“EMERGENCY team 1 listen up!” Jongin calls his team to the center of the emergency room. “We’re about to enter a battlefield. The only report we have is 3 children need urgent care, probably surgery, so relocate the three to a surgery room when you see them. The next 7 injuries should be targeted in order. The only doctors available are me and Baekhyun. I’ll take two surgerys, Dr. Byun please take care of the injuries then take the third surgery.” He finishes his announcement claps his head, signaling everyone to wait for the ambulance.

The ambulance follows briefly behind the announcement, and two children are dropped off. Jongin notices a head injury from the first child and immediately pulls the cart into the surgery room.

“Surgery 1 starting. Scalpel.”

“Dr. Kim!! There is a child with a pipe below his heart!! Five centimeters from puncturing his right ventricle.” Nurse Park dashes into the surgery room shouting at the top of her lungs.

Jongin drops his scalpel, “who let Nurse Park in?!” he demands angrily.

“Dr. Kim, the child’s blood pressure is dropping rapidly. The emergency procedure is not stopping anything.”

Jongin looks at the little boy breathing peacefully. He checks the head injury and scans for extra damages. “This boy has 40 minutes of golden time left. If my surgery does not finish in 30 minutes, call Dr. Byun.”

Jongin follows Nurse Park and runs to the emergency room. In the center of the room, a girl with a pipe through her chest is crying.

“Why didn’t we move her to a surgery room?!!” Jongin asks as he gets ready to push her cart. However, Nurse Park stops him and says, “all the surgery rooms are taken. They gave us wrong details. There are 4 children with emergencies.”

Jongin clenches his fist. “Move her to the ICU. Prepare for surgery there. NOW!!”

“Doctor…doctor…am I going to die? Doctor? Please save me. I miss my mum. And my dad. I miss my friends…” The little girl cries sorrowfully.

Jongin tightens his grip onto the bed post and promises, “I’ll try my best.”

They quickly rush her into an ICU room with the equipment ready for surgery.

“Have a good rest, little girl.” He wipes the tears away from the little girl and pats her head softly.

With the scalpel, he carefully opens into her heart.

-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-

The blood pressure monitor alerts as the girl’s blood pressure drops to a dangerous level.

Unfortunately, the pipe had already entered the girl’s left ventricle, and the heart was millimeters away from dying. This was done a case. With a punctured left ventricle, Jongin could not save her.

…unless he had a new heart!

“Bring me the heart from the cardiac department! They have a heart that is ready for surgery tomorrow. Tell them this girl is under the regulatory standards to receive the heart first.” Jongin tells the nurse urgently.

The nurse nods and runs out of the surgery room.

“Please hold the pipe but don’t apply pressure. Keep pumping blood. I need to check on the-“

“Dr.Kim…Nurse Park just called in saying the heart has been sent to another hospital for emergency….”

Jongin finishes the boy’s surgery with a few stitches on his forehead. He was devastated after he was forced to leave the little girl and continue operating on the boy. Although his mind was blank, he was desperate to not have another death occur today.

Finishing the surgery successfully, Jongin places the scalpel onto the tray and pulls his gloves and cap off. The overwhelming emotion of the girl’s death crashes onto him as he walks out of the surgery room. He lets out a deep sigh of frustration and relief. The pain of the death would linger for a while, and he would have to pretend he didn't care, because doctors needed to move on. Doctors have different lives they need to save the next day, and having strong emotions for one patient will effect all other patients. 

“Dr.Kim!” Baekhyun calls after Jongin who looks half dead. Baekhyun had heard there was an unfortunate death under Jongin’s guidance. Although it wasn’t Jongin’s fault, Baekhyun knew as a doctor he would blame himself.

“Good job to all the staff. Please tell everyone to get some rest. I’ll…I will head up first.” Jongin tells Baekhyun and pats his back as a thank you.

Jongin turns around and walks into the emergency staircase. He closes the door behind him and falls to the cold concrete floor. Biting on his bottom lip, Jongin tries to hold back the tears. It wasn’t the first time a patient died during surgery, but it was the first time such a little girl had to be given up on.

As the thought of the little girl lingers, Jongin clenches his fist and pounds it onto the hard floor. His knuckles immediately form red bruises, but Jongin keeps punching the floor. She had a life ahead of her…she had parents, family, people who loved her….she had dreams….

“Dr.Kim?”

Jongin’s heart stops for a second and he squeezes his eyes tight to remove the tears. Did this person just hear him crying his heart out? Carefully, Jongin turns his head around to face the intruder.

“Oh I knew it was you.” Gaeul, the intruder, smiles and walks down the stairs, towards Jongin. She bends down on her knees to parallel Jongin’s eye level. Slowly and carefully, Gaeul pats Jongin’s head gingerly. With a warm smile, she embraces Jongin's devastations. As if she didn’t catch him crying and making a scene, Gaeul acts very casual and subtle.

Jongin’s eyes fill with tears again. The sudden softness made Jongin emotional. Maybe he won't be able to keep another promise...

“Cry on my shoulder.” Gaeul pats her shoulder for Jongin to lean on.

The two sit on the stairs and Jongin cautiously leans onto Gaeul. With the weight of his head on Gaeul’s shoulders, he starts to cry softly. It was his first time leaning on or crying in front of a girl other than Sohee. The surprising thing was…it didn’t feel any different.