healer with a broken heart || jaeyong

|4|

song of the chapter:
pretty thoughts ~ alina baraz

taeyong walked into the patient room of kim hyunah, expecting a much different atmosphere than the one he had walked into. he had expected to be greeted with two worried parents at her bedside, maybe with a sibling or two running around.

he was relatively confused when he saw her lying on her bed, alone and staring around the minimalistic room. she was pale and sickly thin, bruises battered around her body. her head swiveled towards him when she heard taeyong clear his throat before talking.

"hi, it's nice to meet you, i'm dr. lee taeyong. i'll be the surgical intern on your case. is it alright if i run a couple of test before the rest of my team gets here? taeyong asked sweetly, outstretching his hand which received a shaky hand in return.

her soft hand was freezing to the touch, shocking taeyong for a moment. that was unusual. heart attack patients were usually overheating not ice cold to the touch. he observed her for a minute, realizing that she had basically every opposite symptom of a heart attack.

taeyong took a couple of minutes to draw some blood and run a few test on her. hyunah, was quiet and shy but taeyong could observe that she was really scared.

"hey, it's okay. don't be scared. i'm here to help you. you know, hyunah, you can call me taeyong if it makes you feel more comfortable. i know doctors can be pretty intimidating so just think of me as your friend. we can stop at any moment that you get uncomfortable, just tell me. you're the one in control here, we move at your pace." he interrupted the silence, offering another smile of reassurance.

hyunah smiled back and nodded softly, going back to the deep breathes that taeyong instructed her to do.

that was strange?

her heart beat sounded completely normal, not a signal symptom of hers lined up with a usual case of a myocardial infraction. and now, taeyong was positive that hyunah did not in fact have a heart attack.

but now the question was? what the hell was it?

"hyunah? do you have anyone that i can call to keep you company? parents? family? friends? being in a hospital can be scary and maybe having someone here with you will ease your stress a little." taeyong questioned, feeling sorry for her knowing that if this was him, his mother would be there running around ordering all the surgeons to run every test in the book.

"n-no, i don't. it's just me but, i'll be okay. i just want to get rid of this pain and leave this hospital." hyunah answered, not making eye contact with taeyong in the slightest.

"alright, that's okay too. did you want me to bring you something to eat? i'm sure you're really hungry." taeyong mentioned, and laughed when hyunah's face instantly lit up at his preposition.

taeyong gave her a quick squeeze of her hand and a smile of reassurance to which he finally got a small grin. but hey, it was progress. he got up from the edge of seat he had placed next her bed and headed toward the cafeteria to pick out  a few items he thought she would like.

for some reason, taeyong felt more connected to hyunah than every other patient he had over his past few days. of course, this was his first real case and not just suturing hundreds of patients in the emergency room. but, from the moment he stepped into the room and set his eyes on her, he knew something was really wrong. and, he would not rest until he found out what it was and how to help her. because, he would not let her die, not on his watch.