Vipers in the Lake | BTS Gang x Reader

24. Going, going, gone

It was impossible to breathe around the pain. A burn; unyielding and engulfing every inch of your chest in fire. The bleeding was worse, though, an uncomfortable awareness of the hot, life-reserving liquid cascading down your arms and soaking through the tulle of your dress. 

Your fought to keep your eyes open, but black pulsed at the corners of your vision as you watched your Father recoil back through the window he had shot from. Shot you from.

The sudden widening of the world sent nausea throbbing through your belly as you were dragged backward by strong arms around your midriff. 

All at once and all too quickly, your head was thudding against the floor of the van as Jimin scrambled in after you, his expression stricken. Someone's hands pressed against the wound, hard, and the breath flew back into your chest.

You tried to focus on the face above you, but the searing heat of the wound sent your vision soaring between too bright and too dark; a cluster of rays or a sea of onyx.  

The breath in your chest came fast and shallow, a sinister rattle bouncing around your rib cage. The hand left your chest and another returned, the angle of the press slightly different. Firmer; and backed by another. You were distantly aware of the gentle rocking of the van as Yoongi sent it speeding back toward the house, but more acutely aware of how the skin of your back was getting warmer and warmer with every passing second.

Voices came from every angle, ricocheting off your skull like tennis balls in an empty trash can. 

"..wha...do..hyung?"

"Scissors. The..over.."

"...kill him. I'll.."

You could feel your consciousness slipping as if it were a tangible thing - a rope spooling from your grip and falling..falling...fall-

"Y/n," You blinked weakly as Jin's face came into view, leaning down toward yours. His hand was suddenly gripping your chin, turning you to face him as you tried half-heartedly to sharpen your focus. "Keep breathing, okay?" His face was calm, but something in his eyes was frantic. A wild animal fearing for its' life: fearing for your life as if it was his very own. 

Seizing the smallest, final piece of strength you had left, you opened your mouth. Your voice was a barely-there rasp. A whisper. "How..bad is it?"

Jin's mouth drew down ever so slightly, and the van jolted slightly, knocking your field-of-view off kilter. Something soft and warm slid around your left palm and you let your head roll weakly to face it. Jimin crouched beside you, fingers clasped around your limp hand. A cold wave shuddered through you, peppering your arms with goose pimples, and your eyes began to roll back in your head against your will.

Jimin tugged on your hand, grimacing slightly as he watched your arm droop like a rag doll. "Hey, hey," his fingers squeezed around yours, and he let your clasped palms rest held up to his chest. "Keep those pretty eyes open for me, hm?"

His voice reached you as if through water and you tried, tried, tried to stay awake. The telltale whoosh of blood pressure plummeting sent you reeling as phantom hands tore at the dress around your midriff. 

Your friend death returned.

And this time, you weren't awake to greet him.

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2 WEEKS LATER 

Late afternoon sunlight glinted through half open shutters; a warm hue in the otherwise starkly clinical room. A chair sat against the wall beside the hospital bed, lean muscle and too-large limbs gathered on the cheap leather seat.