The parapragh italics shows flashback ^^

few italics is like a thought of the character/enunciating their thoughts. ;)

btw did you guys miss me ? ^^

After an hour and a half of a quite uneventful meeting with the board members, all the hospital personnel involved are dismissed back to work, coping on the missing time due to some meaningless talking of tedious matters. Eunhyuk, Jungsoo, Jongwoon and Shindong take a leave together with the latter whining about the board’s attitude that’s getting on his nerve; demanding more positive results and dropping workload which are almost impossible to be done considering they’re short on staff. Jungsoo is the one comforting him, saying they have no choice but to comply since even Director Kim Heechul is having a hard time. The board is just too uncontrollable for anyone to handle.

While walking out from the meeting hall, Jungsoo notices Eunhyuk isn’t with them anymore. So he excuses himself and returns back finding the man is inside, waiting by the door. His eyes set on Heechul who’s busy discussing with the board members over something. He comes closer, making his presence known not to startle the younger. “Hyuk? You’re not coming with us?”

Eunhyuk spares no glance to him. Instead, he keeps on staring at Heechul. Not that Jungsoo isn’t worried but the curiosity bubbling inside him can’t possibly be contained. He asks again, “Are you waiting for Heechul?”

Eunhyuk nods. “I have something to talk with him.” That and he steps forward as Heechul dismisses from the small crowd, leaving behind a dumbstruck Jungsoo to ponder what is he going to talk about with Heechul. ‘Oh no, are they going to fight again?’ Honestly that’s the only thing he could think of and a concerned Jungsoo attempts to follow only to be grabbed on his arm by someone.

When he turns back it’s none other than Jongwoon, pulling the orthopedist away from the room. “Wait Jongwoon-ah.” A baffled Jungsoo pleads but it falls on deaf ear and before he knows it, they’re back outside.

With the board members leaving through the second door out from the hall, Heechul is left all by himself turning towards Doctor Lee Eunhyuk coming closer to him. Little does Eunhyuk know, he has been taking notice of those silent stares since minutes ago. Hence why Heechul’s not leaving yet, patiently waiting for the other to come closer to him. With the younger now standing in front of him wearing a little to no emotion by his face, he’s ready to listen.

“I need to talk to you.”

“Is it urgent?”

Eunhyuk scoffs lightly, nothing unusual coming from him. “What does it matter? You always have time for anything.”

If it’s any other day, a series of cuss words and glares would be at the receiving end of their conversation but Heechul knows today isn’t the day; judging by the air around them he knows this is something important for both of them. “Sure.” He nods and leads the way out followed by Eunhyuk. None uttering any words until reach their destination.

Donghae with two other male interns are closely monitoring Prof. Yang examining a MI patient which has had an emergency surgery yesterday. He takes extra notice of the patient’s condition; from the vital signs pre and post-operative recorded to the type of surgical procedure. Carefully he jots them down into his notepad, not minding the looks given by his other classmates.

He’s not with the same group like in Prof. Yang’s surgery before but Donghae could feel their changed perspective of him judging by the awkward silence lingering in the air. Unbearable it is but he fights not to focus too much on it. Hyukjae has told him before not to mind those people at all and that he just has to do his best treating the patients while gaining knowledge—and he agrees with those words. After all, it’s not them contributing to his own success.

“Is there any changes in the ECG?” Prof. Yang inquires, not asking any specific individual in the room. Donghae only looks down, having a hunch if he says anything perhaps his classmates won’t favor it. Greeted by silence, Prof. Yang looks back to the group. “Didn’t anyone check on this patient?”

One of them shyly points out, “Donghae did take a look at the patient an hour ago, prof.” The person mentioned lifts his head up, carefully making eye contact with the professor. Lips biting down in apprehension at what more he would face this time. Yet Prof. Yang’s eyes seem kind as he prompts for Donghae to speak up. “Lee Donghae?”

Donghae sighs slowly, without even opening his notepad he speaks. “The ECG reading is slightly higher by 0.3 this early morning but it reduces to normal after we’ve administered epinephrine.”

