Several days had passed, and Kyuhyun still hadn’t come out of his coma. Sungmin had stayed by his side every minute though. He hadn’t slept much, skipped school, missed meals; done everything he could to stay next to Kyuhyun as long as he could. “Sungmin, sweetheart you need to go home and get some rest. You haven’t moved in days,” Leeteuk said quietly as he gently rubbed his son’s back.

          “I have to wait for him to wake up,” Sungmin tiredly argued, gripping Kyuhyun’s hand.

          “I know you’re concerned Sungmin, but –” Leeteuk started.

          “I’m not concerned,” Sungmin snapped before standing up. He walked over to the window and looked out as he lowered his head and whispered “I’m scared. I’m scared I’m going to lose him.”

          Leeteuk turned Sungmin to him and hugged the blonde gently as Sungmin cried into his shoulder. “Everything will be okay honey,” Leeteuk muttered.

          “What if it’s not? What if he never wakes up and we never get to be together again?” Sungmin sobbed. “What if we never get our happy ever after and I’m left all alone?”

          Leeteuk placed his hands on Sungmin’s face and looked at his son. “Listen to me Sungmin, you and Kyuhyun are going to be together forever; you will get married and live together for many years, maybe adopt some kids if you want, and you will get to wake up every day next to the person you love, and you’ll be happy. Kyuhyun loves you more than anything in the world, and he’s mentally fighting to wake up so he can make every dream you two have planned come true,” Leeteuk reminded. Sungmin closed his eyes and hugged his parent close as the brunette gently ran a hand through the back of Sungmin’s hair. “You’ll see sweetheart, he’ll wake up soon.” Leeteuk closed his eyes and felt a tear slide down his own cheek as he hugged Sungmin tighter.

          A couple of hours later, Sungmin was sitting in a chair next to Kyuhyun’s bed, with his head lying next to Kyuhyun’s arm. “Don’t leave me Kyuhyun, please don’t leave me,” he begged quietly before yawning. The blonde was trying his hardest not to fall asleep, but his eyes were growing heavier, and Sungmin finally allowed his eyes to close as he gave way to sleep. Not long afterwards, did Sungmin feel something lightly brush against his hair. Forcing his eyes back open, Sungmin looked and saw Kyuhyun’s hand on his head and his eyes slowly open up. “Kyuhyun,” Sungmin whispered as a smile spread across his lips. He leaned forward and placed his hands on Kyuhyun’s face as he pressed their foreheads together and kissed his lips lightly while tears fell from his eyes. “Thank god you’re awake.”

          Kyuhyun smiled and reached a weak hand up to gently brush his fingers through Sungmin’s blonde hair. Sungmin continued to sit next to him and kiss him until the door opened up and Leeteuk walked back in. “Kyuhyun, you’re finally awake,” the brunette parent said with a grin. “I’ll go find your parents; they’re on the first floor somewhere.”

          “How’re you feeling baby?” Sungmin wondered.

          “Hurt,” Kyuhyun replied in a raspy tone. It hurt Kyuhyun’s chest and body for him to even breathe, much less talk, but he wanted to talk to his fiancé.

          “I’m sorry to hear that,” Sungmin apologized as he grazed his fingers over the burn mark on Kyuhyun’s neck.

          “Love you,” Kyuhyun muttered as he pulled Sungmin’s head against his and nudged his face against Sungmin’s.

          “I love you too baby,” Sungmin replied.

          The door to the room opened up, and in walked Leeteuk and Kyuhyun’s parents. “Kyuhyun honey, you’re awake finally,” his mother exclaimed as she rushed over to him. Sungmin stepped out of the way so the woman could hug her son.

          “We were starting to get worried about you son,” Kyuhyun’s dad said, placing a hand on Kyuhyun’s shoulder gently. He turned to face Sungmin before adding “I also got acquainted with your fiancé over there, and I think you made the right choice with Sungmin. That boy never left your side for a minute in the four days you were out.”

          Kyuhyun smiled over at Sungmin before the door opened up again; this time the doctor walked in. “Ah Kyuhyun, it’s a miracle you’re awake this soon after the accident,” the doctor stated. “Now that you’re awake, we can move onto the next step in your recovery, which is getting you into surgery ASAP.”

          “What?” Kyuhyun asked.

          “You have several fractured ribs that we have to go in and fix, and a couple have punctured your left lung, which is why you’re having a hard time talking and breathing,” the doctor informed.

          “Is this surgery safe?” Sungmin wondered as he sat down next to Kyuhyun and took his hand.

