The frosted glass doors were no match for Park Jimin as he barreled through the entrance to the emergency room with ease.

"Somebody, please help my mother!" His voice drenched in agony, the boy who carried his limp mother through the double doors called out to anyone. As loud as his cry was, to him it felt as if no one could hear him to the extent that he wanted to scream. It was like in all the movies, when everything goes in slow motion once something traumatic happens. That was it. That's what it felt like.

A young blonde lady who couldn't have been a day over thirty sat behind the reception desk, gawking at Jimin with pained eyes. Not that anything that walked through the emergency room doors was even remotely pretty, this particular sight of a teenage boy being hysteric over his ill mother in his arms seemed to poke at the lady's heart a bit more than usual. With a quick motion of her hand, she summoned Jimin towards her desk, picking up a nearby phone to page any available doctors.

Jimin waited patiently before the receptionist hung up the phone, and turned her undivided attention onto the boy. "What seems to be the problem, sir?" As hard as it was to be professional, she kept her voice upbeat and level.

Jimin inhaled deeply, his eyes focusing on the nice lady in front of him rather than shifting frantically around the well lit room. "My... my mom is a regular patient h-here. Park is the surname, y-you can look up her files."

The receptionist nodded while turning to her computer, soon typing in the given name to pull up her past records, Jimin pointing out which file withheld her information.

Jimin took this time to elaborate. "Sh-she has osteosarcoma, and this—this morning I found her on the bathroom floor after she had f-fallen last night." Jimin briefly paused to look down at his mother in pain, shutting his eyes to let the hot tears fall down his face. "She never told me it had gotten this bad."

The blonde lady replaced her attention on the shaking boy and nodded with sympathy. "It's gonna be okay..."

"Jimin," he answered through a subdued sob.

"It's gonna be okay, Jimin," she picked back up. "I've already paged a few doctors to take good care of your mom, and I've already got her files on hand so everything is under control. Now, is there anything specific they need to focus on?"

"She just told me she was hurting." Jimin wiped his own cheek with his shoulder. "This can't be the last time I see her. I know all too well what this means, and I need somebody to help her be able to come home."

The young lady was caught off guard by Jimin's bluntness but decided on nodding along. As much as she wished to promise the boy that his mother would make it out alive, she knew it was much easier said than done.

Within a tense couple of seconds, three doctors rounded the corner and dragged a stretcher along with them to meet Jimin and his mom. Obediently, Jimin handed over his mother and watched as the doctors situated her onto the stretcher and get in position to leave.

Of course, he embarked on following his mother before he was stopped by a forceful hand that took him off guard.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I have to ask you if you would please wait in the waiting room. I'm afraid we can't allow you to see your mother until we run some tests and do what we need to do." The harsh male voice asserted himself over Jimin which worked like a charm, causing Jimin to shy down and nod compliantly.

He just stood there for a moment. Watching intently as doctors took away his precious mother and left him to wait. Wait and worry? Wait and cry? Wait and lose all hope? It was all of the above for Jimin.

Although, he didn't want to do it alone. He couldn't do it alone. That's when his fingers eventually found their way to his back pocket, then to Taehyung's contact and pressed call.

After only two rings he heard and eager "hello?" grace his pounding eardrums.

"Taehyung," his voice faltered. "I n-need you."

"Oh my God, are you crying? What is it, baby?"

"I'm... I'm at the hospital."

"The hospital? What happened to you?"

"No. My mom."

"Oh." Taehyung's voice trailed off, almost like he was afraid to ask any further questions.

"She... she—" Jimin couldn't finish his sentence the moment he broke down into tears again. Taehyung was simply left to listen to the heart wrenching sound, bringing chills to his skin.

"Please don't cry, Jimin. I'm on my way. You can tell me everything when I get there. Just please, stay calm for me." Taehyung quickly ended the call, racing out of his bedroom and towards the front door. His baby was hurting and he wasted no time to fix it.

Jimin was sniffling so loudly that he hadn't even realized the phone call had ended as he was beside himself, still in front of the reception desk. That's when the blonde lady felt as if she had seen enough, finally taking action to comfort the stranger.

After she rounded the desk, a loving arm snaked it's way around Jimin's shoulders, pulling him into a warm hug. "It's gonna be okay, honey. There's no need for those tears."

