TANGLED PART 1

"What are you doing?" Taeyeon squeezes a dollop of toothpaste on her toothbrush, gazing up at the reflection in the mirror. Her man is right there, looking as cute as usual but her heart doesn't like the image as much as her eyes do.

"Standing."

"Do you have to do it there?"

"Yes." Jiyong grins from the doorjamb he's leaning on. That adorable curl of his lips would have melted Taeyeon's heart before. She would have come into his arms, asking for a kiss and a hug while giving a lot of kisses and hugs in return. Right now though, she oddly wants nothing to do with the man.

"I'm fine." Taeyeon starts brushing her teeth, trying hard to suppress the annoyance inside.

"You're in a hospital, babe. You're not fine." There's a hint of tease and affection in Jiyong's voice. Something that would have swayed Taeyeon's heart before. "Yuri said you need to be monitored for 24 hours. We still have about six hours left."

Taeyeon sighs, bending her head over the sink to continue the task at hand. She wants to say a lot of things but hates the idea of making a conversation with Jiyong. Silence is her best choice at the time and to prolong it, she even rinses four times. She hates these confusing feelings and in turn, she blames Jiyong for them all. She wants him to leave her alone.

Jiyong is Jiyong though, when Taeyeon turns around he's still standing there with a sweet loving smile.

"You don't have to watch my every move. I can still do stuff on my own."

"I don't mind." He comes closer, unhooking the IV bag Taeyeon has previously hooked on the side of the vanity mirror then follows her out of the bathroom.

"Well, I am." Taeyeon briskly takes the IV bag from him and walks away. She climbs onto the bed, hangs the IV bag on the designated pole then lays down facing the wall. "You can leave, Ji. I'm 100%  fine."

"No, you're not." Instead of leaving, Jiyong tucks the soft blue blanket around her. "You've had a chunk of ice splitting your forehead. Yuri said the contusion might be mild but-"

"Scalp lacs." Stopping Jiyong from talking about the wound on her forehead any further, Taeyeon pulls the blanket over her head. "It's nothing but three centimeters scalp lacs. Yuri just so used of babying me."

"Well, if she can baby you, I can too."

"Just..." Taeyeon sighs under the blanket. "Give me some space will you?"

"Only if you tell me what's going on?"

"Nothing is going on."

"Taeyeon...." Jiyong sits on the edge of the bed, pulling the blanket down. "Are you mad at me?"

"No."

"Really?"

She shakes her head, trying not to frown but her lips automatically curl downward.

"Was it because I went to Haepung often?"

"No."

"Was it because I chose not to come with you to the wedding?"

She shakes her head again.

"Can you at least look at me."

"No."

"I had a last-minute urgency, Taeyeon." Jiyong climbs onto the bed, cramming himself beside Taeyeon. "You know I would have loved to see you in that pretty dress. You know how much I'd love to dance every night away with you in my arms."

"I said I'm not mad." She mumbles again.

"Yeah?" He lays on his side now, propping his head on one arm while his other hand curls gently around her waist. "Why do I feel like you've been trying so hard to shut me down me since I arrived?"

"It's because you are so annoying." Taeyeon gives up, huffing, and turning to look at him.

"Me?" Jiyong points at his nose, smiling. "How am I annoying? I'm the most understanding boyfriend ever."

"You wait on me hand and foot! I can't even go brushing my teeth alone."

He laughs, kissing her forehead. "I'm sorry, babe. I don't want you to get hurt even more."

"It's just a scalp lac with a mild contusion."

"Those medical slangs mean nothing on me, you know? Even if it was just the bite of an ant, I would have still wanted to stay by your side. I want to make sure you're all safe and warm right now."

"Yeah?  These medical slangs wouldn't have happened to me if you came to the party as you had promised."

"See, that's the reason you're mad." He grins, kissing her cheek this time. "I'm sorry I couldn't go with you to the party."

"No. That's not what I meant."

"I'm really really sorry, baby. I am such a fool." He pulls her close. They face each other on the small bed now. Their breaths nearly mingle and Taeyeon has to fight the urge to nestle into those comfortable arms.

"Did you really reject Yunho's application for an attending spot in KJY?" She finally asks after a long moment of silence.

He tilts his head a little, clearly thinking for a quick second before nodding.

"Why?" She purses her lips.

"KJY Hospital didn't need him."

"Of course the hospital needs him. We don't have fixed Cardiology attending, Jiyong. It's an empty position ever since I was an intern."

