Chapter 10: Turning Point

 

 

My world shatters. I finally find her and yet this happens? What did I ever do wrong? Moreover… What did she ever do wrong to deserve such sickness? It’s unfair. Why? Someone so pure and innocent shouldn’t be suffering like this. She’s looking at my wide-eyed expression and smiles gently. How could a sick person still look this beautiful? The morning sunlight shining down on her, wisps of dust dancing across the prism. The smell of lilies fills the room. She’s giving me an apologetic smile. I’m confused why she is giving me such an expression. She doesn’t have to apologize for anything.

“Hey, it’s okay.” She says, reaching out to wipe my cheek. I feel her cold hand.

It turns out that I’m shedding tears. I look at her and see something familiar. Like I have seen this kind of smile of hers before. But I can't remember.

“I’m sorry.” I apologize, wiping my tears away. I reach for her hand in an attempt to warm it up.

“What are you apologizing for? It’s like you’re the one who gave me Leukemia.” She chuckles.

I look at her arm and I could see bruises. Leukemia patients bruise easily. She must have gotten this during when blood was taken from her. That must have been painful. I could imagine her being pricked continuously by needles. How many days has she been here? Or could it be months? I feel guilty not searching for her any sooner. This urge of protection that I have towards her, I don’t know where this came from but I know that I can’t stop now. I have to save her in any way I can. In any power I can. I refuse to lose her again.

“Hey, Amber. Brighten up. I’m not going anywhere. I’m a fighter.” She says, tapping my chin so that I would look up to her. I find her grinning up to me.

”I know you’re a fighter, princess. I believe in you.”

I hear the door open and I’m greeted by a wide eyed nurse. She’s pushing a cart filled with test tubes and some syringes. She’s going to get blood drawn again from her. I look at her and see a small tinge of fear in her eyes. This has been done to her countless of times and yet her eyes cry as if ‘not again’.

“Amber, I think you should go back to your room.” Krystal suddenly says.

“What? No.” I look at her.

“Come on. Go back. Please?” There she is again, giving me an apologetic smile.

I sigh in defeat. How could I say no?

“I’ll assist you to your room Ms. Liu.” The nurse says.

I reluctantly stand up, wobbling in the process but the nurse has her arm around me. I look back at her while walking out the door. She waves at me with a bright smile plastered upon her face. Please be safe, princess. It’s a little hard walking to my room especially when you have a broken leg, in crutches and a dreamy eyed nurse clinging on. We arrive in my room and the nurse gently sets me down on my bed. I thank her, she blushes, muttering a muted ‘you are welcome’ and shuffles away. The door gently closes and I’m left alone. I take this time to break down. Tears constantly fall from my eyes and I couldn’t will them to stop. It just hurt me how Krystal must have been suffering all this time. Alone. I could imagine her wincing in pain as the nurse put needles in her, adding another set to her collection of bruises. Her beautiful skin being tainted by something that wasn’t supposed to be there. She told me to go back here in the attempt for me not to see her in that state. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. I wanted to be with her when she needed me the most. I wanted t be there holding her hand and telling her that it’s going to be okay while the nurse put needles in her. Even thought that everything is going to be far from okay. She has Leukemia for peanut’s sake! It’s cancer! She would need chemo, radiation therapy and whatnot. And if worse, she would need a bone marrow transplant which is I heard is excruciatingly painful. I shut my eyes tight, warding off the thought. Here I am, alone in my room with a broken foot while my group mates are away working themselves off. I just hope they don’t come barging in right now or else I would be bombarded with questions on why I’m crying. I put my hands over my face. Please…. Just let me cry like this.

