Under the Blue Moon

Chapter 34

Mitchell Agrawal has been involved in emergency management during every kind of disaster for the better part of the past two decades. He has been spearheading, organizing and executing the most effective ways to unite victims of disasters of natural and man-made kind. However, in all the years of identifying found victims of a search and rescue or recovery efforts, which led to reuniting victims with their loved ones, he had never had the opportunity to be the one who directly helped someone find their loved one before.

He understood that the work he did in these types of situation was important and meaningful, but the fruit of his efforts, his work that led to families reuniting, was always happening a couple of steps, a couple degrees of separation, away from him. That was until today. When this young man, eyes filled with fear, trepidation and desperation came to him, looking already dejected and at his wit's end, Mitchell just couldn't continue to isolate himself with those couple degrees of separation to the result of his hard work. So, Mitchell decided to put aside the EM protocol, which he had helped write, to help Jin find his woman.

When Mitchell heard Jin tell him that the woman unconscious in the hospital bed in Room 614 was who he had been looking for, the sense of pure rush and satisfaction he felt was beyond description. He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs, run and jump all around, whooping and hollering, giving endless rows of high fives. However, when Mitchell initially watched Jin's body crumple and fall, he was convinced that Jin's last hope of finding you here, had just left him, that the person in Room 614 was not the person that he was looking for. But when Mitchell heard Jin utter those words, "This is the love of my life, my girl. It's her. We found her. I found my girl and she is alive. That's my baby," the rush of satisfaction and contentment he felt was incomparable. And he knew that that moment was something that he probably will never forget.

Mitchell later thought that he would commit this exact moment to his memory, so that the next time he felt tired, frustrated and wanted to quit during the next disaster, he could turn to it to give himself a booster shot that would aid in continuing his work. Mitchell wanted to stay with Jin and see how all of this played out, but he knew that there are more than a hundred people all over this hospital that needed to be identified and then reunited with their loved ones. So, he accepted Jin's gratitude and hugs and headed back down to the command center. Even as he was going back to the conference room, he felt new vigor for his work and efforts in identifying and reuniting the victims. And as he walked back into the EM command center, he did so with his shoulders lighter and mind more focused.

Before Mitchell left to return to his work, he made himself a note to add you to the list of identified victims. He told Jin that on his way back down to the makeshift EM command center, he would stop by the nurses' desk to update them of your name and other pertinent patient information, so that you can be properly registered under the hospital system. Jin thanks Mitchell repeatedly for helping him find the love of his life before they part ways.

When Jin is alone with you, he can hear how ragged and shallow your breath is. But his need, his imperative, his drive to touch your skin is so overwhelming in the moment, that he cannot help but to reach out his hand to hold yours. Holding your warm but still lifeless hands, he feels a little better. He gets close to your face and presses his full lips against your forehead and lets out a huge sigh of relief. Then Jin whispers, "Doll face, I'm here. I found you. I love you so much. I'm sorry I stayed away for so long. I really thought I was doing something that was good for you, something that you needed. But I was an idiot. I needed to be right there, by your side, showing up every day. Well, now that I've found you, I am not going to ever let myself get that far away from you ever again. So, now. My gorgeous girl, I need you to open your eyes and tell me you love me too."

Jin can feel the tears welling up in his eyes once again. He thinks, "Okay, I am going to have to tell Michelle that I found her." Jin pulls out his cellphone. He looks at the clock on the phone screen and it says 11:30 AM. He thinks, "That would make it 6:30 AM back home. Okay, It'll be way too early to call Michelle." Jin decides to settle for texting her instead. He takes a deep breath and starts the text.