Jimin recognized the feminine voice as the nice lady who had helped him earlier, leaning farther into the hug to muffle his softening sobs. He wanted to thank her, but the words couldn't manage to leave the boys tongue as he was more focused on keeping his emotions in tact.

She eventually loosened her grip on Jimin when she noticed a decrease in his body convulsing, meeting his strained eyes through crooked glasses frames. "Why don't you call a relative or a friend to come wait with you?" The kind woman began walking Jimin over towards the waiting area, fearing that if the boy was left alone he'd crumble into a million pieces.

Jimin swiped his sweater under his dampened lash line and along his rosy nose. "I called my boyfriend, actually. He—he should be coming."

The blonde lady smiled, coaxing Jimin to take a seat in one of the many cushioned chairs lining the bland wall. "Alright then. I have to get back to work, so will you be fine here?"

Jimin sadly nodded, drawing in a hitched breath while he studied the considerably sparse waiting room. "I think I'll be okay. Just tell me when I can see my mom."

The receptionist looked the now calmer Jimin right into his inviting, pleading eyes. "I promise."

And that was the first time she had seen even the smallest of smiles glance across the boy's face since he'd stormed through the emergency room doors.

❦

About half an hour later, a silver-haired boy around the same age as Jimin came into the sight of the young blonde lady who accompanied the front desk of the emergency room. The familiar worry in his eyes already told her exactly who he was looking for as he blurted out, her long, well-manicured nails pointing out the location of his grieving boyfriend.

Taehyung melted at the sight of Jimin curled up into a little ball in his chair, knees glued to his chest, struggling to hold back the whimpers that itched to reign free. Quickly thanking the woman, he raced over to the distressed boy, making himself known.

The moment Jimin laid eyes upon the weak smile plastered across his boyfriend's face, he immediately shot out of his seat, running into the protective arms that were spread out wide. At last, Jimin could let out what he had been holding onto the entire time he'd been waiting. The immense comfort he felt within Taehyung's grip told him that it was safe to break down, like he only ever did when inside the comforting walls of his own home. Now, Taehyung was his home.

"It's okay, Jimin. I'm here. Just let it all out on me." Those gentle words fit hand in hand with the soft lines Taehyung was caressing up and down Jimin's back. Thankfully, his tight hold onto the older seemed to drown out most of the sobs and wails that longed to be released.

At this point, Taehyung was completely holding up Jimin's weight, being the only thing keeping him from collapsing to the carpeted flooring. The older had no strength to hold himself up as he clutched onto the sides of his boyfriend's jacket, convulsing hopelessly.

Taehyung was fair in giving Jimin enough time to empty his emotions, resulting in about ten minutes of standing there, stroking him calmly. Eventually though, the pair moved into a seat together. Otherwise knows as, Taehyung sitting in a chair while Jimin sat on top of his lap to bury his head in the crook of the younger's shoulder.

Taehyung wanted to ask. He wanted to ask a spectrum of questions, but decided against it in fear of provoking another sobbing fit from Jimin. The last thing he needed was for his boyfriend to end up in the hospital as well from crying to the point of exhaustion, and judging by the state he was already in, that wasn't a far fetched possibility.

Therefore, he only cuddled the older in silence, the only noise being the occasional sniffle from Jimin. Taehyung was more than willing to wait until the boy was ready.

Thankfully, it ended up being sooner than later when a hoarse "Taehyung," left Jimin's lips after about five long minutes.

"Yes, baby?" Taehyung shifted so that he could study his boyfriend's swollen, tear riddled eyes with pouty pink lips as the older narrowed his gaze onto Taehyung's thighs that held him up.

"It's my fault."

Taehyung sifted through his possible responses to the nearly inaudible rasp, but settled on one speedily at the sight of a tiny lip quiver.

"Of course it's not your fault! How could it be your fault?" A saving hand cradled it's way behind Jimin's neck, pushing it slightly forward so that his forehead fell against the younger's lips, stopping his tears from starting up again.

Instead, the older swallowed, closing his eyes to revel in the affectionate gesture. "I should've known." He swallowed again. Harder. "I should've known that she was getting worse." Jimin bit back another shake in his hushed voice, taking a moment to breathe. "If I would've just accepted the fact that she wasn't getting any better... she wouldn't be in such a critical situation right now. But, I was selfish. I pretended she was fine. And—and I knew she wasn't. I ignored it because if I reached out for help, it meant that she wasn't okay. Then, after she fell...and her body gave out... I couldn't pretend anymore."

