-Two days prior to Luhan’s disappearance-

Minseok flipped through Luhan’s charts as Tao chattered away excitedly to Luhan, Minseok smiled to himself at the animated, one-way conversation. Tao had been away for a while and had only returned recently looking worse for wear, he was curious but Minseok was too polite to ask if anything had happened. Whatever it was, it was over now. Everything was back to normal, Tao’s eyes were alive again and that was all that mattered-

A knock on the door made Tao pause his story, a nurse peeked in smiling when she saw Minseok,

“Minseok-shi, the director wants to speak to you,” she told him, Minseok frowned at the oddity.

“But my shift doesn’t start yet, I still have an hour left,” the nurse apologised as she repeated the message making Minseok sigh in defeat,

“Is he in his office?” he asked putting the file in his hand down, the nurse nodded. Minseok thanked her before setting off to his father’s office. He bowed at the secretary who smiled in greeting and mentioned for him to go in, he knocked out of respect before entering. His father looked up at his entrance, Minseok paused not liking the expression his father wore. The last time he had been shown that face, Minseok had- He stopped himself from continuing the thought, supressing the nightmaric memory. He wouldn’t think about it, the lowest point in his life was locked away and would never come to surface again. He steeled himself as he took the seat across his father.

“You wanted to see me, Sir?” he asked politely, his father avoided his eyes. Something was wrong-

“Minseok ah,” Minseok sat up straighter at the informality, “the board members and I have come to an agreement-“

“Have I done something wrong?” Minseok asked worried as he thought of something bad he might have done to his patients unconsciously, his father shook his head.

“It’s about Luhan-“ Minseok shot out of his seat, flight reflex taking place as he shook his head slowly. He knew, no words had to be said.

“I’ve got to get ready for my shift!” his tone was too high, panic apparent as he tried to escape the room.

“Minseok, we’re going to pull the plug on Luhan-“ Minseok paused hand clenching around the doorknob,

“Did Tao agree to this?” he asked voice surprisingly steady.

“The boy is not Luhan’s legal guardian, his parents have approved of our decision-“

“His parents!” Minseok spun around eyes angry, surprising his father with the malice in his tone, “Those poor excuse for humans have never even visited him! Not once! Not once in these two years! They’re not even paying for his bills!”

His father looked put out at his negative reaction, he had wanted this meeting to go smoothly. He should have known better,

“It’s not about the money, Minseok,” he tried to reason, “he hasn’t been improving, he’s wasting away-“

“He hasn’t been declining either!” Minseok argued tone taking on a hectic edge, “his brain is still active! It’s the most active its been in months! How could you do this?!” his voice shook lightly towards the end, he took a deep breath ashamed to find his eyes suddenly prickling with unshed tears. His father stood up approaching him slowly, careful not to agitate him further.

“Don’t let your personal feelings cloud your judgement, Minseok. This relationship you have with Luhan is very unhealthy- when was the last time you went out with friends? Do you even have any friends?“ Minseok didn’t speak up settling to glare at his solemn father instead, “we worry about you, Minseok.”

His father’s words were ones that were recycled and used for times like this, when Minseok started to deviate from his parents’ plans for him. When what he wanted didn’t coincide with what they did.

“My personal life has nothing to do with this,” he said almost hissing with anger, “he’s my patient and he’s still alive! He will wake up!” Silence hung in the air. Minseok felt something in his chest crumble as the seconds passed.

“That’s wishful thinking and you know it,” was the resigned, quiet reply. Minseok deflated, whatever hope he had for Luhan recovering dissapearing in a mere second.

“You can’t do this,” he said weakly, his fingers instictively started to brush over the skin of his wrist, uneven and damaged beyond repair, “give me a few more weeks. I know he’s still in there-“

“Minseok,” his father cut him off, “I can’t, I’m sorry- You have two days. I-“ Minseok left not wanting to hear the rest, the secretary watched him leave in concern.

