Unexpected Patient
Unexpected Patient
"Yes!" Gayoon exclaimed. "It's all over the internet! And he got millions of views too!"
Gayoon had called up Mina that night to tell her what had happened. Minho's video was circulating on the internet and according to him, it was so popular that there were endless amounts of bookings for the children' corner. Children from all over the city were excited to see the dancing bunny man and Minho was even booked for several performances at the mall which greatly irritated Gayoon. How he managed to make millions of dollars in a bunny costume astounded her.
"How come he managed to pull that off?" she frowned. "It looked like a well choreographed dance!"
To her surprise, Mina snickered loudly from the other line. "When Jina was a toddler, she was a very stubborn kid. She would not eat unless her dad danced for her. My brother had to go through many videos in order to learn dance and even roped in some of his employees to help him in the act! Soon, he became a natural dancer."
"What else am I gonna learn about him?" Gayoon asked sarcastically. "That he's a secret idol?"
"Nah," Mina shrugged. "My brother's temper is not suited for an idol. He'd make a good TV actor though. Those typical cold CEO's who fall for the female lead. Or the sexy villain who's a greedy businessman. I'd say, he'd go for the latter because he wants money."
Gayoon groaned. Was there anything the money lover could not do? She would have made him cook meals for everyone but they would end up in the hospital if they tasted his food so she had to think of other ways.
"Why don't you let him off the hook?" Mina suggested. "Let's face it. Whatever you're gonna punish him with, he'll devise a way to find loopholes. That's my brother, the great Hwang Minho! It's almost impossible to punish him."
"I'll think about it," Gayoon said haughtily. "By the way, when are you coming back home? It's been two days and you're still at the hospital. Aren't you tired?"
"I sleep in the break room in between my duties," Mina said, looking through some charts. "I just have a few surgeries lined up. Nothing major so I can handle them."
There was a strange sadness in her tone which made Gayoon frown. For some reason, it felt as if Mina was avoiding coming home which was strange. Kanji was staying with them since last night, citing that his apartment was being renovated and his parents were out of town so he did not want to stay alone in their mansion. Minho tried to kick him out but the guy snuck in through the back door.
Seeing how Mina's favorite pasttime was to torment Kanji, she could not help but wonder if something was wrong. Kanji, too, looked a little lost even though he had his silly grin plastered on his face. There were times when Gayoon caught him glancing at the front door, hoping that Mina would come home.
"Mina, is everything alright between you and Kanji?" she asked. "He looks a little distracted. And you haven't even called him even though you used to pester him everyday for credit cards."
"I'm just busy," Mina lied. "I'll call him later."
There was a short pause before she asked, "Where is he? Is he home right now?"
"No," Gayoon replied. "He's out. He said he won't return tonight so we shouldn't wait for him."
Mina glanced at the clock. It was 11 PM and if he was out that late then he must be with some other woman. She gripped the cellphone hard, trying to control her swirl of emotions.
"I see," she simply said. "Yeah, he stays out late a lot. Probably chasing some girl."
"Chasing a girl?" Gayoon echoed. Kanji? But she had always assumed that he liked Mina. Then why would he chase other girls? That made no sense.
"Yeah, he claims to love every woman," Mina stated. "The playboy probably slept with half the country."
Really? Kanji? Gayoon wondered if she was wrong about her previous assumptions. Sure he was playful and flirtatious but was he really not into Mina? Was that why she did not come home from the hospital for the past few days? She was upset at him?
"Do you want me to talk to him?" Gayoon asked. "I can try to find out if he's serious about you or-"
"No need to do that," Mina cut her off. "I'm not into him either. He can sleep with anyone he wants. His words to me are fake and all of us know that! So chill, Gayoon. I'm fine. Besides, he's just my personal bank account and nothing more. We're childhood friends! We'll be fine."
But Gayoon was not reassured by her claims. Mina was clearly hurt by Kanji's actions and she was using his credit cards as a ploy to get closer to him. She was just unsure of what he felt. Claiming words of love were not enough; Mina wanted full commitment, something which Kanji was denying her.
"Take care of yourself, alright?" Gayoon told her. "I don't want you to be hurt over his stupidity."
