Harper smooths the fabric of her clothing as she looks in the mirror.
She's trying out something new for her work attire. She's noticed that most of the people at her job -nurses, receptionists, surgical techs- all wear scrubs.
She doesn't want to stand out like a sore thumb. She's also noticed the glances that some of the people there give her because of her business casual attire.
Patients included.
So this morning, after Yoongi called her and told her that he ordered muffins to her door for breakfast, she went out with Onyx to buy some new work clothes.
She bought scrubs in various colors and fun patterns. She also got a new pair of work shoes. They're work approved nonslips, made by Crocs. She's got them in only black, since that's the only color shoe apart of their uniform.
She went over the employee handbook and read the dress code policy. Her scrub pants have to be a solid color but her shirt can be solid or patterned.
So tonight, Harper is playing it safe and wearing an all black scrub set. Her hair is pulled back into a coiled low bun and she wears her badge on the clip of her chest pocket.
The hospital isn't as warm as she'd like it to be and she's working her first emergency room shift tonight. So she isn't sure how the temperature will vary there. But just in case, she's wearing a black long sleeved undershirt under her scrub top.
Harper looks at the time on her phone and hums to herself.
She looks over at Onyx, whose sitting up on the carpet. He's sucking his pacifier, holding his blue blankie and rubbing his right eye. He whines as his eyes close.
Harper picks him up and kisses he's cheek.
"Oohh, you're tired. I know." She cradles him. "You can go to sleep in a minute, okay. I need you to eat first, bear."
Harper grabs her bag, coat and keys as well as Onyx's things before leaving her apartment. She walks down to her neighbor's and knocks on the door.
It opens right after and there stands Yoongi.
Harper becomes nervous as he looks at her. She's in something new and he's the first person to see her in it.
"Hey." She greets.
"Hi.." His eyes drag over her scrubs before meeting her eyes.
He sees scrubs every day of his life. Every single day. Between work and House, M.D., they're burned into his retinas.
But he's convinced that Harper wearing them is different.
"You got scrubs." He states the obvious as he lifts Onyx from her.
The infant smiles at him and reaches for his cheeks. He grabs the chunk of it in small hand and squeezes.
Yoongi continues on like it isn't even happening.
"Yeah." Harper looks down at herself. "Everyone else wears them and I don't want them to think I'm purposely being different or anything."
"You look nice in them. They really suit you."
And he means really.
She looks damn good in scrubs.
"Oh. Well, thank you." She smiles at him. "Onyx, why are you pulling at his face? Huh?" She pokes her son's belly.
He giggles and scrunches up in Yoongi's arms.
"Does he need to eat?" Yoongi asks as he takes a step back for Harper to come in.
"Yes. But I would only make him a three ounce to get him through the night." Harper walks in and puts Onyx's things onto the counter.
Jewel interrupts their conversation with loud meows and stretching up Harper's leg. She picks him up and scratches behind his ears.
"Okay. And you're off at two tonight?"
"Yes. I know tomorrow's your day off so I apologize for that."
"It's fine. He sleeps well and even if he didn't, tomorrow's my day off so I could catch up on it. I was thinking that since we're both off tomorrow, we could spend the day together. After you get some good sleep, of course."
"I'd love that." Harper smiles softly. "I do have a few errands to run though, so."
"I have a few things to do too. But it's just picking up cleaning supplies, buying a new vacuum. Things like that."
"Maybe that works perfect. I want to get things for Onyx's nursery. He's got the bassinet and the crib but I've never done much else to it."
Harper didn't have money, nor did she see the point in doings things with it when he slept in her arms anyway.
"Okay. We can just run out together then." Yoongi decides.
"Perfect." Harper smiles at him.
Her smile is so captivating for him. He's going to feel his heart skip every single time.
"Well, I should get going." She says, looking at the time.
If she stands here any longer, she runs the risk of being late. A part of her feels that being late to an emergency room shift may be worse than being late to her regularly scheduled shift on the trauma floor.
