chapter forty-nine ;; doctors
jeongguk's perspective
°☆.。.:*・°☆

The hospital was unimaginably sleek, seeming to resemble Taehyung's cosy home. There was only a difference between smells. Taehyung's home would smell of pine and forest, make me breathe in every now and then to discover delicious cinnamon, which would sometimes be coming from Oda making perfectly cooked and frosted cinnamon rolls. This hospital had the strong smell of disinfectants. You could tell they tried to mask a pungent stench, trying to use overly powered air fresheners of something like Ocean Breeze or Hawaiian Paradise.

My legs fell with Taehyung's, walking in even and identical steps. We were lined together and hand in hand, like a real couple. There was still adjustment going with my eyes every time I looked over and saw newly placed green highlights. Seeing them once more only reminded how much I missed looking at green. Maybe green was climbing up my list of favorite colors.

"You worried?" Taehyung asks and glances down at me.

We were both wearing boots, and our unleveled heals made thuds against the tiled flooring. The faint sound was somewhat comforting, and Taehyung takes our intertwined hands into his jacket's pockets. Coldness was quickly looming faster and faster. Snow was expected tomorrow. He also promised coffee afterwards, a main factor why I woke up this morning and actually went to this appointment.

I shrug my shoulders, shivering slightly. The hospital's heater must be broken. My thought was quickly confirmed once seeing a large sign saying sorry for the fact, mentioning that it should all be repaired within twenty four hours, "They're only going to give me more medicine." Taehyung nods his head of bright green. His hair always seemed so fluffy and soft. I slightly smile up, eyes looking down towards me and showing shared affection, "I like the green." I said, "I missed it a lot."

Taehyung nods again, "Me too, it's like starting over again...making something new." His voice held an obvious playfulness, eyebrows raising slightly and smirk dancing, "God, you make me feel so old, Guk. We've been together for what, five months?"

"We've known each other for six..." I trail out, looking down at my feet and realizing that we had barely been together, barely experienced what it was truly like.

"But it feels like at least a year." Taehyung pouts, squeezing my hand tightly. There was a slight shake to his head, "Never mind that, my mind's just being stupid." He mumbles.

I furrow my eyebrows, "Are you okay?" Words seemed to be exceptionally untied and loose, but I let down the uncomfortable feeling once Taehyung's hand squeezes mine again.

Now, we were standing in a line, waiting for the front desk, "Tae, what time is it?"

"We're on time, don't worry." He kindly reassured. I nod, puffing my cheeks out and letting out a soft sigh.

----

Feet were now dangling from a hospital bench in a small, square room. My eyes were glumly staring down towards the tiles, which had a new pattern of grey pastel blue and yellow. Maybe there was a layer of dust, which made it so washed out, not as washed out as the walls, though. Those were completely lifeless: beige. Not even a pretty or pleasing beige, just plain and boring.

Taehyung lets out a light hum, stuffing his phone into his jacket pocket and looking over towards me, who was currently hunched forward. The doctor was twenty minutes late so far, "I'm gonna have to redo junior year, aren't I?" I ask with an etched frown.

"Maybe not." Taehyung quickly says, standing up and slowly trailing over towards me. He easily props himself up with strong arms, lifting his lower half before sitting down so our shoulders could touch. His body was so much larger than mine, so much more muscular and manly. I was ultimately a girl next to him, "You're extremely smart, Gukkie. You could probably advance to senior year with summer school."

"But then I won't be able to be with you." I pout, receiving a soft peck to the lips.

"But I can focus on getting into a good college to support the two of us once we're married."

My eyes widen in an instant, and so do Taehyung's. Mouths went slightly agape, sharing a sharp line of eye contact that had my eyes almost brimming, "M-Marrie-?"

There was a knock on the door, and my god did I want to pounce on the doctor for having such timing. Maybe they were standing outside, waiting to turn the knob and barge in and snap off important conversations. They could be paid more for interrupting things.

"Hello," the proper lady kindly smiles. Thick glasses sat on her nose, and thick rings for dark brown hair ran slightly past her shoulders. She was a small thing yet still taller than me. We all share short greetings, "now who is who?" She somewhat jokingly asks, trying her best to brighten things for such a gloomy gathering.

"Jeongguk, boyfriend." Taehyung speaks easily- brightly, smiling and overall soothing my worried nerves, pointing to me then to himself. He was such a good talker.

"I see." Mrs. Lee smiles back, "How long have you two been together?" She puts down a folder filled with neatly stacked papers onto the counter in front of us and types away on the computer perched up on the wall.

