In the cafeteria, other interns surrounded her. They already heard about yesterday (not the break up, thank goodness, the trauma patient). Eun Soo was not in the mood to discuss anything. She chased them away in annoyance.
"Can't I eat my food in peace?" she sighed.
In situations like this it would have been nice to have a best friend to scream at the vultures circling for more gossip and to keep her company at the dining table. She would not mind having somebody to give her support and a shoulder to cry on. Eun Soo had noone. She was not averse to friendships, it just so happened that she never connected to anybody.
She was a good student, competitive, and popular with the others when they needed to borrow notes or run past her answers to difficult test questions. However, the same students who were kissing up to her during the class, after hours dispersed quickly into groups, each with its own interests, and she was never included. She was not invited to go out for drinks or to have coffee. She did not have any shopping companions or girlfriends to hang out with, watching dramas, ogling idols, and discussing latest cosmetic and fashion trends. To put it plainly, she did not have any shallow or deep connections with anyone.
Her Mom would call her every other day, but Eun Soo never disclosed any of her troubles, always cheerful. Is there something wrong with me? she wondered at times. Other times she chose to ignore her isolation and look at it as a blessing – more time to study and excel. Once I'm an established doctor and rich, I will have all the friends I ever need. She had good relationships with sanbaes and colleagues from the hospital, and still kept in touch with some of her professors. Those were only for professional purposes, but served to prove that she was not unlikable or a lost cause.
She went to visit her post-op patient. Motionless, he appeared to be at peace. With monitors rhythmically beeping, the atmosphere was tranquil. Eun Soo checked his condition and lingered longer than needed, seating down by his bed.
"Hey stranger, I'm glad you are alive. For a minute there, yesterday, I was scared that I might have lost you. Thanks," she lightly pressed on his hand. "I'll be back soon." She felt his fingers move slightly underneath her palm. "Sleep, you are still sedated, you body needs to recover."
As she was leaving the room, the stranger opened his almond shaped dark brown eyes with a hint of melancholy – he watched Eun Soo's back disappear into the doorway - and closed them again.
. . .
Eun Soo was called to the administrative office. "When your patient wakes up, get his insurance and a guardian information. There was no ID on him or a cell phone. We don't even know his name. The bill will be huge, somebody will have to cover it!"
"Since when do the doctors handle this?" huffed Eun Soo. "It is not my department, I will just make sure he is alive, how he will pay for it, is none of my concern!" she added sternly.
"Doctor, wait."
"What now?"
"His personal effects. He might want to get them." The administrator was human after all. She handed Eun Soo a large plastic bag.
Eun Soo went straight to her favorite empty room. She settled on the cot, and eaten by curiosity, Eun Soo picked inside the personal effects bag: blooded clothes and a strange looking pouch of some sort. Sticking out was that scary sword! She poked the sword's hilt with a finger – it was hard, cold, metallic, not a prop. "None of my business," she recited in her head, "none of my business." The stranger was on her mind whether she liked it or not and now even his things haunted her.
After the end of the daily rounds, Eun Soo decided to finally go home for the night. She ran out of clean underwear, her bra needed a wash and she did not have any fresh scrubs.
"Just to check," she decided to peek into her patient's room before leaving.
Of course, he was still resting. She claimed a corner of the bed. Under the cover of darkness, Eun Soo opened up to the stranger like he was her confidant. She felt protected from the world, holding a hand of a man, whom she did not know at all, just because, without any logical reason.
"I had a terrible day yesterday, if not for you, I don't know how I'd be now. I'm glad I could help you, I needed that boost of confidence. My asshole boyfriend, ex I should say, broke up with me in an f-ing elevator! Because I'm not rich enough. Who cares, I'm a great doctor and I make miracles. Look at you, you are still breathing, isn't it something… By the way, I have your stuff. I'll give it to you when you are better… What's up with the sword?" She sighed, "Well, time to go, I'm so tired and dirty." She got up and caringly placed his hand under the covers. Before closing the door, she turned, "Good night, stranger," whispering softly.
For some reason, she did not trust the night nurses to watch over him. Usually, all the good caretakers took daily shifts, leaving the night in the hands of good-for-nothing loafers.
"Who is the night nurse in charge?"
"I am, but my shift is not till 10 minutes from now." A gorgeous young woman stared daringly at Eun Soo.
Eun Soo crumbled inside, looking quite shabby, but held her head high. She was a doctor, after all. "Patient in room 4, post op. Page me when he wakes up, even if at night."
"Why?" The nurse raised her eyebrows. "Is he a VIP?"
"Please take good care of him, he is trauma patient, you know how their recovery can be finicky." Eun Soo was surprised herself at her previous statement. Why on earth would she request to be paged at night if he woke up? She must be losing her mind from sleep deprivation.
. . .
The room where his bed was placed was different from anything he has seen before. Windows were large and let in a lot of light, walls were white and smooth and around him strange pictures moved and made sounds. People dressed in strange garbs came in and out and although spoke his language, they sounded as if they were foreigners.
The patient was still sleeping when the nurse took his vitals. She turned off the lights and closed the door. He immediately opened his eyes and looked around. He was not asleep ever since that woman held his hand talking to him. He could not make out how she looked in the dark, but deduced from her touch that it was the same person, whose back he saw earlier. She said she was a doctor and I have to get better.
When he tried to move, the pain cut through his body, and he groaned loudly. Where am I? He quickly realized that he was severely injured, as he scanned his body mentally, using the energy flow technique he was proficient in. He sighed deeply, closing the eyes. He was not sure whether he was in the enemy territory, so he decided to continue playing a role of a sleeping patient. For now he was alive, and he needed to get better quickly. I will rest here another day, it seems safe for now. Only women have been taking care of me, no threat. My sword – his hand frantically searching for the weapon. I have to get it back no matter what. Sleep now.