Chapter 5 – Goodbye

“Minho!!!”

Amber screamed as she saw Minho sprinting towards Taemin. Everything happened in a blink of an eye. They weren’t able to react as they saw Minho push Taemin out of the way as the upper edge of the wall met the ground.

Nickhun was the first to react as Minho was covered by the rubbles. He rushed to the rubbles and manually lifted the pieces of the wall that was broken as it hit the ground.

“Minho-sshi… Minho-sshi…” Haha repeatedly mumbled to himself as he went forward to help Nickhun. Jonghyun  and Key followed after, helping the two in removing the pieces of the wall. Luna and Victoria then rushed to Taemin and helped him up.

“Amber I need you to get the first aid kit in the 4x4. I need it NOW.” Nickhun screamed. Amber moved in a snap of a finger and brought the kit to Nickhun. As soon as she got to them, she too helped the guys.

“Minho… Minho! Are you with us? Answer me…” Nickhun never stopped calling his name, hoping that he’s awake under the rumbles. After removing a large block of rock, Haha finally saw Minho’s right hand.

“Nickhun-sshi… Minho’s hand…” After informing the sight, Nickhun rushed to Haha, followed by Jonghyun and Amber. Soon as he regained control of his body, Taemin rushed to them, ignoring the small scratches he had as Minho pushed him out of the way to save him. They rushed to the part where they think Minho’s face is and removed the pile of rocks as soon as possible. They never stopped calling Minho’s name, and as Haha noticed a slight movement of Minho’s fingers, he cried out and held it carefully.

“Minho, keep yourself together, do you hear me? Don’t close your eyes. I repeat… Do not close your eyes.” Nickhun yelled as they were removing the rocks. Finally, they were able to uncover Minho’s face, followed by his whole body.

“Move aside!” The fireman instructed them. With the first aid kit beside him, he first called Minho’s attention. “Can you hear me kid?”

“Y-Ye…Yeah.” Minho struggled to answer. Nickhun noticed that he’s in pain and looked around. He saw Minho’s left leg still covered by a large rock.

“Everyone, I need you to help in removing that sh*t out of Minho’s leg.” Nickhun instructed as he walked towards Victoria.

“Victoria right?” he asked the girl, earning a nod of confirmation. “Great. I want you and your friend to keep talking to Minho. Keep him conscious as we remove the rock on his leg. This is going to be painful so it’ll be good if you at least, try to keep him busy.” He instructed. He then proceeded to remove the piece of the wall from Minho’s leg along with Jonghyun, Haha, Key, Taemin and Amber.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” Minho screamed in pain as they tried to remove the rock.

“Sh*t” Nickhun cursed under his breath. “Wait here.” He told Haha and the rest before running towards his first aid kit. He pulled out a small bottle and a needle and syringe before kneeling beside Minho’s face.

“Minho, listen to me. Does it hurt so much everytime we lift that thing on your leg?”

“Y-Yes…”

“Okay… This is what I’m going to do. I’ll inject some anesthesia to block the sensation on your legs. I need you to be calm okay?” Nickhun explained to him before asking him once again, “Do you have any drug allergies?”

Minho lightly shook his head.

Nickhun then asked Victoria’s help to roll Minho’s body to the left side. Luna on the other hand, remained beside Minho and held his hands. Grabbing the small bottle of lidocaine in his hand, he aspirated some amount of the liquid. Carefully removing the young boy’s pants, Nickhun palpated for his tailbone. The latter then wiped the beads of sweat that are forming in his forehead and firmly held the syringe with his other hand while the other served as marker of where he should inject the anesthesia.

As the needle pierced through the injured boy’s skin, he aspirated a bit to check if he pierced any blood vessels. After making sure that he didn’t, he continued piercing through Minho’s vertebra until he heard a cracking sound. He then injected some of the anesthesia first before withdrawing the rest of the liquid in the syringe. After making sure that the anesthesia has finally taken effect, he went back to the rock. It’s heavy, but without worrying about the excruciating pain that Minho might be feeling, it’s easier for them to focus on removing the rock from his leg.

A/N: Shall I still tell what Nickhun did here? I’m not really sure if I have to put it here either. I don’t know much about first aid protocol too. I only know the basics. Anyway if given a chance, in this kind of situation, if it’ll help the patient not to feel the pain, I’ll anesthetize the patient. Anyway, Nickhun performed a caudal block. It is a kind of epidural block, a local anesthetic technique, done to obstruck the sensory as well as motor functions of the lower extremities.

After running to the fire department, which is luckily not that far from where they are, Nickhun returned with a stretcher and a splint with him. After making sure that his left leg is stable they put him on the stretcher and in the jeep. The group then hurriedly went back to the camp with Nickhun monitoring Minho all throughout the journey.