Harper kisses her son on the forehead and he smiles as he dozes off in Yoongi's arms. She looks up and Yoongi is smiling softly at her.
"I'll see you later." She says quietly.
"I'll see you."
Harper sets Jewel down and heads out the door. Yoongi locks it behind her and goes to make Onyx a three ounce bottle. The baby drinks it down but starts to fight his sleep.
Yoongi lays Onyx onto his chest as he sits on the couch. He pats his butt to soothe him to sleep. Onyx picks his head up drowsily and stares the man.
"You're so tired, you can barely keep your eyes open. Just go to sleep. It's okay."
Onyx inhales and sighs through his nose. He yawns as he grabs Yoongi's cheek again. He squeezes before resting it there.
And that's how he falls asleep.
With his tiny hand on Yoongi's cheek.
######
Harper arrives to work 11 minutes before she's supposed to clock in. She puts her coat and bag in the work lounge before going to the vending machine to grab a snack.
She scans each level in the machine, looking for something that's to her taste.
"Hey, Harper."
Harper turns to see Hailey walking in.
"Hi, Hailey." She greets with a wave. "Are you just getting in? I thought you worked mornings?"
"I do but they're short a nurse for the E.D., so they called me in. I love those scrubs." Hailey becomes distracted as she looks at Harper's clothes.
"I'm down there today, too. And thank you. I got them from that department store by the grocery center. I forget what it's called. But it's all medical wear."
"Oh, I know what you're talking about. I've actually never been in there before, though. Is all their stuff that cute?"
"Yes. I got so many from there. It was almost overwhelming to pick just a couple."
"I feel like that when I go to Bath and Body Works." Hailey nods.
"Especially if they're having a sale." Harper agrees.
"Oh my god, yes. The amount of money I spend in there is criminal."
Harper laughs as she finally chooses a snack. She'll just chew on some cashews and buy a pack of gum for now. She's got her water bottle all filled up so she'll be set on drinks.
"How is the little one doing?" Hailey asks as she fills her water bottle up. "Is he sleeping better?"
"Much." Harper says. "He sleeps like he works six jobs and overtime in all of time. And he sleeps with his mouth open all the time but he's not mouth breathing. I think that's so funny."
"He's like a little grown man." Hailey snickers.
"Yes, exactly. It's so cute. He was snoring a little bit on Christmas and I was like 'whose baby is this?'"
"But that's too cute." Hailey coos. "He's how many months now?"
"Officially five now. He'll be six on the 22nd of this month. The 22nd is so close to Christmas. He got gifts for both days."
"Oh wow. Yeah. I didn't even think about that. You celebrate his monthly birthdays?"
"I try to. Every month is a milestone. Just until he's one, I want to do it." Harper expresses. "I didn't even think about how this was going to work with the holidays. I mean, it worked out, though. We had a really nice time."
"I'm happy it was nice for you guys."
Hailey doesn't want to say too much about it. She's not sure if Yoongi told her that he told her and Taehyung. She doesn't want to seem like she's being intrusive or anything like that. She's genuinely just happy for them both but she knows her boundaries.
"You and Taehyung are friends with Yoongi outside of work, right?" Harper asks as she opens the bag of cashews.
"Yes. Taehyung sees him more than I do because their schedules kind of coincide better than ours. I want to try to get all of us out one of these days but it's so difficult. I know that Taehyung and Yoongi usually hang out on Wednesdays."
"I only work nights so we could do something Wednesday morning or maybe in the afternoon?" Harper suggests.
"Okay. How aboouutt.." Hailey takes her phone out to check her schedule for the month.
She knows for a fact that one of these days, she works an overnight in the emergency department on Tuesday. So she doesn't go back to work until Thursday morning for her pediatric shift.
"Next week? Does that work for you and Onyx?" Hailey asks.
"He has his appointment this week so anything next week is perfect."
"Okay, great!" Hailey says excitedly.
The pair walk out of the lounge and start heading to the emergency department.