“What about his BP?”

“It stays on 146/69 since yesterday.” Donghae continues, “But there’s no sign of tachycardia yet since 16 hours ago after the second adrenaline insertion.”

Prof. Yang nods, looking satisfied. “Check his BP regularly and prepare for another CT scan. We’ll see if there’s any further damaged tissues due to the Myocardial Infarction.” Donghae and the others take note of this as they bow down respectfully to the prof. exiting the ICU, leaving the rest for them to handle. To say Donghae is awkward would be half a truth; he’s quite terrified to talk with his classmates but luckily they’re the one breaking the tension first, in a much civil way as well. “We’ll take it from here, Donghae. You should go and take a break, it’s almost lunch.” It surprises him to hear that, feeling nervous why they want to take all the job given by prof. Yang so sudden.

But Donghae couldn’t find the strength to ask why, so he changes his question. “N—Need some help?”

“You’ve been monitoring him since last night. So we got this. Night shift is tough so you better get some rest.” The other boy utters, seemingly sincere as he adds next with a smile. “Don’t worry about it.”

Donghae has nothing to say more thus he takes his leave, thanking his friends for the help. His heart eases up at the kindness they’re showing him.

His echoing footsteps along the bustling corridors couldn’t matched the crowds walking back and forth around him. It’s calming his nerves—those familiar notion of feeling you’re not the only figure walks the earth able to put him into place, away from dishevelment. Yet at the same time daunting enough to awaken his senses on alert so he won’t brooding away into a cluster of unknown memories. Safely tucked away somewhere behind his mind which he has no idea how to grab away.

More like he couldn’t stop those memories from barging in harshly inside his head, and Donghae couldn’t deny how incredibly painful it is for him to take every time. On the other hand, his mind today is filled with his brief meeting with Prof. Yang 2 days ago.

“I—I’m sorry, professor.” Donghae bowed down 190 degree, eyes shutting tight with heart hammering loudly inside his ears. An emotion he couldn’t control no matter how much coaxing he’d been getting for the whole day that it will be alright. That he will be just fine and honestly Donghae did wish for it although he had wished to never step his feet again in this hospital.

However here he was; inside Prof. Yang’s office in the early Saturday morning—on his day off, to apologize for his misconduct during the surgery yesterday. “I am sorry for leaving the OT. I am sorry for my unprofessional and immature behavior.”

If he was given an option, Donghae would probably stay in that position for hours. Thankfully, Prof. Yang called him to stand properly as he said, “It’s fine, Donghae. No harm is done to the patient. He is safe.” That was a relief for him to know. At least the patient was fine, wasn’t affected by his behavior. Because if anything happened to the patient, Donghae knew he would never be able to forgive himself; minus all the scolding and criticism he would be getting. None of them would matter anymore.

“But let me tell you something.” The words from the professor made his heart pounding once more. But the assuring smile given let him felt serene as he stood there firmly, ready to absorb whatever the professor would say. “You have a potential to be a good doctor Lee Donghae. But always bear in mind, a good doctor needs to be strong no matter what kind of challenges he’s facing. If you’re not strong physically and mentally, you could never be able to save lives.”

It was an advice he knew from that very moment would never be parted from his mind forever; as long as he wore the white coat. Donghae bowed once again for an apology, and thankful for the patience given to him.

Perhaps Prof. Yang is far from angry on that day but Donghae knows it’s no way he could repeat the same mistake. ‘Be strong’; it’s one advice he would always pay heed to wherever he goes, whoever he’s treating and helping to the best of his ability. The heaviness chocking him seems less burdening when he thinks of the people he could rely on whenever Donghae is feeling down. He’s blessed with supportive and trustworthy best friends like Kibum and Siwon, sometimes Lee Da Hae helps him a lot too. With them around, the bullies can’t get to his side and he’s thankful for that. There’s Heechul who he can always return to safe and sound; never letting him walk alone. Then Hyukjae……

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