The exhaustion overlaying her expression had darkened the bags around her eyes. The tone on her face surrounding her like a shadow was of utter misery. To him, she'd never looked so weak before. At once he missed the eager annoyance she'd express when coming across him. Right now she didn't even look like she could scream at him. 

He hated it. Yet, he wanted so much to comfort her.  

"Don't come near me," a breath shakily eased out of when he took a step toward her. Underneath the warning he heard something else, resentment.  

"Nam..." he tried.  

"Get out!" Namjoo screamed, curling her hands up into fists, even shutting her eyes to call up the energy. "I said get out! Get out!"  

It pained his wretched soul to hear her screaming at him so angrily, so dishearteningly. Yet, he still wanted to hold her. His mind refused to budge, gluing his feet like a fool to the ground.  

"I said get out!" Namjoo raised her voice to an even higher level, her frail body trembling as she cried.  

The pillow she flung out hit him along with the plastic cup for water on the bedside table. 

"Get out! Get out! Get out!"

She must hate him to the point where she wished he didn't exist. To know so hurt him to a greater level. He hadn't meant for things to turn out like this. Even though he cared for her she would never accept his feelings now. The door had closed on him. 

His eyes shut when Namjoo flung the hospital phone toward him. And he thought he might as well deserve her wrath. 

The door abruptly opened behind him and he heard Suho gasp before running inside with a water bottle he'd received from one of the nurses. 

"Make him leave Suho. Tell him to get out," Namjoo cried when Suho tried to get her to lay down. 

The way in which her face bitterly contorted up struck his heart with another hammer.

"Ok, ok," Suho repeatedly nodded before turning his way. "I think you should go." 

When Kris glanced back at Suho he didn't think he'd ever felt so helpless before. 

~_____~

Suho started picking up the thrown items on the ground when Kris finally left. 

"You might open up the stitches if you move too much," Suho spoke as he straightened up. "Next time just scream and yell and maybe choke him in your head." 

He hoped to make Namjoo laugh, but upon turning around found her quietly sitting like earlier. Trying not to sigh he replaced the phone and cup before placing the pillow onto the bed. His heart really went out to her. As a friend and colleague, he'd never heard Namjoo talk about wanting a family of her own. Perhaps her own disposition from her family had made her that way, but he wondered if she had wanted to keep the baby she lost.

Quietly sitting down on the bed he peered at the tears still spilling down her cheeks. Had she hated Kris that much?  

"Are you ok?" He gently questioned.  

There was a mental debate about whether to mention Kris or not. The last thing he wanted to do was make her even more angry. If she bottled up all her negative emotions she probably would never get better from this. He'd hate to see her go through what he had when he'd accidentally pulled the trigger on his friend, keeping to himself and meeting up with a psychiatrist every week. That image didn't suit her, it didn't suit anyone.  

"He just wanted to see how you were doing," Suho explained. "He cares about you, you know?"  

Namjoo's lips immediately grew downward and she started crying harder as if he'd just broken unwanted news to her.  

"It's my fault," she sobbed. "Because I wasn't careful. I lost it. It's my fault..."  

A loud grieving cry from the very core of burst out and she cried louder. Suho didn't know what to say. What words would be of comfort at this moment?  

"It's all right," he comforted, hugging her and patting her back. "Everything will be ok again."

~_____~

Donghae was starting toward the staircase with a cup of coffee, stopping in his tracks when he spotted someone sitting in the chair with a magazine over her face. A short breath of surprise seeped through his lips before shifting, starting toward her. 

Grabbing the magazine off her face he started, "Miss Song, I hotel hours are over. It's time to go home."

Victoria first yawned before opening her eyes and finally taking notice of him, quickly sat up. 

"Oh...you're out?" Victoria questioned.  

Donghae frowned at her, "What are you still doing here?"  

"Since you're here, it must mean Namjoo woke up." Victoria stated before standing then twisted her head to look at him. "And so what if I'm still here. Maybe I was just too tired to head back home." 

Donghae's brows grew stiff as his eyes followed Victoria, who was starting up the stairs.

What was with her? 

Catching up to her Donghae commented, "You were probably too lazy to snatch up a cab. Don't you know they do night services if you call in?" 

Victoria turned to shoot him a frown.  

"All right then, Miss Song," Donghae said then held out his hand as they entered the parking lot.

"W...what?" Victoria stuttered almost nervously. Her lids even fluttered anxiously a few times. 

"I'll drop you off at home. Give me the keys. You have the keys to the van, don't you?" Donghae questioned, sticking his hand out further.  

"Oh...oh..." reaching into her pocket she pulled the key out and placed it into his palm.  

"What's with you?" Donghae wondered, confused about why she seemed shaken in front of him. "Still in shock about yesterday?" He smiled and let out a breathless laugh, "I thought you were pretty used to those situations. Guess not." 

When they neared the van Victoria slowly stopped in her steps, "Anyway...thanks for helping me yesterday."

After unlocking the door Donghae turned to look at her.  

Throwing her a smile he commented as he opened the door, "You were pretty cool yesterday, Victoria."

Climbing into the car closing the door behind him, he started the engine ready to take a shower and find something to eat. When Victoria didn't get into the van he opened the window and stuck his head out. For some strange reason, she was still standing where he last saw her.  

"Are you coming?" he called out. 

"Oh...yea," quickly nodding Victoria started toward the passenger door and got in. 

Donghae glanced at her, wondering if she was just tired and out of it or if something from yesterday had apparently surprised her.  

~_____~

"Soup, rice, rolled eggs, and side dishes," Lay spoke to himself under his breath as he closed the lids on the containers, packing them into a little bag.  