"Do you have any place in mind? Or anywhere that you want to go?"
"Mmm. I'm not too sure. I want to say somewhere that's not too overstimulating."
"Because if Onyx, right." Hailey says as she thinks. "Mmmm. I don't know. Everywhere that we could go out to eat might be kind of noisy. Oh, how about you guys just come to the house?"
Harper looks at her skeptically, unsure of if that's completely okay.
"It's fine. Yoongi's been over a bunch, we can finally hang out outside of work and it'll work best for Onyx." Hailey says, convincing Harper that she's certain.
"Okay. What time in the morning? Should I bring food?"
"I get off of work from my overnight at 6. So we'll say noon would be a good time? Or 12:30? Between those two times would be fine. Taehyung will make sure that everything is together and that I'm awake on time. Don't worry about bringing anything. Tae and I will handle it. Just bring you, Chunk and Mr. Hermit."
Harper laughs out loud and quickly covers her mouth with her hand. Her eyes widen as Hailey starts laughing as well.
"Good evening, you two. Good to see that you're in good spirits." Garrett greets them at the service desk.
"Hello, Garrett. How's tonight?" Hailey asks.
"You got called in, didn't you?" He raises an eyebrow.
"Right." She sighs. "That I did. Where's Hyde?"
"He's over in 21 plus. He ran over for a second to check on everything. Why? You need him?"
"I do. I don't know where I'm stationed to be for the night."
"Uummm. Actually..." Garrett grabs a blue clipboard. "He left the chart. Let me look."
He flips the paper on the clipboard and then looks up at her. He pushes his lips together.
"I'm floating, aren't I?"
"You're floating."
Hailey sighs. "Well." She looks around. "What's going on? Brief me."
Garrett start telling the pair what's been going on in the department. There was an accident on Highland Avenue, so the people involved were brought to St. Juniper's.
There's been a lot of sick folks in and out as well. Hearing that, Harper throws a mask on. The last thing that she needs is to take anything from the hospital back to her baby. Hailey puts one on as well out of courtesy for Harper.
About two hours into the shift, there's a sudden call over a walkie that Harper had forgotten was even there.
"Guys, we've got three incoming gunshot victims." Hyde informs. "Drive by shooting on University and Hayes. Victims are 27, 24 and 19..."
Hyde's voice drowns out as the doors to the unit are slammed open. They all stand as the EMTs rush in with the victims.
From there, it's chaos.
One of the EMTs is performing CPR as the gurney is pushed through. Hyde jogs in and gives Hailey the signal as he's out of breath from running down. She immediately springs into action. The EMTs brief her as she approaches.
Harper watches as the gurneys rush by. Everything happens so quick that she barely has any time to react to anything.
The third gurney rolls by and the world around her slows.
The clock seems to stop but the ticking continues. The sound drowns out around her; leaving her with only muffled calls of direction, distant chatter and an incessant ringing.
Her heart hesitates its beating in her chest before her breathing catches up. Suddenly, she's out of breath without ever having moved.
Her hands become slick and her lips part to allow more oxygen into her lungs. Her eyelids flutter, never fully closing to blink.
"Harper, are you alright?"
She finally blinks. At a rapid pace to moisten her eyes and come back to her senses, she forces her eyelids open and close.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just... a little..."
"Do you need air? I know it's a lot." He speaks over the deafening trepidation in her mind.
"Yeah.. I'm.."
Her phone starts to ring in her pocket and she takes it out. The contact is Yoongi's. It flushes her senses out as she looks at Garrett.
"Go ahead. Take that. I'll be fine up here for a couple minutes."
Harper speed walks away from the chaos, sliding the arrow over to answer the phone.
"Hello?"
"Harper-. Are you alright?" Yoongi cuts himself mid sentence as he hears the shakiness in her voice.
"Yes. I'm just-.. there's a lot..."
