,,When was the last time you ate?" The doctor posed a question as she was standing with some papers pinned to the board and a pen in her hands by the hospital bed where I was currently sitting.
When I opened my mouth to answer clearly, I came to realization that I didn't actually remember.
,,I-" A frown formed on my face. ,,I think it was about day... or two ago."
The woman in front of me jotted something down and then raised her nothing-saying gaze to me again.
,,And drank?"
I didn't have to think so much about this one.
,,I had black tea this morning. With milk." I pointed out.
,,What about water?"
,,I would say ... yesterday?" My answer sounded more like a question, but still the doctor didn't dwell on it. It was obvious that she had already made up her own mind about it.
,,Alright, the lack of food and fluid intake is a clear cause of your deteriorating health. At this stage, a panic attack could be triggered by almost anything and could end much worse." She said then turned to the nurse. ,,We'll complete the basic examinations, let us have it confirmed."
When the old lady nodded, the doctor went behind the curtain, which she left ajar so that I could see part of Romeo's coat.
Despite the fact that I literally begged him not to stay here and not to worry, he remained here, saying that he'd wait at least until Aurora arrived, to whom he forced me to let her know about the whole situation.
,,Can you take off that turtleneck? I need to get to your chest for an ECG." I was pulled out of my thoughts by the voice of the nurse, who was already preparing the device for the examination she mentioned.
With a light nod, I stripped down to the waist from my dress and my turtleneck ended up laying next to me on the bed a few moments later.
,,Lie down, try not to move suddenly and breathe smoothly and regularly."
Following her instructions, I did exactly what she wanted me to do while she attached the suction cups to my chest.
Later, after several more examinations, I was finally able to get dressed again, but before I could get my hands on my clothes, the curtain suddenly opened and a familiar figure walked in.
,,Oh..." Romeo's expression became rigid and so did his body.
,,Could you just, you know, turn around?" Keeping my voice calm as he was still facing me for longer than necessary while the only thing covering my upper body was my bra.
,,Definitely. Of course!" He responded swiftly while he really did what I asked for.
,,Thank you." I pulled the turtleneck over my head as fast as I could and when everything was in place, that's when he turned back.
He spontaneously swept his gaze over me and then took a few steps straight to me.
Then he reached out with both of his hands and used his fingers to fix my bangs and brush the rest of my hair behind my ears.
He continued to my face where he rubbed the skin under my eyes with his thumbs in circular motions.
,,You have smeared mascara here." Romeo gave me his grin as he adjusted my appearance.
I returned his direct gaze with an amused expression.
,,I thought you went back there already."
,,Before that, I wanted to say goodbye." He said and it looked like he had finished his work on my face because he pulled back again and straightened up to his full height.
I gave him my disbelieving look because something was telling me that wasn't the whole truth. A couple of times his lips even parted as if encouraging himself.
,,What is it?"
,,I'm just thinking. Why was Mr. Nahm so concentrated about my explaining what happened after he literally forced me to do it." He presented his thoughts to me during which I felt my heart unconsciously start to speed up its pace.
,,Why would you explain to him something that doesn't concern him at all?" I straightened my spine trying to get over the feeling of betrayal.
,,Doesn't concern him at all?" Romeo's face showed confusion. ,,Don't you know who he is?" There was a mix of disbelief and surprise in his voice.
Who he is?
,,What are you talki-"
,,Mill, are you alright?" In a fraction of a seconds, Aurora was next to me, slightly out of breath, then she soon settled down on the same bed where I was sitting.
,,You don't even know how you scared me that I would have to pay the rent alone."
I swallowed my sarcastic reply when Romeo spoke again.
,,Even though I don't like it, but now I'll have to get back to my host duties." He waved his hand in farewell, after which I quickly managed to thank him. Then he was already gone.
,,Can you leave me this one?" Aurora next to me said jokingly while her gaze was fixed on the curtain that Romeo had just left through.
In the next minute we both pressed our backs into the hard mattress and just stared at the ceiling in quietness for a while as we lay right next to each other.
,,Would you like to talk about it?" Her question fell into empty silence.
