❝Here's the weird thing about a hospital. You become friends with kids you'd never know in a million years. Losers, populars, stoners, nerds... the wall just kinda falls down.❞
•In which an aspiring ballet dancer joins a group of hospital residents...
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I want the next thing...
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Nari couldn't sleep. The thoughts of her upcoming surgery still lingered in her mind despite her previously successful performance. She hummed the soft melody of Tchaikovsky's composition, quietly tiptoeing around the room. Her light movements were weak compared to the choreography playing in her head. She was exhausted, to the point where she could hardly move.
The girl released a heavy sigh as she sat on her hospital bed. She gazed down at her legs, feeling anxious just at the sight. Fear streamed through her body, making her breath quicken so much that she couldn't focus. As she tried to steady her breathing, she caught a glimpse of the bright red band on her wrist. She fiddled with the paper material, remembering Renjun's encouraging words.
"Leaving behind my old life was terrifying, but what I gained from this experience shaped me into the person I am today."
She smiled, glanced at the wristband again, and then closed her eyes, drifting to sleep as his words echoed in her mind.
The morning came by quickly, the bright sunlight and nurse Seulgi's soft voice waking her from her slumber.
"Sleep alright?" the nurse asked, preparing a wheelchair for the younger girl.
"I've had better nights," Nari lightly smiled, bracing herself for the upcoming events. She quickly got ready since she didn't want to keep the doctors waiting. Sitting in the wheelchair felt unfamiliar even after feeling Nurse Seulgi's tight grip on her shoulder and hearing her faint whispers of support.
The journey to the surgery room was quiet. Nari felt at peace simply from Nurse Seulgi's presence, her mind traveling elsewhere. She wondered if her friends would live up to their promise from the night before and wait for her outside the operating room.
"We'll be there," she remembered Yeri's light voice as she grasped her hand, "You don't have to go through this alone, I promise."
Her legs felt like jello as she wiggled them back and forth in her wheelchair. Nari gripped her right knee, wanting to feel the pain for the last time. She wanted to achieve so much. There were so many dances she hadn't danced yet, so many costumes she hadn't tried on, so many stages she hadn't set foot in. It pained her that all these things would remain foreign. She thought about her five-year-old self and how enchanted she was watching Swan Lake. The ballerinas dancing that night had no idea that they changed her life. That's all Nari ever wanted. To be that to another little girl watching from the crowd.
She was brought back to reality as the warm tears rolled down her cheeks and onto her hospital gown. Nurse Seulgi jumped to her side, caressing her head, causing her to cry even more. Doctor Byun, alarmed by the loud cries, exited the operating room and approached the girl.
