Siwon ran toward Ryewook.  "Hyung, hyung, wake up. Please wake up." Siwon desperately shouted as he shook Ryewook. By now the other members had climbed down, carrying Kangin. Siwon looked up at Leeteuk with a worried look.  "He is not waking up hyung." he said. Leeteuk ran to both of them and lifted Ryewook head up. He started giving him mouth to mouth. After a few tense moments, Ryewook began to sputter and eventually opened his eyes. He was disoriented at first but eventually he came around.

He sat up and began to look at his brothers. They were battered and brusied, some much worse than others but still alive. He noticed that Kangin was not standing among them.   "Where is Kangin? Why is he not with you?" Ryewook asked.  "He didn't make it. The monster got to him before we could stop him. He drained him of all his blood." Kyuhyun stated with tears in his eyes as he pointed at Kangin's body.  

Ryewook ran toward Kangin body and cried in anguish.  "No, no, this cannot be happening!  You cannot be dead." he yelled, "Come on, wake up, please."  Ryewook desperately shook Kangin's body. He was not sure if it was due to his desperation or not, but Ryewook was sure he saw a small flutter in Kangin's eyes. "He is alive, he is alive. I am telling you, he is alive."  Ryewook began yelling.  The other members ran over to check.  "I think he is right, I think I can feel a pulse. Quickly we need to get medical help!" Kyuhyun shouted. 

Emergency services were called and the most injured members were airlifted to the nearest hospital for treatment. Sangmin, Donghae and Kibum were immediately transported into surgery to address their wounds. The other members were treated and released, but they refused to go.  Their brave brother Kangin was on death door.

On the flight to the hospital, the EMTs had lost Kangin and had to use the paddles to shock him back to life.  As soon as they landed, Kangin was run into surgery and then placed in ICU.  He was given a blood transfusion but his blood loss was significant.  As a result, the hospital did not have enough of his blood type in storage and the staff was scrabbling to get more blood from other nearby hospitals, but they were losing time.  Kangin's wounds were still bleeding despite the surgery to repair them. The doctors were afraid to schedule him for further surgery in his unstable condition.  In discussion with the doctors, several of the members volunteered to donate their blood. "Kangin cannot just have any type of blood.  He is Type O and can only accept Type O blood."  the lead doctor responded. Shindong, Hangeng and Eunhyuk raised their hands stating they had Type O and were willing to donate.    

They were escorted into another room and prepared for the blood transfusion.  Each took his turn being hooked up for the live transfusion. Due to Kangin's blood loss, the boys were asked to donate more than usual, but these were desperate times and time was of the essence.

After the transfusions had been completed the members had no choice but to wait. This was the hardest part. Patience is not a young man's game.  For the next two night, the boys rarely left the hospital, only to shower and change.  Each took turns sitting next to Kangin, talking to him or just holding his hand to let him know he was not alone. Each of them commented on how small and frail Kangin looked in the hospital bed.  Here was one of the biggest and strongest of their members looking so vulnerable. They realized how fragile life was and that they needed to rely on each other more.

It was obvious that the vigil was starting to take a toll on the group.  It had been a rough few days and their appearance and mood was reflecting it. They began to snap at each other and bicker over litte things. Something would have to happen soon. 

The sun was just coming up on the third day since the ordeal in the woods. Ryewook was finally allowed by the doctors to sit with Kangin for a short period of time. He was still recovering from his wounds.  After a couple of hours sitting with Kangin, Ryewook fell asleep still holding Kangin's hand.

The bright morning sun was shining in Kangin's eyes and it had woken him up. In a way he was glad the sun had woken him up as he was having a horrible nightmare.  He tried to lift his hand to block the sun from his face but realized there was someone holding it.  Her turned and looked toward the owner of the hand. There was Ryewook, slumped in the chair fast asleep.  Kangin looked at him closely and realized that Ryewook was wearing a hospital gown, a neck brace, was bandaged and had several bruises.  Alarmed, he looked around and realized he was in a hospital bed, hooked up to several machines.  He tried to sit up but the pain over his entire body caused him to lose his breath and fall back onto the bed.  Ryewook sat up startled.  "Hyung!!" he called out in a panic. Kangin looked back at him just as startled.  "What happened?" Kangin asked confused.  Before he could ask anything else, Ryewook began yelling, running into the hospital hallway, "He's awake, he's awake!!!".  

A commotion arose outside and a crowd stormed into his room, doctors, nurses and his brothers. Everyone was very excited and started asking questions. Kangin was starting to get overwhelmed by all of the activity.  Suddenly one of the doctors yelled for everyone's attention and ordered everyone out except for essential staff.  Under protest, the members walked out and the staff began to examine Kangin.

After the doctors were done, they allowed Leeteuk and Heechul to come into the room. "What is going on?" Kangin asked.  "You don't remember what happened in the forest four days ago?" Heechul responded, "You almost died."  Kangin sat back and suddenly the cloudiness in his head began to clear.  It wasn't a nightmare. It actually happened. "Hyung, is everyone alright, Ryewook, Siwon and Sungmin?"   "Everyone is all right, a little battered and bruised but for the most part all right." Leeteuk answered, "You gave us the worse scare.  We thought you would never wake up."  

After a few days, Kangin was released and he returned to the dorm.  Life went back to normal and the members resumed their busy schedules, but now they made more of an effort to spend time with each other, appreciating what they had together.  They became true brothers. 

It became an unspoken rule that the incident in the forest would never be discussed, ever again. The memories of those few hours of terror left deep wounds that would never fully heal, but they also created a bond that would never be broken between these men for the rest of their lives.  

THE END