 

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After three days in the hospital, I was discharged only to return thrice a week for therapy. In those three days in the hospital, I only saw Krystal once. And that was the one when I finally found her. I would always try to sneak out of my room but Victoria-unnie often catches me. But when I do get away, I would always find her door locked. Doesn’t she want me in? Or maybe she’s resting? I should let her rest. She needs it the most. It’s already the second month of my therapy and my foot is feeling better. I could walk but only for a few steps, I still needed crutches. The news already released what happened to me and I receive get well soon gifts from fans in our dorm. We have the best fans in the world. I’m currently in the hospital for my weekly therapy. Sweat dripping off my face as I try to walk while holding on to beams on either side. I could feel the pressure on my feet but I want to go on. I want to heal fast. I don’t want to be a burden anymore. I want to protect her as soon as possible. I haven’t seen her since that day, but every time I’m here I would always drop by her room and talk to her. Even if it’s just a simple hello, I would let her know that I’m here for her. I would even leave little gifts for her. I know she’s on the other side and I wonder why she wouldn’t open the door for me anymore. I would lie if I said I’m not worried because I’m so worried that if I could, I would barge into her room just to know how she’s been. I hope she’s okay. I know she’s fighting well.

“Don’t push yourself too much, Amber.” Luna says with a worried tone. She’s the one in charge of accompanying me to the hospital this week.

“I can do this.” I say with determination.

I strive on, struggling to walk. But in all desperation and perseverance, I’m able to complete the walk with minimal pain. I give in a few more rounds and I could walk by myself now, but I’m obviously limping and in need of a walking cane. I look like an old man. I chuckle to myself as I imagine having a graying beard. The therapist dismisses me for the day.

“Looking good, Amber.” Luna grins at me.

“Hehe. Thanks. Though I feel like an old man.” I say, laughing.

“Maybe little girl scouts and boy scouts should help you cross the road then.” She says, laughing along with me.

“Yeah, that’ll help.” I grin.

“Hey, I’ll just go the bathroom for a bit okay? Stay put.” She says, pointing her finger to the ground.

“Yes, ma’am!” I salute.

I look around the bustle of the hospital. Many lives are lost yet many are saved at the same time. I lean against the window and I look outside. There shows the hospital garden with huge trees around and different flowers blooming. They even have a patch of white roses. I lock my gaze to the white roses. There’s a wheelchair carrying a painfully thin figure on it parked next to them. I can’t see who the person is because of the cloth over the person’s head, but I feel like I need to go towards the figure. Something about the white roses bothers me. I limp my way towards the garden entrance, supporting myself with my cane and the wall. I make it outside without tumbling; the cold breeze and warm sunlight greets me. There is no one other than the person in the wheelchair in the garden. I take wobbly steps towards the person and I hear a simple tune. A tune that is all too familiar, it sends horror through me. No… It can’t be…

“Krystal?” I call out, my voice shaking.

The figure looks around and I could feel my eyes watering. It’s her. She’s so thin that it’s like she’s mostly made up of bones and skin. I can’t see her beautiful black hair anywhere. I could only see the thin mint colored cloth that’s covering her head. She lost all her hair. Maybe because she already started her radiation therapy. Her eyes dark and sunken. Her face so thin that her cheekbones protruded. I put my hand over my mouth, holding a sob in. It’s too much for me to bear.

“Amber… Hey…” She smiles weakly, holding out her fragile hand out for me.

I’m at loss for words, afraid that the moment I open my mouth, I might break down and cry. I gently catch her hand and look at it. It’s so thin... And more bruises than I remember.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t able to let you see me these past months. But I guess I can’t run away now, can I?” She says with a weak chuckle.

I’m still speechless. So this is why she had her doors locked for me. She doesn’t want me to see her like this. I kneel and Krystal flashes a look of alarm on her face. I hold out my hand, signaling her that I’m okay. Still holding her hand, I put my forehead against it. I begin to cry.

“Crybaby. What are you crying for?” She says, patting my head. More tears come out flowing.

“Why didn’t you let me see you? I could’ve done something so you won’t have to feel like this.” I say, feeling angry at myself for not opting to barge in her room sooner.

“I didn’t want you to see me like this. I look like a stick.” She says, now caressing my hair.

“I don’t care how you look like. Whatever happens to you, you would always be Krystal. My princess.” I cry out, a little bit louder this time.

