Masterpiece

Chapter 48

Mina was hanging out near the receptionist, sighing and staring at the clock. Sana had seen her staying inside Chaeyoung's room for God knows how long, so she told the latter to stay outside for an hour and rest.

But Mina can't rest, "stop sighing, will you?" The receptionist lady clicked her tongue. "Look, if you can't rest here, then just go home." Mina leaned on the white counter and propped her elbow, her chin resting on her palm.

She looked at the receptionist lady with such familiarity in her eyes, shaking her head. "If I go home, I wouldn't be here when she wakes up." Her eyes scan the woman's clothes, down to her nametag that says 'Nayeon'. "You don't understand."

Nayeon rolls her eyes and sits down on her chair, typing in something in her computer. "I do understand, as if you don't know how many times Jeong gets hospitalized because of the shit the Director tells her to do."

Mina chuckles at the imagery of Jeongyeon doing stunts because Eunji is conducting an experiment, "seriously, that girl needs to remember that she's the Director, not a scientist." Nayeon groans and tilts her head in an annoyed way.

Mina sighs in relief to know that despite her being distant from Eunji, her sister still found other people to trust.

When Minji died, Mina had become distant from Eunji and did not take the responsibility of taking care of the hospital. She learned how to abuse alcohol and overworked herself at the same time, she didn't stop on practicing ballet every day and she would often cry to herself. Mina knew that it was immature of her and she should have been there by Eunji's side, but she couldn't look at her sister because of the guilt.

After 6 months of running away from her problems, Mina suddenly had a car accident. She was drunk while driving, which led her to ruining her legs that made her unable to use her legs like she did before. Mina was admitted in the same hospital that she ran away from, which made her meet Eunji again.

Eunji wasn't ready to meet her sister, especially not in the situation where Mina was suffering and couldn't stop crying because of how badly her legs were damaged. Mina talked to her and agreed on taking responsibility of the hospital, but Eunji refused her offer because of how long she disappeared.

Mina resigned from ballet and started working and taking care of the hospital, that's when she met Nayeon and Jeongyeon.

Eunji was always avoiding her whenever she was in the hospital, so Mina would often meet her friends in secret. Jeongyeon was the easiest to spot as Eunji's friend because she's the secretary to the director, which made it easier for Mina to get close to her.

Nayeon, on the other hand, was a harder nut to crack than Jeongyeon. Mina took note of how Eunji picks her friends, and that Nayeon was a great friend to her sister. After offering food to Nayeon and helping her with work, the woman finally gave in and let her in.

Nayeon always had stories about Eunji, Mina would listen very carefully and learn the hardships her sister went through. If Mina had been by her side, would Nayeon and Jeongyeon be here?

"Have you.. finally gotten something from Eunji?" Mina asks, starting a conversation, but she's also curious about her sister's whereabouts. She thought that they would finally reconcile, after the fact that Eunji suddenly dropped all the death threats and her hostility towards Mina disappeared.

Nayeon shakes her head and bites her lip, "if I had, I would have already told you."

Mina decides to not poke for details anymore, she knows and she trusts Nayeon would tell her the truth and everything about her sister. After Eunji disappeared, Mina finally became the new director of Akira Hospital, which she was supposed to be in the beginning, but she just had to run away like a coward she was.

"What if she—" Nayeon's question was cut off when they heard heavy footsteps coming from the hallway.

"Code red! I repeat, code red in room 384!"

The sound of their footsteps and yells were echoing in the hallway, Mina decided to ignore it until she met Nayeon's widened eyes.

Mina felt everything went in slow motion, Nayeon's mouth was slowly opening, telling her that it was Chaeyoung's room. She felt her legs starting to run towards the sound of the footsteps, towards the yelling, towards where the nurses and doctors were hurrying.

Chaeyoung.

Mina couldn't feel her body, it felt like something else was controlling her and she had to be there immediately. She passed rooms in what she thought was the speed of light, she used her legs in a way that she didn't know she could.

Her doctors had advised her not to run, not to dance, not to stomp too hard or else her bones might get ruined again and it might paralyze her in the end.

But she was running, as if her life depended on it. No, Chaeyoung's life depended on it.

The yelling finally stopped echoing, there were no footsteps left but Mina's, hers was soft and gentle as if she was doing it on purpose to be light, to not disturb any other patients.

As soon as Mina reached room 384, she opened the door struggling to catch her breath, the sound of the flatline echoing inside the room, it made her ears throb. The nurses noticed her appearance and tried to keep her out of the patient's reach.

She pushed away the nurses who were keeping her from reaching her girlfriend. "Chaeyoung!"

"Clear!" The doctors were trying so hard to bring her back to life.

Mina couldn't stop her legs from trembling, maybe it was from the running or maybe it was because of the sight of Chaeyoung dying. In front of her, there laid the girl that she loves who was being resuscitated.

"Chaeyoung, please!" Mina cried, the doctors finally stopped shocking Chaeyoung's body and stepped away to give the two some space. "Please baby, wake up, please."

Mina kept carressing Chaeyoung's face, telling her to wake up. She keeps squeezing her hands, to let her know that she was here waiting for her. "Please, Chaeyoung-ah.."

Mina shook her head in disbelief, still trying to call her girlfriend.

The doctors sighed, "we did everything we can." Mina looked at them and shook her head, trying to tell them that it wasn't the end, that she was hoping for a miracle.

But everyone knew that miracles don't exist.

"Time of death.."