouldn’t be like this if I’d gone with him.”

“Don’t say that.” Sulli said, setting the chart down on Jinki’s bed and rushing over to her brother. “We’ve gone over this, even the police agree, if you’d have been with him, you could be lying there too!” The young girl draped herself over her brother, moving close to him as he instinctually pulled her in for a hug.

“But I could have..”

“Nothing.” Taemin said softly, finally moving into the room and over to the bed. “If someone wanted to hurt him, it wouldn’t have mattered if you were all there. Sooner or later he would be alone.” His voice sounded like he was thirty years older than he was, it was tired and full of experience.

He glanced at Jinki’s chart, lying on the crisp white sheets, reading over the admittance statements. He took in the horrors of Jinki’s injuries and found himself compelled to take Minho’s spot at Jinki’s bed.

“When people want someone to hurt, they won’t stop.” Minho turned around at those words and saw Taemin brushing Jinki’s long fringe out of his closed eyes. “They never stop until they get what they want. Especially pain. Some people live off pain.”

Minho couldn’t see Taemin’s eyes but he felt as though they would have shown him nothing but pain and memories of torture. “How many times?” He asked, moving out of Sulli’s embrace to stand near his new friend.

Blinking back tears, Taemin shook his head. “I stopped counting after my foster families stopped taking me to the emergency room.” He lifted the back of his hair and showed Minho the back of his neck. “I started growing my hair out after my last foster father decided that my skull was the best place to put out his lit cigarette.” Underneath all his long, copper hair was a series of small, circular scars.

“The doctors in Chicago knew me by name and it took them over four foster homes to convince child services that I was being abused. I wasn’t even eight.” He dropped his hair and looked at Minho with wet eyes. “By the time I was twelve I’d been in and out of hospitals more than I’d been in school.”

Stepping away from everyone, Taemin took his turn at the window and watched the same young boy and elderly woman sitting by the circular central fountain. “My longest stay was on my thirteenth birthday.” A dark chuckle escaped his lips as he remembered. “Happy Birthday to me.”

“What happened?” Amber asked, voice full of undisclosed emotions.

Shaking his head Taemin refused to say, but in many ways what he disclosed was much worse. “My foster father thought that I was pretty and his wife was away a lot.”

The silence in the room could have been cut by a knife as everyone processed that statement.

“Oh Taemin…” Sulli began taking a step towards him.

The young boy held out his arms and shook his head. “No, please don’t. Please don’t think different of me.”

Minho looked at the terrified look on Taemin’s face, realization about just how much of himself he had revealed hit hard. It was no wonder the younger was still so skittish, how he still flinched when someone touched him and why he was such a light sleeper.

“Don’t blame yourself.” Taemin continued, face nearly expressionless as he turned to look at Minho and then around at the others. “Whoever hurt Jinki wouldn’t have stopped even if you were there, what they did to him was calculated and done on purpose.”

A knock at the door cut off anything Taemin could say and left no time for anyone else to respond.

“Come in.” Jonghyun called out, standing up as the door swung open.

“Hello gentlemen, ladies.” An older man wearing a white doctor’s coat entered the room. His black hair was edged with silver and his eyes looked tired, as if he’d been on shift all night. He nodded to each individual in turn, eyes slowing on Taemin, but not stopping. “I hope everyone is well.”

“Yes Doctor Park, thank you.” Amber said, “This is our new friend Taemin, from America.” She smiled Taemin’s way.

“America, what brings you to South Korea?” Doctor Park asked, giving the young boy a glancing once over.

“Seoul Academy.” Key said before Taemin had a chance to respond. “What else?”

“Only the best for the brightest.” The doctor agreed. “Perhaps you wouldn’t mind waiting outside for a moment?”

Taemin nodded and went to move when a hand on his arm stopped him. “Stay.” Minho said. “You don’t know the hospital, you wouldn’t want to get lost.”

“I can stand outside the door.” Taemin reasoned, but Minho refused, not relinquishing his grip.

“Alright.” Doctor Park said, looking less than amused. “It appears that Jinki’s condition has had no change in the last month. We’ve been monitoring it daily and aside from the remaining surface wounds there has been no change. I believe that we have to face the worst, all signs point to the fact that Mr. Lee is brain dead.”

He stopped speaking to let the words sink in.

Sulli ran from the room, Amber hot on her heels, while tears ran down Jonghyun’s cheeks as Key pulled his head to his chest. Minho’s grip on Taemin’s arm tightened and the younger knew that he would be bruised.

Then Doctor Park continued. “I’ve suggested to his parents that we take him off life support.”

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*hangs head* I have no excuses for why I haven't updated this in ... forever... but *bows* I'm sorry!

I'm on a roll now and hopefully will be able to get back on track with my updates!

Anyways, what do you think? Tell me what's on your minds!

Loves to you all!

Kat