“I just wish that I had been there for you during the times you had to endure a lot of pain. I just wish that I would be able to save you whatever it takes.” I say, holding on to her.

“Amber… You already saved me once. Once is enough.” She says, her voice filled with distant sadness.

I look up at her and I don’t know what kind of saving she is talking about. I have never done anything to save her. So what is this she’s saying about me already saving her once? She notices my confused expression and just gives me an apologetic smile like she used to. Like the ones she would give me when she I couldn’t get her riddles in the past. She would always give me these riddles that I couldn’t understand but somehow feel nostalgic. Something bothers me now that the left side of my upper back started to somehow sting a bit. It doesn’t make any sense.

“The doctor said that I would need a bone marrow transplant if I would increase the chance to survive.” She says, looking in the distance with her eyes lost in thought.

“Do you already have a donor?” I ask, my eyes filling with determination.

“Not yet. They couldn’t find anyone at the moment.” She says, shaking her head.

“How about your mother and grandparents?” I ask.

“The doctor said that they would only give me stem cells that have a high risk of producing cancer cells again since the disease runs through our family. They're the only family I have left. So I’m still waiting for a match.” She explains, now pinching my cheek.

I take my chances. I stand up without letting go of her hand. If I go and ask her doctor to check if I could be a possible match for her then maybe I could have chance on getting her away from this place. I would do anything to save her. I look at her and I give her a loving smile.

“You’re still beautiful in my eyes, you know.” I say, sliding off the cloth on her head which now reveals no trace of her once beautiful hair.

Despite her being so pale, I could see her blush coming through. I think of Luna and remember that she might be looking for me. She may be running around the hospital looking for me. I would get a huge scolding later. I don’t want to leave Krystal but I have to. I need to go to her doctor as soon as possible if I were to have the chance of saving her.

“I need to go. But I’ll be back for you. I promise.” I say, caressing her face.

She holds my hand and nods. I let go of her and start to limp my way back into the building. Reaching the door, I look back and see her still looking at me with that sad smile of hers. It pains me to leave her alone like that. It takes all my will power to go inside and find her doctor. After a short while, a shrieking Luna finally finds me looking exasperated.

“Where have you been?! I have been looking all over for you!” She says, shaking me.

“I’m sorry. I just bumped into an old friend and started talking.” I say, giving her a sheepish grin.

“Seriously, Amber! I nearly died worrying.” She says while down and holding her knees. She’s trying to catch her breath. Poor girl, she must have ran all over the place.

“I’m sorry.” I apologize, holding her shoulder.

“What am I going to do with you? Wait till Vic-unnie hears about what you did. Come on, let’s go home.” She says, giving me a smile, forgiving me.

“Not yet. I have something to do.” I say, determination in my eyes.

“What?” Luna looks confused.

I tell her the story of how I finally found Krystal and how I just met her at the garden earlier. I tell her how Krystal needed a donor so badly and how I want to be that donor so I need to find Krystal’s doctor as soon as possible for some tests.

“Please. Let this be just between the two of us. I beg you, Luna.” I say, practically begging.

“Fine fine. I’ll help you. Sheesh. That love story of yours. If that’s made into a drama, it would be a hit. Okay, let’s go find that doctor.” She says as we start walking with her holding my arm to support me. She is aware that I’m not fully healed yet.

We go to the reception desk and ask for Krystal’s records. Luna worked her charm because it turns out that the nurse stationed at the desk is a huge Luna fan so we got what we needed. It turns out that a doctor named Baek Seol-Ah is in charge of Krystal’s case. We ask if she’s in and to our delight, she is. We make our way to her office on the ninth floor. Trust me when I say that my foot kind of hurts now but I don’t want Luna to know that or she might force me to come home. We reach the ninth floor and we enter the lobby. The color of the usual white adorns the room and at the far right of the lobby stands door with a nameplate that said “Dr. Baek Seol-Ah” on it. Luna and I wobble our way towards the doctor’s office. I breathe a heavy sigh and knock.

