It all happened too fast.  Her fresh tears were wiped clean by the soft suit fabric of her savior as she clutched onto him.  There was an awful sound that ripped through the bank.  Before she could even exhale, the man who protected her was on the ground.  His eyes were wide and his body contorted.  There was a hole where the bullet burned through his suit and within a few seconds, the suit began to attain a dark red color.  

Riho’s eyes were too blurred to see his face clearly, but she tried her best to stop crying.  Her nurse training came into play and she knelt next to him and began to check for signs of life. 

“Sehun? “ She asked, remembering his name from when his friend called him.  The man was breathing hard and he was sweating.  She pressed her thin fingers behind the curve of his ear, checking for how fast his heart was racing. 

“Stay with me.  You will be just fine.”  She frantically cried, examining his wound.  He was bleeding excessively; he needed some sort of pressure.  She quickly opened the buttons of his suit and his buttoned down shirt.  She wrapped her cardigan that she had in her bag into a ball and pressed it upon his wound.  The pain was too much for Sehun and he passed out.   Apparently someone one had called authorities because there were police, firemen and the ambulance outside. 

Riho felt a tap on her shoulder and saw Jae, an EMT she knew from her hospital.  He put down his equipment.

“Riho, keep applying pressure.  Man se, help me crate him.”  Altogether the two EMT’s and Riho loaded the bleeding boy into the ambulance.  On the way out, Riho saw the thief under the restraint of Sehun’s friend.  A few other citizens had restrained his duffle bag and the shotgun.  The police soon rushed to aid the civilians.  Riho stopped looking at them and focused on Sehun.

Once safely inside, Jae asked, “What happened?”

Riho’s breath was unstable and her tears and emotions tried to organize themselves.  “A man tried to rob the bank.  He was crazy, oppa.  This patient tried to bargain with the robber, but it didn’t work.  Before I knew it, the robber grabbed me as hostage.  This man tried to bargain once again.  The robber let me go then tried to shoot me, but this man pushed me away.” 

After being interviewed by police and cleaning the blood off her hands, Riho could do nothing, but sit down and breathe.  She had totally forgotten that she left her bag at the bank.  She sighed, “Another thing to do.”

The doors opened and out came Jae.  His shift ended half an hour ago and he went to check on Sehun for Riho.  When she saw Jae, she immediately rushed to him.

“How did the surgery go?”  She asked, her arms crossed and her forehead creased.

“Luckily for him, the bullet did not puncture any organs in the abdomen.  Unfortunately, the bullet curved and lodged into his thigh.  I’ve never heard of a bullet doing that, but perhaps it has to deal with the way the body was moving.  He’ll have to stay in the hospital for two weeks at a minimum.” Jae explained.  The older EMT sighed, patted Riho’s head and walked out of the emergency waiting room.

Riho was left there, so grateful, but with so much questions.  Why did Sehun, a stranger, try to save her?  Why risk his own safety for a stranger?  Why even stand up to begin with?

She was about to walk to the front desk when she felt a tap on her back.  Surprisingly, it was Sehun’s friend from earlier.  Also surprisingly, he was holding her purse in his hands.

“Hi.  I don’t know if you recognize me, but you forgot your bag at the bank earlier.”  Suho motioned and passed the bag to Riho.

“My name is Suho by the way.”

Riho felt extremely grateful and smiled then bowed.  “Thank you so much and yes I do remember you.  You helped pin the man down.”

She saw Suho’s eyes get a little teary as he nodded.  “How is he?”

“He’s fine-just got out of surgery.  I’m afraid that his condition is too crucial to allow visitors right now, but you can try tomorrow.  The bullet didn’t rip anything significant, thankfully.  Our greatest worry now is that he wakes up and makes a steady recovery.”  She reported and felt a little bad for sounding professional.  This situation was very personal for her and she felt bad she couldn’t do more to help.

Suho nodded in understanding, his eye drawn to the floor.

“My name is Riho.  I’m a nurse here.”  Riho offered, hoping to switch up the mood.

Riho roamed the halls of her unit as the graveyard shift consumed her once again.  One or two nurses crossed the halls, but it was mostly barren.  She had switched back into her scrubs; she had a pair left over in her locker.  She hadn’t sleep in over 24 hours, but she couldn’t go to sleep. Not with all the nerves and thoughts running through her head.

She was tempted to go check on Sehun, but she was scared.  She knew what room he was in and everything-she had already checked.  What she was scared of?  She was afraid to admit. 

Yoonji had just checked in and caught up to Riho.

“Yah!  You didn’t return my call.  What’s up?” Yoonji asked. 

Riho was too dazed and exhausted to explain everything.

“Yoonji-ah, have you ever wondered why something happens? Especially when you don’t want them to.”

Yoonji thought for a second, “Of course.  Take my first pregnancy as an example.  I mean, I love Yuna now, but at first I wondered why me.”

Riho sighed.  It was the typical Yoonji answer. 

“Look, my mom used to tell me: Yoonji ah, everything that happens in your life needs to happen so let it.  Now eat your soup.” Yoonji recited, even pretending to give Riho hypothetical soup.

Riho pushed Yoonji and the two girls laughed as they got to the last room.  All the patients were asleep.

“Hey, since tonight is kind of slow, I’m going to take my break now.  If I’m not back in ten minutes, page me” Riho decided.   Yoonji waved goodbye and walked to the nurse station.  Now that she was alone with a quiet hospital hallway all to herself, she quickly rushed to the elevator.  She looked on the registry and saw that Sehun was moved to a recovery unit which was a few floors down.  Slipping herself in and out of the elevator, she swiftly rushed to his room.  Her heart was beating fast, partially because she didn’t want to get caught sneaking into a patient’s room and partially because she was nervous to see Sehun’s state of health.

“507, this is it” she whispered to herself.  Taking her nurse’s card out, she swiped it in front of the monitor and the door slid open.  The room was slightly light by the heart monitor.  She could see his face.  It shocked her because he looked so peaceful, so youthful.  Then she could see his bandages around the right side of his body.  Riho couldn’t help, but begin to cry once again.

She pulled up a seat next to his bed and just cried.  Crying because she felt like it was her fault.  Crying because after so many days in the hospital where all you see is pain, he gave her life.  Crying because he had the kindness in his heart, the kindness you only see once every year. 

Riho wasn’t usually emotional so once her tears ran out, she tried her best to regain herself.  The steady beeping of the heart monitor continued on as she leaned over to kiss his forehead.  It wasn’t a romantic kiss, but one of adoration and thanks.  And with that, she left the room.

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Hope you liked it!  Stay tuned!  Things are about this get a bit more romantic!