KEIFER'S POV — Inside the ICU Room
The moment the doctor said "only one person can go in"
I didn't even wait.
I didn't ask.
I just ran.
My legs moved before my mind did — like something primal had taken over me.
And then…
I walked in.
And everything inside me died.
---
The room was too white.
Too quiet.
Too cold.
But Jay—
Jay looked colder.
My Jay.
The strongest person I've ever known.
The girl who fought whole gangs without flinching.
The girl who looked death in the eye and smirked.
The girl who made me feel things I never felt before...
Now she lay there so… small.
So still.
Her skin was pale, almost translucent.
Her lips bruised.
Her hair spread across the pillow in messy waves she'd hate.
Bandages wrapped her stomach.
IV lines ran down both her arms.
Machines were breathing for her — a slow, steady rhythm that felt like a knife pressing into my chest.
Beep…
Beep…
Beep…
The only sound in the world.
I took a step closer.
Then another.
My knees nearly gave out when I reached her bedside.
"Jay…"
My voice cracked in half.
"Baby… I'm here."
I touched her fingers — cold, limp, unmoving.
I swallowed a sob and slid my hand over hers, gripping it like she might slip away if I let go.
"You weren't supposed to do that," I whispered, forehead lowering to our joined hands.
"You weren't supposed to take that knife for me."
My breath shook.
"I'm the one who should protect you. Not the other way around."
Tears hit the blanket — I didn't even know when I started crying.
"I'm so sorry…"
My voice broke.
"God, Jay… I'm so fucking sorry."
I lifted my head slowly, forcing myself to look at her face.
She looked like she was sleeping.
But I knew better.
This wasn't sleep.
This was a war she was fighting alone.
And I couldn't go in there with her.
That was what destroyed me.
I cupped her cheek gently, thumb brushing her skin like it might bruise if I pressed too hard.
"You hear me?" I whispered shakily.
"I'm not going anywhere."
My grip on her hand tightened.
"I don't care if it takes days… weeks… months—"
I leaned closer, voice trembling.
"—I'll wait. I'll sit right here. I'll talk to you every day."
My chest heaved.
"So you better wake up. Because I don't know how to breathe without you. I'll do anything heck I'll buy you a restraunt where only you would be allowed"
I pressed my forehead to hers, closing my eyes.
"Jay… my Jay…"
My voice was barely a breath.
"Come back to me. Please."
The monitor kept beeping softly beside us.
Beep…
Beep…
Beep…
A steady rhythm.
A reminder.
She was still here.
Still fighting.
I pulled the chair as close as humanly possible and sat, my fingers locked around hers.
"I'm not leaving this room," I whispered.
"I'll burn down the world before I leave you alone again."
And I stayed like that.
Holding her hand.
Breathing with her.
Breaking for her.
Waiting for the day she opened those eyes again.
ANGELO'S POV — Stepping Into the ICU
I pushed the door open quietly.
The doctor said only one person…
But I couldn't breathe out there anymore.
Not when Jay — my baby sister — was lying in a damn coma.
The sight hit me so hard I forgot how to stand.
Jay…
My fighter.
My headache.
My sunshine.
The kid I silently swore I'd protect since the day I saw her.
Now she lay there like a shadow of herself.
Bandages.
Tubes.
Machines keeping her alive.
It felt like someone carved out my chest with a dull knife.
Keifer sat hunched beside her, head bowed, hand wrapped around hers so tight his knuckles were white.
I'd never seen him so broken not even at tita Serina death did he cry. Not even close.
I walked in slowly.
Every inch felt like walking through a nightmare.
I stopped beside him — not too close — just close enough to count the trembles in his shoulders.
"Keifer…"
My voice cracked.
"She'll wake up soon. I know she will. Don't—"
He jerked away.
He pushed my hand off him like it burned.
Then he lifted his head.
And I swear — I've never seen hate and heartbreak blend like that in someone's eyes before.
"Don't."
His voice was low. Dead.
"Don't you fucking touch me."
I froze.
"Keifer—"
"No, Angelo," he hissed.
"She's here because of you."
The words hit me like a slap.
He stood up slowly, gaze locked on me with so much pain it felt like knives.
"She didn't tell me," he whispered, voice shaking with betrayal.
"But even you… you kept all this from me."
My throat tightened.
"Keifer— we only—"
"No."
He cut me off sharply.
"You. Zack. Alex."
He pointed at Jay, lying unconscious in the bed.
"You three are the reason she's like this."
The room felt too small.
Too heavy.
Too suffocating.