"Five months." Taehyung speaks once again.

"Awh, that's cute." Mrs. Lee sends a short glance towards me before typing again, "Your boyfriend here's the talker, huh?"

A blush creeps along my cheeks with a slight nod. Taehyung nudges me with his elbow slightly, "Yeah..."

"So," she begins with a somewhat saddened tone, clicking away on some different files and folders, pulling up endless amounts of information on my past and present health conditions, "I see that you have," Mrs. Lee squints her eyes slightly while reading, "Acute Myeloid Leukemia?"

"Yes, I do."

She nods, looking back at the computer monitor, "And you were diagnosed with that only a few weeks ago?" I only nod my head, and Taehyung slowly runs his index finger along the back of my hand, "Are there any questions about your condition, what Acute Myeloid Leukemia is, what it does, some things to expect down the road?"

"Please?" I want to learn more.

"Well, Acute Myeloid Leukemia is a blood cancer that attacks your white blood cells, causes them to be immaturely created. I know about your constant fevers, and those were a big factor in what was used to diagnose you. In a sense, your body's working a bit too quickly for its own good, finding lots of false signals- that you have some kind of virus or bacteria, and it's in a long state of being frantic, trying to push out more than it can actually manufacture, which leads to premature white blood cells, which also leads to a weaker immune system."

Taehyung and I both nod to her words, completely drawn in by the better explanation than before. It was so fascinating to learn about something like this, "I-Is Acute Myeloid Leukemia easy to cure?"

Mrs. Lee smiled at my question, "Fortunately, you're one of the lucky ones that have acute. Due to it not being as strong as others, there's a much better chance of you surviving. Your form of leukemia is, luckily, a rather common one that has been studied quite often." Everyone's spirit obviously lifted at that moment, Taehyung wrapping his strong arm around my small waist and whispering a quiet 'I told you' before pulling back, "Are there any other questions?"

I shake my head, pleased and fine with knowing what I do now, "No, I'm- good."

Mrs. Lee chuckles while scribbling down some things in sloppy cursive, "I thought you'd be happy." She rips off the piece of paper the pen was being written on, handing it over for me to grab and placing the pen cap back on while speaking, "There's a medication I'd like you to take. It's three times a day, with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We're going to also pull you back from your Acid Reflux medication."

"Alright." A soft sigh escapes my rosy lips and skims across the blue ink.

"Hey, don't act so down. You're gonna get better and all of this will pass, so you can happily live with your loving boyfriend. He's a keeper, I know these things." Mrs. Lee winks, "You'll be going to the lab for some blood work, and you'll be coming back here in a month. All the information will be at the front desk, and if anything out of the ordinary occurs, immediately call the hospital and come to my office, okay?"

"Okay."

"Well, that seems to be it for today. Have a good day, Jeongguk, you too, Jeongguk's boyfriend." Taehyung laughs, taking my hand while getting off of the firm hospital bench.

"Have a nice day too, Mrs. Lee." We both say in unison, on our way out the door and towards the lab.

----

"Just hold my hand." Taehyung softly whispers. My hand blindly reaches to clasp his own, squeezing tightly with my eyes doing the same.

A nurse with an unknown name was currently tying a rubber strip around my small and pale arm, using his two fingers to push into flesh and find a good vein to draw blood from. He was obviously annoyed by my behavior. Eyes slightly rolled while grabbing a small packet, pulling out a small needle that had me flinching ever so slightly.

"I- I hate needles."

"I can tell." The man huffs.

Taehyung noticed my sharp stare, earning another squeeze to the hand. One good thing about my anger, was that the needle had been pushed through skin without my knowledge, blood boiling as it poured into small, glass tubes with a green cap on top.

I, in all honesty, didn't know everything was over until I felt a slight surge of pain. The nurse was pulling out a blood covered needle and throwing it into a bin, pressing a cotton swab to the small dot of a opening and holding it in place with a pretty iridescent bandaid. He silently unties the piece of rubber from my arm before placing it to the side.

"There."

I was quick to stand. While somewhat storming out of the lab, Taehyung only warmly chuckles, a packet of papers in hand, "Home?" The older boy sweetly questions, earning an urgent nod.

"Please."

"Home it is...Good thing I got that doctors note in use of a dismissed absence, or else I'd be in deep shit."

Jeongguk sadly looks down, "How are you in school?"

"I'm doing just fine, Guk, don't worry. I'm doing better than before if anything."

"Good."

----

lmAOOOOO Oo this is boring but i had to get it out of the way, peace.