They arrived at the place they would stay for a whole week; it was in a city where the hospital also is. The area is urbanized and was different from what they imagined. As soon as they arrived they were given separate rooms and right now they were fixing their luggage.
While fixing her things questions were running through Seju's head. Now that they're in that trip does that mean that fate is trying to fix their friendship and bring them back together? Or is it ending whatever is left with them? It was questions that need answers but she rather not want to know the answers.
After a while, they decided to tour the hospital. It was not worse than they expected. It wasn't that big but they have the facilities that the patients' need. However they really lack staff, one reason is because some of the doctors were originally from Manila and they're going back home and another reason is that no one wants to work at the hospital because of the pay and it was located in a secluded area.
They were checking on every patient when Rohanne suddenly stopped at one. They were treating some of his wounds when he suddenly woke up
"He's awake" She nonchalantly said as she watched the patient who was slowly sitting down on the bed.
"Sir, just lay down for a bit more, I'm almost finished on treating your wounds" The nurse who was treating his wounds said and tried to make the man lie back on his bed.
Suddenly the man snatched the scissors from the nurse's hands and then pushed the nurse away from him.
"Sir! Calm down!"
She was about to ran to the man to calm him down when the man suddenly slit his own wrist using the scissors. She suddenly froze when she saw the blood oozing out of the man's wrist.
"Yeonhwa!"
As she watch the blood oozing in terror, she heard a woman's voice calling out her name, her original name. It was ringing in her ear but it was slowly fading.
Images of blood were flashing in her head, images of someone shouting, calling for help.
Then suddenly it was pitch black
She saw herself in a bath tub filled with water, there was no light and all she can see was the tub that was filled with water and her naked body. Slowly the water was turning red; her blood was mixing with the water in the tub. Slowly the water was red and it became thicker, it was all blood.
She tried to scream but she can't, she can't utter a thing, it was dead silent,
'Help'
She tried to scream for help but there was no voice coming from her mouth. She tried to get out of the tub but her body felt so heavy. She was slowly drowning; she was drowning in her own blood.
===
Sejeong was checking some patients when she heard some ruckus in the next room so she immediately ran towards it, she knew Rohanne was there and if Rohanne is there, there shouldn't be a ruckus but then she remembered what happened almost 2 weeks ago.
When she entered the room she saw how the man slit his wrist which made Rohanne froze in her place. It was chaotic, some of the staff were trying to pin down the patient on the bed but the man still have some strength even though he just slit his wrist.
"Give him IM injection and stop the bleeding" She tried her best to speak English, good thing the staff immediately understood her.
She helped them and pin the patient down. The other doctors rushed in and helped them, they were asking for the patient's family but it seems like the family was not in the hospital right now so they don't have any choice but to tie the patient's hands.
Trying their best, they held him down and tied his hands, eventually they let go of him and treated his wounds
"He…lp"
"…!"
She was startled when she heard Rohanne's voice, as she turned around she saw Rohanne who was now kneeling on the floor covering her ears and gritting her teeth. She looked like she was in a total misery.
"Yeonhwa!" She absent-mindedly said and ran towards the woman. She knelt down and tried to make Rohanne look at her but the latter was bowing her head down and was persistently covering her ears.
"Yeonhwa, What's wrong?"
Suddenly Seju barged in the room and saw Rohanne on the floor. Sejeong looked at Seju who was really worried for the woman in front of them.
"Yeon!" She said as soon as she saw the woman and then knelt down. A few seconds in, Rohanne fainted.
"Stretcher!" Sejeong yelled and the staff immediately gave them a stretcher and moved Rohanne.
As soon as they moved her to a room they started to do some tests to see what happened to Rohanne.
"I'll call chief" Sejeong said and left Seju with Rohanne in one of the rooms provided by the hospital.
"She must've been stressed out for the past few weeks, how is she?"
"She's still sleeping, and the results will be out in a while, but it seems like she fainted because of fatigue" Sejeong explained.
Doah told her to just let Rohanne rest and call her when the latter wakes up.
"Yes, chief"
She was about to leave the place but then she felt the urge to take a peek at Rohanne so she did. She opened the door slightly and looked at the two people inside. Seju was caressing Rohanne's hair carefully while the latter was sleeping soundly. Just looking at the two she knew that she was again stuck in that loop where she hides her feelings and carry on with her life, even though she still mad at Rohanne for not telling her, her feelings stayed the same. She still likes Rohanne, or rather Yeonhwa.
She was about to go back on checking some patients when Seju suddenly came out of the room, and saw her.
"Jeong, can you look after her for a while, I need to do something…" Seju asked her.
Her mind was set on declining, she was still mad, but then, her heart wants to say yes.
"I uh…"
"Please?"
And with Seju's pleading, she said yes.
