Blaze

Friends and Not Friends

~_____~

A short argument had ensued before it was declared that Namjoo would be driving them to the hospital. Chorong just felt like making a point that it was her face that had gotten hurt, not her feet.

While in the passenger's seat she glanced down at Namjoo's feet. They were now on the road quietly heading for the hospital.

"Is your ankle better now?" Chorong started.

"You don't see a cast, do you?"

Chorong eased her eyes up to her face then turned to look out the windshield.

"Thanks by the way," Chorong said, "for rescuing me and those girls. I kind of thought I was doomed."

"It's not a big deal," Namjoo said without much feel to her tone of voice. "Helping others is a thing I do. That's what we're all doing right now, helping others."

A small smile planted itself across her face. Of course, it was probably payback for having helped Namjoo before, now they didn't owe each other. And she thought that even if Namjoo didn't say or express it, she was relieved for having come in time for her. Even if she'd gotten shipped off with those girls Chorong knew for sure Namjoo would have somehow come after them.

About 15 minutes later they were walking down the hospital of the hallway looking for the recovery ward the girls were in. A trip around the third floor of the hospital finally brought them to a large room with identical beds. Chorong recognized familiar faces she'd seen yesterday, but this room wasn't big enough to hold all of them. After stopping a nurse for questions they realized there was another ward the girls were in on the opposite side of the third floor.

"Then what should we do?" She turned to Namjoo for directions.

Like Suho, Namjoo had this aura that made her seem like the better lead. Being a follower wasn't a thing Chorong minded anyway.

"I'll go to the other side," Namjoo offered.

Chorong watched Namjoo turn to walk away before she twisted back around. Some of the older women were lying down, but very few of them were propped up on their beds looking through magazines. A few of the younger girls had their eyes glued to a cartoon show on the TV.

Now that the nurse had walked out just when they got there, she was now all alone witih them. Where was she to start? Would talking immediately about the camp hurt them mentally?

Chorong worried. However in due time these girls would soon leave the hospital and she wouldn't be able to find them again. Now was the only chance she had.

Pursing her lips together she walked over to the bed closest to the door. It belonged to one of the younger girls.

"Hi," Chorong greeted.

The younger girl who was lying down immediately jumped up to sit, "Oh! It's you! I saw you yesterday!"

At this all Chorong managed was a smile. The girl was so tiny and looked so innocent, yet Chorong had no way of telling what had happened to her or what she'd seen in camp. A wave of anguish and guilt rammed through her. It was difficult questioning her about her stay in the camp. How was she going to go about this?

"How are you feeling?" Chorong asked taking a seat at the edge of the bed.

The young girl's eyes concentrated on her, "Mommy is coming to get me tomorrow! Are you a police officer? Can I call you police unnie?"

"Sure."

She slightly laughed baring to Chorong her sloppily lined row of teeth, "Police unnie, you're very pretty. Thank you for saving us!"