 Minseok entered the elevator that would lead him to the ward, he wrapped his arms around his shaking body as millions of thoughts assaulted him. They couldn’t do this! He wouldn’t let them do this! He had to stop them, they couldn’t kill Luhan!

 The elevator doors opened and he exited on auto pilot approaching the doctors’ lounge as he concocted a plan that would save Luhan. He couldn’t afford any mistakes, he was already running out of time.  He rounded a corner barely registering that he was suddenly falling backwards until he hit the ground. He remained motionless until his pager started to dig painfully into his hip, he sat up vaguely aware of the person talking to him. He eyed the floor trying to bring up the hospital’s floor plan so he could calculate the fastest way to get Luhan out. Hands wrapped around his biceps lifting him up and pulling him back into reality momentarily.

Minseok felt a wave of dizziness hit him as he stood everything was happening too fast, this was all crazy. What he was about to do was crazy, he was crazy-

“Do you need to see someone? Did you knock your head on the floor?” Minseok blinked eyes unfocused as a young voice penetrated his haze filled brain.

“No,” he answered voice sounding hollow even to himself.

“Are you sure?”

Minseok nodded pulling away from the vaguely familiar boy.

“I’m fine,” he continued in the same tone before walking off. It was Luhan that needed help.

Minseok’s shift had ended. He dragged his trodden body all the way to Luhan’s room, sliding in quietly to take the seat beside the bed. He watched Luhan’s chest rise and fall rythmetically, he bit the insides of his cheeks as a little cynical voice in his head reminded him that it was the machine making the motion not Luhan. He pulled the chair closer eyes blurring slightly with fatigue,

“Give me a sign,” he whispered even though he was the only one in the room besides Luhan, “give me a sign-“ he pleaded. Luhan remained still, a chocked sob made its way past Minseok’s lips as the severity of reality hit him at full force. Fight leaving his body and making him weak. He leaned forward forehead resting on the covers as tears seeped out of his eyes, he remained in that position until his tears dried and sobs no longer racked his weary body. He lifted his head slowly as he felt his cellphone buzz in his pocket,

Want to go out for drinks? Yeol’s treat ;)

Minseok froze as a thought hit him, a slightly manic smile spread across his face as he stood. He pushed Luhan’s fringe away from his forehead,

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he promised before bounding off to meet Baekhyun and Chanyeol.

Present Day

The whole wing was under a lock down although this fact was unknown to most except a few selected staff. It was clear though after an hour search that Luhan was not in the hospital anymore and with him Minseok disappeared as well along with two paramedic interns. Dr. Jung was talking in low tones with a nurse, glancing wearily at Tao and Kyungsoo who were still in a state of shock.

“They were going to pull the plug on Luhan,” Kyungsoo whispered shivering at the thought, that would have happened to him too if he had not woken up. Tao glared at the ground, fingers curled into fists.

“It serves them right! I hope Minseok hyung took Luhan gege far away from these murderers!” he hissed none too quietly, seething at the news that Dr. Jung only revealed to them in order to calm Tao down, he himself had only found out that morning. A few members of the staff looked down ashamed, Kyungsoo grabbed Tao’s arm trying to calm him.

“Let’s go, they won’t tell us anything now,” he cocked his head toward Dr. Jung who was walking away cellphone clutched tightly in his hand, Kyungsoo motioned for Tao to follow. They followed Dr Jung to a secluded corridor of the floor, stopping far enough to not get caught by the doctor. The doctor leaned forward forehead connecting with the wall as he let out a hopeless sound, he was mumbling to himself. Kyungsoo flinched at the sight suddenly feeling sorry, a man approached Dr. Jung from the other side of the corridor. He doubled his pace when he saw the state the doctor was in. As he came closer Kyungsoo recognised him, his therapist was rubbing Dr. Jung’s back expression worried. The vulnerable look was foreign on Dr. Shim’s face. Kyungsoo melted into Tao’s side uneasy at what he was seeing. Tao wrapped an arm around him as Dr. Shim spoke,

“It’s not your fault, Yunho,” he said tone low, Dr. Jung shook his head.