"For years she protected you and herself silently," Keifer continued, voice breaking.
"Carried secrets. Buried pain. Fought enemies."
He shook his head, tears spilling down his face again.
"And all you did was keep me in the dark while she got hurt over and over again with me being around knowing absolutely NOTHING "
I swallowed hard, feeling the guilt crash into me like a wave.
He wasn't wrong.Not entirely.
"We were just trying to keep her safe…" I whispered.
"And look where that got her," Keifer snapped, stepping closer, chest shaking.
"A knife in her stomach. A coma. Fighting for her life."
I couldn't breathe.
He wiped his face harshly.
"If anything happens to her…"
His voice dropped to a dangerous whisper, eyes burning.
"If she doesn't wake up…"
He looked right into my soul.
"I swear to God, Angelo — I'll never forgive you."
Silence.
Cold.
Heavy.
Deadly.
I opened my mouth to speak—
But the monitor beeped louder suddenly.
And both of us turned to Jay instantly.
Because even broken…
Even bleeding…
Even fighting each other…
She was the only thing that mattered.
KEIFER'S POV — Morning
I didn't sleep.
I didn't blink.
All night…
all I did was watch her chest rise and fall beneath those tubes,
counting each breath like it was the only thing keeping me alive too.
Her hand stayed in mine. I didn't let go once.
Not even to drink water. Not even to breathe properly.
The sky outside slowly shifted from black…
to gray…
to a dull morning light.
But inside this room?
It stayed dark.
Jay still wasn't waking up.
My eyes burned, but I kept them on her face —
terrified that if I looked away for even a second, the machines would stop.
Beep…
Beep…
Beep…
Her heartbeat was steady, but faint.
Too faint.
I squeezed her hand again.
My thumb brushed the back of it in slow, trembling circles.
"Morning, Jay…"
My voice was cracked, barely there.
"You made it through the night… now you just need to wake up. Please."
The door opened.
I didn't look up at first — I couldn't.
I couldn't afford to miss even one breath of hers.
But then I heard the steps.
One pair.
Then another.
Then many.
And I finally turned my head.
Section E walked in.
Every single one of them.
Fourteen boys who could take on entire gangs without flinching…
Now stood frozen in the doorway like their souls had been ripped out.
Aries first — eyes swollen but jaw clenched so hard it shook.
Percy next — stiff, pale, fists trembling as he looked at his sister.
Then Zack and Alex — and I'd never seen them look so wrecked, not even during their worst fights.
Cin and Yuri walked in behind them, quietly…
but the moment Cin saw Jay, his hand flew to his mouth, his shoulders shaking.
Yuri put a hand on his back, but his own eyes were red and glassy.
Aries' voice broke the silence — a whisper, barely audible.
"My sis..sister.....jay jay"
No one answered.
Because they couldn't.
Stella walked in last.
Still pale from fainting hours before. Still trembling.
The moment her eyes landed on Jay — she broke.
A soft, strangled sound escaped her as tears fell freely again.
David caught her by the shoulders, grounding her.
Angelo stood behind them all, silent.
Avoiding my eyes.
Good.
Because I wasn't ready to look at him again.
Every single person stood around the bed…
quiet, shattered, helpless…
watching the strongest girl they knew lie there unmoving.
Not a word was spoken.
Not one breath dared to be too loud.
And all their gazes slowly turned to me —
the way I sat hunched beside her, fingers locked around her hand, eyes swollen but fixed on her face.
I saw the moment it hit them, the reality...
Aries turned away, wiping his eyes aggressively.
Alex sat down in a chair and put his head in his hands, shoulders shaking.
Percy whispered something under his breath — sounding like a prayer, or a curse, or both.
And Angelo…
He stood still.
Staring.
Like he didn't know how to breathe anymore.
Like it finally hit him what had happened.
Like guilt was crushing him alive.
But I didn't look away from Jay.
My thumb kept brushing her hand gently as I whispered:
"See, Jay? Everyone's here. Everyone's waiting. So you're not going anywhere… okay?"
The room stayed silent.
Only the machines answered.
Beep…
Beep…
Beep…
Her heartbeat kept going.
So I kept hoping.
Kept breathing.
Kept breaking.
But I didn't move from her side.
Not even once.
Because if she woke up…
I wanted the first person she saw to be me....
I swallowed hard and then whisper just so obly she could listen...
"Wake up my stubborn, good old troublemaker, my big eater- queen, you're Keifer is waiting that when he'll hear profanity from your mouth just so he could kiss you.. I love you Jasper Jean Mariano Watson until scientists find the end of the universe... "