,,In a moment. Let's stay like this for a little more." I closed my eyes and tried to empty my mind for at least a few seconds. There was an effort from me to keep the peace there as long as possible before there was nothing left of the tranquillity.
However, this could not last long because a doctor appeared shortly after and informed me that I can go home, but I must immediately start eating and drinking consistently.
,,Try to procure this. Use it regularly according to the instructions on the package." She gave me a prescription even before I mustered up my things and with my friend by my side we headed towards the exit of the hospital.
,,How did you get here?"
,, It was Sang-Hoon who drove me here. Why?" She answered right away and I mentally jumped.
,,Could you drop me off at the clinic?" I asked, hoping for a positive answer.
,,Do you really want to go there? Right now?" She looked at me doubtfully, to which I just nodded confidently.
,,Please." I added and Aurora just shook her head after giving me one of her disapproving expressions, gesturing towards where I saw the silver car parked.
We took a few steps to Sang-Hoon, who was leaning against the front door of his car.
,,Are you okay? It's no big deal, right?" He straightened himself up and scanned me all over with his gaze, trying to see that I didn't have any significant injuries on my body.
,,I'm all good, don't worry." I smiled sincerely and when Aurora told him where we were headed, I sat in the back seats where I checked my phone and saw an unread message from Mrs. Kwack.
Call me when you can.
That was what I read and what made me more than sure of my decision.
I hadn't planned on calling her and that made me even more nervous about what I was about to go find out right now.
When I stood in front of the large complex a several minutes later, I had to take a few deep breaths and exhale before I started walking towards the entrance.
At the time, the main building was only open to employees, so I had to put my card against the turnstile to get in.
I walked over to the reception, where to my dismay, Mrs. Kwack was not standing, but behind the counter was a fair-haired girl instead.
Of course, it had to be like this.
My steps slowed gradually until I finally stopped completely.
I chose one of the chairs in the open-space waiting room, which I flopped on and instantly pulled my phone out.
However, before I could press a certain icon with my thumb, my body jerked at the incredibly ear-piercing sound of breaking glass.
As soon as I raised my gaze, another loud sound of a scream penetrated the surroundings, followed by several more.
That's when my gaze briefly met the woman's, whose hair was in the firm grip of the man just behind her.
While he pushed her towards the reception, where the blond girl was crouching, I noticed that he was wearing pure black clothes, a black cap and a face mask, thanks to which I could not make out the features of his face.
,,Lock down all entrances to this building immediately!" The guy in black shouted at the receptionist, who shook even more when she saw his gun in his other hand, which wasn't tightly gripping the hair of the woman in front of him.
He then turned and scanned the entire entrance hall with his eyes, where wasn't that many people, but it wasn't just few either.
,,Everyone throw your phones a three feet in front of you right now!"
I think none of us hesitated at that moment.
And as another man who looked similar to the one at the reception began to pick them up from the ground one by one, a tornado of thoughts that were more than confused shook my mind.
Was this really happening?
,,Lie face down on the floor!" Another order sounded, which I automatically followed along with other clinic employees.
When I finally had my forehead resting on my forearms while my stomach was pressed against the cold floor, I felt like I was in a complete void.
I was unable to think clearly and the only thing I could perceive was the blood in my veins, which was humming in my ears like a crazy.
For some time there was an uncomfortable silence around us, so weighty and so pervasive that heavy approaching footsteps could be heard clearly and distinctly.
My curiosity made me raise my head slightly so that I had a proper view of the third man who was confidently joined his two accomplices.
And then all three of them went in a different direction.
Everything they touched ended up broken, torn, cut or minimally damaged.
The amount of aggression that they were releasing more and more was unbearable.
But if they paid so much attention to material objects, I grew hopeful that we would not be their target. That they will use up all their energy and simply go away.
However, I wasn't sure if the blonde girl managed to set off the silent alarm, so I couldn't even predict the duration of their rampage.
My head shot up as a sudden scream echoed through the room.
A man who was dressed in a medical gown had just been grabbed by one of the culprits after an effort to do something that was not entirely clear to me.
In the next second, the temple of his head was struck with a hard blow, after which his large body fell to the ground with a loud thud, and a knife was pressed against his neck.
And all I could focus on at that moment was the red liquid running down his neck onto the floor.