# Chapter 94
“Hospital, we need to go to the hospital…”
I looked around urgently, but there was no one walking nearby.
Just until a moment ago, I thought the quiet surroundings were nice, but now it wasn’t at all. I was furious about how we ended up sprawled in this quiet place.
I fumbled through my pockets for my phone, but remembered I had put it in my bag because the battery was dead.
While I hesitated, blood kept seeping from Woosang’s leg, and I couldn’t stop it. I quickly reached out and pressed hard on the wound area, but Woosang pushed my hand away and shouted.
“…Don’t touch it like that!”
Wondering if it hurt, I was startled and removed my hand, freezing in place.
Then, suddenly remembering that there was a towel in his bag, I hurriedly searched inside it.
Although wrapping the wound with the thick towel wouldn’t properly apply pressure, it seemed better than nothing.
As I was about to wrap his leg, I glanced at Woosang.
“Are you okay?”
He only nodded his head slightly. I clumsily wrapped the wound area, but the bleeding didn’t seem likely to stop right away.
The blood creeping up over the towel felt indifferent.
“Cold…”
Shivering, Woosang leaned against me. He seemed to be losing body temperature from losing too much blood. Like Woosang, sweat dripped from my forehead too, making my mind increasingly foggy.
We couldn’t stay like this. We needed to go to the hospital.
I was suddenly overcome with the fearful thought that everything might end here, but there was no time to dwell on thoughts now.
I carried him on my back and headed quickly toward the road. One or two people could be seen, and I considered asking others for help, but it seemed better to take a taxi to the hospital.
His powerless arms wrapped around my neck.
My anxiety wouldn’t subside as Woosang’s body temperature continued to drop.
“It’s okay, nothing…, nothing bad will happen.”
“If I can’t dance anymore, will I become worthless to Teo…?”
Just then, Woosang, who had been keeping his mouth shut, continued speaking. My suppressed emotions surged again at his words.
He seemed uncertain, though he should know that couldn’t be true. His powerless body felt like it might sink into the ground.
I shouldn’t accept the emotions created by this situation. He would know that too, but neither of us could keep quiet.
“…It wasn’t just for Teo. I… I always tried to live as myself, and the result was standing on stage…”
I couldn’t have not known.
He always showed his most honest expressions on stage. Even when he gave me a kind smile, I had witnessed many times when he had sad expressions on stage that he wouldn’t show anyone else.
“I know. How could I not know? Don’t say anything more now. First, to the hospital…”
Just then, a taxi passed by in front of us. I quickly reached out and frantically banged on the back of the taxi to make it stop.
Fortunately, the taxi slid to a stop at the side of the road.
I opened the back door and carefully pushed him in, making sure not to brush his injured leg. But already sensitive all over from the wound, Woosang only clutched his face and muttered something lowly.
I also got in, closed the door, and said to the driver.
[Please take us to a large hospital nearby. My friend is injured right now…]
I felt like my words might get tangled due to urgency, but I seemed to have properly said to go to the hospital, so I pressed down on my insides.
But for some reason, the driver just stared at my face without showing any sign of heading anywhere.
[To the hospital, please.]
At my words, the driver muttered something and didn’t think about moving forward. He somehow didn’t seem to want to drive.
Judging from his tone, it seemed like he was sneering that he couldn’t speak English. I felt dizzy as all my efforts to stay calm seemed to be going to waste.
Unable to bear it any longer, I grabbed the front seat and shouted.
[Can’t you understand? I said, go to the hospital!]
I wanted to grab his collar and pound him with my fists until he begged for his life, but realizing Woosang was there, I just glared at the driver.
The driver, seemingly surprised, hurriedly grabbed the steering wheel and drove the taxi. Though I was upset that he had pretended not to understand when he clearly did, it wasn’t important now.
Beside me, Woosang, who had been groaning in pain, leaned against the seat and said something to the driver in German.
Only then did the driver seem to grasp the situation and began driving faster.
Only Woosang’s rough breathing resounded through the taxi. The driver swallowed his breath and didn’t say anything, and I couldn’t say anything either.
Then suddenly, having something I wanted to say to him, I let him rest his head on my shoulder and whispered softly in his ear.
“After we treat your wound and things get sorted out… let’s go to Canada.”
“…”
Woosang slightly raised his head and looked at me with blurry eyes.
“I didn’t have many good memories living there, but it’s where I was born. I want to go there with Woosang. And… start over from the beginning.”
He didn’t answer. But I could feel a small tremor in his hand that I held carefully.
That was enough. We can talk about the rest after everything is sorted out.
