Nocturnal Buddies ✩ Yang Jeongin

Chapter 47

Hyunjoo was mentally and physically exhausted by the end of the week, making it hard for her to even keep her eyes open on her shift. They fluttered open and closed as her head nodded constantly. The one thing she wanted to do more than anything was sleep, but she still had a few more hours left before she could finally go home.

A yawn escaped the girl before she pried her chin off the palm of her hand, attempting to sit up straight in her chair. She blinked a couple of times, doing her best to wear off the tiredness that was overwhelming her from the stressful week. Although she was happy that she finished her nursing classes, she knew that she still had other things to worry about.

She was sitting at the nurse's station, starting to doze off a little, when the sudden beeping snapped her out of it. Her eyes widened at the straight line that appeared on one of the heart monitors at the station. It alerted the girl and her fellow nurses in an instant, causing some to stand up from their seats. There wasn't even a moment of hesitation that crossed their minds as they rushed to the patient's room- Hyunjoo being the first one to appear at the doorway to help.

Everything went by like a blur for the girl as she assisted her coworkers try to get the little boy's heart started up again. It sent the entire unit into a panic, as the other nurses, who weren't helping, made sure the rest of the patients remained asleep. Despite everything she was doing, Hyunjoo felt like she wasn't doing enough.

Sure, it wasn't her patient, but she helped her coworkers care for the boy once in a while. She would occasionally stop by his room at the start of her shift to talk to him as well. Now he was lying unconscious in his bed with no heartbeat, even after being shocked. She couldn't let her own emotions get in the way though, and she continued to work hard to revive him.

There was hope that lit up in all their eyes when his heart monitor detected a single spike; when his pulse was present yet weak; when he let out the softest sigh. Any sign of life was enough to keep them going, even when minutes turned into an hour. They didn't care, because this was their job, what they needed to do.

But in the end, they felt like they failed.

"He's gone," the doctor announced after a while, causing everyone's action to halt.

There was tension that hung over every single one of the healthcare workers present as the doctor called out his time of death. Her voice remained stern and unphased, but no one got mad at her because this was just their jobs.

Hyunjoo shuffled out of the room with the other nurses, who were there to help with the dire situation. A quiet sigh fell from her lips, feeling frustrated with herself. She was blaming herself for the death of the patient, wondering if things would've changed if she just got there a little sooner. Maybe she should've done more to assist her coworkers, even though she knew she was only able to assist as much as her practice let her.

Despite the stress that started to devour her even faster than she could imagine, she stayed vigilant, pushing the memory of the recent event away so it didn't affect her workflow. She was still on her shift, and that meant she couldn't let all her emotions show until she was off. Of course she cried, but she couldn't sob for the loss of the younger boy, someone who was no older than her own little brother. The death would haunt her the rest of her shift though, even when she smiled at her patients who called for her. All her emotions were left untouched as she did her best to finish her shift.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

By the time it was finally three, Hyunjoo left her unit in a daze. There were so many things she felt at that very moment, all of them draining her of her life. She was more than just mentally exhausted now, but she couldn't seem to confront all the feelings trying to settle down. Everything was overwhelming the girl, every sound was too loud and all the lights, even the dimmest ones, irritated her eyes. It felt like too much was going on, yet nothing was happening at the same time.