JJ sat on a cold plastic chair, his head in his hands. It smelled of disinfectant and burnt vending machine coffee, and the clock on the wall chimed every second, as if deliberately designed to drive everyone crazy. You lay behind the closed ward door, and the nurse wouldn't tell him anything because "family only." And JJ wanted to tear up the entire hallway because, to him, you were family more than anyone else.When the rest of the Pogues arrived—John B, Kiara, Pope—JJ leaped to his feet. “Fuck, they’re ignoring me here, do you understand?!” he growled, his voice echoing off the white walls. “JJ, calm down,” Pope tried to sound rational, as usual, but JJ only gave him a look that could kill. “Do you ever calm down when someone you care about is behind that door?” he snorted.

Kiara placed a hand on his shoulder. “She needs you here, not for you to break down the door.”

And then the nurse finally left. “You can come in, but only one person.” JJ didn’t wait a second—he barged in like a hurricane.

You lay on the bed, paler than usual, hooked up to machines that beeped in a steady rhythm. JJ only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw you breathing. He moved closer, sat on the edge, and grabbed your hand."Hey, idiot," he whispered, his voice cracking at the end of the sentence. "Don't do that to me again. Because seriously, I swear, I'll steal an ambulance and watch over you like a fucking dog."

Your eyelids fluttered, as if you were about to say something. JJ leaned even closer. "When you wake up, we'll all eat pizza together, and I'll pay. For the first time in my life, willingly, you understand?" He laughed bitterly, but there were tears in his eyes that wouldn't stop.