Chapter 8: The Last Hope
Ji-eun, seeing his pale face, hollow red eyes, and dried tears, devoid of any expression, was stunned into silence. She couldn't find any more words to say.
Behind her, Min-su, looking at Joon-ho's broken state, came towards her, grabbing her hand and said,
"Come on, Ji-eun, it's not right to shout in the hospital."
Amidst this, the ICU doors opened, and doctors came out. Joon-ho immediately stood up; his red eyes lit up with worry and anticipation for Soo-jin.
Rushing towards them, he rapidly fired his questions, "How is she? Is she fine? Please, doctor, please, please, please tell me she is fine."
Seeing Joon-ho like this, the doctor first started to calm him down, "You should calm down."
"Yes, yes, yes, I am totally calm, totally. Please tell me how she is."
The doctor, seeing his state, sighed, and prepared to tell the truth with a bitter expression, "You should sit down and listen to me with a calm mind."
The doctors and nurses wanted to help him sit down in a chair, but he shook their hands off, seeing their anxious faces and wondering why the doctor's face looked so gloomy. Agitated, he burst out loudly, "Just tell me how she is!"
The leading doctor, hearing him shout, with the other doctors and nurses looking down, spoke, shaking his head, "She is fine for now, but she doesn't have much time left. She can die at any moment—approximately she has two or three hours left, in my guess. It would be a miracle if she managed to live that long. Her angiosarcoma, due to some kind of shock, has worsened."
In the past, after Soo-jin found out she had a heart illness, she was getting treated in secret at this same hospital, Asan Medical Center. That's why Joon-ho brought her here in hopes that the doctors might help her in this desperate situation.
Joon-ho, hearing this news, slumped down in the chair, his head unable to process the words the doctor had said. "Soo-jin is going to leave me... How can this happen? How is this possible?" He was denying the reality.
His mind had frozen in a loop, just repeating one sentence, "This can't be happening." His heart was in shatters.
"Though she is unconscious, I advise you to see her one last time."
As he heard the doctor's voice again, he snapped out of his shock. The reality dawned upon him. Blood started to drip from his eyes instead of tears. With shaking hands and grabbing his head, he kneeled down on the floor in front of all the doctors and nurses, begging them with a cracked voice,
"Please save her, doctor. I can give you anything, just ask. How much? How much money do you need? Just tell me. I can give you anything, everything. Just save her, please, doctor, please, please, just save her, please."
No one can understand the feeling of a person whose beloved is going to die in front of their eyes.
Beside him, Ji-eun and Min-su were also in shock. As Ji-eun's steps faltered and she was about to fall down, Min-su supported her in his arms. Burying her face, she started to cry. But hearing Joon-ho beg, for the first time, she was doubting herself because Joon-ho didn't seem like he was acting.
Far from them, someone was live-streaming them. Seeing and hearing that Soo-jin was about to die and watching Joon-ho's desperate begging, millions and billions of people watching were silent. Not a single comment was posted.
Seeing Joon-ho begging and grabbing their legs, desperate and heartbroken, blood coming out from his eyes, the doctor also had a heavy heart.
He had seen many people like him, but every time, seeing them like this broke his heart. Every time he was unable to save his patient, it broke him from the inside.
As the doctor bent down and hugged him, saying, "Please get a grip, get a grip on yourself. You should not waste your time here and see her."
Hearing the doctor's words, not wasting a moment, Joon-ho hurriedly stood up and went into the room. Behind him, Ji-eun and Min-su followed.
Seeing her on the bed, sleeping peacefully, Joon-ho gently touched her hand, afraid of waking her up. He gently put his hand in hers, worried about hurting her.
Blood still trickling down his eyes, he gently and lovingly looked at her peaceful and beautiful face, sleeping with a smile, and a smile too formed on his own face, recalling every happy memory with her.
On the bed, sleeping, Soo-jin was dreaming of all the moments when she betrayed Joon-ho, wounded his heart, and stabbed his feelings with harsh words. She regretted every moment in her life when she crushed his self-respect, cursed, yelled, and shouted at him.
She was thinking, "If only I could get one more chance, if only I could do it all right, if only I could have one more life with him, I would make him smile and happy, Joon-ho."
As Joon-ho was intently looking at Soo-jin, he saw a teardrop dripping down her face. Anxiously thinking she might be in pain, he shouted for the doctors, but he was hugged by Min-su,
"It's fine, brother, it's fine," Min-su said, patting his back.
As Joon-ho was being hugged by Min-su, from the window, Joon-ho saw his devastated BMW. Seeing it a clarity dawned upon him.
His mind raced in full gear, remembering the doctor saying Soo-jin still had three hours left to live. Thinking that if he could make it in time, she could be saved. There is still hope.
As the thought bloomed in his head, gaining the lost blaze in his eyes, not wasting a second, he hurriedly started calling the doctors at his hospital.
The doctor on the other side, seeing who was calling, hurriedly picked up. Hearing Joon-ho's deep and cold voice,
"Prepare for a heart donation. I am coming."
Hanging up, without hesitation, Joon-ho picked Soo-jin up from the bed and started walking out.