“Yes. Come in.” A woman’s voice says from within the office.

I open the door and reveal a brightly lit room painted in white but with baby pink linings. The room isn’t too big. There’s an examination table at the far right corner of the room. There are a few seats lined up near the left side of the door, all are empty. And a mahogany brown desk rests at the center left of the room which hosts a woman, maybe in her early thirties, reading a few files. The room is filled with bookshelves and charts. The only plant life in the room is the single baby pink rose that’s on the doctor’s table. The young doctor looks up at us and I am greeted by a beautiful face. Pinkish-white skin that matches her black hair and her gentle black eyes.  She gives us a smile. Is this woman seriously a doctor? She could be a supermodel! But no thoughts of that now, I’m here for Krystal’s sake.

“Yes? How may I help you?” She asks, putting down the files she’s reading.

“Um… Ma’am, are you the one in charge of Jung Soo Jung’s case?” I ask right to the point.

“Ah the young woman with Leukemia? Yes, I am her doctor. Is there something you need?” She asks, her eyes curious.

“Well, ma’am… I’m here to volunteer myself as Soojung’s bone marrow donor.” I say, looking her on the eyes.

She smiles and stands up. Man this woman’s tall! She looks at me from head to toe. Examining me as if I’m some kind of meat. I feel Luna looking awkward behind me.

“Very well… Please sit on that examination table over there.” She says, pointing to the table at the back.

I obediently hop my way to the examination table. Dr. Baek doesn’t seem to mind my injury as she rummages through her shelves for some syringes, cotton, disinfectant and some test tubes. Oh no. She’ll extract blood from me, won’t she? I swallow my nervousness. This is for Krystal so I have to be brave. She places her things on the table near us and gently grabs my right arm. She starts to dab a wet cotton at the vein at the center of my arm. She readies the syringe and I close my eyes. I feel a small tinge of pain on my arm. I feel my blood being drawn, then the needle is out. She patches me up and I could see my blood in the test tube.

“Alright. Now if you could wait for thirty minutes to an hour, you could have your results if you’re a match for Ms. Jung or not.” She says, smiling while taking off her gloves.

“Thank you.” I say, bowing.

“It’s alright. I do hope that Ms. Jung get’s a donor this time. We have been searching for one for a long time. I hope you’re the one, Ms. Liu.” She says, smiling at me as she goes out through the door to send my blood samples to the lab. Luna squeezes my hand and gives me a smile. We walk out of the doctor’s office and proceeded to sit at the waiting area at the lobby. I didn’t notice that I’m already tired and I fall asleep without even realizing it.

 

Everything’s burning as I find myself running in a place filled with smoke. It smelled of death. I look ahead and see Krystal’s back, running a bit farther from me.

“Princess… Where are you going?” I try to shout but she couldn’t hear me.

“Wait for me!” I shout once more, hoping my voice would reach her.

She just keeps on running while I hear gunshots and explosions all over the place. Then I realize that we are somewhere in a warzone. I look at Krystal with fear. Fearing she might get shot. I stay behind her, blocking her back from any bullets that might make its way to her. I keep on looking in front and I see a light not far. We’re safe. Krystal is safe.

“Go on, princess! Keep running!” I shout, not caring if she hears me or not as long as she runs.

As soon as Krystal reaches the light, I hear a gunshot and the next thing I know, I’m falling hard to the ground. My shirt stained red with my blood. I feel my breathing start to become rugged. I look up in front of me, finding Krystal standing not far from me. Her face as if she’s about to cry.

“No don’t cry, princess. Go, keep running.” I meekly say as I feel my life slowly seeping away.

A tear escapes from her eye.

“I told you… You’ve already saved me once. Once is enough, Amber. Please.” She says.

 

I wake up with Luna shaking me. I must have dozed off while waiting for the test results. I look around and find Dr. Baek returning to her office from the lab, gesturing us to come with her. We stand up and hurriedly make our way in her office. We sit on the chairs that are nearest to her table. She opens a folder probably containing the result of my test. My palms are sweating, anticipating for the best. Hoping that I would be a match to Krystal. I don’t care what that dream told me.