"Yeah, I know. Hyde's assistant just paged me. I have to come in. There's only one other surgeon there and the demand is too high. I'm going to have to bring Onyx with me. I called Taehyung and he's going to meet me there. He can take him from there if you're okay with that."
His speaking is hurried as he walks with Onyx's car seat to his vehicle. He opens the back door and straps the sleeping baby securely into the back seat.
"What?" Harper voices, bumped completely back to clarity. "He can't be here. It's too hectic. That's not good for him."
"I understand that. I do. But I can't wait for Tae to come all the way here and then drive there. The hospital is the best meeting point. You can meet me by the doors if you want and take him to a quieter space but this is the only option right now, honey. I'm sorry."
Harper rubs her forehead as she paces the floor. The corners of her eyes begin to tingle and she nods.
"Okay. Okay." She sniffles. "Just bring him and I'll.. I'll figure it out."
"Okay. I'll see you when I get there."
Harper hangs up and links her hands above her head as she paces the floor.
Taehyung will be here to take him. Yoongi doesn't even have to come into here with him. I can meet him at the door, wait for Taehyung and then get out of here. I can just.. I can...
Harper closes her eyes and takes a deep breath as her breathing becomes shaky. She rips the mask off as she inhales for three seconds and exhales for three seconds. Repeating this a few times, she calms herself a little bit before walking back to the service desk.
Garrett anticipates her arrival and looks to see if she's alright.
"Yoongi's coming. He got called in. I have to get my son out of here though. This is no place for him to be so Taehyung is coming. But I need to go and meet him."
"Of course. Here." Garrett says. "Just take a walkie and I'll keep you in the loop. Station one is for all communication. Station two is for private."
"Okay. Thank you." Harper grabs the walkie.
"It's no problem."
Harper walks from the desk and maneuvers around nurses and EMTs to get to the parking lot entrance. She paces back and forth as she waits for Yoongi's car to pull into the lot.
She doesn't know what Taehyung's car looks like so she'll just be looking for his wavy head of black hair.
Yoongi cuts a fifteen minute drive down to eleven. He parks in a designated spot and grabs Onyx's car seat. As he walks to the door, he locks his car. Harper's heart skips seeing Yoongi with her son.
"Taehyung should be here soon. He called and said that there's traffic on the expressway so he'll be a little late." Yoongi informs her.
"What? Where am I supposed to wait with him him until then? I can't have him anywhere near down here, Yoongi."
"My office."
"Has anyone got eyes on Dr. Min?" Hyde's voice comes through the walkie. "The techs are prepping the room. We've got an emergency extraction needed. I need him up here in less than five."
Yoongi takes the walkie off Harper's hip as they walk to the elevator.
"I just got here. I'm coming now."
"Copy." Hyde replies.
"Here." Yoongi hands Harper his keys. "When you get to the third floor, my office is to the left and all the way down. My name's on the door. Tae will come up when he gets here."
"Okay." Harper takes the keys and he keeps the walkie.
"I don't know how long I'll be in surgery. But I'll call you as soon as I'm out." His hands rest comfortingly on her waist.
"Alright."
"There's blankets and a futon in there, too. Lay down when for me, please. There's a mini fridge with water and some snacks. I already fed him but I don't want you passing out on me, alright?"
Harper nods in response as she looks up at him. Her head tilts up and he gently kisses her lips. She closes her eyes for the couple seconds that it lasts. He then kisses her forehead.
"I'll see you in a minute."
He backs up and jogs away down the hall. Harper watches him for a few seconds before quickly turning to the elevator. She pushes the button as she looks around her.
When the doors open, she steps inside and pushes the button to close the doors several times before she pushes the number three button.
The doors close and she taps her fingers against her thigh as waits for the lift to reach her floor. The number pauses with each turn. It feels daunting as each second passes.
Finally, it hits '3'. The doors opens and Harper steps out with Onyx in hand. She looks to the left and starts walking in that direction. With each step closer to Yoongi's office, her heart beats a little faster.
