Hour Before Dawn

Chapter 19

The doctors exchanged a look that silently communicated a suggestion between them. They knew that at that moment, Ye-jin's chances of survival lies on the hands of one of them performing a rare, but life-saving measure. Literally, in the hands of one of the doctors.

"Doc..."

The surgeon took a deep breath before announcing the next step.

"Proceeding to perform internal cardiac massage now."

He carefully and methodically reached into Ye-jin's chest, using both of his hands to perform an internal cardiac massage on her heart. It was an attempt to get her heart beating again by manually mimicking how it would normally beat, the surgeon's hands doing the work.

Not a word was said in the room while they waited for instructions from the surgeon. Not long after he initiated the internal cardiac massage, he finally breathed a sigh of relief as Ye-jin's heart began responding to the intervention.

"I need the internal defibrilator now," he ordered loudly, the nurse handing him the probes.

"Ready to deliver the shock, all clear."

"Clear."

"Clear."

"Clear."

Once he heard the word, Bin stood up from his seat and stepped back inside. The rest of the medical team surrounding the bed took a step back as the shock was delivered.

Silence filled the room as they anticipated the success of their efforts. Bin felt as though his throat was locked off and a huge lump was preventing him from breathing properly. His tears never stopped falling from his eyes since the moment the code began.

"We have a heartbeat," the surgeon said outloud.

The moment he heard those words, immense relief washed over Bin. His body went from being so tensed to somewhat relaxed after hearing that Ye-jin's heart was beating again. He rested his back on the wall before bending forward with both of his hands on his knees. His shoulders shook as he sobbed quietly, lowering his head between them while his tears were pouring out of his eyes. The nurse who was with him couldn't help but tear up as well. She was one of the nurses assigned to Ye-jin since she was transferred to the unit, so she was witness to the love they shared and how Bin was always so attentive to her.

"Excellent job, everyone," the surgeon said. "Let's prepare her for transport to the OR for closing."

After all the noise and movements in the room, Bin's ears rang as he sat in silence in the waiting room with Ye-jin's father. He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees as he rested his forehead in his palms. Everything he saw and heard were all so clear in his mind. No words will ever be enough to describe the fear and pain of hearing that her heart stopped beating, of seeing her lifeless on the bed while they cut her chest open. He shut his eyes hard, his fingers grabbing his hair tightly in his hands.

Mr. Son placed a hand on Bin's shoulder before bringing him in for a hug, making both of their tears fall all at once again.

The surgeon stepped out through the doors, making both men stand on their feet.

"Doc, what happened? How is she?"

"We were able to finish and close her up in the operating room with no other complications," the surgeon stated. "She was bleeding quite a bit and it put enough pressure on her heart that it caused it to stop beating. We had to perform an emergency procedure upstairs in her room to relieve that pressure and allow her heart to work again."

"How is she doing? Is she stable?" Bin asked eagerly.

"We're doing our best to keep her stable. I can't say that she's out of the woods because after what happened, only time can tell how and when she can recover from this."