"I'll be fine," Mina sighed. "Good night."
She hung up the phone and leaned against the chair in despair. No matter how much she tried to assure herself that she could get over her feelings for Kanji, it was a losing battle. Ever since she was a child, her eyes only saw him. His playfulness, his smile and his assurances whenever she was sad were her biggest comfort after her brother's care. Kanji's mother, Soojung, had always dreamt of making Mina her daughter-in-law, a sentiment Mina herself shared.
Was that not how it was supposed to be? Mina and Kanji, being together. That was what they all wanted.
Yet, whenever he claimed to love her, he made the same statement to other women. As she began to grow up, she noticed that Kanji's admiration was being divided among many. He was still the sweet and caring friend of hers but he was also distant from her. His proclamations of love confused her. Whenever she thought he was being sincere, he would begin to chase another woman.
"What does he really feel about me?" she moaned. Her heart was troubled and there were no answers to the questions she wanted to ask. Sometimes, she felt like marching up to him and force him to reveal his true feelings for her. Did he have any at all?
But for some reason, she was holding herself back. What if he really had nothing for her other than affections of a friend? If she confessed to him and he refused, they might never be able to go back to the way things were. And even if he did accept her feelings, it would be more out of duty rather than love. She hated the latter thought the most.
She was waiting for him to speak up. But after seeing him with that blonde woman that day, her hopes were crumbled. Were they together at that very moment? Was he sleeping with her? What if he began to like her? Then what would happen to Mina?
"Forget about all this!" she scolded herself. "Don't think about him!"
She slapped her cheeks, trying not to picture the blonde and Kanji together in bed. It was only upsetting her more. No matter how much she tried to move on, her heart was just too damn stubborn. It just would not let her move on.
How ironic, she mused. I cure other people's hearts and yet, can't heal my own one.
Suddenly, the door to her office burst open and a nurse rushed in.
"Doctor Hwang, Code Blue!" the nurse exclaimed. "A person has been shot in the heart and he's in a critical condition!"
Mina quickly grabbed her stethoscope and rushed outside.
"Details!" Mina demanded.
"Male," the nurse narrated. "In his late thirties. Around five feet six inches. The bullet grazed through his arteries and he's bleeding."
Mina ran towards the entrance where a group of men in black clothing were crowding around a stretcher.
"Out of the way!" she shouted at them. "Let me check the patient!"
"Boss!" one of the men was shouting at the bleeding man. "Boss! Can you hear us?"
The injured man grunted but that simple gesture was enough for the injury to bleed more.
"Get out of my way!" Mina yelled at them ."How am I going to treat him if ya'll crowd here?" The patient needs to breathe!"
Suddenly, one of the men grabbed her by the throat and before she could react, held a gun to her temple.
"Listen up doc!" the man whispered, throttling her neck. "If ya don' heal our boss, I'll blow your brains out! I don' care how you do it but our boss better survive!"
The other doctors tried to rush forward to help her but the men had their guns pointed at them too. People in the waiting area witnessed the commotion and were visibly scared at the men who were holding firearms. Whoever the injured man was, he must be very powerful.
Mina struggled to breathe but kept her eyes on the injured man. If she did not hurry, he would die and his followers might hurt the people inside the hospital.
"If you want him to live," she wheezed. "Then let me go! Only I can save him now and if you delay, then he'll die!"
The man growled at her and finally let her go. Mina ushered the frightened nurses to help her push the stretcher to the operation theater. They were shaken by the dangerous men, who were probably from a mafia gang. Still, they came forward to push the wheels towards the surgery room.
As Mina passed by, one of the men threatened her, "If our boss dies tonight, then consider it yor last night on Earth too, doc."
Mina spun around and gritted, "Instead of blaming me, why don't you go and catch the man who did this to your boss? Or better yet, punish yourselves for failing to protect your boss."
The mafia glared at her audacity but stayed silent upon hearing their boss' groans of pain. Mina resumed pushing the injured man to the operating room. The patient was probably a killer and a criminal who was wanted by the police. There was no doubt that the authorities must have put a bounty on him and judging by his state, he was shot by an enemy.
However, to her, he was a patient and as long as he was her patient, she could not let him die. That was her duty.