Taehyung naturally swiped the bitter tear that rolled down Jimin's cheek. Though, he wasn't severely crying this time. Maybe he'd run out of sadness.

"Jimin, you've gotta stop blaming yourself. You couldn't have prevented this if you wanted to. She's getting the help she needs now."

Jimin nodded. "I just wish she would've told me. If I would've heard it from her, I would've gotten her help in a heartbeat. By her pretending she was okay, only led me to fuel my false hope that there wasn't anything wrong in the first place."

Taehyung listened carefully, taking each and every one of his boyfriend's words to heart.

"...And now, I could lose her."

The younger flinched at those words specifically. "Well, you don't know that. Haven't you been through something like this before?"

Jimin sat up, finally looking the silver-haired boy in the eyes. "Yeah. I've been through this too many times to count, but when's gonna be the last time?"

Ouch. Taehyung frowned at Jimin who was just sitting there with a straight face. Nothing more, nothing less. Completely detached.

"Your mom's gonna be okay. It's not as bad as it seems. They're gonna run some tests, fix her up good as new, and we'll be on our way."

Jimin saw right through it. Even Taehyung didn't believe a majority of what he just said, but it was his self proclaimed job to keep Jimin sane.

"Don't lose hope so soon. I hate to see you like this." Taehyung put on a brave smile, opening his arms again for Jimin to fall into.

Then that long lost smile was back. The one he'd shown earlier to the receptionist. Sure, it was small, but it was there, even for just a second. That's all Taehyung needed to see to completely melt his heart.

Jimin cuddled back into his boyfriend's chest, taking his words into consideration. "I really hope you're right about this," he whispered, more for himself rather than Taehyung.

Still, the younger heard it, encasing Jimin into a blanket of security, looking up towards the ceiling to hide his own eyes that began to spontaneously leak tears for the grieving boy he held against his heart.

❦

     Taehyung opened his eyes to the sight of Jimin shaking him awake while the nice blonde lady stood behind him softly smiling.

     The younger assumed he must have dozed off after about three long, dreary hours of waiting in the waiting room, and the fact that the sky was now painted a dark navy color, it revealed he had been napping for a lot longer than he intended to.

     "Tae, we're finally allowed to go see my mom!" Jimin hopped out of his boyfriend's lap, dragging him to his feet while the younger wiped his eyes sleepily to clear his vision.

     "Actually," the receptionist cut in, "only you can go see your mother." She pointed a finger at Jimin, catching the frown that gradually took over his face.

     "W-why can't Taehyung go?" Jimin reached beside him, clutching onto his boyfriend's arm tightly.

     The lady pursed her lips as she tucked a stray piece of light hair behind her ear. "Sadly, he isn't family, and the rules here say that non-family visiting hours are only from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m."

     Jimin slowly nodded in understanding, shooting a glance up at Taehyung to get his reaction or response.

     The silver-haired boy put on a fake smile, stroking the older's face lovingly. "It's okay. Go ahead without me, Jimin. I'll just head home tonight and stop by early in the morning tomorrow."

     Jimin barely poked his bottom lip out, nonetheless agreeing with Taehyung's compromise. "You don't have to come again if you don't want to." He shyly fidgeted with his sleeves.

     Taehyung pulled Jimin into a quick goodbye hug before speaking. "Of course I want to. You're not in this alone. Just promise me you'll go home soon and get some sleep as well?"

     The shorter pulled back out of the hug, whispering an inaudible reply. He wore an almost smile as he met his boyfriend's eyes again, giving the younger hope that maybe, just maybe, Jimin would be okay. "Bye, Tae. I love you."

     Taehyung grinned as Jimin then sided next to the blonde lady, motioning for her to lead him to his mother's hospital room. "I love you too, Jimin. Stay strong, but not for me. For her."

     Sincere eyes looked back to Taehyung as the two began to walk away, reassuring him that Jimin would be okay as long as his mother was still here. Though it hurt to leave through those emergency room doors into the eerily cool parking lot, Taehyung went on his way, pushing his worries aside.

[a/n:
long time no see, amigos ;)
+just a fair warning that chapters from here on out are gonna be a lot longer than usual, but i know y'all prefer longer over shorter so it shouldn't be an issue!
thank y'all so much for your patience and sweet comments! i appreciate each and every one of you xx]