Our Battle

38. Liberation

"You cannot crowd the room, he needs to be in a calm environment." The nurse shakes his head in disapproval as he looks at the ten people facing him.

They are all in front of Jungkook's room waiting to be allowed to go in.

"So we should take turns to visit him? Come on this is ridiculous. I'm sure he would be delighted to see us all." Jimin grumbles.

"We know he needs tranquility and we are coming to give him love and emotional support not to throw a fucking party." Taehyung complains in pure frustration.

"Still, I can't-"

"Let them be Yasuki," a sudden voice interrupts the arguing nurse. "Go check on the other patients."

"Oh, hi Iseul, how are you doing?" Aiko beams at her longtime friend.

"Well as good as always. What about you?" He returns the question.

"Not too bad, we're here to see our little champ." She says referring to Kookie.

Doctor Shin nods then walks in front of the door and motions for everyone to get closer so they can hear his whispered warning before entering the room:

"He is going to receive his first chemotherapy session in an hour. He woke up at 8 am today and refused to eat breakfast saying that he wasn't hungry and that he felt like throwing up. He threw up around 9:30 am and there was blood in his vomit. Now before you panic, it is a common symptom in pretty advanced gastric cancers. We injected him some intravenous analgesic to ease his stomach pain and he fell back asleep. You may now go in. Just, try to let him rest as much as he can. The following weeks will be quite grueling."

They all nod curtly then silently step into the warm, cosy hospital room. An IV drip, other transparent tubes and a catheter are linking Jungkook's body to some machines. Even though their steps are light and silent, the younger wakes up upon feeling a presence in the room. His sleep has become lighter over the past few weeks. He surely didn't expect so many people to suddenly enter his room though. He blinks as an attempt to free his eyes from the blur that has taken over them when he woke up. His sleepy face turns into a soft smile when he sees his parents and friends approaching his bed.

"Hey baby..." Suri smiles in pure adoration.

"How are you feeling?" Jiho asks softly.

"A lot better, thank you for asking." Jungkook answers with a huge smile totally contrasting his deep, hoarse voice and tired face.

"Hey Kookie! I hope you didn't miss me too much!" Akemi jokes lightheartedly making the younger roll his eyes playfully.

"I missed you so much I cried myself to sleep." He answers with sarcasm making Jimin and Yoongi giggle; that's how they raised him.

However, Jungkook's smile falls when he sees the last person to enter the room. His breath hitches and his heart skips a beat. They keep staring into each other's eyes as if they were in a trance while the others just stand there awkwardly.

"Jungkook..."

"Taehyung..."

"We could give you two for a moment to-"

"No, that won't be necessary." Jungkook says softly, taking Taehyung aback.

He thought the younger may want to talk to him about what happened a couple weeks ago. But he decides to shrug all this off, this is not what he came for. He hesitantly gets closer to Jungkook's bed as everyone starts chatting. He keeps stealing glances at the younger who is trying to cope with all the sudden attention he is getting from everyone. He is obviously saddened to see how unhealthy Jungkook looks and suddenly feels out of place as he looks at the beautiful family in front of him. After all he thinks he is the reason Jungkook is in this situation right now.