He heard the cries first and then the automatic hushing of the mother trying to keep her child alive. The sound of the bombs had disappeared and he crawled out from the safety shelter and tried to locate the obviously injured child and the mother.

            He could still hear the whimpers and no matter how hard she tried to shush the child, he continued without fail. Junhong finally saw them underneath a pile of rubble that previously had been a garage but had been blown up. The mother looked up fearfully at him but when he displayed his doctor’s badge from the refugee camp, she relaxed a little.

            “Don’t worry,” he whispered. “They’re gone now. Please, let me take him.”

            He gingerly lifted the bleeding child from her and carried him carefully so that the boy’s broken arm was not crushed. She scrambled up and followed him. In the safety of the shelter, people were recovering from the air raid that had just taken place. When they saw Junhong walk in, they all sighed in relief.

            “We thought you were caught outside,” one elderly woman confessed. “You didn’t make a sound when you left.”

            Junhong carefully placed the child on a stretcher and started by sanitizing his arm. He used alcohol and then carefully dried the blood before applying medicine and wrapping the arm in gauze. He asked for his assistant to give him a little amnesia and when the boy was out, he snapped the arm back in place while his mother watched fearfully.

            He placed the arm in a brace and let the child sleep. After seven months of working at the refugee camp, he was used to the emergencies and the sudden attacks from the invading country. His job was to try to keep everyone safe and to heal anyone who needed his help. He had had to fend against an airborne virus as well as an outbreak of stomach flus. Broken limbs were part of his forte and even though the work was hard, it was worth it.

            Junhong sat amongst the people he had helped to save and felt as if his work was paying off. An elderly grandma who had been suffering from starvation was now thriving. She was currently being fed a rich porridge he had recommended, the ingredients made from crops native to the land.

            He turned to see the little children wrestling amongst themselves. Each of them had been torn from a parent and had lost their lives, and their childhoods. With his help, they had found some laughter and he wanted to continue to see them this happy.

            “Minseok! Apologize!” One of the boys had bumped into the boy he had rescued earlier.

            Junhong stood up to check on the boy. His mother had not joined the casual dinner and instead was sitting vigil next to her son. The boy had woken up and was peering drowsily up at the two of them.

            “He’ll be alright. He’s just recovering from the deep sleep. His arm will be better now that he hasn’t had the chance to move it.”

            The mother turned her face to him. She was young but her face was already lined with worry. “I thought we wouldn’t make it,” she said quietly. “When the airplanes flew overhead, I was afraid that I couldn’t find the shelter in time. When he started crying, my heart nearly stopped. I thought he had been hit. Thank goodness it was only a rock.”

            “It’s something we’re all trained to prevent. Don’t worry. Stay here with us and it’ll be safe. They rarely attack here. It’s too far out of their air space. Today must have been a rouge plane that had gotten lost.”

            She her son’s forehead. “I just want him to grow up safely.”

            “He will. I promise.”

            It wasn’t an easy job, but it was one he liked. Every day, he would receive new stragglers, people searching for safety and shelter and he would invite them in. He wanted to help them and each person whose life he helped to turn around was just another good he did in the world.

            As a doctor in a hospital, he helped the locals. As a doctor who volunteered his time, and risked his life, in a country devastated by war, he was standing up against terrorism and oppression, and saving innocent lives. That was why he wanted to be a doctor, and, now, as he watched the little boy finally move his arm, free of the cast, Junhong couldn’t help but think that he had made the right choice.

for violin852~

I finally moved in and the room is all settled ^^ 

first day tomorrow... my longest day... not sure if ready