Dream Catcher

Chapter 16

I stood there for the longest time, simply staring at the door she'd walked out of. It took all I had but I forced myself to turn my back on it.

It was freezing outside and she only had on a thin long sleeved shirt and jeans. She'd come back by herself eventually.

I decided on pouring myself another drink to ease the tension.

But once I stood with the familiar bottle in front of me, I found myself feeling sick.

The remorse I had bit back earlier came bubbling to the surface. All the stupid shit I'd told her, the way I'd taunted Minji.

All of that began to replay in my mind, clear as day as the alcohol in my system slowly started fading.

This was the part I hated most. Sobering up and realizing the stupid mistakes I'd made. Wanting to take them back but being unable to.

I reached into my pocket and searched for my phone, only to find it empty.

"Fuck." I cursed and went for our house phone, nearly tearing the entire thing off in the process. I punched in her numbers and clicked call.

A couple seconds later, the sound of her phone ringing sounded from our bedroom and I cursed once again.

I stood there, with my palms against the edge of the kitchen counter, and contemplated going after her. I then realized I shouldn't even be thinking about this.

She was out there in the cold by herself, mad at me and probably planning on ending it with me. Of course I had to go after her.

I ran to our room and shrugged on a jacket before grabbing one for her and hurrying out the door.

It hadn't been that long since she left. So unless she ran, she couldn't have possibly made it down the hill and into town by now.

Even as I sprinted down the steep road, her tracks were imprinted in the snow in front of me.

Ten minutes of running and I was wheezing, and with no sign of Minji.

I'd made it into town, so it would be harder looking for her, but I wasn't ready to give up. I had to apologize to her and she was going to listen.

I continued my search for her throughout the entire day. My face was numb from the cold and my legs felt like jello from walking so much.

Above me, the sky was beginning to darken which wasn't helping with the temperature.

I was becoming more frantic by the second. Minji was no where to be found and I didn't like the idea of her being out alone in the streets after dark.

"Minji." I weakly called out for her and leaned against a telephone pole. I had no idea where I was or how deep Id made it into the city.

Incheon wasn't like Seoul, so I didn't know my way around well. My eyes whipped around at the places in front of me. Stores lined the streets, most closed and only a couple actually seemed civil.

I decided to keep walking, and that's what I did.

Ten minutes later, I was walking down a pretty busy road that was unlike where'd I just came from.

I kept my eyes on the lookout for any sign of chestnut locks but found none. Only black hair on random chicks that walked along the sidewalk.

As I began to pay more attention I began noticing people seeming worried, most looking back at the direction they'd come from.

I followed there gaze to the end of the street where a small crowd of people stood. From where I stood, I couldn't see or hear much.

Either way I decided it was none of my business and began to hurry past the pile of people.

I was about a meter away from them when I was finally able to get ahold of the situation. "Call an ambulance!" I heard a woman yell.

"They're on their way!"

Curiosity got the better of me and I ended up glancing down at their feet and stopped dead in mine. Though the crowd was pretty thick, I was still able to see what they were standing around.

I could just barely make out the hand that laid against the cement, and the familiar sleeve that covered her arm.

"Move, move!" I pushed through them frantically. A couple people gave me looks for being so impolite, but I ignored them and continued my fight towards the center.

When I finally got there, my heart gave an ill thump.

On top of her was a man, struggling to give her limp body CPR. Though it was the wrong time, my jealousy kicked in.

"Get off of her!" I swatted the man away for trying to help and took his place. "Minji!" I called her name as I pushed down on her chest, counting mentally.

She laid on her back with her eyes closed, her curls sprawled out wildly across the snow-covered sidewalk.

Tears started to form in my eyes, "Wake up, please." I cried.

Minji didn't react, or show any signs of actually being alive. She simply flinched from the force of me pressing down on her chest.

My mind went a mile a minute, I couldn't think straight or even begin to figure out what happened here.

Why she was like this.

All I could do was try to focus on bringing her back. But it was hard when I had to feel her cold lips every time I blew air into her lungs.

Next thing I knew, someone's hand was on my shoulder, pulling me away.

"Get off of me!" I lashed out.

"Sir, she needs medical attention!" The man behind me spoke while two others went to aid Minji.

I'd been so distracted on saving her I hadn't realized the ambulance had arrived the and crowd around us had dispersed into only a couple people.

How much time had passed?

Regardless, I forced myself to nod and step aside to let them help her.

I stood there and watched helplessly as she was put into a stretcher and loaded into the back of the ambulance.

Around me, the paramedics spoke in code. Throwing out numbers and letters stringed together with complicated long words.

"What's going on?" I asked one of them. He gave me a sympathetic look and clenched his jaw.

"Family?" He asked.

I shook my head, "N-No, I'm her boyfriend.. What's going on? Is she going to be okay?"

To my annoyance he didn't answer my question, only motioned for me to get in the back where Minji laid.

I did as he said and tried to look away, at anything else but the pale and sick body that laid in front of me.

The doors were shut tight and the car began to move forward at high speed.

"Loss of air." The man next to me said to the one who'd ignored my question, "Non-responsive." He shook his head as he shone a light into Minjis eyes.

I swallowed back the vomit I could feel gurgling in my stomach. The sound of her heart monitor beeping steadily was echoing in my mind.

The memory of her last seizure outside of the club suddenly came to mind.

The fear Id felt then was nothing to the pain I felt now. It was obvious that this was more serious than a seizure.

"Flat. Flat! She going flat!" The paramedics shouting snapped me out of my thoughts abruptly.

In front of me, one paramedic held what looked like a ballon with a mouth piece at the end.

He adjusted it over her face and gave the blue oval a squeeze, making a sort of whoosh sound.

I wanted to help, I really did. But I had no idea what to do. All of this was my fault. And the sudden fear of making everything worse held me back.

The least I could do was stay out of the way as Minji died right in front of me.