This chapter has something kind of unrealistic in our modern times, but just roll with it, ok? :)

Though Seunghyun had stayed at the hospital as much as he was able, the doctors no longer told him anything, and they were still vague even with Jiyong’s parents. All he was able to do was stand in the hall and watch as doctors and nurses occasionally went in to check Jiyong, and it frustrated him. Jiyong’s parents were often confused by the doctors, who seemed to think that they should be vague because they didn’t speak much English.

It was nearing the end of non family visiting hours, so Seunghyun knew he’d have to leave and go back to a cold and empty bed that felt so foreign to him that he couldn’t sleep. He was standing with his arms crossed, looking into his lover’s dismal room. The shades were pulled closed, making the room the unnatural white of the fluorescent lights, and causing the unconscious man to have a pallid, sickly complexion. Though he couldn’t physically hear the heart rate monitor, there was a beeping in his ears that matched what he would hear if he were in the room.

As Seunghyun watched the line spike, he noticed a falter. He felt bile burn the back of his throat. He watched closely, and saw the line was staggered and growing slow. He turned and ran down the hall to the nurses station, shouting as he neared them.

“Something’s wrong!”
 

Three nurses followed Seunghyun back to Jiyong’s room. The nurses ran into the room, one making sure Seunghyun stayed in the hall so that he didn’t get in their way. He stood with his hands on the glass separating him from Jiyong, and watched with fear prickling up and down his spine.

The nurses moved around the room frantically, not knowing what was wrong. One nurse pulled back the blanket and saw that the bandages were soaked with blood. Another nurse grabbed Jiyong’s chart and said something to the others. The youngest nurse ran from the room and back to the nurses station. Seunghyun followed her.

She picked up the phone and punched a number. “Yes, we need 3 units of Type A.”

“...”

“What? I need blood, we have a patient in the ICU about to bleed out!”

“...”

She slammed the phone on the receiver.

“I’m the same blood type!”

She looked at Seunghyun for a moment. “Are you sure? Are you healthy?”

He nodded and she grabbed his arm and ran back down the hallway to Jiyong’s room.

“Where’s the blood?”

Jiyong’s doctor, a man named Keith Dobbs, asked as he restitched one of Jiyong’s surgery incisions. There was a lot of balled up gauze soaked in blood and Seunghyun was amazed at how quickly the doctor had worked.

“There’s something wrong with the fridges, they have to toss most of the blood. His fiancé is the same type and says he’s healthy, start a transfusion. I’ll go call County to see if they can spare some blood until Pathology gets it figured out.” The young nurse left the room.

Seunghyun looked at the other nurse who was still in the room. She walked over to a cart and took out two 18 gauge needle and various tubes and equipment for her to begin a direct blood transfusion. She gestured for him to sit in the chair beside his lover’s bed, which he did.

“Roll up your sleeve. How sure are you that you don’t have anything?”

He did as she told him, quickly pushing the sleeve of his sweater up to the middle of his upper arm. “Where we work, we have to get regular blood work done to make sure no one is doing drugs or anything.”

The nurse quickly found his vein and got the needle in place on the first try. After she’d put the needle in his arm, she quickly turned to Jiyong and put the other needle into his arm. Seunghyun watched his own blood slide slowly through the rubber tube, and into a bag hanging from the IV pole before slowly going down the other tube and into Jiyong’s arm.

“When did you last get tested?”

“2 weeks ago.”

The nurse nodded. “I’m violating protocol and could lose my job, so once he’s stabilized, we’ll need to test you.”

Seunghyun looked at her tears in his eyes. “This is the first time I’ve been close to him since this happened.”

She gave him a sad smile. “He’s lucky to have you keeping watch over him, our monitors wouldn’t have told us anything was wrong for another few minutes. You saved his life. I’ll leave you alone for a couple minutes ok?”

He smiled gratefully. “Thank you.”

She left the room and Seunghyun felt a tear fall as he reached out and gently took Jiyong’s hand, biting his lip to contain a sob at how cold his lover’s hand was.