"At that time, a cardiologist might be needed by the hospital but a Jung Yunho was not."

"You need to explain that, mister." Taeyeon sits up on the bed, staring at Jiyong. "I'd hate to know that someone loses a job opportunity simply because I am your girlfriend."

"We're talking about Jung Yunho here. A man his caliber can find any job he wants outside KJY."

"That's not the real issue here."

"Then what is it? Why do you care so much about your ex anyway?" Jiyong closes his question with a grin.

"Oh, so you admit that you rejected his application because of me?" Hating the tease riding on Jiyong's grin, Taeyeon folds her arms across her chest now. "You don't trust me enough to be around him?"

"Oh, baby." Jiyong sits up too. "I'm not that weak. You can be around any ex you want as long as he doesn't put you in harm's way."

"Yunho won't harm me."

"Okay now, all this defense you put for him is getting suspicious. As far as I can remember, Yuri always emphasizes how dangerous Yunho can be around you."

"Are you saying Yuri's opinion matters more than mine?" Taeyeon looks away. "I can handle Yunho. You didn't need to do whatever you have done to mess with his career."

"Okay, I apologize." Gently, Jiyong cups her face and makes her look back at him. "I shouldn't have rejected his application but I did it mainly because my grandma told me to."

"Your grandma told you to reject Yunho's application?"

"Yes. When she first instilled me as CEO she asked me to never let Yunho get back to KJY."

"What? Why?"

"I think there was a whole business decision behind it."

"You gotta explain."

"I didn't care enough to find out what it was all about." Jiyong shrugs. "I got to keep my girlfriend away from her model-like ex so it was fine by me."

"Yunho doesn't look like a model at all." Taeyeon frowns,

"Well, he's definitely more handsome than me. So much taller too." Jiyong smiles, rubbing Taeyeon's cheeks with his thumbs. "I just couldn't see any urgent reason why the hospital should recruit him so I didn't. It was that simple."

Taeyeon let out another sigh, feeling less guilty now. "I don't want to be the reason why you hurt people."

"Well, seeing that he was the one who indirectly gave you this injury, I'm actually thinking of hurting him now."

"Don't." It's Taeyeon who cups Jiyong's face now, gazing intensely into his eyes. "Don't get into trouble for me, understand?"

"Aye aye, ma'am."

"Trust me also, Ji." She rests her head on his shoulder, finally feeling free to put her arms around him. "Yunho might be a big part of my past I can't easily shake off but you're the only one right now."

"Really?"

"Really." She lifts her head, gazing into his eyes.

"Can you swear on that?"

"I swear." Her eyes go wide at Jiyong's teasing grin.

"Can you kiss me sweetly and deeply on that?"

Albeit in a grumble, Taeyeon complies, giving Jiyong the sweetest kisses ever.

"Ugh, monkeys behave! This is a hospital room." Yuri bursts in, throwing a large envelope onto the bed before sinking herself on the couch. "I know that VIP bed is extra comfortable but no boning allowed in this room, Kim Taeyeon."

"Shut up!" Taeyeon unseals her lips from Jiyong's while throwing a pillow at Yuri.

"Oh Dr. Kwon, you just gave me a very naughty idea." Jiyong takes the envelope. "What's this?"

"Her scan. It has been assessed by Max. He said everything looks clean. She can be discharged immediately."

"Excuse me." Taeyeon grabs the envelope from Jiyong. "Why did Dr. Shim asses my scan? Any junior attending can do it."

"Your VIP boyfriend wanted no opinion from a meager doctor so I sent it to The Neuro God himself." Yuri grins. "VIP treatment for Jiyong's VIP girlfriend. Ewww that sounds so tacky. You guys are tacky."

"Okay, Mister. You definitely need to stop being so extra." Taeyeon frowns at her boyfriend. "It's just a scalp lac."

"But-"

"I said stop. Love me. Pamper me. Don't suffocate me." Holding the scan up to the light, Taeyeon squints.

"There you go, the image of your y big brain." Jiyong also squints. "Everything is fine, right?"

"Hmmm." Taeyeon squints some more. Something in the image piques her interest.

"What is it, babe?"

"It's nothing." Taeyeon gets out of the bed, gesturing Yuri to turn on the illuminator screen. "Go, Ji. Help me get the discharge paper sorted so we can get back to work soon."

