Chapter 5
edits
“We’re here,” said a voice from far away.
“Five more minutes,” Tiffany croaked, hand against her nose. “I’ll skip breakfast."
“Tiffany? Are you alright? We’re at the hospital now."
“Why?"
“Uh, you’ve been having nosebleeds and you fainted earlier. Let’s go inside, okay?"
“Five more minutes."
“We have to go now, Tiffany. I think you’re going to faint again in five minutes and there is no way I’ll be able to carry you."
Tiffany groaned but didn’t move. Soon after, there was a quiet bang, followed by silence, then suddenly there was a breeze and something was poking her in the stomach. “Ow,” she said numbly.
“Sorry. I just have to undo your seatbelt.” Taeyeon’s face appeared in her line of vision. “Can you stand up?"
“What’s that?"
“I knew I should’ve gone to the gym more. Okay, here we go."
Tiffany felt herself being tugged sideways. Her hand fell away from her nose and she scrabbled at the tissue weakly. “Oh no,” she said. “Tissue."
“I think you’ve actually stopped bleeding. Is that a good sign?"
“What did the sign do?"
There was one, hard pull on her arm and Tiffany suddenly found herself blinking in the sunlight, her legs swaying under her. “Whoa there,” said Taeyeon’s voice near her ear. “Put your arm around my shoulder. Got it? Tiffany? Can you hear me?"
“That’s a song,” giggled Tiffany. “I didn’t like it very much."
“Oh. Well. I’ll try to sing it better next time?"
“You didn’t like it either?"
Taeyeon laughed. “I didn’t really have a say, to be honest. Anyway, let’s go. Can you walk with me? Tiffany? Tiffany? Oh god, no, please don’t fain—”
--
“Miss…Tiffany? Can you hear me, miss?"
Tiffany’s eyes snapped open. “Hello?"
“Hello,” said a man, smiling kindly down at her. “I’m Dr. Kang. How are you feeling?"
“Am I dead?"
He nodded. “Yes."
“I am?"
“No, you’re not. Can you tell me your full name, please?"
“Tiffany. Tiffany Hwang. Miyoung."
“So is that Tiffany Hwang Miyoung?"
“Tiffany Miyoung Hwang.” Tiffany felt around her. “Why am I horizontal?"
“You fainted, Miss Hwang. You are on a hospital bed."
“I’m not dead."
“No, you are alive. You’ve lost an alarming amount of blood, but you’re otherwise healthy.” Dr. Kang looked down at the chart in his hand. “It says here that you’ve been having nosebleeds and fainted once earlier today. Is that correct?"
Tiffany nodded.
“Could you tell me a little more? Miss Kim did not seem to be very sure of all the details when she filled your form out."
“Oh,” said Tiffany. “Right. Where is she?"
“Filling in some more forms, I believe. Your symptoms, please?"
“Um, I’ve been having these nosebleeds. Since two days ago, in the afternoon after lunch."
“Do you have a history of nosebleeds? Any family history of liver conditions?"
“No? I don’t think so?"
“And how long did these nosebleeds last?"
“Depends. Maybe between a minute and five minutes."
The doctor made a note. “How often?"
“Only in the past two days. On and off around five to six times a day?"
“Have you been eating different foods? Medicine? Are you currently on your menstrual cycle?"
“No."
“I see.” Dr. Kang nodded. “Do you have any idea what may have triggered these nosebleeds?"
“I don’t know. They just randomly started."
“And if I may ask, Miss Hwang, what is your occupation?"
“I’m a graphics designer for a magazine."
“Were you at work when the nosebleeds started?"
“Yes.” Tiffany scratched her nose. “I was editing some pictures and then, boom. It just happened."
“Are you at a liberty to tell me what the pictures were of?"
“Uh, sure. They were some pictures from Ta— Miss Kim’s recent photoshoot."
“Ah,” said the doctor.
“Ah?"
“And the other nosebleeds, what were you doing while they happened?"
“I was working on putting together a spread for Miss Kim’s article and editing a video of her photoshoot."
Dr. Kang nodded. “Can I ask what your relationship is with Miss Kim?"
“Huh? We just met today, actually. She offered to drive me to the hospital."
“And that’s it? No prior contact?"
“Nope,” said Tiffany. “I don’t really pay attention to the TV so I don’t actually know very much about her."
“I see."
At that moment, there was a knock on the door. Taeyeon poked her head in cautiously. “Am I interrupting anything?"
“Not at all, Miss Kim. Please, come over here for a moment,” said Dr. Kang. He waited until Taeyeon was standing beside him before turning back to Tiffany. “Miss Hwang, I am about to take your pulse. If you could give me your arm?"
Tiffany looked awkwardly around the room as the doctor held two fingers to the artery in her wrist. She met Taeyeon’s eyes and stopped herself from laughing at Taeyeon’s bewildered expression.
“Thank you,” said the doctor finally, releasing Tiffany’s hand. “And here—”
“Tiffany, you’re bleeding again."
“—Is a tissue.” Dr. Kang handed Tiffany a tissue. “You are alright, Miss Hwang. No major health issues."
“But?"
He turned to Taeyeon. “Miss Kim, if I could ask you to step outside briefly while I discuss this with Miss Hwang?"
“Oh. Of course.” Taeyeon gave her a worried smile before leaving the room again. As the door closed behind her, Dr. Kang looked at Tiffany.
“Miss Hwang, were you being honest with me when you said you had no prior contact with Miss Kim before today?"
“Yes.” Tifany frowned. “Why?"
“Well, it seems rather far-fetched, but it appears that your nosebleeds are directly related to Miss Kim. You experience an unusual amount of stress when you encounter anything related to her and your body expresses that tension through your nosebleeds."
Tiffany stared. “What?"
The doctor sighed and folded his arms. “In other words, Miss Hwang, Miss Kim either makes you very excited or nervous and your nose bleeds when you see her."
“…That doesn’t make sense."
“I don’t get it either, but that’s how it appears to be. See? Once she’s gone, your nose has stopped bleeding again."
Tiffany took the tissue away from her nose hesitantly.
“Right now, I’m going to prescribe an IV drip because you’ve lost a unhealthy amount of blood. However, if you want to stop these nosebleeds altogether, you have two options.” He held up a finger. “One, avoid all contact with Miss Kim entirely. No pictures, no videos, no songs, no meetings. Nothing."
“But…my job…”
“Option two, then, is what we call exposure therapy."
“Uh—”
“Not that kind of exposure, Miss Hwang,” said the doctor smoothly, handing Tiffany a new tissue. “Exposure therapy in your case would be to surround yourself with things that involve Miss Kim in order to make your body habituate to her."
“How?"
“Posters, TV shows, her songs, talking to her face to face. It’s fortunately that this will be fairly easy for you to do; if you ask Nurse Nam outside, she will gladly direct you to several shops around the city that sell posters and keychains of Miss Kim for affordable prices."
Tiffany stared. “You’re kidding me."
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