August 25, 2014

My leg bounced impatiently as time passed in the hospital's waiting room. Sowon and Eunha had offered to come with me, but I declined, knowing it would probably stress me out more. As expected though, Eunha refused to stay away while her best friend was admitted to the hospital. She stayed much calmer than I, but I certainly tried. 

Tick. Tick. Tick. Every passing second only made me grow more anxious. A squeeze to my shoulder briefly halted my anxiety.

"Eonnie, I'm not much of a comforter, but you two were brave. We don't know if SinB-ah will be fine, but we have to stay strong for her." Upon facing the shorter girl, a sharp gasp escaped my lips as realization donned on me. Underneath her tough exterior, Eunha was holding everything back, the sadness in her eyes was unbearable, keeping it all in...Did I ever look like that? 

"Eonnie?" Without a second thought, I pulled her into a hug, holding her close to me. "E-eonnie?" Her voice was soft and shaky. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around me, tightening her grip with trembling hands. Even through her attempt at being quiet, the shedding of tears of the girl I was hugging was prevalent. 

"Jung Yerin?" A nurse called, appearing from the outskirts of the hallway. Eunha unhooked her grasp on me, wiping her face for dear life. Adjusting myself, I cleared my throat and stood. 

"Yes." Eunha scrambled to her feet as we walked towards him.

"Please come with me." We followed the nurse deeper into the hallway of the hospital. My chest was pounding harder with each corridor we passed. Trying my absolute best to slow my breathing, Eunha reached for my hand holding onto it tightly. We were both scared for SinB, and we both needed to be strong for her.

After a lengthy heart palpitating walk, we finally made it to SinB's room. From where we stood, SinB was lying in bed, hooked up to an iv. Before we could walk inside, the doctor stepped out, adjusting his glasses and scanning the clipboard in his hands.

"We have good news, the patient has tested negative for Pheochromocytoma, meaning we can move straight into surgery. She did, however, test positive in having a parathyroid tumor, which should be taken care of during the surgery." Nodding in understanding, the doctor continued. "Now for the serious matter at hand. SinB has stage IV thyroid cancer; this basically means the primary tumor has moved to her spine, if not treated immediately, the tumor could move to her vital organs." His eyes softened as soon as he made eye contact with both of us. In truth, while Eunha and I tried to stay calm and collected, we were more worried than ever. "Luckily she came in when she did, her survival rate is above 80 percent. It was smart of you to convince her, we had been informed countless times by her brother, but she would refuse our call every time." Glancing at SinB quickly before looking back at the doctor, I smiled.

"She's grown a lot." He nodded in agreement, with a kind smile on his own face. 

"So, she'll be okay?" Eunha asked, despite my relationship with SinB, it was clear that Eunha was taking this just as badly, if not more. Eunha was SinB's childhood best friend, so it was logical that it would matter so much to her.

"We will do everything in our power to ensure that she will be okay, yes." Eunha bowed h