“Well…” Dr. Baek looks at us with a serious face…. Then breaks into a huge grin.

“Congratulations, Ms. Liu. You’re a match.” She declares.

My eyes go wide and I hear Luna squeal. She started shaking me and telling me something but I can’t hear her. Everything is a blur. Finally… Now I would have the chance to save her.

“I don’t know how it happened. But out of all the donors we tested, you are the one and only match. I would call this a miracle. Thank you, Ms. Liu. You’re giving this girl a chance to keep living on.” Dr. Baek says with a triumphant glint in her eyes.

“Ohmygoodness, Amber! This is so great!” Luna starts fidgeting in delight.

“May I just ask… Who are you to Ms. Jung?” Dr. Baek asks.

“I’m an old friend of hers.” I reply, my eyes starting to water.

Dr. Baek seems to understand and proceeds to talk to us about the transplant procedure. She said that the donation would involve with me having a syringe drill down to my hip bone to get some bone marrow. It sounds painful, I know. But if this is for Krystal… Bring it on. Dr. Baek told me that there would be side effects and it would take me five days to recover which is fine with me. The procedure is scheduled as soon as possible which is the day after tomorrow. It’s too soon but if we are to save Krystal, we have to do it. As we are talking, suddenly Dr. Baek’s pager beeps. She looks at it and her eyes turned into horror. She immediately stands up and darts for the door.

“It’s Ms. Jung.” She says as she runs out of the door.

Krystal? What’s happening to her? I urge Luna to help me up which is more than willing to do so. We make our way to Krystal’s room on the seventh floor as fast as my injured foot could take us. Finally we arrive at her room only for me to see her being desperately revived by Dr. Baek who was frantically throwing orders everywhere and charging that thing that starts up someone’s heart. I saw this way too many times on tv but something like this happening to the one you care about is devastating. I could hear the flat line that is Krystal’s heart on the machine. I’m too stunned to move. Luna is already panicking and holding on to my arm tight. Tears started to come to my eyes, unable to stop them. I could see her limp body lying on her bed. The color slowly draining from her. She looks so thin, sickly, bald and unmoving. It hurt me seeing her like this. I hear Dr. Baek’s attempts of getting her back only to be mocked by a flat line on the machine. Not this again. Please. I don’t know why but I feel that I have lost her countless of times. The pain is still fresh somewhere in me. I don’t know where that came from but… I don’t want to lose her again.

“Please, Soojung… Wake up. Don’t leave me again.” A voice inside me says.

As if on cue, a faint beat emerges from the machine. It’s Krystal’s heartbeat. By some miracle, it’s back. I collapse to my knees, shaking and still not getting over from what I just saw. Dr. Baek notices me on the doorway. She looks at the nurses and proceeds on giving orders like her life depends on it.

“Hurry! Book me an E.R! ASAP!” She orders one nurse who runs out of the door as soon the order was shot out.

“Get the patient into wherever E.R is booked for us and prep her for operation!” She orders the remaining nurses who frantically fixes up the machines attached to Krystal.

“And Ms. Liu.” She says, looking back at me, her voice gentle but urgent.

“I think we have to move your bone marrow donation procedure today.” She says.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Ohmygoodness I can't believe this. I finished chapter 10! Yes! I would like to thank you guys for the encouraging comments. It's what gives me the drive to continue this story. So thank you very much! It means a lot to me. TT^TT *emotional potato author here*
Anyways.... Hooray for the 10th chapter! This is a new record for me since I don't usualy have the attention span to continue an ongoing fic this long. Hahahahaha! I'm sorry if this took so long to get updated. I sure do hope that you guys like this chapter! ^^

As always... Comments, suggestions, criticisms, violent reactions, pitchforks and grenade lauchers are very much welcome! Thank you and see you on the next chapter! :D