Too soon, I feel myself being pulled from Taehyung's arms and I try to reach out to him, but he shakes his head and takes a step back.
"I'll be there," he says. "I'm here for you, remember?"
Slowly, my surroundings change from the dreary, dark road to a white room. My eyes flutter open and closed for a moment, trying to adjust to the harsh light in the room, and after they finally adjust, I begin to hear the noises.
I hear my rapid pulse echoing through the room, and I also hear another sound that sounds like whooshing air from somewhere close to me.
I try to sit up, but I'm in so much pain that I can barely move an inch. I register that there is some kind of mask on my face, and it dawns on me that it's an oxygen mask and the whooshing sound I'm hearing is the oxygen machine helping me breathe.
I feel a lot of tubes and wires around me and I begin to panic, hearing my heart rate going up on the monitor.
Just as I'm about to start screaming for help, I hear the door to the room open, and then a moment later, I see a man in a white coat walk up to the side of my bed.
I try to turn my neck to look at him better, but I'm so weak that I can't find the strength to move a muscle.
"Miss Violet, you're awake," the man says, smiling down at me as he holds a clipboard in his hand. "My name is Dr. Kang, and I'll be taking care of you, okay?"
All I can do is blink the tears from my eyes as I can't even find the strength to talk, and I still feel like it's hard to breathe.
"Jin called an ambulance for you because you had a seizure," he explains as he pulls up a stool to sit down next to me. "He said you both thought you had the flu, but we've tested you for the flu and it came back negative."
I just continue to listen, trying to calm my erratic heart rate down.
"I know you're feeling weak, but I need to ask you a few questions, if that's okay," the doctor says. "Can you nod at all?"
Slowly, I manage to nod my head up and down, and Dr. Kang smiles reassuringly at me.
"Wonderful. I'll ask you some 'yes' or 'no' questions, and all you need to do is nod for me," he says and I manage another nod to show I understand.
"Jin told me about some of your symptoms and I'm just going to go over them," he says, looking down at his clipboard. "He says you've had a fever, nausea, vomiting, fainting spells, muscle weakness, dizziness, irritability, headaches, blurry vision and disorientation. Is that correct?"
I slowly nod my head, trying to focus on his words as he sounds far away. I feel someone intertwine their fingers with mine from the other side of my bed, and I move my eyes to glance over in that direction to see Taehyung holding my hand in between both of his, smiling at me before gesturing for me to pay attention to the doctor.
I turn my gaze back to the doctor as he takes a deep breath.
"Well, I'd like to do some more in-depth testing to try to get this figured out, if that's okay," Dr. Kang says, clicking his pen before scribbling something down. "I'll have a nurse come in to draw some blood and then we'll do some more testing."
I nod again, and he checks the monitors beside me before leaving the room.
"You don't look so great," Taehyung says, rubbing my hand and I manage to turn my head slightly so I can see him better.
It's as if he's a real person. I can feel his cool hands on my skin as he tries to calm me down. I can hear his slow, deep breaths as he watches me struggle to catch my own breath.
"Violet," he says as he stares into my eyes. "You're going to have to come with me soon."
I frown in confusion, but I feel myself grip onto his hands tightly as if he'll disappear.
"Please know that I don't want to," he says, shaking his head as his eyes glisten with unshed tears. "I've grown so attached to you and I don't want to do this. But it's my job and I have no choice. You still have a little time... but not much."
"What..." I breathe out, barely audible through the oxygen mask on my face.
"Don't talk, Violet," he whispers as he moves my hair from my forehead. "Just breathe. Keep breathing for as long as you can."
I hear the door open again, and I turn my head slightly to see someone walking in and closing the door behind them.
"Hello, Violet," the woman says as she puts a pair of gloves on. "I'm going to draw some blood so we can run some tests, okay?"
I nod and glance towards where Taehyung is, expecting to see him disappear, but I'm happily surprised to see him still sitting next to me, his hands still holding onto mine as the nurse gets ready to draw some blood.
What he said to me is confusing and honestly a bit terrifying, but I can't help but feel comforted by his presence and his touch.
I don't know what he meant when he said I needed to come with him soon, but I'm beginning to realize that maybe I do want to go with him.
Wherever that may be.
