Bridging Destinies

Chapter 55: Doctor's Orders

Dr Choi peered at the stab wound at Felina's side, grabbed the light he used to check her eyes in one hand, then used forceps to gently pull the folds of skin and gauze around the wound back to examine Felina's internal organs with the light. Jin almost gagged, as his skin grew pale, then bravely turned back to watch as he shored himself up for whatever was needed next. The doctor asked, as he looked over the wound, "Do you know how to thread a needle, young man?  I need you to prepare the suture so that I may sew her up." He glanced at Seokjin, whose face was bone white, "Can you do that?"

Quietly agreeing with a hum, Seokjin looked from the doctor to the bag, then searched for a needle and thread. He took out what looked like thread in a package and set it aside, then continued to look in the bag, "I can't find a needle." He explained and scrutinized the doctor for a response.

Murmuring over the stab wound, Dr Choi explained, "It will be curved. Not straight. It should be in a side pocket."

Seokjin searched as instructed, then exclaimed, "Found it!" He pulled it out from the bag, opened the package of sutures and packaged needle, then carefully threaded it, handing it to the doctor.

Dr Choi took the threaded needle and began to work steadily, threading each careful stitch into Felina's skin. As he neared the end of the stitching, he set the needle to one side, then used the forceps to pull out the soaked gauze from the wound. Once all the gauze was removed to his satisfaction, he finished the stitching, closed the wound and tied it off. Cutting off the end of the suture, he then brought his attention to the wound at the front of her stomach, peeled back the bandage and proceeded to repeat the process of stitching the lesser of the two wounds closed.

After several minutes, Dr Choi finished the stitching of both wounds, removed his gloves with a pleased expression and tossed the soiled ones to the side. He began searching in his bag again and tossed a thick roll of bandages to the bed. He completed his task as he pulled out fresh packages of gauze joining the rolled up bandages, then ripped open the packing of gauze.

Without looking at Seokjin the doctor instructed, "Help me lift her, please." Seokjin moved to the doctor's instructions and helped to prop Felina up. Completely removing her shirt and tossing it to the side, the doctor gestured to the small stack of towels still unsoiled, indicating that he needed one. As Jin handed the man a fresh towel they labored together to clean the blood staining her skin, then began to wrap the bandaging over her wounds, ensuring that the gauze was packed firmly but gently over the stitching. Dr Choi taped the bandage closed and together they gingerly laid her back on the bed in a different position so that she was not laying back in the blood that had soaked into the sheets.

Satisfied with his work, the doctor stood up and began packing his things back in his bags, as Seokjin pulled the comforter back over Felina. As he packed and Seokjin stood to the side waiting, the doctor began to instruct him, authoritatively, "You'll need to move her to a bed that isn't soiled, change the sheets, and if the mattress is soaked have it burned. Make sure you burn anything with her blood on it, too, not just the mattress. Hopefully, you have a mattress protector on the bed, but don't just toss any of it. Her blood can't be laying around for just anyone to find. Change her bandaging once a day. You've seen how I did it, so you should be able to do it well enough. Also, she will need a new bag of saline, once this one is finished." He directed, gesturing to the bag hanging from the pole, then pulled another two bags of the liquid from his bag and set it on the table beside the bed. "Give her broth for meals. Nothing more. Bone broth is good." He continued as he closed up his bag and stood straight.

"Now. Where's your bathroom?" He asked dismissively, "I need to wash my hands before I leave." Seokjin subtly gaped at his direct, almost abrupt manner, then led him from the room, as he removed the gloves he wore and tossed them into a nearby trash can.  As he closed the door behind him, he glanced once more at Felina, closed the door behind him, then went to look for Namjoon after conducting the doctor to the bathroom.

~~~

When Seokjin stepped into the kitchen, he glimpsed four sets of eyes falling onto him, questions apparent on their faces. He then turned to regard Namjoon, who stared at the counter deep in thought. The conversation of the others suddenly quieted, which caught Namjoon's attention. He stood abruptly, observed his hyung and spoke quickly to the other man, "How is she? Can I go to her now?"

Hesitantly, Seokjin responded, "Uh, she's okay for now. The doctor stitched her up. But you might want to wait for him to explain stuff."

"What stuff? Where is he?" Namjoon fired back, looking past Seokjin, attempting to spot Dr Choi.

Seokjin looked back over his shoulder and towards the hall that he had just exited, "Bathroom. He's washing his hands." He explained, looking back at Namjoon again. Seokjin looked down at his own hands, looking for spots of blood but found them clean. Frowning, he went to wash his hands, regardless of their apparent purity, as he recalled the sensation of stuffing the gauze into Felina's side. He gave a small shudder at the memory as he stood in front of the sink and scrubbed his skin as if metaphorically scrubbing his mind, as well.

Watching Seokjin, Namjoon realized he wasn't likely to get much more of a response other than what he had received and began to pace, as he waited for the doctor to come out of the bathroom. When the doctor finally entered the kitchen, walking past the other men, Namjoon stopped him, "Dr Choi, how is she? Can you tell me how she is doing, and what we need to do for her?"

The doctor looked at all the men and examined Seokjin, "I already told that young man how to care for her. As for the stab wound, there is very little internal injury. A knick on her liver, but she should heal from that without stitches. There's some blood poisoning, so she will be sick until that clears out of her system. Her body will either clean it out, or her friends will when they come. Otherwise, she just needs rest." Dr Choi pointed at Seokjin, who now leaned against the counter, holding a kitchen towel between his hands, "I told him what to do for her, so it's all you need. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm done here." The man gave a slight bow and walked past Namjoon, who blinked in surprise and irritation at the doctor, then looked at Seokjin, who shrugged in response.

When they all heard the front door close after the man, Jimin made a face of disgust and said what they were all thinking, "Wow. That doctor has no bedside manner." Jimin scrutinized Namjoon and seeing his expression, thought better of saying anything else.

"That's not important now." Namjoon voiced, using his hand to cut the air, as if cutting off his friend's words. He inspected Seokjin with a wire edged focus, "So, ready to talk, hyung?"

"Uh, yes." He looked at his hands and set the towel aside, "Okay, so yes. We should move her and change the bedding. He said we had to burn everything that has blood on it, change her bandages once a day and make sure she gets plenty of liquids. He said bone broth. So I guess I'll be making that today."

Jungkook gawked at Seokjin, "Burn everything? Really?"

Namjoon chewed the inside of his cheek, considering Seokjin's words, "Probably cause she's not human." He considered quietly, "If someone found her blood it would probably be bad for her and that's also why she couldn't go to the hospital."

"So do you think there's blood on the mattress too?  Where would we burn a mattress?" Jungkook asked the others, hoping for an answer, though his question seemed rhetorical as none of the others immediately answered.

Shaking his head studiously, Namjoon answered, almost as if lost in thought, "There shouldn't be blood on the mattress, JK. I keep it protected."

"That's good." The younger man spoke in a whisper, though none of the others appeared to hear him. The room grew silent for several seconds, each man becoming fixed in their own minds.

Yoongi spoke up, interjecting into the quiet of the room, "We should get to it, then. Move her, change the sheets, and get rid of the evidence."

"Right." Namjoon, breathed, then announced, clapping his hands together, "This is what we are going to do, then." He said, organizing his thoughts quickly. He began to give orders to each of the men in the room, prioritizing them according to how they would best assist, as he began to do everything within his power to make Felina's recuperation more comfortable.