Like a lie, he could see his phone fallen in a corner below the desk. Seonwoo let out a sigh and picked up the phone.
No matter how out of it he was, there was no way he’d left his phone in a place like this. Thinking carefully, he vaguely recalled leaving it at the edge of the desk.
But why was it fallen on the floor? Moreover, the power was off. When he pressed the button firmly, a display appeared saying the battery was dead. He definitely hadn’t been low on battery the last time he used his phone.
Putting aside the oddness, he left the house. His pace was faster than usual. Seonwoo, who had instantly come out to the main road, hesitated for a moment then caught a taxi. Oversleeping was weighing on his mind no matter what. He wanted to arrive at the hospital even a little faster. Seonwoo, who had gotten into the passenger seat, asked the taxi driver for understanding.
“Could I possibly borrow a phone charger? My battery died.”
Then the driver readily handed over the charger connected to the cigarette lighter jack. Seonwoo conveyed his thanks and immediately charged his phone.
Anyway, at this rate taking the taxi, he’d arrive in 15 minutes at the latest. Seonwoo deliberately looked far outside the window to soothe his impatient heart.
After a while, the phone vibrated. The power had turned on. The loading screen played slowly and soon changed to the lock screen.
Then notifications began pouring out. New notifications kept appearing. They were all missed calls, and they were numbers Seonwoo didn’t know.
The last to arrive was the most recent text. The moment he read the words written there, Seonwoo’s head went completely white.
「Please answer the phone, guardian, your mother is in critical condition」
He opened the passenger door and burst out. It was just as the signal changed and they were about to depart. The startled taxi driver immediately slammed on the emergency brake.
The tires screeched sharply, the taxi driver shouted curses, and the cars around them honked their horns. But Seonwoo’s ears couldn’t hear anything.
Though taking the taxi would be faster—such rational judgment was impossible. The fear pushing at his back made him run directly on his own two feet. Seonwoo ran looking only ahead, clutching his phone tightly.
When he arrived at the hospital’s first floor, Seonwoo was in a completely irrational state. Seeing him push open the automatic door with his hands, people nearby tactfully moved away.
Unable to wait for the elevator, he headed for the emergency stairs. It was dim without windows. Each time Seonwoo went up a floor, the sensor lights repeatedly turned on and off.
4th floor, 5th floor, 6th floor… The numbers on the wall changed in order. Seonwoo ran up without rest. His gaze kept facing upward. He didn’t blink once. He moved his feet rapidly as if someone was chasing from behind.
He arrived at the 10th floor in less than three minutes. The moment the automatic door opened and he set foot in the ward, the load accumulated in his body rushed in all at once. It was because he hadn’t stopped once from bursting out of the taxi until arriving here.
His thighs, hardened like stone, were trembling, so barely walking with strength to not fall was all he could manage. At the very end of the corridor, people were urgently coming and going to the hospital room where his mother was.
The closer he got there, the harder it became to breathe. His breathing was so labored that even his shoulders were heaving. It hurt as if the space between his ribs was being pulled. Seonwoo unknowingly fumbled around his side area as he approached the hospital room.
The hospital room door was wide open. Several nurses were surrounding the bed from all sides. Machines that hadn’t been there until yesterday were connected in a line to one place. At the place where several wires connected, the Vice Director was standing. Obscured by the Vice Director’s back, his mother couldn’t be seen.
“Prepare for intubation.”
The Vice Director gave instructions in a voice no different from usual. Unlike the nurses moving busily at those words, he showed no sign of agitation as if facing a completely different situation. He was so calm that the beeping machine sounds were heard even louder.
A nurse who had discovered Seonwoo, who was now stepping on the hospital room threshold, approached. With an urgent expression, she pushed Seonwoo outside. While saying something, he couldn’t hear it at all.
It was strange. Just moments ago the Vice Director’s voice had been heard clearly even from far away, but now he couldn’t hear anything. As if submerged in water, sounds became blurred and his ears felt stuffy.
It was because of his roughly gasping breaths. His panting was too loud. Even when he swallowed saliva and tried holding his breath, it was the same. Seonwoo clenched his fist and struck down on his solar plexus.
“So noisy…”
Thump, thump, strong impacts spread throughout his chest. But he only felt vibration and was numb. Rather, the sound of his heart pounding as if about to burst approached even louder.
He vaguely felt the nurse grabbing his arm but couldn’t see properly. His vision had been gradually darkening since earlier, so he couldn’t think straight. Meanwhile, sweat that had run down his forehead seeped into his eyes so he couldn’t open them properly.
His head spun dizzily. Under his feet swayed back and forth as if submerged in water. Only buzzing sounds filled his ears and he felt nauseous. Saliva kept pooling in his mouth.
It felt like he’d faint at this rate. No, that couldn’t happen. He had to come to his senses. Seonwoo frantically raked through and tore at his hair with both hands.
But no matter how much he stimulated his scalp, his consciousness only grew hazier. Suddenly a thought flashed through his mind. Seonwoo knew a more effective method than this.
He stretched out both hands and fumbled around. After staggering several times while floundering in the air, a solid wall touched his fingertips. He banged his forehead against it.
A shrill scream was heard. Being able to hear sounds properly was a good sign. Seonwoo didn’t stop and kept banging his head. Someone grabbed his waist but he didn’t care. Whether they pulled at his clothes or hit his back, he didn’t stop.
Then suddenly strong force from both sides pulled at his body. His forehead was yanked away from the wall. With both arms caught and his body lifted, Seonwoo was dragged somewhere.
How much time had passed? When vision, sound, everything returned to normal, Seonwoo was crouched down in the ward corridor. Medical staff wearing different uniforms from the nurses, appearing from who knows where, were restraining him by gripping his arms.
With two adult men desperately suppressing him, Seonwoo couldn’t move at all. In that state, he turned his head. The hospital room door had closed at some point, so he couldn’t see inside.
“Can’t I go inside?”
Seonwoo thought he was no longer out of breath and was speaking perfectly fine, clearly enunciating each word. But the nurse, her face pale, shook her head.
“Emergency treatment is in progress, so please calm down…”
Supported and walking wobbling like a paper doll to the station, Seonwoo was seated in an empty chair. The nurse standing before him swept back Seonwoo’s bangs and examined his forehead.
While examining his condition, she said something, but to Seonwoo it was heard again only as buzzing noise. His gaze was directed toward the hospital room and he couldn’t take his eyes away.
At some point the nurse who had been beside him disappeared and Seonwoo was sitting blankly in the chair. After quite a while like that, the hospital room door finally opened. Several nurses were leaving the hospital room with exhausted faces. Seonwoo, who had jumped up from the chair, approached the hospital room.
No one stopped him. Rather, there were even people who looked at Seonwoo with distaste and kept their distance. When he passed the threshold and entered the hospital room, he could see his mother.
He approached the bed directly. But suddenly strength left his legs, and he collapsed helplessly to the floor. It was the moment a nurse who had re-entered hearing that sound approached to support him.
“Just leave him.”
The Vice Director was standing in front of the sofa with his hands clasped behind his back. Unlike usual, he wasn’t wearing a doctor’s coat but was in a suit. The nurse looked at Seonwoo with eyes mixed with concern, then approached the Vice Director. Then she conveyed the story in an extremely small voice.
The Vice Director listened calmly, then smiled warmly while saying he understood. Only then did the nurse seem relieved as she quietly left the hospital room.
Meanwhile, Seonwoo, who had sat up on his own, approached the bed. Standing upright, he looked down at his mom. Her face was pale without a trace of blood and dry as if parched. Relying on a respirator, there was no movement in her facial muscles.
