The sound of beeping pulls me into consciousness. At first I think it's an alarm, and keeping my eyes closed I fumble around to turn it off before I feel my hand being squeezed and my name being said. I become more aware of my body. My tongue feels too big for my mouth and I have a weird feeling in my throat like I just swallowed a huge pill. I try to remove the cotton balls that have been wadded in my ears but I feel nothing there. My head is full of fog. Everywhere below my chest feels completely numb. I slowly blink my eyes open, and Jungkook's face swims into view above me.

"Jungkookie?" My voice is scratchy. "Where are we?"

Before he answers, he leans down and gives me a long, drawn out kiss. His lips taste like salt. When he pulls back, I look more closely at his face. His eyes are red and puffy with bags under them.

"We're in the hospital," he says. "We've been here for two days."

"Two days? Why?"

He furrows his eyebrows together. "Do you really not remember?"

I think. "The last thing I remember is our concert. I was walking offstage and..."

Then it all comes flooding back to me. The pain. Yoongi and Jimin holding my hands. April. The ambulance. Being rushed into hospital. A curtain being drawn. That must have been when I went unconscious. I can't remember anything past that.

I look down at my stomach. It's a lot smaller than it was before.

"She's not there anymore. Where is she?" I ask.

"She's in an incubator in the NICU," Jungkook answers.

"What's that?"

"Neonatal Intensive Care Unit." I must look as terrified as I feel when he says that, because he quickly adds: "Don't worry, she's going well. The incubator is helping her keep growing."

I take a moment to let that sink in. "Have you seen her?"

Jungkook smiles widely and his eyes well up with tears. "I saw her yesterday. She's beautiful. And so tiny. She's the tiniest thing I've ever seen. There's a hole in the side of the incubator so that we can touch her, but we're not allowed to hold her yet."

A bit of jealousy streaks through me, that he's gotten to see her and I haven't. I quickly brush it away and tell myself I'll get to see her very soon.

"Why do I feel so numb?" I wonder aloud. "I can't feel any of my lower body."

"Well, you were just cut open and stitched back together. You've got a lot of drugs in you right now. I should let April know you're awake..." He pulls out his phone, types something in and then puts it away.

"If you're texting her then why is this button here?" I point to a big yellow button that says 'PRESS FOR ASSISTANCE'.

"We'll get a nurse we hit that, but April told me to contact her when you woke up."

The moment he finishes the sentence, April comes through the door. Her face breaks out in a huge smile.

"Good to see you up," she says to me, then turns to Jungkook. "There's quite a few visitors in the waiting room, you should go to them."

Jungkook nods, gives me a quick peck on the cheek and then leaves the room. April walks over and takes the spot where he was sitting.

"How are you feeling?" she asks.

"I don't even know," I respond. "Numb everywhere. Not quite sure what's happening. I want to see my baby."

"You will. Very soon. Today," she says, and the parts of me I can feel are filled with warmth. "She's doing great."

I breathe a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad. Thank you so much, for, you know... not killing either of us in surgery."

She blushes and looks down at the ground bashfully. "I'd be a lousy obstetrician if I did."

"Hey, April, can I ask you something?"

She looks back up. "What?"

"Why did you leave?"

Her whole body tenses up. I stare at her intently, waiting for an answer.

"I had a... um... lapse in judgement," she says, turning her gaze to the floor once again.

I can tell she isn't going to give me a straight answer, and I decide to just let it go.

"Okay, well, it's lucky you came back. My other doctor was a horror."

She laughs. "I know, I can't believe she was the one they got for you. Out of all the obstetricians in Seoul."

I laugh along with her, then remember another question I wanted to ask her. "By the way, how did you know where I was? Did you call the ambulance? And how were there people already waiting for me in the hospital?"

"Jimin wasn't too keen on your new doctor either. He called me and told me to come back and let me know where you were." I take a little offence in this, she never picked up when Jungkook or I called her. "When I got backstage I saw you, and everyone gathered around you, and I just knew you were in labour. I called the ambulance first and then the hospital, telling them to prepare a room for you, before I came over," she explains.

"You're amazing," I tell her, because she needs to hear it.

She smiles, but then her face turns serious. "Since I didn't say goodbye last time, I'm saying it now."

At first I think I must have misheard her. "What? Goodbye? Why?"

"You don't need me anymore," she says. "Listen, Taehyung, I..." she trails off, and stays silent for a solid five seconds before shaking her head and continuing. "I'm happy you're okay."

At this moment, there's a knock on the door and a chubby woman with a brown topknot pokes her head in.

"Nurse Clairs?" April stands up.

"Hello Dr Sykes. I brought Mr Kim some ice chips and a bunch of visitors." She holds out a styrofoam cup and points behind her.

"Oh good. And as you can imagine he would like to see his baby. Will you take him afterwards?" April asks. Nurse Clairs gives me a warm smile and nods. "Perfect. Taehyung, you're in good hands," April says to me, then drops her voice to a whisper. "You're a good man, Taehyung. And you're going to make an excellent father."

She exits before I can find the right words to say.