“We found you a heart donor.”

   Everybody was quiet after the news. Jinri widened her eyes at what she heard and she turned to look at her mother who was also smiling at her. She couldn’t believe it. Someone’s willing to give their heart to her? Literally?

   “That means Jinri will live longer..?” Jongin asked in a hushed tone.

   “Yes,” Doctor Jeon nodded. “Possibly.”

   “Oh my god,” Soojung breathed. “Oh my god.. Jinri!” She smiled widely at the stunned girl. Then it was followed by Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Jongdae, and Taemin’s cheers, ruffling her hair and lightly squeezing her shoulders.

   Jongin watched as Jinri started smiling and giggling at their friends and it made him smile as well. Finally, one thing on her bucket list will be crossed out: to “steal” someone’s heart (even though technically, Jinri had unknowingly stolen more than one heart already). In this case, however, someone was willing to donate their heart to her.

   “We’ve already talked about this with umma,” Minho started when the noise died down. “And it’s up to Jinri to decide.”

   “To decide on what?” Baekhyun asked.

   Minho nodded at Doctor Jeon, gesturing her to tell them.

   “About the surgery,” She said, looking at each and everyone. “Since we already have the heart donor, we can already perform the surgery but the sooner, the better. The new heart only has minimum hours to stay frozen so the surgery must be taken place as soon as possible.”

   “Then when will the surgery take place, if it will be pursued?” Taemin asked.

   “This coming Saturday,” Doctor Jeon answered.

   “Hold on,” Soojung raised a hand. “This Saturday? But that’s Jinri’s birthday.”

   “That’s the latest date we can offer,” said Doctor Jeon. “Jinri still has to go through evaluations and pre-surgical medications in order for us to know that she’s stable enough to participate in the surgery—”

   “I’ll take it,” said Jinri with finality in her voice. “I want this.”

   “Jinri..” Sehun furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at her. He couldn’t help but feel worried for her.

   “Very well then,” Doctor Jeon smiled. “So I’ll tell you the procedures. Starting tomorrow, only limited people are allowed to visit Jinri and only a good amount of time is allowed for interactions because she will have to get all the rest she needs. I mentioned about pre-surgical medication earlier. A pre-surgical medication is used to prepare the patient for anesthesia and help provide an optimal or effective condition for the surgery. The patient will undergo emotional, psychological, and physical tests to make sure that the mental health would be ready and stable enough to make good use of the new heart. An immunosuppressant medication is also given to the patient so that the immune system will not reject the new heart.”

   “Too much medication,” Chanyeol held his head, mumbling.

   “Now, Jinri, there are two procedures that we can follow, depending on your condition and the new heart: the orthotopic procedure and the heterotopic procedure.” It was Minho who spoke next. “As was said earlier, the new heart will be packed with ice for preservation. Its beating is stopped before it is removed from the donor’s body—” Jongdae clasped on his chest and in a breath, “—by injecting it with potassium chloride. In the orthotopic procedure, the patient’s heart is going to be removed and the new heart will take its place. The new heart will be restarted when the patient is already accustomed from the cardiopulmonary bypass, a machine used to keep the pumping of the blood working, then the chest cavity will be closed.”

   Baekhyun gulped. Even though those things were just being said, he thought he could already feel it.

   “In the heterotopic procedure, the original heart will not be removed.” Minho continued, “The new heart will just be positioned so that the chambers and the blood vessels of both hearts can be connected to form an effective ‘double heart’. This procedure can give the original heart a chance to recover and if the donor heart fails, most possibly through rejection, it can later be removed. But this procedure is only used when the donor heart is not strong enough to function by itself.”

   Doctor Jeon nodded in approval at Minho’s explanation, “So after the surgery, the patient will be taken to the Intensive Care Unit for recovery then she will go for rehabilitation once awoken. The patient’s stay in-hospital, post-transplant care depends on the general health, how well the heart is working, and the patient’s ability to look after the new heart. We, doctors, actually prefer it if the patient leave the hospital one to two weeks after the surgery because of the infection risk and presuming no complications. After discharge, you will have to return for regular check-ups and rehabilitation; you may also require emotional support. The frequency of hospital visits decreases as the patient adjusts to the transplant but you will have to remain on immunosuppressant medication to avoid the possibility of rejection.”

