Unwanted-Wanted | Suayeon

Chapter 10

Siyeon

"Siyeon?" I hear Bora say softly, causing me to wake up after I dozed off for a bit and I turn my head to her only to see tears threatening to escape her eyes, fear visible in them.
"Hey, what's wrong?" I ask a bit worried.
"I-I can't feel my leg." she stutters.
"What?" I ask in disbelief.
"I can't feel my right leg anymore." she says.
"Are you sure?" I ask, not wanting to believe her and she just nods in response.

I then move my hand to her right leg and slightly pinch her thigh.

"Did you feel that?" I ask but she shakes her head.
"And this?" I ask now touching her lower leg, but she shakes her head again.

I was about to do something again when a knock on the door could be heard.

"I think he's here." I say before I quickly get up from my chair and make my way to the door and open it.

"Finally." I say as I let him in.
"Good to see you again too." he says sarcastically as he follows me to the bedroom.
"We don't have time for chitchat Jae. She needs help, now." I say.
"I know, and I will help her. But before we get to business, give and take is a normal rule of life so-" he says before I cut him off.
"I know. I know your terms and conditions. I'll do it. I'll do whatever you need me to do alright just, please help her. If she dies, it'll be my fault and I'm gonna have to live with it for the rest of my life." I say.
"Alright then. I'll help her." he says and at that we make our way to the bed.

"Bora, this is Jae." I say.
"Hi, I'm Jae. I'm here to help you. Can you tell me what happened?" he asks her.
"I got shot on the street by some robber and went to find Siyeon who then helped me but now I can't feel my leg anymore and I'm scared." she explains shortly, trying to refrain herself from crying.
"Alright, let me see the wound please." he says and at that I help her take off her shirt and the bandages so he can get a clear view of the wound.

"It's deep." he says after shortly examining it.
"Did it hit any of her organs?" I ask.
"No, if it did she'd be dead right now." he says.
"So she got lucky then." I say.
"Not exactly." he says.
"What do you mean 'not exactly'?" I ask.
"Alright, could you, sit up please?" he asks and at that I help her sit up.
"Do you see this bruise?" he asks pointing at a big bruise on her back.
"Yeah." I say.
"That's where the bullet is. You see, due to all the moving the bullet has shifted all the way to her back and by the looks of it, it's close to her spine. Now, you said you couldn't feel your leg anymore right?" he asks and at that Bora nods.
"I think that's because the bullet is pressing against your spine." he says.
"But you can remove and treat it right? Even if it has shifted?" I ask.
"Yes, but there are a few issues." he says.
"What?" I ask worried.
"First of all, because the bullet shifted from her abdomen to her back I can't remove it throught to entrance wound. I will have to make a few incisions in her back to get it out and since I don't have any anaesthetics it will hurt a lot. She will have to endure that pain." he says.
"I can take it." Bora then says.
"Yeah, but can you take it while staying absolutely still?" he asks.
"Do I have a choice?" she asks.
"Not really. Look, it's very important that you lay still because if I am right and the bullet is indeed pressing against your spine then one mistake could cause the bullet to damage your spine and worst case scenario you will be permanently paralysed from the waist down." he says.
"Then I guess I won't move." Bora says.
"Easier said than done. If she moves too much then I need you to hold her down alright." he says to me and I nod in response.

"Alright, now, here's the plan. I will first treat and stitch up the wound on your stomach so that you won't lose any blood through that wound anymore. Then I will remove the bullet. If she moves too much then you will hold her down, Siyeon. Then once the bullet is out I will stitch up the wound through which I extracted the bullet." he explains and Bora and I just nod.

"Alright, let's get to work then." he says before he grabs some stuff from his bag. Meanwhile I can see Bora looking at me with fear in her eyes.

"Hey, you'll be fine alright." I try to reassure her and she nods.

I then watch as Jae treats the wound on her stomach and although I can see Bora's face scrunch up in pain a few times she endures it really well.

"Alright, it's all stitched up and treated. Now onto the hard part." Jae says once he's treated the wound.

I help Bora turn around so she's laying on her stomach while Jae gets everything ready for the surgery.

"Alright, here we go." he says once everything is ready and I can see Bora squeeze her eyes closed in fear of what's gonna come.

"Wait." Bora says when Jae is about to make the first cut, stopping him in his actions.
"I'm so scared." she says now looking me in the eye, a tear rolling down her  cheek.
"You can do this alright. Just, try not to think about it. Just focus on me. Keep looking at me. We'll get through this together." I say as I take her hand in mine and give it a light squeeze and she just nods.

"Are you ready?" Jae then asks.
"Yes." Bora says hesistantly.

"Alright then." Jae says before he continues his actions and although I told Bora to focus on me our eye contact is broken as soon as Jae makes the first incision and she buries her face in one of the pillows, biting down on it to refrain herself from screaming while she firmly squeezes my hand and although it hurts a lot I just let her, knowing that she is currently enduring much worse pain.

For the first ten minutes or so Bora's muffled screams fill the room while I try to somehow comfort her a little by squeezing her hand as tightly as she is squeezing mine and caressing her head a bit before she stops moving entirely, causing me to instantly worry.

"What happened?" I ask worried.
"She passed out. There's only so much pain the human body can take. It's actually for the better that she passed out. This way she'll lay still and she won't feel the pain anymore. It's kinda like, a natural anaesthetic." Jae says and at that I let out a sigh of relief.

Although she is unconciouss I don't let go of her hand. I softly caress the back of her hand with my thumb in a reassuring manner while I gently stroke her hair.

"It's out." Jae says after about half an hour more as he holds up the bullet and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

Jae then treats the wound and about half an hour later he's all done.

"So, I'm pretty sure she'll live." he says.
"Is there anything I need to do now that the bullet is out?" I ask.
"Make sure she eats and drinks enough. Check up on the wound and change the bandages every day so it won't get infected. If it does get infected then you have to contact me. Make sure she rests a lot, keep her in bed for at least a day or two and just, take it easy you know. Then, about her leg, as soon as she wakes up you gotta check if she has any feeling in it but don't panic if she doesn't tho, it could take a little bit of time for her feelings to return. Just, check it a few times a day until it has returned. If it hasn't returned after a week then contact me." he explains.
"Alright, I will do that. I'll take good care of her." I say.
"Good, now, about your payment. You know how I work and you know my terms and conditions. I will contact you as soon as I need you alright. For now focus on taking care of your girlfriend." he says and my eyes widen a little at that last word.
"She's not my girlfriend." I say.
"If that's what you wanna believe." he says.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"Eyes don't lie honey. I can see the way you look at her, and the way she looks at you." he says and I can feel my face heat up a little.
"I don't like her like that. I barely even know her to be honest. And she's straight." I say.
"Whatever. I'mma just go home. It's late." he says.
"Yeah, I'll talk to you later I guess." I say and at that he nods before we both make our way to the door.

"Thanks for the help by the way." I say.
"It's fine. No need to thank me. It's not a favor anyways." he says.
"I know. But still." I say.
"Now, get some rest, and take good care of your girlfriend." he says, smirking at that last part as he quickly walks away so I can't say anything about it and I just roll my eyes in annoyance at his teasing.

"She's not my girlfriend."