Secret of the Red Lotus Flower (빨간 연꽃의 비밀)

Chapter 35

As Soo-yun, Yeong-ja, and Dr. Yun entered the clearing next to the potter's hut and saw the flickering light coming from the open doorway to the storeroom, Soo-yun's barely held together composure finally snapped. She needed to see if Ha-neul was still alive. Breaking away from the other two, she raced forward to be the first through the door.

Once inside, Soo-yun saw that the Crown Prince was conscious and propped up while the potter, Eun-ji, was holding a bowl of soup. They both looked up in surprise to see Soo-yun burst inside. Soo-yun fought back a sob at the sight of Ha-neul's haggard and pale complexion as well as the sound of labored breathing. She noticed that the knot she had made in Ha-neul's cheollik topcoat before she left to hold it close had been clumsily double-tied and realized that, despite the pain her husband must have been in, the Crown Prince had regained consciousness enough to take extra precautions against further discoveries.

"Thank goodness you're back," Eun-ji exclaimed. "Your husband is being obstinate and refuses to let me look at the wound. I hope you found a doctor."

Soo-yun had the overpowering desire to rush into her husband's arms for comfort but stopped herself because she was afraid she would hurt Ha-neul further. Instead, she found herself rooted in one spot, unable to answer the potter's question and merely stared in anguish at the injured Crown Prince. The sound of the doctor clearing his throat behind her made Soo-yun realize that she was blocking the door and she hastily got out of the way.

"It is good to you again, your Royal Highness. Although I wish it was under better circumstances," said Dr. Yun as he quickly crossed the room and placed his medical bag next to Ha-neul. He inspected the broken shaft of the arrow briefly before turning to the potter. "Go boil some water, madam. I will need to operate to save this young man."

Eun-ji nodded before sprinting out of the storeroom. Once the older woman had left, Yeong-ja moved to the entrance to watch for anyone who might approach the storeroom. Hurriedly, Dr. Yun undid the ties and peeled back the topcoat. Ha-neul hissed in pain as the wound was exposed. Soo-yun averted her eyes to avoid staring at Ha-neul's chest again and focused on the arrow instead despite her squeamishness at the sight.

"That is a nasty bruise forming there," Dr. Yun said as he probed around the wound. "Were you kicked by a donkey?"

"I was sparring with my uncle and he was able to get a hit in," Ha-neul replied. The Crown Prince cried out in pain as the doctor's fingers touched the ribs next to the shaft of the arrow.

"Well, it sounds like my initial guess was correct, then," Dr. Yun said, dryly. The doctor finished his inspection and covered Ha-neul's chest again. "I have good news and bad news, your Royal Highness. To start with, your bindings probably prevented your death."

"What else is new? The bindings protect me from barbs that would have been flung at me in court if the truth came out and now they protect me from arrows flung at me by bandits. That's just the story of my life, doctor," Ha-neul replied with a feeble grin. Soo-yun was surprised to hear her husband joke so cavalierly about the dangers of what would happen if the secret was revealed as well as the ambush the two have them had just survived. She assumed Ha-neul was starting to go into shock from the injuries.

"Yes, well, in this case, had the arrow would have sunk any deep, it would have punctured your lungs. You would have bled out long before making it to safety," said Dr. Yun. "The main problem, though, lies in your ribs. Whatever your uncle may have done, it appears he also broke some of them. Furthermore, the arrow has an odd, barbed head that has notched itself in the side of one of those broken ribs."

"What does that mean?" Soo-yun asked.

"Normally, the best way to remove an arrow of this type is to push it through the flesh until it exits the other side," Dr. Yun explained, "because attempting to pull the barbed head out would only increase the severity of the wound enough that either the victim could bleed out or have increased odds of infection. However, that isn't possible with an abdominal wound such as this and, if I am not careful, I could also cause the Crown Prince's damaged ribs to splinter further and send bone fragments deeper into the wound."