His Darkest Desire ||Taekook||

chapter sixteen

"Any updates on the patient?" Namjoon asks with a sigh, leaning against the wall. The doctor pinches the bridge of his nose, then pulls the clipboard from under his right arm.

"Fortunately, you were lucky to bring him in when you did," Doctor Han says, glancing over Taehyung's chart. "His vitals are stable. We removed the bullet and dressed the wound on his shoulder. He was having some trouble breathing, so we put him on oxygen to regulate it. Other than that, he's alive and in stable condition." He scans the information one last time, double-checking each sign of the patient's recovery.

After hearing the full explanation, Namjoon finally let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. It hadn't sunk in yet—Doctor Han had just saved the boy's life. Namjoon had never experienced anything like this before. The panic of watching someone hover so close to death had shaken him to his core. But now, with the confirmation that the boy was alive, a sense of calm slowly began to settle over him.

"What about his family? Were you able to reach anyone?" Namjoon asks, grateful the boy's phone had survived the fall into the water. Doctor Han had managed to retrieve it, but he wasn't sure yet if anyone had answered his calls.

"Hm... I checked his contacts, but there were only two names," Doctor Han says. "I called the first one on the list. The person who answered said she was his sister, so I gave her the hospital details."
Namjoon listens closely, a hint of confusion crossing his face—only two contacts? Still, it wasn't his place to pry. He was just a stranger, after all.

"The other contact seemed to be a close friend—he's already heard about the situation, and I'm guessing he's on his way," Doctor Han continues. "As for Kwon Taehyung, he's still resting, and we're monitoring him closely. The bleeding wasn't severe, but the wound is deep, so it'll take some time to fully heal."

Doctor Han adjusts his glasses, lifting them briefly from the bridge of his nose. He hesitates, lips pursed, as if debating whether to ask something—an instinct that comes with situations like these.

He wasn't a therapist, but if he had to guess, this didn't look like a suicide attempt—it looked more like someone had tried to kill the boy. The wound in his shoulder wasn't accidental; it was deliberate, precise. Too much force, too much intent behind it.

"By the way, how did you even get caught up in all this? How did you find him like that?" he asks, concern etched into his features. "He could barely breathe with how much water was in his lungs." He watches his friend closely, worry tightening his voice.

Doctor Han and Namjoon had been close friends for years, their bond forged during the time they spent studying abroad in France. Han had since graduated from medical school, now fully immersed in his career, while Namjoon was still working tirelessly toward his PhD, determined to reach the goals he'd set for himself.

Despite the weight of his academic life, Namjoon had one escape—his boat. Being out on the water gave him space to breathe, a rare sense of freedom he clung to whenever he could. That was what today was supposed to be: a quiet moment of solitude. Instead, he found himself pulling an injured young man—likely no older than himself—out of the water and racing against time to save him.

"I took the boat out to the river early this morning and saw him hanging off the edge of the bridge," Namjoon says quietly. "Then he fell in... and I jumped in after him." He pauses, swallowing hard as the memory flashes back. "I don't know exactly what happened to him, but his shoulder was bleeding—badly."

Even now, the image of that wound haunts him. The realization that a bullet had torn through the boy's shoulder was something Namjoon couldn't shake. It had been terrifying—traumatizing, even—for someone like him, who'd never been anywhere near something like this before.