Frozen Heart

Chapter 3: "He is one of mine..."

I woke up to the sound of alarm, it was 4:40 pm I checked my phone. I had enough time to get ready for my "Graveyard shift" I rolled my eyes just by thinking of it. After taking a shower I felt good, it was as if I woke up with tears on my face. Yes I possibly cried while sleeping. I looked outside my window and saw it was raining. It is raining a lot in Texas nowadays as fall approached. I got ready, putting on my blue dress, along with a bracelet.

"I don't know why but I really want to dress up tonight." I mumbled to myself. "I can do this!"

"Hhuuuuhhhh." I took a deep sigh fixing my hair in a high ponytail. I got my keys took my badge and went to the nearest coffee shop. "Well, I do need some caffeine in my system to pass the whole night, for sure I will DoorDash some food before midnight." I said to myself. I sipped my coffee as I sat down and started looking at my new research on Pacemaker an invention. It was still 6:30 pm and John's words echoed in my ears. "You are not allowed to be on the hospital premises until 8:00 pm." I sat there for another hour working on my research paper, as I enjoyed my caramel macchiato frappe with a croissant. I reached the hospital at 7:57 pm, while clocking in I saw John checking in before me. He changed his shift. Why? Did he get demoted to ER doctor too? I smiled at the thought, and he made a comment. "You're 3 minutes early, I said 8:00 pm sharp."

"Okay let's wait another two minutes to clock in, as it makes a difference."

"It doesn't, smile while you can, this is going to be a long night. Not to pop your bubble yes I got demoted too because I vouched for your skills as a surgeon."

What? How he knows what I was thinking? "How did you?" 

"Well, Looney you're not the only one who can read expressions, I know I am not a very people's person but I know you very closely, that is how I can tell. It's been 3 years since I have been mentoring you."

He called me Looney, he only said that when he was mocking me over my extra detailed analysis on dissertations. Yeah, he was mocking me. He has been mocking me for 3 years as he was my senior when I started my residency. He became professor when I started my certification for surgery. He was there in my good and hard times. Always there as a good mentor.

I looked at him and said, "You can mock me as much you like. Although, do not expect me to take your patient as I took your dissertations back when you wanted to take a nap." I frowned and I went to the ER to check in on the new patients.

As the night passed by, many trauma patients came with surgeries, and were sent to General surgery because of the rain many accidents occurred on the highway. Austin traffic was getting wild. It was raining heavily, with thunder and lightning. I felt hungry around 12:30 am, and I decided to order some food. As I came outside with my umbrella to pick up the food. 

I SAW HIM, THERE! COVERED IN BLOOD. 

There was a man, with his hand on his waist, covered in blood. In rain, I couldn't tell where he was bleeding. He was saying something as he walked with unbalanced gait. He said something in.... Korean. "Help me!" I understood because I am a fan of Kdramas. I felt like I was in one. I ran towards him with food in my hand, and I held his arm as he was about to fall. He was dressed in black, all black, nice shoes, expensive watch, he was rich. I held his arm and I shuddered when he looked at me with those lifeless eyes. "No, No, No, hang on. You're going to be ok. Come on let's go inside." I didn't really know if he understood English. He looked like a Korean, he must be a Korean as he spoke Korean. I checked his pulse and it was slow. I paged the ER to bring a stretcher for him. He fell down, and I saw his head falling on my shoulder, my umbrella fell as I tried to hold him up. My shoulder filled up with blood quickly, examining the bruise on his forehead, he was hurt badly. The stretcher came and we took him to the ER. 

"Check his vitals, I checked his pulse dropping. We don't know how much blood he has lost. He is cold and he is turning blue. Start a 2L of warm saline immediately." 

The nurses cut the garment of his shirt and there was a river of blood started flowing. He knew he had to put pressure on his wound. I put the pressure on his wound with gauzes. 

"I need more gauze." I looked at him and he kept staring with tears in his eyes. It's hurtful to see your patient like this. But, he was strong as he kept his eyes open during our treatment. 

As I examined his wound on his waist, it looked like a stab wound. It was deeper than 0.64 cm. The wound on his forehead looked like he bumped his head somewhere. Or was smashed against something. I wondered if I should speak to John about it. He was the head of staff at the moment so it was wise to consult with him. I paged him but found him treating the other patient who got a contusion in chest while ridding a motorcycle. Gathering my thoughts, I decided to give him stitches on the waist wound.

"Please order some X-rays and MRI for him, I need to know if he has any broken bones or something, looking at his bruises he looks like he was beaten up real bad. Plus, find out about him, who is he? How he ended up in this situation? An interpreter who can translate for us probably." I told Melanie one of the nurses in charge. Melanie nodded and left. I went to check on the other patient who came in earlier for food poisoning. 

"Give her some Zofran for pain, and keep checking her vitals after two hours." Lily took the order and left. 

I went to the Korean guy and asked, "How are you feeling?" He looked at me with heavy eyes. He looks sleepy, I did give morphine to him for his pain because the wounds were grave. He frowned, as in pain although managed to pick his left thumb up. "Do you understand English?" I smiled like a fool. He closed his eyes. I thought he nodded. "Don't worry you'll be fine soon." 

I left as I remembered I still haven't eaten anything. Melanie came with the X-ray order and said, "You forgot your dinner outside in the rain, fortunately I picked it up before it got wet. It's in the cafe please eat something. Dr. John said we should take breaks."

"Okay, thank you so much for saving the food I am really hungry though, I'll take a quick break and come back. Please let me know if anything comes up." She nodded and I went to the cafe. 

After good 20 minutes, I made my way back to the ER to check on the updates. As I headed towards the Korean's room. There was someone inside. I heard a threat in Korean language. "Do you want to die"? A harsh voice. I knocked, and I entered. The man inside was a Korean too and he had a fake eyeball in one eye, buzz cut, and tattoos on his both arms. He looked like he was Mafia. 

"Hi, my name is Dr. James are you with the patient? I am currently taking care of him, I am sorry to interrupt but I am here to take him for X-rays."

"I need discharge for him and I need to take him. He will get treatment from another hospital I don't know how he ended up in such a weird hospital." He spat those words on me. He speaks good English. I need someone here to come and take him with me. Looking at this man I knew, He is here to kill him. I looked at his knuckles. To my surprise they were bruised. Bingo. They both got into a fight. It's not an accident caused in the rain. It was something else. 

"I am afraid I cannot let you do that, we are in the middle of treatment and I would like to run some more tests, looking at his wounds and his health he is not yet ready to be discharged. If you know him please let us know about his family or friends so we can contact them. There is some paperwork that needs to be signed and consented." I controlled my anger as I moved towards the bedside. He came closer to me and snarled. He started saying things to me in Korean which I couldn't understand. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth. 

I am not going to discharge him, you cannot lay a single finger on him as 'HE IS ONE OF MINE......'

He looked at me in silence, and I felt a gaze on me except for the one man who was standing in front of me. I looked at the guy on the bed and he looked at me with wide open eyes.