o21 || reliving the nightmare
the pursuit of happiness
She could hear Sungchan's cries intensifying and she turned to her left even though it hurt so much. There's a lot of people outside.
The sound of tire screeching. Metal slamming. Glass breaking. And the smell of blood.
She ignored the people shouting outside as she tried to look back. Jeno and Sungchan. They're also inside.
"M-my kids… m-my kids! Help!" She croaked as she used her right arm to try to unbuckle her seatbelt.
"Yes, miss, but we have to wait for the police first!"
She ignored them and tried opening the car door herself but she groaned since she can't move her left arm. She looked at it, wincing at its slightly deformed look. She pushed the door away using her trembling right arm and she sighed in relief when some people finally helped open the door.
She nearly fell out of her beaten car but a man caught her. She then heard the familiar sound of a siren as she sobbed.
"My kids! My babies!" She crawled towards the passenger door as she clutched her injured left arm, ignoring the people trying to pull her away.
"Miss! Please stay back! It's dangerous! The police are here, so please wait!"
"Ma'am, we will be taking you to the ambulance first, and then we'll get your children out, okay? My colleag—"
"No! My sons! My sons first! J-Jeno! Sungchan!" She cried as she resisted the hold of the paramedic.
"Jeno! My baby, Jeno!" She screamed again, as she tried to crawl there.
"Ma'am you're bleeding profusely. Please stay put, we're going—"
"No! My children!"
She sobbed as she watched an officer take Sungchan out, and then Jeno out. She could see Sungchan wailing loudly. And Jeno too.
"Kid, your mother is safe, we will help her too. We're going to bring all of you to the hospital, okay?"
Jeno cried loudly, "M-ma! Ma!"
He lifted his head and he could see his favorite imo, his mother-like figure, on the side of the road. Bleeding. Crying. Calling his name. Calling Sungchanie's name.
"Ma'am, you're bleeding and your hand is broken. We need to get you to the ER fast," a police officer came and coaxed her.
"My babies first, my babies," she weakly sobbed, forgetting her immense pain entirely as she worried about the kids.
A paramedic came and tied bandages on her arms since she refused to move. She sniffled as they worked on her arms while she watched the boys being carried into the stretchers.
"They are already inside the ambulance and will be taken to the hospital, ma'am. Now, please cooperate with us, okay? You need urgent medical help," the officer said softly.
She sighed in relief and nodded. The sound of the ambulance leaving the scene was the last thing she heard before everything out.
"Sir! She fainted! She's been losing a lot of blood since she refused to be rescued until her sons are safe!"
"The second ambulance is coming! Quickly bandage her first to correct the fracture and prevent more blood loss!"
"Going home, Dr. Xiao?"
Dejun smiled at the nurse as he nodded.
"It's good to finally have no surgery for the day."
He took off his coat and packed his bags when a resident came running inside the nurse station.
"Dr. Xiao! Are you going home?"
"Oh, Gwangil. Yes. What's wrong?"
"Uhh, the next orthopedic surgeon in charge is Dr. Jin right?"
"Right. Why? But he'll be coming later at 10 though. He still had a conference in Incheon."
"At ten?! Oh, goodness.”
“What’s wrong?” Dejun asked when he saw how agitated the young resident looked.
“Uhm, there's three patients, Dr. Xiao. Car accidents. A woman and her two sons. The sons were all right but the mother needs a quick surgery since she had an open radius fracture."
"Oh? Let me do a quick check then, see if we can postpone the surgery."
Dejun put his coat back on as he followed the resident into the ER. Before him is an intense scene of three nurses trying to calm down a screaming child.
Dejun approached the commotion and nearly fell down in shock when he recognized the bruised boy.
"Jeno?!"
Jeno looked up and recognized the man immediately.
"D-Dejun samchon! Y-Yerim ma? Where is she?"
Dejun came closer and the nurses made way immediately. He examined the boy closely and noticed a small stitch on his right forehead, and several bruises and scratches here and there. But he looked fine.
"Oh my, Jeno," Dejun hugged him briefly as the boy sobbed.
"Where's Yerim noo—I mean the mother of this kid?" He asked, letting go of Jeno. A nurse pointed to a direction.
Dejun rushed there and opened the curtain. Immediately, he winced.
"Yerim noona… what happened to you?" He sighed as he received a report from the resident.
"She's losing blood so we put her in two large bore IV Lines. The fracture is opened, we have covered it with bandages and disinfected the wound around it. This is the X Ray. It doesn't look too good," the resident said.
Dejun took the picture and lifted it up against the lighting. He examined it closely and easily spotted all the injuries.
"Stage 3 open fracture. This needs urgent surgery."
"B-but, Dr. Xiao… Dr. Jin hasn't arrived yet and there’s no surgeon in charge..."
"Prepare for surgery. I'll do it. This woman is a very good friend of mine and the partner of my best friend. I had to save her. I will contact her partner first, for the time being, prepare the OR."
Dejun stepped out and called Jaehyun's number. He knew the older guy was in Taiwan for a business event since Ten and Lucas attended it too. But this… This cannot wait.
