Through Her Eyes (2Yeon)

xxiii. Breathe

"Where's Nayeon Im? I'm her girlfriend."

Jeongyeon didn't recognize the lady at the counter that stared back at her. Her extreme tiredness was wearing her sight out. You The woman didn't recognize Jeongyeon either, giving her a peculiar stare. She tightened her grip on the click board, scanning down the list in a jiffy, snapping back up.

"Umm ma'am...There doesn't seem to be anyone checked in wi—"

Just in time, Dr. Fan walked through the doors with a clipboard of her own. She noticed Jeongyeon and approached her straightaway, an unreadable look on her face.

"Jeongyeon, there you are."

"Dr. Fan! Please tell me everything," Jeongyeon asked in a panic.

Jeongyeon was a mess and looked like one, tripping on air as she met the doctor halfway. Slamming her hands down on her shoulders to try and keep herself upright.

Dr. Fan wondered how long Jeongyeon would get here, not expecting Chaeyoung to be with her, sitting in the corner, looking stout. Both of them looked distressed, to say the least. She cleared her throat, helping Jeongyeon up to listen to her properly.

"I'm afraid I have some news."

Jeongyeon was anticipating for Dr. Fan to continue, but it felt like she was hesitating. The atmosphere around the three was a concoction of agitation and worry, a recipe for panic at the hospital. But such attitudes were common in a hospital setting. Dr. Fan's eyes switched between Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung, looking like human forms of a tumbleweed.

She grabbed the inside of her coat with caution and nervously gulped.

"Which would you like to hear? The good news or the bad news or the semi-good and semi-bad news?"

It was a setup to a well-worn genre of joke, but it was no laughing matter. The information that Dr. Fan was a bit dire that she didn't know how to give it to the two without tearing them down. Inevitably, it couldn't be helped. Jeongyeon's emotionally tired state was instantly changed when the last part of the question was asked.

Semi-good? Semi-bad? What the hell was she talking about? Which one do I choose first? Do I want to be relieved first and then get slapped in the face? Or get slapped and have some ice put on my cheek? Or both at the same time? Gahh-

The internal battle she had about weighing her options was overpowered by the answer that came out of her mouth. Although quite confused on her given choices, Jeongyeon thought that the last one was ambiguous, meaning her reaction could go either way.

"The last one doesn't sound so bad."

Dr. Fan stared at Jeongyeon's tear-stained cheek, gritting her teeth while trying to pick her words like she was playing a game of Mineshaft. She needed to choose the spaces that were safe and would not cause an explosion in the waiting room. But that couldn't be helped either.

Briskly inhaling then exhaling a deep sigh, Dr. Fan looked back at Jeongyeon before glancing at a dazed Chaeyoung, drumming on her lap. The next thing she knew, Chaeyoung popped right next to her friend, appearing shorter than Dr. Fan thought.

"Hey, Jeong. What's the news?"

Jeongyeon gave Chaeyoung a dead-serious glare. "I haven't received anything yet." She returned to looking at Dr. Fan, ignoring Chaeyoung completely.

Continuing before she could even start. "Your friend's condition's is very unstable. She was in a car accident. Through the several tests that we did earlier, she appears to not be showing any signs of activity. In addition, there are clear signs of brain damage...that should be obvious. The force from the impact also affected part of here cerebrum, or brain stem."