Hour after hour, I practised until the sounds I made were recognisable. The blue butterfly was about to give up when I decided this was not the time to feel burdened. I raised my newly gained voice and emitted the words I have been practising so hard to say.

“I rub u,” I said quietly and the butterfly only flapped his winds harder. I guess that was supposed to be his way of showing laughter.

“How cute! It’s love –not rub.” The butterfly informed as he stressed the sound of the letter ‘L’. I took his advice and tried one more time.

“I r-love you,” I said and hurriedly slurred the last syllables.

A big satisfied grin formed on the butterfly's insect face.

“That was excellent! Just slow it down a little and practise a little more. I have high hopes that you will say it perfectly.”

As he finished, he flew out the window leaving me isolated in the room again. I glanced at the clock, only a few more hours until he would return, only a few more hours until I would be able to put all my hard work to use.

I felt a rush of excitement and continued to practise saying the same phrase repeatedly over and over again.

After what felt like a few minutes had turned out to be hours. I heard the familiar click of the front door and a rush of footsteps vibrated against the ground. I took a deep breath and prepared myself for the life changing moment that was about to unfold.

The door burst open and my face lit up but was immediately changed when I saw the expression on Joon’s face.

His eyes were red and there were tear stains on his cheeks. Was he crying? He slumped onto bed with an arm covering his eyes. Something big must’ve happened to make him act like this. I guess this wasn’t the best time to say it yet.

He suddenly shot up, eyes firing with determination. His body turned to face me and a hand extended to hold my body, bringing it up to his face.

“Dani, we’re going to the hospital to visit a very important friend of mine. I think she will be happy if I bought you along as a gift.”

With that he jumped off the bed and carried me out of the building. As he exited the house, he carried me under his arm and grabbed a bouquet of red roses that rested on the dining table.

His breathing was fast as his legs carried us to a tall building with multiple stories. This must’ve been the hospital he was talking about earlier. We entered inside and approached people wearing white coats. I scratched my head in confusion and luckily no one spotted me doing so.

The people in white coats took us to a room located on one of the higher floors and gestured for us to enter. Joon sighed and took a step inside. He raced to the single bed before us and fell to his knees. He placed me and the roses beside the bed and grasped the hands of a female sleeping soundly. I stole a peak at her features and saw that she had long, wavy chestnut coloured hair and fair skin.

Could this be the girl that he was always talking about?

“Mia, look I’ve bought your favourite flowers and I even bought over that bear you said was cute when we were shopping. Come on, you’ve stayed strong for all this time, you can’t give up now.” He said shakily as he tried to suppress his crying. 

I watched him shed countless tears over her and my heart felt heavy. I have to tell him now, otherwise I will never get the chance.

“I love you.”

He looked up, surprised at the sudden outburst of words. He let out a small laugh.

“I think I’m going crazy. Mia, I’m hearing your voice.”

No. It’s not her it’s me!

“I love you.”  I said again this time louder and with more emotion.

He shook his head. “I’m hearing your voice again Mia. See what you’ve done to me, I love you so much that I can’t even differentiate between my imagination and reality. Wake up Mia, wake up...” his voice trailed off.

“The doctor said that if you don’t wake up by tomorrow, you’ll-” he paused to wipe away more tears, “you never will.”

Seeing him cry made my heart burn in pain. I wanted to comfort him so I sprung up and started moving my short legs towards him. I lifted my fury paw and started to gently poke his arm.

He looked at me and then confusion swept across his face. He even blinked several times, causing hidden tears to roll down his flawless complexion. I crawled over his arm so that I was now right in front of him. Joon remained speechless.

“I love you.” I said again. Well I couldn’t really say anything else since this was the only phrase I knew.

“Am I dreaming?” Joon asked with his mouth hung open. He rubbed his eyes and stared at me in disbelief.

I walked towards him and wrapped my tiny arms across his chest. “I love you.” I whispered hoping he would understand.

I felt his heart speed up as he gently embraced me as well.

“You... you’re voice sounds exactly like Mia’s.” He said nervously as his gaze darted back and forth from Mia and me.

“I’m losing it.” He said and rubbed his temples with his finger. He placed me on the table beside the bed and took hold of Mia’s hands again. He raised them to his face and pressed his lips against them. “Wake up Mia. I beg of you.”

He didn’t believe me. He didn’t believe that I just said those words. I was disappointed but this was the outcome I had expected. I scanned the room and felt my fur stand on end. There was something familiar about this room. It was white and there was a large window on the side. Somehow it was oddly similar to the room described to me this morning.  I felt chills run down my back when I realised the current situation.

Mia looked like she was in a coma. I was supposedly in a coma before this state. Could Mia possibly be… me?

Everything made sense, there was no doubt about it, I was Mia and Mia was me.  I stood up and walked towards the body and snuggled under the sheets next to her. Joon was immersed in his own prayers to notice me moving and I had a similar prayer of my own.

Please, let me return back to my original body. I don’t want to see any more tears roll down Joon’s face. I don’t want to see him hurt like this. Please let me wake up…

*~*~*~*~*~*

I watched Joon hold onto Mia’s hand, well my hand, without ever letting his gaze wonder off her. Maybe it was the fatigue that got to him but his eyes slowly closed and he rested his head on the edge of the bed. It was getting late and visiting hours were about to end. One of the earlier men in white coats entered the room and gently woke Joon up to inform him about their visiting curfew.

Joon hazily lifted his head, his eyes still locked on the female laying in front of him.

“May I stay here for the night?” Joon asked.

The man gave him an apologetic look. “I’m afraid not.”

Joon lost the brightness in his eyes and his face fell.

“Please help her.” He said, his voice barely audible.

“She’s in a coma. Whether she wants to wake up or not, it is completely determined by her will and her will alone.” The doctor replied as he gave Joon a gentle pat on the back.

Joon’s expression looked horribly pale. As if his career as an idol wasn’t tiring enough, this just made his life more stressful. Joon had no choice but to leave. He left me and the roses next to Mia and started to slowly walk out hesitantly. 

The light flicked off and the door slid close, shutting off any noise from the outside and only allowing the dim light to enter from the gap underneath the door.

I crawled out from the sheets and carefully sat up on top of Mia. My eyes scanned her face and I tilted my head. My hair wasn’t that great, my skin was also not as perfect as I was told it’d be so why did Joon praise me so?

Mia, you better wake up. Joon has been waiting for you ever since I’ve known him. You can’t let everything he’s gone through count as nothing right? So after tonight, I don’t care how much it hurts, or how much you have to struggle but I’m here now.  I’m here to return to you. So please, wake up…

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment about your thoughts or anything you're confused with ^^

The next update will be the final chapter so please look forward to Joon and Dani's progression...? (Is that even the right word to use?) haha I don't know but see you in the next chapter! <3