Baek Jinhee shakily exhales. Her warm breath mixes with the freezing night air, forming a tiny fog inches above her face. She stares at the starless sky, confused with the garbled noise, the faint shuffles of feet and shouting surrounding her. Unable to move her body, she slowly shifts her vision, trying to get a glimpse of the chaos. Her eyes roll to the top of her head and sees a group of high school students running towards her.

Man, these kids have no fear. They should really look out for cars before dashing across the road.

Her eyes roll back down to her toes.

What is this man running for? He should really set a good example for the kids.

Sighing, she gazes back to the sky and soon realizes how damp her hands feel. Moving her head ever so slightly, she looks at her hand. Thick dark red liquid covers her palm. Jinhee squints her eyes to get a better focus of what she's seeing but instead, it gets dimmer and dimmer till her world went black.

 

 

Jinhee shoots her eyes wide open and gasps for air. The blinding white light immediately forces her to close her eyes. Her head starts to throb and her ears start to ring but her surrounding becomes much clearer than before.

"She's conscious!" alerts a low voice.

Jinhee slowly opens her eyes again, allowing herself time to adjust to the bright room. A man in uniform hovers above her, looking like an angel sent from heaven with the light shining behind him. Only that he doesn't have wings. With half his face covered by a mask, Jinhee can only see his big observant round eyes, straight thich brows and well-kept dark brown hair. She reads his batch: Han Ji Sung.

"Miss, please stay calm. We are on the way to the hospital to get you medical attention," Ji Sung informs in a calm voice. "How are you feeling?"

The questioning only made Jinhee more disoriented. She squeezes her eyes shut and grabs her head with her right hand as an attempt to stop the pounding.

The paramedic gently holds her hand and brings it down to her side. "Miss, we need you to refrain from making sudden movements. I see that your head hurts."

In soft murmurs, Jinhee utters, "I think I saw blood. Am I dying?"

The paramedic stays quiet for a moment before his stern eyes soften into slight crescents. "You will certainly be alright, miss. There is no need to worry."

Hearing the surety of his statement, Jinhee finally relaxes abit and her head starts to throb less.

 

 

Jinhee lets out a chuckle at the thought of her lying around all day although it hasn't been relaxing at all. If only she was lying in her bed at home, a break from her hectic schedule.

A nurse makes the final adjustments to the tube connecting to her IV drip as a doctor donned in a white coat over his formal clothes walks over to her bed. He rests his clipboard on one arm and clicks a pen in the other hand, ready to take notes. The nurse regains her stance and they lightly bow towards each other as a formal acknowledgement before the nurse takes her leave. The doctor glances at the board containing Jinhee's information then to the bag of IV drip and starts writing on his papers.

Jinhee quietly watches the both of them as they inform each other of her medical needs. The more she looks at the doctor, the more nervous she gets. He has double eyelids and the inner corners of his eyes make sharp points. As he concentrates on his paperwork, he furrow his eyebrows, almost connecting them. His near-white blonde hair didn't help to soften his fierce look.

The doctor turns to her direction and she tenses, ready to hear what he has to say. He begins, "Hello, Miss Baek. I'm Dr. Lee and I'll be in charge of your stay here. How are you feeling?"

"I'm doing better. But I'm still a bit lost. What happened?"

"You got into a car accident while crossing the road. You lost quite a bit of blood, causing you to faint but luckily not too much to put you in great danger. You have been out for a day."

Jinhee forms an O with her lips and let out a small "Oh." Should've looked left and right before I crossed the road. Jinhee's neck turns pink with embarrassment. She was no better than those kids running onto the road without a care.

Dr. Lee's face softens and nods as if saying, "Yeah, tough" and continues, "From what I was told, you had the right of way at the pedestrian crossing but a driver skidded on black ice and lost control." Jinhee sits up in reflex and winces from the sharp pain. "Miss Baek, please refrain from sudden movements. You will need to be careful during your 2 weeks of stay here."

Without thinking again, Jinhee shoots up her arm, palm facing Dr. Lee as if asking him to stop talking. This made her grab her sides and wince once more.

Dr. Lee takes a step forward, crouching slightly in concern. He readjusted her pillows that have now slid down to the bend of her bed and slowly pushes her back to rest. "Miss Baek, you really need to be careful."

Jinhee steadies her breathing. "Please take me through slowly. 2 weeks here?"

"Yes, we will have to monitor your condition before allowing your discharge from the hospital. We have informed your parents from Jeollanam-do and they will be arriving shortly."

Why did you have to tell them? Jinhee curses in her head. "What about the driver? They skidded on black ice? How is she or he?"

Dr. Lee goes silent at her questions. He opens his mouth but struggles to speak and closes them again. He furrowed his brows again, now less intimidating with her burning curiosity. He shifted from one foot to another. After awhile, he voices out. "They're in the Intensive-Care-Unit."

 

 

 

 

 

Author's note:

Hi! It's been a really long time since I've last been here and I'm so excited to be writing again. This is something I whipped out before the night ends. A story that has been on my mind for sometime but was hesitant to write. But a friend I made who happens to write too advised me to just start writing and go with the flow so here I am! I hope you enjoy this chapter and any feedback will be helpful :)