She looks down at the keys in her hand and fumbles with them as she looks for his office key. He handed it right to her but she lost it in the process of pushing elevator buttons.
She sees his car key, a key similar to hers for his apartment, and three unfamiliar ones. She tries the first one and to her luck, it works.
Harper opens the door and takes a quick step inside. She closes and locks the door behind her. Her heart beats erratically in her chest and she closes her eyes.
She exercises her breathing skills once more before opening her eyes. She sees the futon couch that Yoongi mentioned and sets Onyx's car seat on it.
She pulls the flap of the cozy cover up and looks inside at her sleeping bundle. Onyx is knocked out with a new pacifier pacifier in his mouth. It's clipped securely to his long sleeved onesie.
The blue stuffie that Yoongi's parents gifted him is in there with him.
Harper takes him out the car seat and holds him against her. In an instinctual protective way, she cradles him in her left arm. He's as close to her body as she can get him. She puts her right arm over him and smooths the skin of his cheeks.
Onyx smiles in his sleep feeling her touch.
Harper lightly smiles in relief.
She kisses the tops of his cheeks tenderly and rocks back and forth with him in her arms. She feels light headed and swallows thickly.
Looking around the room, she sees the mini refrigerator that Yoongi told her about. She gets up and grabs a water bottle out of it. She also grabs a Tupperware of red seedless grapes to snack on.
She continues to hold Onyx as she sits on the futon. The longer she sits there, the less panicked that she feels. As time ticks on, she takes the time to observe the room around her.
It's definitely Yoongi's.
It smells like his apartment. It smells the way that Onyx smells when he gives him back. It smells like his car. It smells just like him.
On the hooks next to the door are two white coats. Below them is a pair of black loafer style dress shoes.
Looking at the walls, Harper sees his degree certificates hanging behind his desk. Up on the wall are three of them.
Yoongi has an associate's in nursing, a Ph.D and his M.S.
She knows that he's incredible. She knows that he's a genius. He's got to be. But she's never physically seen the proof of that. It's so beautiful to look at.
Under each degree, is a photo of him with his parents. He's holding his degree with a smile and his parents are grinning on either side of him.
Harper smiles at the photos before scanning the rest of the room. On Yoongi's desk is a desktop computer. There's also a glasses case holding a second pair of them in case he ever loses the ones that he carries with him.
There's a coffee thermos, clean and dry. Another backup.
And finally, there are three gifts given to him by his closest coworkers, two of which happen to be his best friends.
A figurine of Asceplius; the Roman his of medicine. A gift from Dr. Hyde. It's symbolic in the way that he views Yoongi, though he'll never verbally admit it.
Dr. Hyde holds Yoongi in very high regard, both inside and outside of work. He admires the person that Yoongi is. He admires the work that Yoongi does. The way that he's perfected his craft, the way that he's confident in art form.
Yoongi deserves his title and there is no doubting that.
The second gift is a black obsidian crystal. A very expensive piece to pay for and a very hard difficult one to find. Said to be known for its protection, grounding and deep-set healing properties, Hailey thought that it'd be interesting for Yoongi to have.
She knows nothing about crystals but she loves collecting pretty stones. Gifting Yoongi one was like a piece of herself in a way. Yoongi was grateful that she shared it with him. Knowing how much it just have costed and how much it means to her, it was a beautiful gift.
The third and final gift, the first ever given of the the three is from Taehyung. His longest friend. His dearest friend.
A gold compass.
The round of it is has an engraving in thin cursive calligraphy. Harper can't read what it says from where she's sitting. But the compass itself is similar to the one hangs on the rope chain around his neck.
Maybe he has a thing for compasses. Or maybe they mean something bigger to him. They symbolize something bigger for him.
A knock on the door pulls Harper from her thinking. She looks over at it and stands up.
"Harper? Are you in there? It's Taehyung."
"Yeah." She walks to the door and opens it.
Taehyung stands there with his coat on. The beanie on his head is littered with snow. His bangs stick out from under, covering the span of his forehead. The tip of his nose is pink, a product of the blistering cold outside.