“Minseok could go to jail, Changmin! I was suppose to make sure he made it! Became a doctor! Saved lives! I promised him I would help him save Luhan!” Dr. Jung’s voice shook as his eyes welled up with tears of frustration.

“You did help,” Changmin replied calmly, “you kept Luhan alive for this long! You rejected a promotion so you could continue guiding Minseok and looking after Luhan. You fought with the directors every month to keep him here-“

“But I failed.” Dr. Jung cut in, “I failed both of them…”

It was silent, Dr. Shim turned Dr. Jung around forcing him to look at him.

“You haven’t failed, go meet the other directors,” Dr. Shim waited for Dr. Jung to process his words, “Lie-“

“Changmin!”

“No! Listen to me- Dr. Cho from Gyeonggi Hospital asked for Luhan’s transfer, Minseok is merely aiding the transfer. You only just received the paperwork though fax and the e-mails he sent you went into your junk mail-“

“Are you serious?” Dr. Jung’s brows were furrowed at the quickly woven tale, “Changmin, you can’t do that!”

Dr. Shim smirked,

“Of course I can, I’m a director and according to the email you’ll receive in a few minutes, the transfer was approved of last month,”

Dr. Jung’s jaw dropped,

“Your doctor’s a director?” Tao whispered disbelief tainting his tone, Kyungsoo could only shrug in shock.

“Changmin ah-”

“Don’t thank me yet, you have to carry out your part well if you want to save Minseok’s career and Luhan-“

Dr. Jung nodded eagerly suddenly standing tall, eyes filled with determination. Dr. Shim smiled,

“While you do that I’ll track the kids down-“ Dr. Shim was cut off by Dr. Jung who pulled him into a crushing hug.

“You amazing, amazing man!” he gushed sounding utterly mesmerised. Dr. Shim’s cheeks coloured and he pushed Dr. Jung off himself,

“Stop wasting time!” he said gruffly walking off, Tao and Kyungsoo scurried off themselves as Dr. Jung headed their way.

The ambulance slipped into another lane smoothly despite its jumpy driver, Baekhyun glared into his rearview mirror,

“My mother will kill me if I lose my job, Minseok hyung! Unlike you I wasn’t born into a family that can support me if I become unemployed,” the man he was addressing didn’t even look up from the man they were transporting. Baekhyun let out a groan,

“Why are we doing this?” he asked the lanky man beside him,

“Because we promised Minseok hyung that we’d help-“

“We were drunk, Chanyeol!”

“We still promised,” Chanyeol said silencing Baekhyun who wrinkled his nose,

“You promised him-“ he spat out in the end, Chanyeol pouted at the blame.

“He was crying, you try say no-“

“Whatever! Lets hope this is worth all of our jobs!”

“I’ll take all the blame,” Minseok said suddenly speaking up and startling the two, “you two don’t need to worry,”

Baekhyun deflated,

“How can we not worry? You’ve gone crazy! What happened to you being the only sensible one among us?”

“Baek,” Chanyeol’s voice held warning.

“No!” Baekhyun refused to be silenced, he caught Minseok’s unervingly calm eyes through the rearview mirror, “is his life worth all the people you could have saved if you had just let him go? Is he more worth than your career?”

“You don’t understand, Baekhyun.” Baekhyun’s eyes narrowed, Chanyeol wasn’t sure if this was due to the horrendous city traffic or Minseok’s statement.

“What don’t I understand?”

Minseok was quiet, eyes glassy.

“Luhan’s like me, we’re cowards, we run instead of fighting-“ his eyes brimmed with tears, “I’ve had enough of running…and I want to fight- I want Luhan to fight!”

His uncharacteristic outburst was followed by silence, Minseok’s brows furrowed as he took in Luhan’s still figure.

