What happened next was a blur.

SinB remembered getting Yerin into a trauma room, paging every surgeon under the sun and the director himself. She remembered Director Jung bursting in as doctors swarmed Yerin. She remembered the look of pure devastation on his face as he took in his daughter looking so small and frail on the table.

Somewhere between then and now, Yerin was taken into surgery, and Director Jung had asked her to stay with his daughter every second she could while he dealt with the aftermath.

“You and my daughter are close, aren’t you?” Director Jung had asked, hands on her shoulders. He looked much older, suddenly weighed down by the stress of this accident. “Please stay with her. I can’t right now. I have to find out everything about what happened, but she needs someone. Please.”

How could SinB have said no to that?

Now, SinB sat in the dimly lit room Yerin had been wheeled into after her surgery. The only serious injury had been her arm, just as the paramedic had said. There wasn’t a fear of amputation, but paralysis had been a very real possibility for a while.

It was nearing 2 am as SinB curled into the crappy chair next to Yerin’s bed, trying to use her white coat as a sad blanket.  

Just as SinB got comfortable, a knock from the doorway startled her to her feet. Sowon and Eunha stood there, both of their faces pinched in worry as they hovered nervously by the door, like they were afraid to walk in.

“Hey,” SinB said softly, voice gravelly from disuse.

Eunha sniffled and shuffled in with Sowon trailing after her absently. Eunha reached out and held SinB’s hand, asking with a broken voice, “Is she going to be okay?”

“Yes,” SinB answered immediately, squeezing her hand reassuringly. “Dr. Im did an excellent job regrafting a few nerves and resetting the bone.” SinB had watched from the gallery, transfixed by the simple yet complicated procedure. “After a few weeks of physical therapy, she’ll be good as new.”

“Are you sure?”

SinB tried to smile and said, “Positive. I watched the surgery myself, and you know Director Jung would only let the best work on Yerin.”

“Right,” Eunha nodded, like she was talking to herself.

Sowon leaned forward and holds out her hand. “I wish we could’ve formally met under better circumstances. Sowon.”

“SinB.”

They shook hands briefly before turning back to where Yerin laid. SinB had been staring at her for hours, but she was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that the pale, lifeless woman in the bed is the same bright and cheerful Yerin that pestered day in and day out.

After a few moments, Eunha turned to SinB and asked, “Do you need anything? Are you hungry?”

Food. Right. SinB vaguely remembered eating a protein bar this morning.

As if reading her mind, Sowon snorted and patted her shoulder. She said as she walked out, “I’ll be right back. I’ll grab us some Chinese food.”

“You don’t have to do that,” SinB tried to protest, but she stopped when Eunha just smiled and ruffled her hair.

“Let her do it,” Eunha told her. “Sowon likes having something to do, so just standing there and watching Yerin was probably driving her insane.” She wavesdher hand for SinB to scoot over then she squished herself beside SinB in the uncomfortable chair. “How are you really doing?”

“Tired,” SinB answered simply.

It was the simplest way to describe how she was feeling, drained and confused and just tired. She wanted to talk about how Yerin had just asked her that morning if they were friends. God, that felt ages ago. Were they relly friends? Was this how someone felt when a friend was in the hospital? SinB still didn’t know.

“What about you?” SinB asked. “You’ve known each other for a really long time, right?”

Eunha shrugged with a sad smile and replied, “She’s basically my sister.”

The two of them sat in silence after that, until Sowon came back with the food. SinB’s stomach immediately growled at the smell, much to Eunha and Sowon’s amusement. The three of them spread out the impressive array of food and tried to enjoy the food despite the somber atmosphere. As they ate, SinB talked to Sowon and found her to be fun to talk to. Although she wasn’t a doctor, she could easily follow when SinB regalled a case she had recently, and her talk about photography was more interesting than SinB expected.

SinB could see why Yerin spent her time with Sowon, and Eunha too. They were smart and strong yet kind. A lot like Yerin herself.

At three-thirty in the morning, Sowon and Eunha finally dragged themselves to the door to leave. “Shouldn’t you be heading home too?” Eunha asked.

SinB shook her head, “I told Director Jung I would stay with her until he could.” To her surprise, Sowon scowled, and even Eunha frowned a little. “What is it?” SinB couldn’t help but ask.

“Nothing,” Eunha said, but her tone said everything but. “Just get some rest, okay?”

SinB nodded and resettled herself in the hard plastic chair. Maybe she should talk to someone about investing in some new ones because SinB couldn't imagine how people slept in these chairs all the time. She managed to doze in and out for an hour, but when she opened her eyes to check the time, she met Yerin’s groggy gaze.

Almost tripping over her own feet in her haste to get closer, SinB crossed the scant three feet to be at Yerin’s side.

"Hi," SinB said breathlessly.

“Water,” Yerin croaked. SinB did as she was told then made to leave. However, Yerin caught her the sleeve of her white coat in a feeble grip. “Don’t go.”

“I’m just getting your father,” SinB explained.

Yerin’s grip tightened. “Not yet,” Yerin whispered.

Slowly, SinB grabbed the chair and pulled it closer. She sat down, all the while Yerin held her sleeve. SinB shifted, uncomfortable in a way that now had nothing to do with the hard plastic of the chair. “How are you feeling?” SinB asked.

“Hmm okay,” Yerin answered. She scrunched up her face for a moment before saying, “I’ll probably need more morphine soon, but not yet.”

Not yet seemed to be a recurring theme with her.

“You look tired,” Yerin commented, looking worried despite the fact that she was the one in the hospital bed.

“I’m fine,” SinB reassured her. “This chair just isn’t really great for sleeping.”

Yerin frowned. Her eyebrows pinched together, and SinB absently wondered what it would be like to smooth out the tension from her face. Maybe with a kiss. As if she’d ever be that bold.

“You should go home,” Yerin told her, even though she just asked her to stay not five minutes ago.

SinB allowed herself to smile just a little then shook her head. “No,” SinB said, “I told your father I would stay with you until he could be here. Or, well, he told me to, but I’m here all the same.”

Yerin got that same, strange look Eunha and Sowon had worn earlier, when SinB mentioned Director Jung, before she said, “Okay." A pause. "Tell me something. Are you close with your parents?”

“Ah, I take it Eunha didn’t tell you?” was all SinB could think to say. When Yerin could only stare at her with confusion, SinB explained gently, “My parents died when I was young.”

Yerin’s face twisted into a such a suffering expression that SinB thought the morphine had suddenly worn off. However, Yerin then reached out and held her hand tightly as she said, “I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault,” SinB shrugged. 

Yerin squeezed SinB’s hand and asked, “What happened?”

SinB felt the urge to yank her hand away from Yerin’s but held still. “I'd rather not say,” SinB said, a hollowness to her voice that she couldn’t hold back. It still hurt, even after all these years. 

Yerin seemed to see the tension in SinB’s form because then she asked, “Will you come visit me while I’m stuck here?”

The sudden change in subject surprised SinB for a moment, but she recovered quickly and said, “Would that be appropriate?”

“Maybe,” Yerin said, “maybe not.” Then she smiled a little and said, “But that’s what a friend would do.”

SinB felt almost like she was trapped. Except she didn’t want to escape. With her hand in Yerin’s, SinB sighed deeply and said, “I guess you’ll be seeing me around then.”

Yerin’s bright smile almost made SinB forget the uncomfortable turn of her stomach as she said those words.