Jaehyun felt his cell phone vibrating non-stop.
"Who is it?" Jungwoo asked. The CEO of the company is on the stage talking, it would be impolite to leave.
Jaehyun took out his phone and frowned.
"Dejun. Why would he call me?"
He rejected the call and then immediately Jungwoo's phone vibrated.
"Now he's calling me. Is there something wrong? Is Yiyang noona on labor?"
"Reject the call. I'll call him back," Jaehyun said as he stepped out of the room discreetly.
"Hyung! Oh my god, pick up my damn calls!"
"Sorry. I was still at an event. What's wrong?"
"Yerim noona and your kids got into an accident!"
"I'm not ing joking! Some drunken tards hit her car. I'm about to go into surgery to operate on Yerim noona because she fractured her arm. Your sons are fine, Noona protected them well. I cannot go into details, Noona is losing blood fast so I need to go into surgery quickly. Go drag your here, take a chopper or whatever, but be here quick. Okay?"
He staggered back inside and sat down, still trembling.
"Hyung? What's wrong??"
Lucas and Ten looked up from their food and looked at Jungwoo curiously. Mr. and Mrs. Jung, and even the Wongs looked at him too.
"Son? What's wrong?"
"Y-Yerim...and the kids…"
"What's wrong?" Jungwoo inquired in panic.
"Accident. She was hit…"
Everyone at the table gasped.
"I… I can't stay here. I need to go. Appa? The private jet?"
Jaehyun turned around, disoriented, not knowing what to do.
"Our family plane is here. Call the driver, they can take Jaehyun there," Mr. Wong said quickly.
"Shushu… thank you," Jaehyun stammered as he walked outside. He needs to get back.to Seoul quickly.
The flight to Seoul took two and a half hours and the ride from the airport took an hour and a half. Jaehyun was antsy. When the car finally stopped at the hospital, he ran inside like a mad man. He took out his cellphone and called Dejun.
"Dejun? I'm here. Whe—"
"Sixth floor. VIP wards. The surgery is finished. Yerim noona is in her room. Your kids are in the room next door, Jeno is traumatized. Get here quick, hyung."
The elevator stopped and he ran outside to the VIP wards only to get stopped by the security officer.
"I'm sorry, sir. It's past visiting hours—"
“Well, my family is inside!” Jaehyun groaned.
Dejun appeared and Jaehyun sighed in relief.
“Come on, hyung,” Dejun said, dismissing the apologetic security guard before dragging Jaehyun to a nearby room.
Dejun opened the door and Jaehyun nearly fell to the floor when he saw Jeno, surrounded by blankets and a nurse comforting him as he cried silently.
Jeno looked up and sobbed hard.
"Appa!"
Jaehyun pulled him into his embrace and hugged him tight.
"Appa!"
"Ssh… appa is here. Appa is here. Are you okay?"
"He kept asking for his mother, sir. Your wife is next door, recuperating," the nurse said before bowing and taking her leave.
"Jeno kept calling her eomma, so everyone assumed he's her son," Dejun explained.
Jaehyun released Jeno from his hug and examined his face.
"He had a stitch on his right forehead. A couple of bruises and scratches. But otherwise, he's completely fine," Dejun added.
"And Sungchan?" Jaehyun stood up and approached the crib.
The baby was sleeping peacefully, seemingly immune to the commotions around him.
"Perfectly free from anything aside from a couple bruises. I’ve talked to the police earlier after the surgery. It was a nasty accident. A drunk bastard was driving recklessly. That tard was about to hit the back side, but Yerim noona turned the car around to avoid the kids from getting hit, so she was the one getting hit directly. Jeno got injured from the impact of the crash, but he was not directly hit by the car. The drunkard was alive but he had a life sentence waiting for him once he woke up. That's what the police officers said, at least."
"Oh my god..."
"Once she wakes up… you should thank her. The paramedics said she refused to be saved until your children were in the ambulance. She lost a reasonable amount of blood because of that. But noona's safe now, so don't worry."
Jaehyun closed his eyes as he felt tears slowly falling down his cheeks.
"Stay strong, hyung. Yerim noona is safe. I've put her arm on a cast, and she has received a transfusion. She's okay, really, trust me. Want to see her?" Dejun said warmly. Jaehyun nodded as Dejun led him through the connecting door.
Jaehyun paused and closed his eyes as he took in the sight before him.
"I'll give you some time alone. I'll go stay with Jeno. Be strong for your family, hyung," Dejun patted his shoulder sympathetically before going back to Jeno's room.
"Yerim... I'm sorry…"
He squeezed her hand as he cried silently. She looked so weak and pale, unlike the usual happy and energetic Yerim.
It's currently midnight and Jaehyun clearly doesn't know what to do. Should he inform her father? Would he care? Is it even polite to call him this late? Truthfully, Jaehyun didn’t know how to process the entire situation. Right now, he just wanted to be next to her and make sure she’s alright.
He caressed her hair and kissed her bruised forehead.
"Get well soon, I love you so much, and thank you for saving my children."
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