Seju left her and Rohanne inside the room, and while waiting she can't help but stare at Rohanne, even though the latter was pale, she still looks beautiful.
She stared at Rohanne as if she was memorizing every feature of the woman's face.
"You changed so much that I didn't even recognize you at first glance…"
The first time she met Yeonhwa as Rohanne, her blood immediately boiled of course because of "that" incident, but then she can't explain that attraction she has for the blonde. And now that unexplainable attraction is now solved.
"I was attracted to you, because you were Yeonhwa all along"
She carefully treads her hands on Rohanne's hair as she admired the woman's beauty. She quickly withdraws her hands when she heard a knock on the door. She was about to stand up and go get the door but then she felt Rohanne's hand on her wrist. She looked at Rohanne but the latter was still asleep.
"Don't go…"
'Is she having a bad dream?'
"Don't leave me…"
Her grip on Sejeong's wrist tightened.
"Please…"
She began turning her head from left to right as if she's having a nightmare. Still sleeping she began crying like she's scared of something. She also started sweating profusely.
"Rohanne… Wake up. you're having a nightmare…"
She tried shaking Rohanne to wake her up but she was still asleep
"I'm sorry…" Rohanne started muttering under her breath repeatedly.
The sight of Rohanne crying while muttering sorry tug Sejeong's heart, she hugged Rohanne to calm her down and caressed the latter's head.
"Don't leave me… Seju…"
Her heart ached at the name Rohanne uttered, but she just can't leave the crying woman there to tend to her emotions, so she just hugged the woman tighter. She then felt like Rohanne was starting calm down, she started to calm down and she also stopped crying, her body was also relaxed and she was able go back to sleep again.
"Don't worry, even though I'm not Seju I won't leave you…" She said as she released Rohanne's body and let the latter sleep in peace.
She then went to the door and opened it, Rohanne's results was out.
"Thanks"
When she saw the results, she was greatly worried for Rohanne. She immediately called Doah and reported the results.
===
November 28, 2008
"You still haven't talked to her?"
Yeonhwa looked at the woman in front of her; Sejeong just looked back at her with a raised brow.
"Why do you always ask that question?"
Ever since the day that she spoke to Sejeong about her issues with Seju, the woman always asks if the two already made up, maybe because Sejeong was close with Seju, but right now she was always bothering her in the student council office asking the same thing again and again.
"Because the two of you are my friend, duh!"
Sejeong's nagging came to an end when the bell for the next period rang. Yeonhwa rolled her eyes and let out a sigh
"Finally…"
The two of them stood up from their chair and started to walk to their class.
She can't help but sulk.
'Until when will my feelings be one-sided?'
She thought, but then she chuckled because it was just absurd. Ever since she knew her feeling for Seju she always hid it, she never even talked about it to someone, so she doesn't have the right to complain, and she already accepted it. That Seju was head over heels for Seungjae.
"Yah! Tell me, do you like Seju?"
She was taken aback by Sejeong's question but then she recovered fast before Sejeong caught her. She let out a sigh
"Even though I have, I don't have a chance…"
Sejeong looked at her and smacked her shoulder
"I didn't know that the mighty Student Council President was a coward!" She said and laughed, but then after recovering from her laugh she stopped on her tracks making Yeonhwa stop too.
"We'll be late to class!"
"You know, you should stop being a coward. If you like her, tell her. Fight for her. Don't just whisper it in the wind. Tell her that you like her directly. It's not like the wind would send her the message you want to say. Wind doesn't work like that"
Yeonhwa knitted her brows, and looked at Sejeong with confusion in her face.
"Wait, why are you always nagging me about Seju?"
"Because you're stupid when it comes to feelings" Sejeong nonchalantly said and walked past Yeonhwa. The latter just followed suit.
After all her classes she decided to go home straight since she already finished all her work earlier during their break. Before she and Seju always go home together, but now she went home alone.
As she exited the gate of their school she felt droplets of rain hitting her head.
"Rain?"
She didn't bring an umbrella that day because the forecast said it's going to be sunny all day. She didn't want to go back inside the school so she went ahead and went to the nearest shed, surprisingly she saw the person she badly wanted to talk to for the past week. She was badly wet, hugging herself for a little heat.
Yeonhwa slowly walked towards her without hesitation
"You also didn't bring an umbrella?"
Seju was a bit surprised when she saw Yeonhwa but she just gave the latter an eye roll. Yeonhwa on the other hand looked at her inspecting the woman beside her. Seju was only wearing their uniform without any jacket, she looked like a puppy lost in the rain.
She took a step away from Yeonhwa when she tried to get closer to her. She let out a sigh and removed her jacket, and was about to put it over on Seju's shoulder but the latter was quick to take a step away from her.
