Angel

Chapter 35 - In a coma

The hospital corridor is stuffy and the air has an undertone of bleach and sterilization. The walls were white and scraped in places from the hundreds of trolleys that have bumped into them. The pictures on the walls are cheap benign prints of uplifting scenes and above the double doors are large blue plastic signs with the areas of the hospital that lie ahead.

The air had a perfumed scene of iodoform and the seats were plush. Every surface was dustless. The nurses hurried and they moved with a serene purposefulness from room to room on their rounds. There were vases of flowers and beautiful framed pieces of art on the walls. In the corridor, was a water dispenser and in most rooms could be heard the noise of a television.

Chaeyoung couldn't pay attention to anything. She sat in the seat right outside of the emergency room, staring at her hands as if she had touched something she wasn't able to wash off. She wore an unreadable expression on her face, ignoring that face that Jaehyun was pacing back and forth in front of her while being on the phone with someone. He seemed angry, Chaeyoung noticed. But, Chaeyoung noticed everything—the countless beeping from machines down the hall, the untold footsteps across the tile floor, the exasperating gibberish that floated in the air, forming incomplete sentences as she heard different conversations.

She didn't want to be there. She wanted everything to go away along with her worries and her fear. She just wanted everything to be okay. She wondered how she got herself in this position, how Mina had ended up in this position. The blonde constantly blamed herself in her mind that it was all her fault, that she should've done something about it in the first place like speaking with her father. But, that wouldn't work out so well either.

Chaeyoung was trembling. She couldn't get the scene in her head when Mina had hovered over her in order to protect her from the incoming golf club. Chaeyoung cursed; she shouldn't have done that. She should've been the one to take the hit. But, what's done, is done. There was no way to go back.

The emotions she felt was overwhelming, so Chaeyoung bent down and placed her face into her palms in an attempt to stop her tears from flowing. She tried to ignore her feelings and tried to listen to the endless noise of the hospital hallway, trying to count numbers in her head to keep her emotions at bay, but she couldn't help it. It became hard for her to even breathe, to think, to speak.

She didn't even notice the woman who had came up to stand right in front of her. The woman kneeled down and watched her cry, before placing her hands into Chaeyoung's shoulder and pulled her into a heartfelt hug.

"It's okay," Sana whispered, "She'll be okay. You'll be okay."

At those words, Chaeyoung cried even harder, no matter how hard she tried to hold it back. She sobbed silently into Sana's shoulders until she had calmed down a bit. It wasn't long until Tzuyu joined soon after, holding cups of coffee for all four of them including Jaehyun.

Chaeyoung held the cup of coffee in her hand, but she had never taken a sip of it. She held it to keep her palms warm, seeing as thought it had gotten cold since the time she was bound by ropes.

Guilt racked in her system. Her mind kept telling her that it was all her fault and the amount of times she had said that in her head, she almost believed it. But, she was sure it wasn't the right thing to think. And if she said it aloud, her friends would just protest and deny it.

It almost seemed like it had been an hour until a man in a long, white lab coat stepped out of the emergency hall. The doctor had the posture of a soldier. Every action he took was precise and purposeful. He even smiled in the cold and distant way professionals do. Chaeyoung couldn't relax around such expressions.

The moment he was close enough to talk, Chaeyoung stood up, as well as Sana who was kneeling on the floor.

The doctor smiled at them softly and glanced around the group, "Are you all relatives of Myoui Mina?"

"No, we're friends, but her brother will be here soon," Sana took the first response, seeing as though Chaeyoung was having a hard time to speak.

"Okay, that's fine," The doctor clasped his hands together, "I'm Dr. Lee Dongwook. I'm here to tell you that Mina seems to be in a healthy condition, although, she has been violently blown by an outside force just at the bottom of her head near the nape of her neck, which causes brain dysfunction. She has been hit in the area where all her coordination skills have been impacted. I'm very sorry to say that she is in a comatose as of this moment. We don't know when she would be able to wake up. It could take weeks or even months. It would be best to keep her here in the hospital, until she wakes."

Chaeyoung's heart dropped. She stood there, dominated by a profound sadness, fatigue engraved on her worn and bruised face. She warmed her shivering hands by placing her palms against the warmth of her forehead. The sorrow grew more profound each second that passed. She almost found it hard to even stand. She felt her legs grow wobbly the second before looking back up at the doctor.

"Can I see her?" Chaeyoung asked, surprised to find out her voice was tired and worn out.

"Yes, as soon as she gets transferred to another room." The doctor nodded, "But, during that time, we should also tend to your wounds as well. Please follow me."

"I'll come with her," Jaehyun said, not wanted to leave her alone with anybody else, seeing that it's his duty as her bodyguard.

"Okay, we'll wait here until Mina gets moved." Sana called out.

Tzuyu held Sana's hand as she spoke out to the two who had already started walking down the hallway. The group separated quietly with their hearts heavy and full of sorrow, as they thought about Mina.