Metro {DAERIN}

Chapter 20

Haerin paced up and down in her room, Danielle sitting on her bed and following her anxious and worried paces. She let out a sigh and got up, stopping Haerin amidst her mini marathon and pulling her into a hug.

"Rinrin, it's ok, I'm sure she's safe," Danielle said softly, trying to reassure the cat eyed girl, patting her back. Haerin wanted desperately to believe her girlfriend's words, but she couldn't shake off the feeling that something bad had happened.

That night flashed through her head, the words that shook and turned her world upside down in only a matter of a few seconds. She closed her eyes and buried her face on Danielle's chest, letting the tears fall.

"Hanni Unnie," Haerin whispered into the hug.

"Han, I'm here, it's ok, take deep breaths," Minji whispered, breathing in and out slowly as she hugged Hanni, in an attempt to calm her down. Hanni's heart was racing at a dangerously high speed and she could barely breathe. Minji was aware of her heart condition and knew the top priority was to calm her down.

BZZT! BZZT! Just when the girl was beginning to calm down, the sound of a phone buzzing cut through the silence, startling her and Minji felt Hanni's heart rate spike again. It was concerning in itself that even when Hanni wasn't panicking, if you were close enough to her you could feel her heart beating, meaning it was already relatively fast.

Minji herself was trying hard not to panic.

"Hello?" Minji answered the phone.

"KIM MINJI WHERE ARE YOU??!" Danielle's panicked and loud voice echoed through the speaker, making the one who was receiving the call pull back as her ears rang like a bell was rung in it. Hanni felt her heart jump in her chest and she whimpered, breathing heavily and desperately trying to get some air.

"Dani, calm down, Hanni's having a panic attack," Minji whisper shouted urgently.

"SHE'S WHAT??!!" Haerin's panicked voice that seemingly reflected how Hanni is feeling travelled at the speed of light through the speaker, not helping the situation at all.

Minji was about to scold the both of them for being too loud when she suddenly realised something. She looked down at the girl in her arms and she was oddly still. Minji began to feel panic rising up in her and she quickly turned to face Hanni and pulled away, holding her shoulders. 

"Hanni? Hanni wake up!" Minji frantically shook a now unconscious Hanni.

Danielle bit her lip as she heard the faint panicked exclamations from her best friend. Haerin was beside her and was now more restless than before. They didn't even know where the two where and what the context was. All they knew was that Hanni was having a panic attack and Haerin couldn't be more worried about her older sister. 

She turned to Danielle, the panic painted all over her face as she got spooked out by the silence over the line. She turned to the cat eyed girl and tried comforting her, but Haerin was clearly not going to calm down unless she heard her sister was ok.

"Kim Minji! What's going on??" Danielle exclaimed into the phone, squeezing Haerin's hand to comfort the worried sick girl.

"DANI, CALL THE AMBULANCE RIGHT NOW!!" Minji shouted.

This was Haerin's breaking point. She snatched the phone from Danielle, startling the girl.

"WHERE ARE YOU??!! WHAT HAPPENED TO HANNI UNNIE??!!! DON'T LET HER DIE!!!" Haerin sobbed into the phone. She couldn't handle the thought of losing her sister too. She was the only family she really had left and despite being adopted, Hanni had become one of her few sources of hope in life, a helping hand when she was drowning. Just the thought of losing her was enough to make it feel like someone ripped Haerin's heart out of her chest.

Danielle gently took the phone and hugged Haerin, talking with Minji to sort things out.

Minji sat in the hospital waiting room, the soft beeping of announcements and the distant chatter of people filled her head. She sighed, burying her face in her hands. Her head hurt from everything that had happened. The ambulance arrived and they had to call the principal of the university to get inside because he had the keys along with the janitors. Who knew an innocent study session would come to this, Minji blamed herself for this, she should've known that the dark would mean more to Hanni than it did to her.

She sighed, gazing dazedly at a couple who were on their knees and crying loudly. It seemed their loved one didn't make it. It made her heart ache, she hated the hospital, not that she personally had bad experiences with it, but because she always failed to protect her friends from ending up in this depressing place. First it was Danielle, and now it was Hanni.

Minji began to cry, the night was too much for her. She suddenly felt arms around her and she instantly recognised the person from their wavy hair. She only wrapped her own arms around them tightly.

"Dani," she cried out. 

"It's ok Unnie, it's ok, she'll be ok," Danielle whispered soothingly. Haerin could only stand there, her mind a busy bee hive as she desperately hoped that Danielle was right. 

Amidst the sorrows flowing through the group like a river, a doctor called out.

"Who are the relatives of Pham Hanni??" 

Minji, Danielle and Haerin immediately sprung up, any tears abruptly coming to a halt as they ran towards the doctor, who seemingly got startled as though they were a jumpscare in one of those horror games or movies. He quickly composed himself and cleared his throat.

"She's stable, but she needs to be kept here for a few days," the doctor informed, keeping his tone professional despite clearly looking tired. 

"What?! Why??!!!" Haerin was the first to speak while Minji just stood there, feeling half relieved and half guilty.

"Come with me," he simply said, leading the group to a room.

He carefully opened the door, making sure to not make too much sound. The group followed him into the room. There was a single bed and a couch across from it. The city during the night was a scatter of bright lights amongst the cloudy sky. It was beautiful yet depressing at the same time.

"Oh, since I'll be tending to her, I might just introduce myself, my name is Doctor Joshua Hong," Dr Hong introduced himself with a smile. 

The group briefly greeted him back politely their voices all over the place.

Dr Hong rummaged through his clipboard and the many papers clipped together on the thin wooden board. Haerin sat next to Hanni's bed and looked around at the wires attached to her. The older girl looked as pale as a ghost and half her face was covered with a plastic oxygen mask that fogged up with every breath she took. The monotonous beeping of the heart monitor swam around the room, a comforting whisper that the patient was alive.

"So, the reason she needs to be kept is because of her results," Dr Hong's voice brought Haerin out of her thoughts. He handed her the paper and everyone gathered around her.

"Hanni's results show that she has high blood pressure due to a constant amount of high stress and she also shows signs of exhaustion and malnourishment. We don't know what caused it as of now and that will be a discussion that we would have to have with her and her family members...which one of you?" Dr Hong continued. He looked absolutely exhausted but he was trying his best to keep the group of girls in front of him calm. It was admirable because Haerin knew she would've just given up at that point in time.

Haerin put her hand up and Dr Hong nodded.

"Name?"

"Kang Haerin,"

He nodded and he explained more about the process.

"It's important we take time and follow this carefully because she already has a heart condition and this could lead to serious heart diseases if not managed carefully,"

After Dr Hong finished, he left them in the room to clear their heads. Haerin turned to her unconscious sister and let her head fall onto her chest as she cried quietly.

"Wake up Unnie, don't leave me,"