I spoke to him in a calm voice, trying my best to keep Woosang from feeling anxious. I wanted to check his leg too, but I didn’t have the courage.
Perhaps because it was a big city, fortunately, in less than 10 minutes, I could see the hospital at the edge of my vision. We would arrive at the hospital in just a little while.
If he gets treated and his wound heals, we will return to our previous daily lives as if nothing had happened.
He will get on stage, and I will look for other work, and we’ll be happy day by day…
Nothing will change. It shouldn’t.
I stopped the taxi near the hospital and pulled money out of my bag, almost throwing it to the driver. The driver got out of the car and tried to help, but I waved my hand saying it was fine and carefully carried Woosang on my back.
As if all his strength had already drained, Woosang was slumped and seemed like he might collapse to the ground at any moment. I adjusted him on my back once more and entered the hospital.
As luck would have it, the lobby was designed with stairs, and taking the elevator seemed like it would take time.
Having no choice, I quickly ran up the stairs, and Woosang made groaning sounds as if in pain.
[Here, please help!]
When I entered and shouted, several people who were working at the desk and nurses who were doing other tasks rushed over.
And they seemed to be urgently contacting somewhere. Unfamiliar words echoed from all directions, making it hard to come to my senses.
Seeing that I couldn’t understand, one person spoke in English, stumbling.
[Could you explain what happened?]
What had happened? To be honest, I didn’t know either. It must be something Hund had done, but there was no way to explain this.
As I hesitated, the nurse pointed to a chair, saying it was okay. It seemed like she wanted me to put Woosang down.
I hurriedly placed him on the chair. Having lost too much blood, Woosang just hung his head without saying anything special.
He seemed to be swallowing his pain alone, covering his face with his hands and keeping his lips tightly closed. I wiped his forehead that was covered in cold sweat and watched over him from the side.
Not long after, someone who appeared to be a doctor came running and seemed to be listening to explanations from the nurse.
Then they brought a stretcher and tried to take Woosang inside after placing him on it.
I thought about following inside, but the nurse only left me behind, saying I could wait here.
By now, the lobby was empty.
Only I and one or two people remained. I stood blankly in place for a long time, just staring in the direction Woosang had been taken.
Just then, someone spoke to me. Snapping back to my senses at the unintelligible words, I looked towards the source of the voice.
A man, possibly a hospital cleaner, was quietly pointing at my feet. Looking down, there was a pool of blood that I didn’t know when it had spilled.
“Ah,”
I moved away, taking one step away from where the blood had pooled.
After cleaning the floor with a mop, the cleaner approached me and handed something over. It seemed to be a portable tissue.
“Thank…, ah.”
I didn’t even know how to say thank you in German. But then the cleaner addressed me in fluent French.
“Are you from France?”
“…Yes.”
“Me too. There are many people working here who came from France, so if you say you can speak French, they will help you.”
I thanked the man for his words. Seeing someone who had come from elsewhere and blended in here as if nothing was unusual made me feel even lonelier somehow.
It felt like only I couldn’t blend into this place.
‘No, I have a place to return to. It doesn’t matter at all if I can’t blend in here.’
Rolling the tissue the cleaner had given me in my hand, I approached a nearby glass door to check my appearance.
Blood stains covered my pants hem and even my shirt, and I must have absent-mindedly touched my face with my blood-stained hands, as red blood was thickly smeared on my face too.
I quickly wiped my face with the tissue given by the cleaner, and went to the bathroom to try to remove the blood stains on my shirt.
But no matter how much I rubbed the stains with cold water, they only faded in color and didn’t completely disappear.
The blood on my face was almost wiped off, but the dried blood that had crumbled like powder remained, though very little, on my cheeks and wouldn’t go away.
My reflection in the mirror suddenly looked like my usual self. But how I usually looked had become blurry and unclear.
“……”
With a coldly sinking feeling, I returned to the corridor and sat on the cleaned chair.
Looking around, one of the nurses who had gone inside with Woosang earlier had somehow returned to the desk and was working.
I cautiously approached and moved my lips.
“Are you okay? I heard you came from France earlier. I can speak French, so please tell me if there’s anything. For now, the patient is getting a blood transfusion and resting inside, but it seems the surgery will be in an hour. The operating room is full, and he’s stable now.”
“…I see.”
“You must be overwhelmed? Please wait just a little longer.”
Looking at the nurse who was speaking to me in a gentle tone as if trying to calm me down, I took a deep breath internally.
I didn’t want to get dizzy. Since Woosang would be more anxious than anyone, I couldn’t just stand still trembling with anxiety.