          “Yes, after the surgery he should be able to recover fully; there’s only one disadvantage to this procedure,” the doctor said.

          “What disadvantage?” Kyuhyun’s mother questioned.

          “To properly fix his lungs and ribs, we’re going to have to make a hole in his neck, and as a result of that, Kyuhyun will be left mute,” the doctor explained.

          “You mean he won’t be able to talk ever again?” Leeteuk asked.

          “I’m afraid not, he can make sounds, he just won’t be able to speak,” the doctor confirmed.

          “No!” Sungmin yelled before turning to Kyuhyun and hugging him close. “Please, please don’t take his voice.”

          Kyuhyun shushed Sungmin as he slowly wrapped an arm around Sungmin’s body and held him close as he cried into the blonde’s hair. “It’s okay Minnie,” Kyuhyun choked out.

          Seeing Sungmin and Kyuhyun cry like they did, Kyuhyun’s father turned to the doctor and said “You have to find another way to do the surgery.”

          “Sir you don’t understand –” the doctor started.

          “No, I don’t think you understand. You are not going to take my son’s voice away. My son would rather keep a fractured body with a voice than a perfect body with no voice. And I am not about to let my future son in law spend the rest of his life not being able to hear the voice of the one person he loves more than anything in the world. You find another way to perform the surgery and make sure that my son keeps his voice. I know him, and he will be miserable without being able to communicate with his future husband. I don’t care what it takes, how many doctors we have to consult, how much money it costs; but I will not let you ruin my son’s life,” Kyuhyun’s father stated. “Now are you going to find a way or am I going to have to take Kyuhyun to a doctor who actually will do what I request?”

          Kyuhyun and Sungmin looked over at the doctor as silence fell over the room. “Very well sir, we will try to find an alternate procedure for Kyuhyun,” he replied before leaving the room.

          “What was that, why did you make a scene?” Kyuhyun’s mother scolded.

          “Honey look at them,” Kyuhyun’s father said as he pointed his hand over to Sungmin and Kyuhyun. The two were wrapped in each other’s embrace, while Sungmin wiped away the many tears that fell from his fiancé’s eyes. “How can you honestly think that they will be happy if Kyuhyun can’t talk? How would Kyuhyun feel waking up every morning and not be able to tell his husband that he loves him? I’m not about to let our son be miserable for the rest of his life, especially if there’s something we can do to prevent it.” He was silent for a moment before muttering “I’m going out to get some air.” He along with his wife left the room.

          Since he was awake now, Kyuhyun was allowed to eat soft foods to help build his strength back up. Leeteuk sat in the corner and watched Sungmin feed Kyuhyun some food he had retrieved from the first floor of the hospital. “Are you full?” Sungmin quietly asked after all the food was gone. Kyuhyun nodded, not wanting to hurt his chest any more. Sungmin set the empty plate and silverware down on the table next to them before wrapping his arms around Kyuhyun again. “I love you Kyuhyun.”

          “I love you Minnie,” Kyuhyun whispered, running a hand up and down Sungmin’s back.

          After hours of waiting, the doctor finally reentered the room and informed “We have carefully looked over everything and have found an alternate procedure that will ensure Kyuhyun’s ribs and lung will heal completely, and he will be able to keep his voice. The only downside is that he will have a long recovery time.”

          “Wonderful, that’s excellent to hear,” Kyuhyun’s father agreed.

          “We’ve set up a schedule for Kyuhyun to have surgery first thing in the morning. He will need to stay here for about a week after surgery, just to make sure everything checks out okay, but if everything is fine after that, he can continue to recover at home,” the doctor explained.

          The next morning, around eight, a nurse came into the room to get Kyuhyun for his surgery. “I’ll be right here waiting for you when you get done baby,” Sungmin promised before kissing his fiancé’s lips. “I love you.”

          “I love you too,” Kyuhyun echoed as he was wheeled out of the room.

          While Kyuhyun was in surgery, Sungmin sat nervously in the room. “Honey, just relax, it’ll be a while before he comes back,” Leeteuk reminded. “Why don’t you try to take a nap and catch up on some sleep? I’ll stay here with you until Kyuhyun comes back from surgery.”

          Sungmin lay down across the couch and lie his head on Leeteuk’s lap. The brunette parent gently his son’s hair before hearing Sungmin whispered “I love you mom.”

          Leeteuk’s heart pounded as he smiled and leaned his head down to kiss Sungmin’s face. “I love you too sweetheart.”