“How in the heck did you know all of these things?” Amber asked Nickhun while driving on their way back to the camp.

“Huh? What do you mean?” He asked back as he’s tending to Minho’s injury.

“That one that you gave to him earlier; it’s an anesthesia right? How come you can do that?”

“I’m in the paramedics unit of the Kipuka Fire Dept.”

“Oh my god! What happened to him?” Sulli exclaimed as soon as she saw Minho on the stretcher at the back of the jeep. Sulli and Krystal ran towards their friend, who’s already sleeping peacefully.

“He’s just having some rest.” Nickhun told them. “Call me as soon as he wakes up.”

Victoria then took the role of explaining to them what happened, while the guys, with Amber, gathered around for one more time for a meeting. They collated all of the data they collected in a short amount of time.

“Sh*t.” Amber cursed under her breath. “Dr. Yoo, what did the coast guards said? What’s their current location now?”

“The last time I called them, they’re now on their way here. In any minute, their rescue choppers are going to be here.”

“That’s good.”

Nickhun then raised his hand to inform them about Minho’s condition. “Minho’s sleeping now and I’ve already given him an antibiotic to prevent possible infections. His left lower leg was broken, I’m sure of that. But he needed to get transferred to the nearest hospital to have an x-ray of how severe his injury is. So if you’re going to ask me, I think Minho should be of priority once the chopper arrived.”

“I agree with Nickhun.” Amber told the group.

“Okay. As soon as the first chopper arrives, Minho will be the first one to be rescued. Who wanted to go with Minho to assist him?” Dr. Yoo asked the guys.

Taemin was the first one to raise his hand, thinking that since Minho saved his life, it’s his turn to look after his friend this time.

It’s been decided in the meeting that in the first chopper that will arrive, Minho will be pulled up first, followed by Taemin and the rest of the girls. The other survivors will then be in the second chopper. The third chopper will then accommodate the rest who’ll remain.

While waiting for the rescuers to reach them, Krystal approached the young scientist as she noticed the latter sitting worriedly in a secluded corner. Sitting beside Amber, she put a hand on the young scientist’s fidgeting hands, causing her to look at the pair of the younger girl’s concerned eyes.

“I know you enough to see that you’re nervous Amber. What’s wrong?” After asking the older girl, she felt her hold her hand tightly in return. As a response, as if it’s the most normal thing to do, she weaved her fingers with Amber’s.

“I’m just worried Krys.” She answered the younger girl as she stared at her eyes.

Feeling the uneasiness of Amber through her eyes, she gave her hand a light squeeze, reassuring the older girl that everything will be just fine. “We’re going to make it. I’m sure of it.”

As a response, Amber turned her body and faced the younger girl before cupping both of her cheeks and planted a light peck on her forehead. “As soon as the first chopper arrives, you and your girl friends will go with Minho and Taemin. Do you understand me?”

Krystal wanted to complain as she heard Amber’s instruction, but as soon as she opened to speak, Amber said, “Listen to me Krys. Please? I’ll follow you. And here…” Amber grabbed Krys’ hand and opened before handing a hard drive. “This is just one of the backups I made. It contains all of data we collected in this island. Whatever happens…”

*SLAP*

Amber stopped her speech to the younger girl as her free hand made contact with her cheek. She looked at the person she loves and saw her shedding tears. She tried to wipe away the younger girl’s tears but the latter only slapped her hand away.

“Why are you doing this to me? Why are you saying things as if you’re going to die huh? Why are you hurting me like this Amber?” She asked the younger girl in between sobs.

Dumbfounded with Krystal’s words, Amber realized how stupid she was for pushing her away like this. She only wanted her to live. It’s not that she really knows exactly what will happen to her, but she wanted her to get out of this island alive. “Krys I…”

“If you’re going to die here, then I’ll gladly die with you!”

“Krys you don’t know what you’re saying!”

“I know what I’m saying! I won’t let you go away ever again Amber… I won’t” With these, Krystal cried even harder, hurting Amber even more.

“I’ll follow Krys. I promise you that.” She said as she threw her arms around the younger girl. I’ll make sure that I’ll follow you, whether I’ll be dead or alive. “But promise me that you’ll go with Minho and Taemin as planned. Okay?”

As much as she hated the idea, she just tried to understand the older girl. Even if the idea of them parting once more, and this time it might be forever, she just accepted it. She pulled away from the hug and crashed her lips on Amber’s. Neither of them was able to contain their feelings and they ended up sharing a passionate kiss with tears flowing down their faces.

“I love you.” Krystal muttered as their lips parted.

As soon as they heard the noise coming from the rotor of the chopper, Nickhun and Taemin prepared the stretcher carrying Minho. They already informed the r