Hour Before Dawn

Chapter 6

Everything was at a standstill as they looked on what seemed like a fatal crash. All eyes and attention of those seated on the bleachers were turned to the crash site, waiting for news. Attendees were on their feet, hoping to get a glimpse of the current situation on the side of the track.

Emergency vehicles and personnel rushed to the scene and attempted to pull Ye-jin out from wrecked car. With the body of the car out of shape, it became quite a struggle for the crew to bring her out.

"Yej!!"

With his heart racing and his limbs shaking, Bin sprinted to the fence that separated them from the track where they were still working on pulling her out.

"Oh God, Yejie," Bin said to himself while trying to stay calm.

Ye-jin's crew chief grabbed him tightly to keep him from getting closer to the car while he, himself, was also eager to get a glimpse of her.

"Let them pull her out. Give them the room to do that," Bin was told. There were roughly thirty emergency and safety personnel at the scene, all working together to get her out of the car without aggravating any possible injuries.

He didn't even know whether or not she was conscious and it killed him not knowing. It killed him just waiting there for what seemed like forever.

He was breathing heavy and fast, his eyes brimming with tears that never fell, and his jaw was slightly open in shock. "Yejie," he whispered to himself. He felt himself wobble in his place, his chest felt constricted, as he watched them finally yank the side open after cutting it with a machine.

He watched as they brought the stretcher closer to the car but other than that, he couldn't lay eyes on her through dozens of people at the scene.

He jumped in the car with Aaron and followed the ambulance to the hospital. It was unbearable not knowing how she was doing and how serious her injuries were. He held on to the fact that someone would have already notified him if she didn't make it.

Ye-jin gained consciousness in the hospital with excruciating pain in her back. She realized she was wearing a neck and spinal brace and she could hear the monitor beeping above her as she felt her heart racing in her chest. She felt completely knocked up, she was sore everywhere but the pain in her back was nothing like she has ever felt before. The room was spinning and she could barely keep her eyes open. Her chest was so heavy, she could barely breathe. It was as though she could hear herself moaning in pain.

It wasn't long after that when the doctor approached her to explain her current status and all that has happened from the moment she was taken out of the race car up until she regained consciousness. It was only then when she realized how much trouble she was in. Soon after that, she closed her eyes again as she was purposely put to sleep.

"Bin?"

He immediately got up from his chair upon hearing his name. A nurse walked towards him with a compassionate smile.

"That's me," he said as he walked towards her.

"Hi, my name's Susan, I'm one of the nurses looking after Ye-jin. Come inside with me," the nurse said. "I'll take you to her. She's awake and is asking for you but the doctor wants to talk to you first."

The fact that she was conscious and was already asking for him brought him immense relief. He couldn't wait to see her.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Curtis," the doctor introduced himself as they stood by the nursing desk. "I was just talking to the patient and she gave me the go signal to keep you updated."

"How is she doing, Doc?"

"She's hanging in there," the doctor said. "She's pretty beat up physically. She's sore everywhere considering the impact of the crash. Miraculously, there's no brain injury noted, her neck is intact and her limbs are intact as well. The thing is, results of the imaging scans of her spine shows that she suffered what we call a complete fracture-dislocation of the thoracolumbar spine. To put it simply, she broke her back from the crash."