"Look, I know we aren't officially talking, but I'm not letting you freeze to death"
She tried giving her jacket again and this time Seju did not refuse her offer. She was still shaking. So to help her get warmer, Yeonhwa rubbed her hands together to produce heat and covered Seju's ears. The latter was startled but then she calmed down a bit when she felt Yeonhwa's warm hands on her ears.
She did that process again and again to make Seju warm. Suddenly a loud thunder roared, making Seju shriek. And that hit Yeonhwa
'Seju is afraid of Thunders"
She hugged Seju and covered the latter's ears
"It'll be fine…"
===
After taking a rest for a day Rohanne decided to continue her work.
She was looking around the place searching for Seju and Sejeong, she has been looking for the two but she can't seem to find them. So she asked one of the local doctors that were working with them.
"Ahm, Excuse me, have you seen the two doctors that were with me?"
"Are you looking for Dr. Park and Dr. Kim?" one of the nurses asked, so she nodded "Dr. Park is at the city, giving some flu shots, and Dr. Kim went up."
"Up?" She asked confusedly
'Up? like the seconds Floor?' She asked herself.
"Yes, she went up the mountain"
'Up the mountain?' She looked at the mountain that was towering over them. 'For real?'
"What time did she leave? And did she leave with someone?"
"I'm not sure Doc, but Around 8 am? And She left by herself, she was just guided by a local"
Since she woke up that morning she hasn't seen the two. She only remembered Seju taking care of her during the night, and she has never seen Sejeong around her yesterday. She was starting to get worried because it was already past 3 but Sejeong was still not back, Seju would be fine because she was with other Doctors and nurses in the city, but Sejeong was the only person who went up the mountain.
She tried to contact Seju and Seju was able to answer her call, and said that she was about to get back to the hospital, when she tried to contact Sejeong, she was not answering her calls. She started to worry big time. She looked at the sky and dark clouds were starting to form.
'I have a bad feeling about this…'
"Can you guide me the way? I'm getting kind of worried for her"
"Sure Doc, I'll call a local to guide you, there was another doctor that came today, so I guess this would be fine"
"Thank you…"
A native accompanied her in going up but left her halfway. He told Rohanne the direction then went back to the hospital because he still needs to do something. When she got to the said house the daughter of the patient told them that Sejeong already went back. She then started to panic.
'Did she get lost on her way back?'
As soon as she exited the house, rain started to pour.
"Sejeong!... Sejeong!"
She kept shouting the woman's name even though the rain was drowning out her voice. Her heart started to race, a familiar feeling engulfed her body. It was the same feeling when she watched her father die in front of her. It was the same feeling when she watched as Seungjae die, the loud beeping sound echoing in her ears.
She was getting desperate. She shouted Sejeong's name louder, wishing, hoping that the latter would hear her calls. Her heart started pounding louder.
She got more frightened when she felt the rain getting stronger and the thunders started roaring. She kept searching until she saw a familiar figure, sitting under a big tree. Her face was buried on her knees while she was covering her ears. Sejeong was crying, shaking, and seeing the woman like that made Rohanne's heart sink. She approached Sejeong and covered the woman with her coat.
===
September 15, 2007
"You didn't have to help me, you know" Yeonhwa said as she looked at Sejeong who was helping her with the paperworks that she needs to turn in tomorrow.
Seju was supposed to be the one to help her but she got a sudden invitation from Seungjae, Yeonhwa was invited as well but she refused.
"I'm not helping you out of the kindness of my heart; I'm helping you because Seju asked me to" Sejeong rebutted and gave Yeonhwa an eye roll
The two of them worked in silence, and when it was about time to go home, rain started to pour.
"Do you have an umbrella?" She asked Sejeong who was just looking at the droplets of rain
"I don't have one, how about you?"
"I also don't have one"
"Guess we'll have to wait until the rain stops"
They stood at the entrance of the building watching the droplets of rain, waiting for it to stop. Then a loud thunder roared. Yeonhwa felt Sejeong flinch and got a little fidgety. She looked at the latter and observed her, Sejeong was about to cry and every thunder she hears she grew more fidgety like she wanted to cover her ears, and when Yeonhwa figured out what was wrong, she covered Sejeong's ears, instead.
"You're about to cry. You don't have to act so tough you know."
Sejeong then let Yeonhwa cover her ears, secretly smiling.
"Don't ever tell this to anybody else or I'll chop you up"
"I won't"
"Good"
===
Surprised, she lifted her head and saw Rohanne, as their eyes met Sejeong started to cry once again. She felt like a burden was lifted off her chest when she saw Rohanne. She felt safe.
"Don't go off again on your own okay?! You made me worry!" She exclaimed as she hugged Sejeong and immediately covered the latter's ears when a thunder was approaching.
Sejeong hugged her back tightly like she was going to lose Rohanne any time.
"I'm sorry…"