PATHS | JJK ✓

Chapter 26 ― Taking Responsibilities

❝Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.❞

— African Proverb.

⊱Chapter 26⊰

TAKING RESPONSIBILITIES

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"Doctor Kim, we're loosing her!" Jeno panicked on the attending's side.

"HOW?!" Hyejin's voice conquered his.

The room went silent of all traces of voices, letting place to the cardiac monitor. The agitation coming from it only raised concerns in the doctor's mind.

Hyejin examined everything she did prior to the sudden burst. Everything was done perfectly; the organs that got injured by the projectile were now completely sutured, she stopped the bleeding that occurred minutes ago.

What was happening?

She took a few seconds for herself as her eyes traveled down from the monitor to the body lying before her. In a flash, it clicked.

"Scalpel" She held out her hand and within a second, the metal tool was on her palm.

Hyejin switched place with Jeno and was now facing the patient's chest. She pushed away the blue fabric that covered it and poured the antiseptic solution everywhere.

She took in a deep breath and proceeded by cutting. She was only an inch in and liters of blood emerged from her chest. All this time, there was an haemorrhage in her chest which prevented the patient to stabilize after the long procedure.

"PADS !"

The medical staff activated themselves around the metal table. Several pads were added inside the patient's abdomen, hoping for it to absorb the blood that drastically erupted.

Hyejin fasted her moves as she tried to find the starting point of the haemorrhage. She pushed her hand inside of her chest. No matter how hard she tried, the blood kept splashing everywhere. It was endless.

Silence.

A faint linear sound echoed in the operating room. All eyes were glued on the lifeless body lying down on the metal surface.

"Time of death, 7:52PM"

The nurse's voice sounded far from them. Hyejin gulped. She tried her best to suppress her feelings. 'Come on, Hyejin, it's your job. You can't save every single person.'

"She was only 16.." Jeno's weak voice brought her back to reality.

Hyejin glanced over her shoulder and the look on her intern's face pained her. Despite the mask covering his face, his eyes were displayed for her to see them. They were lost. They were clearly taken aback by the situation.

Hyejin gulped down her own feelings. This time, she had to be the upper minded one. This time, she's in the superior's shoes. She had to take care of her student and take all responsibilities.

Memories of her conversation with the other attendings flashed in her mind. Baekhyun once told her most of the interns hasn't lost a patient drastically yet. She didn't understand the 'drastically' part until now.

Hyejin cleared her throat and started removing her surgical blouse, "Come on Dr. Lee, let's go."

While the rest of the team took care of the body. Jeno was nowhere to be found on her side.

"Dr. Lee?"

She said upon seeing the lack of movement from the younger man. Her face softened and she approached him, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Jeno," She gained her attention and Jeno's puppy eyes met hers, "We can't save every single person that comes in our OR. We'll lose a few in the process and that's none of our faults. We did everything we possibly could."

Jeno's face relaxed a bit and Hyejin offered him a reassuring smile, "Come on, let's clean ourselves up. I'll go talk to the family."

That's another part of the process she hated. The family. Hyejin walked down the large stairs and into the waiting room. The area was filled with people. It was a complete chaos. And that's when she remembered why it was that way.

Massive shooting.

She took in a deep breath and exhaled her words, "IS THE FAMILY OF JUNG JIYEON HERE?"

All eyes laid on the doctor and a couple stood up, raising their hands. Hyejin gulped and walked her way down to the family. Jiyeon's parents looked desperate which brought her heart to ache.

"Ms. and M. Jung?"

The elders nodded, holding onto each other for support.

It was incredibly hard to say those words and unfortunately, it showed on her face.

"Doctor?" M. Jung spoke out first.

Hyejin slightly shook her head, "Your daughter was shot twice. We managed to remove the projectile from her arm but the second one caused several damaged."

Their hopeful eyes nibbled her inside.

"I'm sorry, we did everything we could."

In a blink of an eye, Ms. Jung fell in her husband's arms. The sobs filled the room and took over the chaos.

Hyejin apologized one last time and retreated herself. Or at least, she tried. The remaining people started screaming for informations. Voices came from everywhere and she felt trapped.

"WE'LL GIVE YOU MORE INFORMATIONS WHEN WE'LL HAVE THEM. PLEASE, REMAIN PATIENT !" Johnny's voice emerged and he soon appeared by her side pulling her out of the room.

"Thanks.." She mumbled and the look on her face intrigued him. Johnny's head tilted to the side and before he could even speak, someone interrupted them.

"Hyejin?"

The latter turned her attention to the corridor.

"HYEJIN !"

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a/n: We've reached 200 votes and almost 700 views on this book.. I promise to you that I can think about more than 200 reasons to thank you all for reading it but I don't want to bother you so I'll just say it,

Thank you so much for reading my book, it means a lot to me and I'm so grateful for every single one of you.

I love you❣

PL. ❤