reef knot

eleven

  I am happy to oblige, shoving a piece of meat into my mouth as Taehyung raises his hand to order more food. 

  The shrill ringing of Yoongi's cell comes before the arrival of the waiter, and I watch as my bodyguard steps aside to answer the call. 

  "We'll be there right away," is the only thing I catch before Yoongi hangs the call. His expression is serious when he walks back to the table, the exact opposite of Taehyung's bright smile. "Mr. Park has been admitted to the hospital," he tells me, and I almost choke on my food. 

  "What?" my eyes widen in shock. "Why?!"

  "Someone attacked him while Jungkook and Seokjin were on break," he briefly explains, before turning to his brown-haired friend. "Can you drive us to the hospital?" Yoongi asks him.

  To my surprise, Taehyung instantly agrees. With a nod, he hands Yoongi the keys to his van, before proceeding to settle the bill while my bodyguard and I head towards the car park. 

  The brown-haired boy joins us a few minutes later, and together, the three of us climb into the vehicle. With nothing more than a soft purr, the van starts up and begins to gun off towards the hospital. 

***

  It's almost eight o' clock by the time we reach the medical building. 

  Taehyung drops us off at the lobby, before proceeding to park his car. Yoongi and I barge into the hospital, our feet creating loud thuds against the marble floor as we stampede towards the emergency unit. 

  Jungkook and Seokjin are the first people I see when we enter, and I immediately sprint towards them, panic written all over my face. 

  "Miss Park," Jungkook and Seokjin greet me with a bow.

  "Where's Dad?" I demand anxiously. 

  "The doctors are operating on him," Seokjin tells me, and only then do I realize that we're standing outside the operation theater. 

  "Is Jimin here?" 

  Jungkook shakes his head in reply. "We tried calling him, but the line didn't connect."

  I sigh, sinking onto a plastic chair nearby. My head falls into my hands as I start to chew on my bottom lip. Please be okay, please be okay... 

  "He'll be fine," I hear Yoongi console beside me, his hand patting my shoulder in comfort. 

  Moments later, the light above the operation theater dims with a soft beep, a signal that the operation has ended. 

  I watch as my father emerges from the room, his eyes shut and his body slack on the hospital cot as the nurses wheel him down the corridor. I've never seen Dad's face this ashen, or his hair this messy.

  "Dad," I whisper, starting to run towards him. 

  "Miss," Yoongi holds me back before I can even take a step forward, his hands gripping both my elbows as he pulls me towards him. My back makes impact with his chest as he does so, my head automatically fitting below his chin. "You can visit Mr. Park later," he persuades.

  Somehow, that manages to calm me down. 

  "Are all of you the patient's children?" someone suddenly asks, and we all snap our heads towards the owner of the voice, our gazes falling on a middle-aged man in a white coat.

  "Doctor," I greet the stranger with a slight bow, "I'm the patient's daughter. How's my father?"

  The man clears his throat, before beginning to speak. "The patient was stabbed in the stomach and has lost a tremendous amount of blood," he tells us solemnly. "His condition was critical when he was first admitted, and although it has stabilized now, it would still be good if you let him rest for the next eight hours."