"You can't shoo me away looking like that. Is something wrong with the scan?" Jiyong reaches up to unhook the IV bag but Taeyeon simply pulls out the needle herself and rubs the tiny exit wound with her thumb. She comes to Yuri's side, attaching the scan to the screen that should help them see the image better.

"Yuri, what's going on?" Jiyong asks again, worried and confused.

Yuri shrugs, staring at the image of Taeyeon's brain. "Like I told you. Everything looks clean."

"No. No. No." Taeyeon points to the image. "What's this?"

"The hairline signature, remember?" Yuri grins. "You were scanned on the defected scanner."

"Defected scanner? Why is a defected scanner is still used in this hospital?" Looking even more confused, Jiyong now squints at the image on the illuminator.

"It's not defected per se. Just a little glitch with the scan that is too meager for the whole device to be replaced." Taeyeon gets so close to the image, her nose nearly touched it.

"Here." Yuri points at the scan. "This thinner than hairline mark always appears on the image coming out of that particular machine but we can always differentiate it with actual brain tissue so no big deal."

"I can't even see it." Jiyong tries again but gives up immediately because he can't decipher anything.

"Yuri, get Jiyong's grandma's scan for me." Taeyeon turns around.

"Sure." Yuri comes to the computer on the table, ready to pull out some data.

"No. I want printed scans. I want real measurements."

"What?"

"Get two other head scans from two different patients too. The ones who use the same scanner."

"Taeyeon, you scare me." Jiyong turns Taeyeon's body to look into her eyes. "What's going on? Is something wrong with your brain?"

"I'm fine. It's your grandma's brain that is not."

"I've told you to replace that machine." Dr. Shim Changmin stares intently at the enlarged image on the main screen. "Kwon Jiyoon will surely fume at you when she wakes up and finds out about this."

"It's a very expensive machine and this..." Dr. Webber sighs, also staring at the same image from the tablet in his hand. "This is one hell of a coincidence. It has never happened before."

"What can it be? It's so thin." Taeyeon, still hasn't changed from the hospital pajamas, scratches her head. They are in a room specialized for scan viewing. There are ten different sized screens in front of them. On the round desk in the middle, state of the art imaging computers sit majestically yet fail to get them a clearer version of the thin object.

"It's only about two millimeters longer than the hairline defect. A little bit thicker too." Yuri supplies from the desk as she moves the mouse in her hand. With a click, the image on the huge screen in front of Shim Changmin changes into the image that already has had measurement on it. "Normal people wouldn't be able to tell the differences. Taeyeon clearly has eyes as sharp as Superman's."

"I simply remember that I can't cover the hairline signature on Mrs. Kwon's scan with my thumb while the defect on my scan disappears behind the same finger." Taeyeon doesn't even recognize the praise in Yuri's voice."Have we got images from the different scanner?"

"Here. Fresh from the oven." Yuri clicks on the mouse again, changing the images. "It's really there. We missed it before. What do you think it is?"

"Looking like a worm, don't you think?" Dr. Shim taps his chin. "Parasite?"

"What, tapeworm? " Yuri's eyes go round. "Why didn't we see any of it before?"

"It can't be. It doesn't show in her spinal tap. " Taeyeon grabs the folder from the desk and browse the files quickly. "No sight of cyst too."

"Tapeworm can go undetected for years." Dr. Webber sighs. "I once had a patient with nearly two decades of constant headache caused by a single tapeworm in his brain which could only be detected after dozens of MRI."

"If it's actually tapeworm, the seizure that triggered her incident can be fully explained then." Taeyeon can feel hope grows in her heart. "And the treatment is as simple as Antihelmintic drug, right?"

"I want to know exactly what that thing is first." Dr. Shim turns around, grabbing his tablet from the desk and types rapidly. "It looks too small for a tapeworm so I'm ordering another set of thorough scans. MRI included. Full blood work and one more spinal tap too. Get it done today and report to me ASAP while I consult Dr. Shepherd, Taeyeon."

"Ummm. Taeyeon is actually on sick leave." Yuri interjects.

"Right." Dr. Shim glances at Taeyeon's outfit. "It's on your hands then, Yuri."

"I might need another set of hands to run all those tests." Yuri glances at the closed door. "Can I bring in another resident to help?"

"What? No. I'm fine. I can help." Quickly throws a disapproval look at Yuri, Taeyeon then turns and tries her best to serve a convincing look at her bosses. "It's just a scalp lac. I can do this. You've cleared me, right, Dr. Shim?"