Due to a heavy headache last night he'd gotten good sleep thanks to the pills he'd eaten. He was a little sorry he'd left sooner than everyone else, but since he was recharged today he would make up for it by working harder. After a fulfilling meal he hadn't enjoyed in the past few days he felt at ease of mind when he headed out. 

His first stop was Namjoo's room. Suho greeted him quietly, making sure he was quiet since Namjoo had just fell asleep. 

"I should have come earlier," Lay commented. "Did the doctor say if she can eat anything?" 

"Not anything hard or chewy." 

"I brought some soup," Lay gladly noted, setting his bag down. "She can drink the broth. If you're hungry you can have some of it." 

"You made these?" Suho's eyes widened upon watching Lay set out the food he'd brought. 

"Yes." 

"Whoa..." Suho bemused. "You're really something. I can barely cook anything like this." 

"It's really nothing," Lay assured. "Did Donghae and the others leave?" 

Suho's eyes dwindled over the room before answering, "Donghae left. I think Victoria might have left with him. Did you see Kris outside?"  

"Kris?" Lay's eyebrow shot up.  

Suho slightly glanced back and returned his eyes to Lay, "He visited earlier, but Namjoo wasn't really happy about it. I was going to go check on him, but I don't want to leave Namjoo by herself."  

Lay had forgotten that Namjoo had been carrying Kris' baby. The news had been of shock to him, as he was sure everyone else. The last people who'd get together was the ones he'd never thought would get along in the group: Kris and Namjoo, who were always at each other's necks.  

Now that he thought about it, there was probably something he'd misread about them.  

Nodding, he agreed, "I will. I'll get going then."

Suho nodded and Lay put the other foods into the bag again. Picking it up he started toward the door only to stop at Suho's voice. 

"Lay," Suho called, "lets talk later." 

This was unexpected of Suho. He actually didn't know what it was that Suho wanted to say to him, but he nodded. 

Chorong was watching the news when Lay walked into the room. 

"What are you doing here?" Chorong greeted. 

"Thought I should come by to keep you company," Lay said, walking over. "I know it must stuffy staying in the hospital all day. Did they say when you can leave?"  

"I thought I could this afternoon," Chorong explained, "but the doctor said I should stay one more day."

"Really?" Setting the bag down he began to unpack the food. "Why?"  

"I lost a bit too much blood," Chorong explained.  

Lay was suddenly worried, "Are you ok? Will it affect you badly?"  

"Of course not," she shook her head, "I feel just fine."  

"Losing a lot of blood can be a danger to your health," he looked at her, wondering if she was really as fine as she made herself out to be.  

Her eyes never met his though.  

"What's that?"   

"Ah...I thought you might want some homemade food," Lay smiled. "Did you eat yet?"  

"I had some toast, jelly, and salad," she replied. "But I definitely miss homemade food."

"I thought so," he pulled out the tray attached to the bed and set out the food in front of her. He felt extremely proud and happy when her eyes glazed over the food hungrily. 

"Did you really make these?" She questioned. 

"Of course." 

"Wow..." she spoke in awe and looked at him with a happy smile, "I didn't know you could cook. You're much better than me." 

Lay was just glad that in the end, he could still do something for her. It honestly brought much delight to his heart.    

~_____~

All that weeping had drained Namjoo's energy from her. Suho was worried that all this emotional stress would take a toll on her. He sincerely feared that it could cause her to get depressed later and she wouldn’t talk to anyone about it. 

Readjusting the blanket over her he took to pacing around the room then watched the TV on mute before turning it off. Namjoo might be asleep for a while longer, so he stepped outside for a few short moments. Walking down the hallway he thought he should go keep Chorong company for a few minutes and head back to check on Namjoo. 

When he neared Chorong's hospital room, the door had been left wide open and he heard giddy voices coming from inside. He recognized Chorong's cheery voice and Lay's. He could have gone in to join them, but hesitated for some reason, reluctant to show himself.

Chorong, he thought, sounded really happy.

Swiveling around he started back down the hallway, stopping shortly when he reached the long corridor leading to Namjoo's room. Maybe it was the hospital stifling his emotions up. Suho suddenly felt trapped between being open-minded-happy and choked-up-depressed.

Forcing himself forward, he opened the door and poked his head into Namjoo's room. Confirming that she was still asleep he backed out, heading outside. There was a need to find somewhere to quietly sit. The fresh air outside might be able to balance his emotions to a stability. 

He rounded the building toward the back where trees were being held up by the help of some tough metal strings. Not many people were outside on this glorious sunny, but cloudy day. A few wooden benches came into view, surrounded by green bushes and red chips. It was the perfect place for some quiet time alone, but Suho halted in step when he caught Kris sitting further ahead.  

Suho didn't mean to close his ears on their pain. He cared about everyone, he really did, but the past forty-eight hours had probably been too much for him. Suho was suddenly very tired and wanted a longer nap compared to the last three he'd had. He definitely felt sorry for all of them and could see where they were coming from. For a few hours he just wanted some time alone.  

For almost a second he was inclined to head back inside and sleep in the room with Namjoo, but stopped. The voice in his head got the better of him. 

At this moment, Kris like him, had no one to go talk to. Who else knew about Kris' feelings better than he did? That should be more than enough of a reason for him to go and be his sounding board.  

Turning back around Suho stared at Kris who was blankly staring off into the distance. He looked absurdly tired, but probably couldn't leave the hospital grounds because of Namjoo.

Then again, what had exactly gone on between him and Namjoo?  

Pressing his lips together, he trudged forward.    

***Hae's as oblivious to Victoria as Suho was to Chorong before her confession xD

***I'll slowly spin off toward the next segment once Namjoo gets released from the hospital