firefly | zhong chenle

CH8

"What"

"It's the epidemic" Jungwoo's grasp tightened as Arin whipped her head around to face him.

"What?" She had assumed the epidemic was gone after the two weeks.

"It's spreading like crazy. My parents have gotten it and those are the exact symptoms. Coughing, numbness, blood. It's exactly that"

"That's more of a reason for me to help him"

"You're a doctor Arin. Wake up. It's an epidemic. If you catch it, you'll become a patient when the people need people like you most. Hold back and we'll call the ambulance for him"

Just as Arin was about to retaliate, she received a phone call. Sliding it out of her pocket, she inhaled sharply.

Head Captain Zhong Chenle

"Hello?" Arin distanced herself away from the growing ground as Jungwoo called the ambulance.

"We need you back at the station. The higher-ups have ordered our station to be another place for patients of the epidemic to rest since the hospitals are beginning to overflow. Come back immediately"

"Got it" Arin replied, hiding her disappointment that her break was done just like that.

"I'm going back to the station" Arin tapped Jungwoo on the shoulder

"Be safe, okay?"

"I'll be okay"

;

Arin rushed into the station, heart pounding and sweat beginning to bead her forehead. There was no time to waste as she dressed in protective uniform and ran towards the rooms. Chenle joined her side shortly after she made it to the corridor.

"We've left all the dorms open for patients to come in. All the rooms are full. There is everyone, young, old, literally anyone" Chenle explained "We've gotten you the equipment you need and it's in your office. You'll be the only one working here until we can get more doctors in but currently, they've all fled to the big hospitals"

Nodding, she tied her hair up into a ponytail, her stance confident and long.  As the Arin moved through the room, tending to the wounded and the ailing, Chenle watched her with a silent fascination. For just a split second, he was mesmerized by her grace under pressure, her compassion amidst the chaos, and the way she made her profession an art form. He stood at the doorway, his eyes glued upon the petite girl who seemed as if she held the whole world in her hands right now. There was something so magical about saving people, and the power she held with every person she cured.

In the flickering shadows of the station, where disaster loomed, he found himself drawn to the doctor, like a moth to a flame, not out of weakness, but out of the irresistible allure of her confidence. For the first time, he felt a warmth that had nothing to do with the fires he battled daily. Perhaps this was the first spark that he has felt in years. Because a girl and her white coat, as if they were angel wings.

"Chenle" Jisung elbowed him, snapping him out of his trance.

"What" Chenle responded with unintended hostility.

"There's more patients outside. We need to carry them in" Jisung's pointed to the door, where sirens blared and the colours of red and blue reflected against the white walls.

"Why are they still coming in? I thought the higher-ups said we had a set limit of people we can take in" Chenle asked, closing the door to the room Arin was in

"The patients came here upon hearing that we're taking patients. They don't know we have a limit and the higher-ups didn't know that they would come directly here. Most of the patients we took in previously were redirected from the hospital"

"We can't take more"

"We're their last resort. I mean, it must be bad if they're fleeing to a fire station. I cant even imagine what it would be like in the hospital"

"We have one doctor, Jisung" Chenle stole a glance at her direction, which now he didn't dare to even linger on her figure. He knew the consequences of falling into something unexpected with a profession like his, so denying it before anything happens was a logical decision.

"She's got us. We'll help her"