BETTERSWEET

Ch.3

"Doctor Kim, good morning." one of the nurses you told her about greets you right after you arrive at the emergency section.

You pause on your steps, gathering your courage. With a small, shy smile, you return her greeting. "Good morning, nurse Lee. I hope you'll have a great day."

You don't wait to see her reaction, but you can tell you've rendered her speechless. You don't usually greet back, a small, acknowledging nod has always been your only answer before.

Baby steps, you repeat in your head like a magical mantra, baby steps, Jiyeon.

-----

It is a rather busy day in the emergency ward, and now you are finally getting some time to rest after your fourth surgery, all of them considered successful - so it is a rather miraculous day.

You are just leaving the surgical room when you chance upon a child with a bloody shirt, sitting by herself at the waiting bench outside.

You sit beside her, you're never really good with children, but you can always try. "Hi there."

The young girl looks up at you shyly, seemingly conscious about her ruined shirt, trying to wipe the blood away with her small hands. "H-hi."

"Those aren't your blood, right?" you ask, pointing at her shirt.

She shakes her head no, swinging her legs, a nervous fidget that you recognize immediately, before she answers. "No. It's my daddy's."

"He's here somewhere?"

She points to the surgical room next to where you came from. "They took him there."

"Is it okay if I ask what happened?"

"Un," she answers softly. "A car ran the red light and crash into ours. I was wearing my seatbelt and sitting at the back... the car crashed in front..."

"Your father was driving you all by himself?"

She shakes her head, looking down and avoiding your gaze. "The men in orange... they couldn't get mummy out..."

The men in orange... firefighters? You guess it could also be the rescue team or the paramedics. You gently hold the child's hand, squeezing it slightly in reassurance. "It's going to be okay; my friends will do their best to help your father."

The girl gives you a nod. You are about to try and comfort her further, when the door to the surgical room suddenly bursts open, and the other nurse that is always nice to you runs out frantically, heading to the nurse station.

"Do we have the exact arrival time for when the new supply of blood is coming in?" she asks the older nurses at the counter, almost yelling.

"No, last we check the van was making a detour to another hospital because they were short of type O." one of the senior nurses provides.

"And we're short of type a now, gods, please, we don't have much time! I can't let that kid lose her dad!"

"Use mine," you interrupt, your voice loud and confident as you approach the nurse station. The nurses all look at you in a bit of shock, especially the one nurse who has long black hair with pretty see-through bangs. "My blood type is A."

"Follow me," the black-haired nurse just about drag you into an empty examination room, helping you settle on the bed and whipping out her tools at great speed. "Thanks for doing this, doctor Kim."

"Jiyeon," you say, wincing a bit when the large needle tears your skin. "Feel free to call me Jiyeon, nurse Kim."

She looks surprised again at your boldness, gently fixing the syringe before drawing your blood. "If that's the case, please call me Hyunjung."