He's out of breath as he looks at her. He looks down at her holding Onyx in her arms.
"Is it snowing?"
"Yeah. It's coming down out there. It started when I was getting off of the expressway." He walks to the long window on the far side of the office and opens the curtains a bit.
It really is coming down out there.
"You can't drive in that." Harper states. "It's not safe."
"Can't even see anything through it. There was a snow advisory but this is worse than what they said." Taehyung takes his phone out and looks at the weather app.
As it loads, he shakes his head.
"This is crazy."
"Is it going to let up soon?"
"It says about two hours."
Harper sighs and sits back on the futon. She's in clear distress as she puts Onyx against her chest. He whines in his sleep as he grips onto her scrubs.
"I know, bear, I know." She rubs his back and he quiets down, going back to sleep.
"I've got him so you can go back to work. It was a mess when I came in. I'm not going to leave until this clears up. It's almost a white out."
It seems that the city's luck has run out as far as snow goes. It's been light or nonexistent up until this point. Everyone should have known that they wouldn't get away with it for much longer.
"Can you stay in here with him?" Harper asks.
"Of course. I'll keep him in here where it's warm and away from the noise and everything. They do need you down there, though. Garrett is doing what he can on his own but he's getting swamped."
Due to the white out, it's also likely that they'll be seeing a lot more people into the E.R. tonight.
"Okay." Harper stands up and hands Onyx to Taehyung. "He ate already. Yoongi didn't bring his bag." She realizes.
"It's probably in his car. He wouldn't have forgotten that. He's dry and everything?"
Taehyung feels Onyx's diaper to make sure and nods.
"He's sleeping through the night now so he shouldn't wake up. I'll be downstairs. Please come get me, if anything."
"I will. He'll be okay, Harper."
"Okay. I'll see you later. Thank you."
"You're always welcome."
Harper kisses Onyx's head before walking out of the room.
When she gets to the first floor again, she realizes that she still has Yoongi's keys on her. She clips them to the band of her scrubs and walks to the emergency department.
Garrett sees her and sighs in relief.
"I'm sorry." She apologizes as she approaches.
"Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. Tae has my son upstairs in Yoongi's office. There's a whiteout so he can't leave yet."
"As long as he's somewhere away from all this, that's fine." Garrett nods.
"Right..." Harper smooths the sides of her hair.
She pushes her loose strands behind her ear. Taking deep breaths, she composes herself. She knows that she needs to keep herself together in order to complete her shift.
"Okay, what do you need me to do?"
++++++
Fours hours of surgery.
Four full hours of draining blood and plugging wounds. The patient has been admitted and is on the third floor in trauma recovery unit.
All that's left is post operative care and argumentative deliberation.
It wouldn't have to be argumentative but Yoongi is taking it there tonight.
"We need to get that bullet out." A fellow surgeon speaks at the round table.
It's half past two o'clock in the morning and this is the conversation being had. The surgery was a success. But there was something of a hitch in the process. Not one that directly affected the surgery. But one that could affect post-op patient healing.
Yoongi shakes his head. "No. It's too close to his spine. We could paralyze him for life. That's too much of a risk, I won't do it."
"Then I will." The surgeon on the opposing side speaks.
"No, Han. I'm telling you that that isn't a good idea."
"The bullet is already putting pressure on some of the nerves in his spine. He'll need extensive physical therapy either way. If we leave the bullet in, we risk putting this man in pain for the rest of his life. He's 24 years old."
Yoongi sighs in frustration, rubbing his stubbled chin.
"Look. Pulling that bullet out would require incredibly steady hands that even I don't trust myself with." He expresses.
"Pulling it out is risking way more than it's worth. If it's left in, he'll need medication for the pain but he won't lose the use of his lower body. It could temporarily take some of the use of his fine motor skills as well. Han, this isn't the way to do this."
