Soonbok had hoped for a relatively tranquil last hour of the shift but alas she was too optimistic. Who was she kidding? When would there ever be a peaceful moment in the ER of all places?

“Why is the oversized fool eyeing me like that?” Soonbok gnarled under her breath, sensing Jongin’s relentless gaze engulfing her.

Once the said male realised he had caught Soonbok’s attention, he inhaled sharply and forged his way towards her. Soonbook narrowed her eyes as Jongin greeted her with a suspiciously innocuous smile — too suspicious. Deciding to take the offensive from the very beginning, Soonbok crossed her arms in front of her chest and stared blankly at the male.

“No.”

“I haven’t even said anything yet!” Jongin threw his arms into the air in exasperation. “And how can you call yourself a nurse if you refuse to even offer a hand of help?”

“So you do need something from me,” Soonbok retaliated without missing a beat. “What is it this time. Make it quick, I want to wrap this shift up peacefully.”

Jongin gracefully glided towards Soonbok. He lowered himself to her height with slight difficulty resulting in a grunt escaping from his throat.

“You know that I would shield you from all the evilness in this world and let you lead an easy breezy life if I could but that is not possible at the present time.” Jongin exhaled dramatically. “I believe the patient in bay 3 will benefit greatly if you were to give him a check up.”

The jest and playful tone in his voice faded and his eyes darted furtively in the direction of bay 3. Sensing the severity of the situation, Soonbok led the way towards the patient whilst motioning Jongin to follow her.

“Talk to me.”

“Patient Park Chansoo was brought in just now by ambulance. He had a seizure which led to him smashing his head badly on the sidewalk. Suspected concussion but awaiting results from tests before anything can be ascertained,” Jongin summarised succinctly. “We are awaiting for a doctor to give their clinical input but no luck so far.”

“And you want me to check him out because…” Soonbok raised her eyebrows.

Jongin ruffled her hair in retaliation to her impatience, earning a disgruntled look from the girl.

“The patient is awake now and responsive but, he appears to be responding to internal stimuli.”

The two stopped in front of the curtains that separated them from bay 3. Soonbok raised her head in curiosity and interest upon absorbing the latest information and nodded to herself.

“Any history of—”

Soonbok had not yet completed her sentence when Jongin pushed a breathalyser and a pair of gloves into her hands.

“I caught a whiff of alcohol from his clothes but could not be sure,” Jongin explained. “I’m needed back in bloodshed that is the trauma bay now so I’ll leave this in your hands.”

Winking at the girl, Jongin swirled around and sped walked towards the trauma bay where a distressed Taemin was in dire need of support. Clucking her tongue, Soonbok slipped on the gloves and slid into bay 3 where an alert middle aged male snapped his head towards her before jolting back and flickered his gaze to his right.

“Sir I’m nurse Gae, I just need to do a quick check on you.” Soonbok smiled at the patient as she approached his bed. “If you could please breathe into this for me.”

Soonbok slowly raised the breathalyser towards the male but he barely acknowledged her actions as he instinctively shifted away from the equipment. However, sensing no threat coming from the nurse, he hesitantly neared his head towards the mouthpiece and did as instructed. A beeping sound followed, and Soonbok signalled the patient to return to a comfortable position.

“BrAC 0.00 mg/L,” Soonbok hummed as she noted down the reading before turning her attention back to the patient. “Sir, have you had seizures before?”

Again, the patient’s eyes flashed towards Soonbok briefly only to return their focus on the right side of the bed. Soonbook leaned over the bed subtly but failed to find the object that had grabbed the patient’s attention. She did notice however the tremor of his hands as he raised them to swat at the air in front of him.

“Sir, do you drink alcohol?”

A long pause ensued. Soonbok waited for a response though in her mind, she was combing through all possibilities and options available to help her assess whether the patient’s seizure was related to alcohol. The patient’s behaviour also hinted towards him possibly experiencing visual and audi