“I don’t want to be another person who failed him, I can’t- I-I-“ Minseok seemed to be on the brink of a mental breakdown worrying the other two, “I-“ he snorted suddenly as realisation hit him, “I’m still a coward afterall…”

“Minseok-“

“I keep telling myself that I’m saving him, but if he wanted saving he wouldn’t be here- I’m selfish-“

“Hyung,” Chanyeol looked worried as he turned in his seat, Minseok was starting to hyperventilate.

“I’m holding him back,” he whispered lowering his head in resignation, “I-I-“

Chanyeol’s eyes widened as Minseok reached over Luhan’s body shaking fingers curling around a wire. Chanyeol didn’t even have the time to protest as Minseok pulled the plug. Baekhyun and Chanyeol were stunned silent as he started to cry.

The board members were gathered at the entrance of the hospital, some annoyed at the revelation of the mix up others relieved.

“I’ve talked to Dr. Cho and he’s sent his apologies, he said he’s sent the boys back and we can do the transfer once the papers have been reprocessed. The boys should be arriving soon,” Dr. Shim announced sliding his phone back into his pocket, his presence was commanding despite being the youngest among the board members. They nodded some leaving for other appointments, while others stayed to gossip about the unusual mix up. Dr. Jung was frowing as he joined Dr. Shim.

“They’re coming back?” he asked, Dr. Shim nodded expression stormy as Director Kim approached them eyes relieved.

“I cannot thank you enough-“ Dr. Shim pursed his mouth knowing the director was refering to the cover up.

“He’s pulled the plug, you should be elated,” he reported unable to contain himself, eyes seeking out Kyungsoo who had been deserted by Tao after he broke the news to them. Minseok’s voice had shook so much when he called, Dr. Shim could barely make out that he pulled the plug on Luhan before the line went dead.

“Excuse me?” the Director frowned at tone the information was delivered in, Dr. Jung placed a hand on Dr. Shim’s shoulder squeezing it warningly. Dr. Shim shrugged him off as a red eyed Tao came back into view,

“Holding on doesn’t mean one is weak, if anything Minseok is strong- was strong… you had better pray he’s fine,“ he strode off towards the two teens. Dr. Jung cleared his throat awkwardly about to apologise on his behalf when an ambulance pulled up. It’s driver got out looking shaken, Dr. Jung knew by his age that this was the ambulance with his patient. He moved towards the doors quickly, faltering when a ragged Minseok stumbled out of the back. He was shaking, eyes red rimmed and wild.

“Dr. Jung-“ he took a step away from the ambulance, Dr. Jungs’s eyes widened as the intern dropped to his knees. He was by his side in a few seconds, Director and Dr. Shim following closely.

“It must be the shock,” Dr. Shim said trying lift the still intern, another lanky intern stepped out of the ambulance.

“It is,” he agreed eyes wide as he pointed to the body in the ambulance. The three veterans turned simultaneously, Dr. Jung got to his feet only to almost drop back down like Minseok. Luhan blinked at him slowly before his eyes lowered to Minseok,

“Sa-sa-saved me-“ Luhan’s croak was barely audible, his brows furrowed at his rough voice. A sharp bark of laughter left Dr. Jung’s lips, before he started laughing uncontrollably. He had to hold the ambulance door to keep upright. He barely caught Dr. Shim barking out order to the staff as a shocked Kyungsoo and Tao approached quickly, not believing their ears. The two paused when they caught sight of Luhan before scrambling onto the ambulance.

“Ge!” Tao yelled only to quiet down when Kyungsoo shushed him, Luhan didn’t seem surprised to see them. His tired eyes were clouded with worry, shooting down again to Minseok who had not moved from his position on the pavement.

“Wi-will he be fine?”

Tao couldn’t help but laugh, tears in his eyes as he nodded.

“He’ll be fine! And so will you!”

A//N: Hey y'all, I'm back to drop this before disappearing again. I'll be back to edit any mistakes later :) to those who saw it coming, yes! sorry for being predictable ;) To any of you who read my other stories, don't worry I haven't forgotten them. I'll update them as soon as I can :) One more chapter guys...