"With all due respect, Dr. Min, I have been at this a lot longer than you. I have never been wrong about these types of things. Risk or not, we have the opportunity to give this man a life most similar to the one that he had before. Why wouldn't you want to grant him that?"
"Because there's no guarantee that it could work!" Yoongi shouts and smacks his hand on the table as he stands up.
"Years of experience mean nothing in the face of such high risks. You put your trust in your experience and I understand that.But this is a young man's life that we are talking about! Never mind the paralyzation, we could kill him! Have you seen his medical history?!"
"Dr. Min." Dr. Hyde interrupts what was a calm conversation.
He stands up as well as the room falls silent.
Very rarely has anyone ever seen Yoongi upset. He's held in high regard for his patience. He's admired for his abilities and forbearance. Even in heavy conversations, heated debates and even high volume admittance, he always remains calm.
Yoongi steps back from the table and walks out of the room.
"Excuse us for a moment, please." Hyde addresses the round table of colleagues before following Yoongi out.
He catches up to the man as he walks in the direction of his office.
"Dr. Min-."
"I'm not doing it, Hyde."
"Can you just stop and talk to me for a second?"
Yoongi stops walking and looks at him.
"Can you really justify this? Anything could happen in that operating room? A slight tremble and we could kill him. Any one of us. Any rank, experience, degree. This risk is still there. It's still far too great for anyone to attempt that. Why are we even contemplating this?"
"I understand where you're coming from, Yoongi. I do. But this surgery could mean two different paths for this young man for the rest of his life."
"I do not agree with this, Hyde. I don't. Do I want to help him? Of course I do. I want him to walk out of here if he could but I don't see that happening in any situation."
"We're tied on the debate, Yoongi. Only you and Han are here. This can't wait. I need you two to come to some sort of consensus on this. His mother is here. We have to tell her something."
Yoongi sighs and rubs his hands down his face.
"This is insanity."
"How about we ask his mother, then. She's got to be his point of contact. She's the one here. I will explain the situation to her with you and Dr. Han present and let her decide. If she has any questions, we can answer them at the table for her."
Yoongi inhales deeply. He looks at the compass on the face of his watch and closes his eyes.
"Alright." He concedes.
"Alright?"
"Yeah. Let's get her in the room."
"Okay. We'll go into room three. I'll go let Dr. Han know and we'll meet you in there."
The men part ways, with Yoongi walking to the meeting room. The blinds are twisted open, allowing Yoongi to see the snow falling outside. He walks to the window to see the ground covered in it.
Taking his phone out, he sees that there was a small snowstorm while he was in surgery. He texts Taehyung to see if he made it home okay with Onyx.
Tae: He's fine. I actually didn't take him home with me. Harper forgot that she had your keys on her when she went back down to the E.D.. I wouldn't have been able to get into your car to get his bag.
I didn't want to take him down there with me and I couldn't leave him in your office alone so I just waited until her shift was over. She took him home and left your keys with Hailey
Yoongi reads the message twice to get a full grasp on exactly what happened before he texts back. He also texts Harper to check on her and Onyx as well.
Harper: We're okay. I had to give him another bag because he made a very stinky surprise for me but that's okay. He pretty much slept through it
Yoongi smiles at the text and Harper sends him a picture. Onyx is asleep like nothing ever even happened.
Yoongi looks at his little face and sees the chuck of his cheeks. He saves the photo to his phone and heart reacts it as he hears a knock on the door.
He remembers why he's here in the first place and his smile becomes a professional look. He locks his phone and puts it on the table. The door clicks open and he stands up.
Dr. Hyde walks in with Dr. Han and a middle aged woman.
Her skin is a smooth pecan brown shade. The round upturned shape of her eyes holds brown irises and small black pupils in them. They're lined with black liner. The thickness of her false lashes give her eyes a distinct flare. Her Cupid's bow is prominent, creating a dip in her full heart shaped lips.
"Miss Sullivan, this is Dr. Yoongi Min. He is the head surgeon of our trauma team here at St. Juniper's." Dr. Hyde introduces.