“Ji Ji, I’m here. I’m sorry I haven’t been here talking to you, but I’m here now. God I’m so scared. I love you so much, I can’t stand this. Seeing you like this is so hard. I know your parents have been in here. They’re staying at the house with us.”

He squeezed Jiyong’s hand. “You might not be able to hear me, but you need to know how much I love you. I can’t sleep knowing you’re not by my side, and I can’t help you beyond what I’m doing right now. Baby, I miss you, hearing you laugh, seeing your smile. Come back to me Jiyong, please. I can’t lose you, not now.”

He laid his head on the bed next to their entwined hands and cry quietly. After about 5 minutes, he heard the door slide open and he raised his head to see Dr. Dobbs walking in, followed by the nurse who’d left him with Jiyong.

The nurse went to the other side of the bed and began checking the monitors while the doctor stood next to Seunghyun.

“How much more blood do you think he’ll need Lynn?”

“Well, he lost about 2 units, and that would’ve been worse if Seunghyun didn’t come tell us. Looks like he’s stabilizing well and County is sending us some blood until we get more from the local blood bank.”

Dr. Dobbs took the needle out of Seunghyun’s arm and taped a cotton ball where it had been. Seunghyun bent his arm, holding his hand up near his throat.

The nurse looked at Seunghyun. “Let’s get you to an exam room and get your blood sent to the lab.”

He nodded and stood up. He bent over Jiyong and kissed his forehead gently. “I love you.”

Dr. Dobbs and Nurse Lynn shared a sad look. Seunghyun stepped away from the bed and followed the nurse out of his lover’s room and into an elevator. They went down to the ground floor into the clinic. She shut the exam room door behind him. Lynn gestured for him to sit on the exam table.

She went over to the counter and pulled out two small vials and a needle, as well as a tourniquet. She washed her hands quickly before drying her hands and putting on gloves.

“I’m sorry that we couldn’t give you more time with him.” She said as she pushed the sleeve on his other arm up and tied the tourniquet around his bicep.

“It’s alright. Some time was better than none, especially since I won’t be able to see him again for a while.”

She poked his arm for a second, finding the vein and placing the needle into the skin, untying the tourniquet. “I wish we could allow you and his parents in there for longer. The ICU keeps us from allowing that for now. If we can keep him stable and well for the next week, we could probably move him to a private room that would allow your other friends to visit him as well.”

She put a vial on the needle and was silent for a second as the small glass container filled with blood. She removed it and replaced it with the second vial. “How long have you been with him?”
 

Seunghyun smiled sadly. “Officially over a year. We only got engaged a couple weeks ago.”

She took the second vial off and pulled the needle out of his arm and placed a small round bandage over the spot of blood that bubbled out after the needle was removed.

“Everyone that sees you standing in the hallway day after day can tell just how much you love him. I am sorry that you’re going through this.”

“Thank you.” He looked at the clock. “Visiting hours are over, I guess I better get home and let his parents know what happened.”

“Did you drive yourself?”

“No, I don’t normally like driving, and with this on my mind, I wouldn’t be focused on the road. I’ll have to call my friend and have him come pick me up.”
 

She nodded. “Make sure you get rest and drink a lot of water tonight. If you can, you should have some kind of fish or red meat for dinner to help your body begin to make new blood.”

“I will, thank you nurse.”

She nodded and smiled. “It’s my pleasure.”

They left the exam room, Lynn walking back to the elevators to take the blood to the lab personally, and Seunghyun walked to the lobby and took his phone out of his pocket. He opened his texts and sent a message to Youngbae asking him to come pick him up.

Once he was home that night, he cried himself to sleep.

Still being angsty, but stick with me, it will get better. Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you thought, it really helps me to know I’m doing alright and that people like what I’m writing.

PS- I am pretty sure direct blood transfusions don’t happen really anymore, and they wouldn’t probably EVER do a transfusion without proper blood work first, so I’m sorry that part was a bit unrealistic. I just wanted to add some drama and tension. Thanks <3