A second chance.
That was what I wished for.
The one thing I prayed for every night before I sleep. The one thing I prayed for, at the very night before I woke up in an entirely different life.
A new life.
My second chance.
❈❈❈
I was 30 years old wh...
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—First life. St. Vincent's Hospital, year 2027—
Jimin finally came to see me on the last day I had before the surgery.
It only took waking up to his smile to feel like I was coming alive again, even though I had to take a moment to make sure that I was not dreaming, that he was actually there.
I looked over his shoulder, noticing that the sky outside the window was still dark. the sun had barely come up, which meant that he came in way before the first round of nurses started. On the couch across the room, I saw Kara still deep in her sleep. She had come around the time Jungkook was ready to leave last night, and she had stayed all night to keep me company.
Out of everyone, Kara had been the one who would stay with me overnight. She has admitted once that she was worried that I would feel lonely should I ever wake up in the middle of the night without anyone by my side.
Another reason for her to stay was because of the memory we shared about my Mom. At one of the conversations that we have had where we talked about my mother, I had told her about the late-night phone calls that my Mom made while she was ill. Her eyes instantly lost their light, knowing that one of the many reasons why my mother had been left in the hospital all by herself during those times were because of her. Because my father had chosen to spend the night with his mistress instead of staying by my mother's side.
"I would remember her whenever I think about you sleeping alone at night in this lousy hospital, afraid and lonely," she said once after she had asked for a cot and an extra blanket for her to sleep in. "I won't be able to sleep well at night when it happens. Take it as my redemption. I can't change the past, but I sure as hell won't let the same thing happen to you."
Gentle kisses along my knuckles brought me back to the man sitting next to my bed. Jimin smiled at me when I looked at him. He had my hand in his grip, his lips pressing on my skin as he trailed soft kisses that sent delicate shivers through my body. His touches were enough to warm me up against the cold air conditioner blasting in the room.
"Morning, beautiful," he whispered, making sure to keep it down so he wouldn't wake Kara.
"Morning," I answered him, still completely in a daze as I took in the sight of him. "You're really here."
His gaze softened as he gave me a wry smile. "I'm sorry that it took me so long to come and see you again," he said, and only then did I realise that his voice was hoarse and weak, hidden in his whispers.
And then it took him pulling away for me to notice everything that I had missed—the wheelchair he was sitting on, the thinning hair under his beanie hat, the bags under his red-rimmed eyes, the sunken cheeks, the blisters on his lips—and my heart dropped.
"Jimin—" I choked, to which he quickly pressed a finger on my lips to stop me from talking.
"Sshh—I know, I look like hell," he said, chuckling softly. Though the sound immediately turned into a set of coughs until he managed to take a deep breath and hold it in. "And I've been through hell."