"Dr. Min, this is Miss Sullivan. The mother of our patient in discussion."
Yoongi puts his hand out for her.
"It's nice to meet you." Miss Sullivan says as she shakes his hand.
"It's nice to meet you as well."
Under the circumstances, maybe not so much. But this is still a professional setting and should be treated as such.
Hyde sits everyone down and hands Yoongi his manilla folder from the other room. He hands one to Miss Sullivan as well.
Yoongi opens his up and looks inside of it. He's gone over it already but following along while Hyde breaks down the situation could never hurt.
Jahlil Collins
DOB August 12, 1998
Age 24
There's a photo of the man on the page as well as a description of injuries. A piece of paper with an outline of a human on it is labeled with the location of its corresponding damage.
Hyde explains the entirety of the situation to Miss Sullivan. The woman tries to hold her tears but eventually breaks down at the very end.
"I keep telling him to stay out them steers. He don't listen. Isn't there something that can be done to fix this? That's my baby. My son."
"Unfortunately, medically, there are only the two options that I've explained. We can leave the bullet in. Patch him up and he'll more than likely need medication to manage the pain." Hyde explains.
"But you said there's a risk of the bullet slipping over time and paralyzing him." Miss Sullivan looks at Dr. Han.
"Yes. That is a possibility. Over time, the likelihood of that happening is unknown. It depends on his activities and the strenuosity of them. His mobility will be limited."
"So why can't we do the surgery to get the bullet out?" Miss Sullivan asks.
Dr. Han takes a deep breath as he gestures to Yoongi with his hand. Yoongi gives him a stoic look as his glance hardens.
"The risks are paralyzation or even-." He cuts himself off, not wanting to be so blunt about the words.
"Your son could lose his life if we aren't superb in our precision. I'm not saying that we aren't. We're wonderful at our craft, but this is something that nobody can be 100% on." Yoongi explains it to her as simply as he can.
"What if it was your child?" Miss Sullivan asks. "What if it was your son that was in this situation? This is his life."
Miss Sullivan's lips tremble as she looks at Yoongi. He looks back at her, unwavering in his gaze.
"Would you want to see your son in pain this way?" Miss Sullivan goes on. "The way that you're telling me that he will be. The pain that you know he'll be in. Would you want that for your own? Your once beautiful baby boy, full of life. Energy, laughs."
The tension in Yoongi's eyebrows begins to dissipate.
"Could you watch him be shredded down to pain and agony each day? Needing medication and pills to help him just get through the day without being in pain? Could you do that if he were your son? Or would you take whatever risk you could to make sure he'd make it out okay?"
Yoongi blinks and looks down at his phone. The black screen looks back up at him, showing him his reflection. He takes a deep breath and looks up at Hyde.
"Set up the briefing." He says quietly.
Dr. Han smiles in satisfaction and Hyde lets out the breath that he was holding.
Yoongi stands up. "I need my team here for surgery at six. No later than that. Campbell, Dillard, Fuller and Duncan. All of them, so substitutions."
Miss Sullivan bursts into tears. Her gratitude for him is overwhelming. She stands up to him and he hugs her, patting her on the back.
The four of them leave the room and Han walks next to Yoongi through the halls.
"It seems you took that personal, Dr. Min."
"That was her intent, wasn't it?" Yoongi replies.
"You know what they say about the personal weight of responsibility in the medical field. Especially ours."
Yoongi pushes the button to the elevator before putting his empty hand in his pocket. He turns to face Dr. Han.
"Why are you badgering me about this? I thought you wanted me to take this on? Is that not what the meeting was for?"
"Oh, I do." Han says. "I'm just saying 'don't make it personal'. Best interest of the patient and all."
He gives a small smile before walking away. The elevator doors open and Yoongi looks back at him before stepping into the lift.
He opens the folder in his hand and looks at the information again.
'Don't make it personal.'
A|N
+And so another plot arc begins :)