"I cleared you to go home and take another 24 hours of rest." Dr. Shim's eyebrows rise as he continues typing. "Get Sooyoung or Sunny to help, Yuri. Grab two interns too. This can be a great learning chance."

"No. No. No." Taeyeon automatically turns to Dr. Webber. "This is my case! I'm sorry, our case! I meant I'm the one who first found out about this thing. I want to be here instead of laying restless at home. I want to help too."

Now it's Dr. Webber's turn to raise his eyebrows at Taeyeon.

"Please, Dr. Webber." It's hard to look convincing when you are wearing daisy printed hospital Pjs but Taeyeon is not one to give up. She knows where Dr. Webber's weaknesses lie too. "It's a rare opportunity to learn for me. I haven't decided my specialty, yet. This might pull my interest in neurology's way instead of trauma."

"Fine. I'd hate to see your super fast brain wasted in the trauma center." Dr. Webber nods. "Just make sure not to overwork yourself."

"Thank you, Dr. Webber." Taeyeon pumps her fist in the air. "You are the best."

"Oh, I see." Dr. Shim chuckles as he tucks his tablet in. "Now that Jessica hates you, you choose to pamper Taeyeon instead."

"What? No!" Dr. Webber shakes his head. "I just think that she deserves to be here."

"Really?"

"Really. I never play favorites." Dr. Webber throws a meaningful grin. "Get to work, people! I have hundred thousands dollar worth of machine to replace."

"Let's go." His chuckle morphs into a hearty laugh, Dr. Shim swings a hand around Yuri's shoulder and leads her to the door. "Watch your workaholic friend carefully, Yuri. If I'm not mistaken, she once hid a busted knee just to get into surgeries."

"It was a one time mistake, Dr. Shim." Frowning, Taeyeon follows the rest of them out of the room."Yuri knows I won't do it again."

"No. I don't." Yuri chuckles too. "If you pass out while we're doing an MRI on Mrs. Kwon, Jiyong will hear it from me first."

"What MRI?" Jessica storms on them as soon as they get out of the room. "Jiyong said there's a new development on my grandma. Why does nobody contact me about this? Why does she need another MRI? Explain!"

Taeyeon sighs, glancing at Dr. Shim's hand that is wrapped lovingly around Yuri's shoulder.

"Hey." Taeyeon stops in front of the operation theater upon seeing her boyfriend. The man is slumping on the waiting chair, looking more apprehensive than ever. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I know you guys will do your best." He stands up, holding her close. "I think I'm the one who should have asked, babe. Are you okay? Should you get back to work this soon?"

"It's just a simple exploratory surgery." Touching Jiyong's face, Taeyeon tries to erase her own doubt while looking into his sad eyes. "No test can reveal what that stuff in your grandma's brain is so surgery is needed to get us up close."

"I know." Jiyong nods, keeping her at arm-length to look into her eyes. "Good luck in there, babe."

"Thank you." Taeyeon kisses him on the cheek. "See you after this, okay?"

"I'm afraid I have to go back to Haepung now."

"What?"

"I'm sorry, it's an urgent matter. Hayeon and me, we're so close to actually find out more about the fire incident."

"Really?"

"Please don't be mad. I'll take the first flight back home tomorrow."

Seeing Jiyong looks tired and sad prompts Taeyeon from actually getting mad. She sighs, kissing Jiyong's cheek once more. "Take your time, be safe, don't rush home just because of me."

"Thank you, babe." He kisses her lips. "I love you."

"Love you too."

Another problem arises when Taeyeon and Yuri prepare Mrs. Kwon for the surgery. While setting the fixation rods that shall hold Mrs. Kwon's Skull still, Taeyeon can feel her hands tremble a little. Brushing it off as pre-surgery jitter, she tries to push forward and manage to get the job done albeit slowly.

"Patient is ready, Dr. Shim." She calls Dr. Shim once everything is ready.

"Good." Dr. Shim comes over with his gloved hands up in front of his chest. "Ready, people?"

Taeyeon sighs, looking down at her gloved fingers. "Ready."

"Alright, Jim. Hit the mannitol in."

The Anesthesiologist sitting by the head of the bed nods and administers the drug through the central line.

"Want to do the craniotomy, Taeyeon?" Dr. Shim offers the scalpel in his hand to Taeyeon.

"Me?" Taeyeon looks down at her hands again. They seem fine. No more trembling. "Sure."

"I'm so envious right now," Yuri says behind her surgical mask, eyes twinkling with teases.

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