   “Omo, Chanyeol-ah,” Soojung started. “Your nose is bleeding.”

▢ ▢ ▢

“Jinri, are you really sure about this?” Jongin asked. He was seated on the chair beside Jinri’s bed and was bent down to have his face closer to hers as his thumb caressed her forehead. “It’s obviously a lot of work..” He trailed off.

   Everyone was already gone by then. It was funny how Chanyeol’s nose bled and Doctor Jeon joked that it must have been because of the information overload. After the doctors’ lecture and having Chanyeol’s nose stop bleeding, their friends, one by one, had started to say their goodbyes because it was getting late. Jinri didn’t miss the fact that Sehun had really been quiet that day and she wondered why that was so. It saddened her that Sehun was keeping something to himself.

   “I don’t really know,” Jinri answered, sighing. “What if in the middle of the surgery, I won’t be able to make it?”

   “Hey,” Jongin furrowed his eyebrows. “Please don’t say that.” He held Jinri’s hand with his free one, “You’re scaring me..”

   “I’m sorry..” Jinri turned her head away, “Just couldn’t help it. But you know, I really want to live, Jongin.”

   Jongin made her face him again and he rubbed their noses together, “And you will, okay?” He assured. “That’s why you have to be brave.. for your mom, your brother, your friends.. for me and for yourself.”

   “Will it hurt?”

   “I hope not,” Jongin smiled a bit. “But do dream of me when the surgery is going on, alright? So that you won’t have to be alone.”

   Jinri lightly giggled, “I’m sure I will.” She said. “I love you, Jongin.”

   The boy pecked her lips softly, “I love you, Jinri.”

▢ ▢ ▢

“What was that all about?” Taemin asked, catching Sehun by his arm. He wasn’t stupid. He knew something was going on between Minho and the boy; he saw how his hyung looked at him so seriously back inside Jinri’s room. He had to tell Soojung to wait in the car just so he can confront the youngest.

   Sehun furrowed his eyebrows at Taemin when he faced him, “What are you talking about?”

   “Sehun, you’re acting weird.” Taemin pointed, “You were so quiet earlier too.”

   “That’s because I’ve got nothing to say,” Sehun defended.

   “Or you were hiding something.”

   “What..?”

   “You were hiding something and Minho-hyung knows what it is.”

   “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sehun pulled his arm away.

   “You know well what I’m talking about.” Taemin said firmly, “Sehun, we’ve been friends for more than a year already and I know when something’s wrong. Tell me what’s bothering you,”

   “Look, it’s done, okay? No need to dig up on it. Whatever’s bothering me doesn’t matter anymore,” Sehun sighed in exasperation as he took a step back. He shook his head, “I’m fine and whatever is between Minho-hyung and I should stay just between Minho-hyung and I. Stay out of it, Taemin-hyung. It doesn’t concern you,” and with that being said, Sehun left Taemin flabbergasted.

   It was the first time Sehun had ever acted so cold like that. Maybe he should just ask Minho what’s gotten into him. As Taemin made his way towards the elevator, still in shock, he saw his hyung with Mrs. Choi and Doctor Jeon standing in front of the doctor’s ward, and he widened his eyes as he accidentally overheard the doctor saying:

   “We will be talking this serious matter with the Oh family and tell them that the patient is willing to do the operation. They’re going through a hard time but this is what their son had always wanted: to be of help and donate his heart to someone who really needs it the most. We’ve done tests prior to the announcement and the boy’s heart matched Jinri’s.”

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Credits to Mr. Google for providing me information about heart transplant, I— /smacked. Anyway, I hope your noses didn’t bleed nonetheless. And as promised, here are my surprises~

Closer, You and I feat. Taelli
Virtually feat. Sesul

Enjoy!