Chaeyoung PoV

"Oh my gosh," I gasped.

My hands were placed on mouth as I looked at the patient lying on the stretcher.

After So-jun called me while I was talking to Jungkook, I rushed to the emergency room because there was, you guessed it, an emergency. But I did not anticipate it to be like this.

Every time I would think about this medical mission, it would be less surgery and more check-ups. I was wrong.

Do you know how toxic it can be inside the surgery room? How serious and quiet the air is? How the monitor's beeping pressures you to work faster?

I hated the smell of blood when it comes into my surgical gloves or the sound of the metal plates when the nurses gets another surgery tool. But I live with it, and luckily, I've never seen anyone die on my own table.

Except when I was a resident rotated under Yoona-sunbaenim. She's an obstetrician and the mother, that time, started to have contractions but her due date was more than 2 weeks earlier. That late evening, she was partying and suddenly called to the hospital.

Without having time to get sober, she did a C-section surgery because the mother can't push. Yoona-sunbaenim accidentally hit a spot where the internal organs get react onto easily and she didn't notice it until the monitor started to beep fast.

That time, Doctor Lee Soo Man was the chief in the surgery department, and he yelled at Yoona-sunbae to "Pull yourself together!" and later "Give it to Resident Park!".

I've never seen anyone else die on my table, and I promise that I will never.

"YAH. PARK CHAEYOUNG!" Jihyo slapped me. "Pull yourself, idiot. The patient will continue to die if you won't command us to do anything!"

"Wh-what's his report?" I asked.

Seungkwan, an emergency room head, answered, "He was just walking out of his apartment then started to have seizures. The CT scan showed he has something in his stomach."

"Wait, wait," Chanyeol halted. "What is he? A criminal? A drug dealer?"

"Nonetheless, he's a fucking Korean, Chanyeol. It's on his ID," Jihyo told him. "Don't pull that face on me, I'm worried. He came from Honolulu and was rushed here because we're a Korean medical staff."

I looked at Vernon, "Take him to anaesthesia and spare me 10 minutes, Jihyo assign me 4 nurses, Yeri accompany me to the surgery room and the rest continue whatever you're doing."

"Damn, Professor, we should really get another attending to be here with us," Yeri praised me.

"Say that and I will choose another resident," I joked. "Everyone! Do your jobs!"

Then Vernon took the patient with Jihyo in the surgery room for anaesthesia and the rest of us sat in front of our only CT Scan light. It's a bit of a disadvantage but we have to work with it.

We looked at the patient's stomach, there was something that looked like a rock? Gems? Drugs? I mean, there are some drugs that are in the form of salt crystals but it would completely melt once it's in your mouth.

What is that?

It looks really disgusting.

"I think, I regret joining this operation," Yeri said.

"Tell me about it," I agreed.

Minho, a trainee nurse, that took nursing as his pre-med, looked at the scan.

"What the hell...is that?" he asked.

Chanyeol slapped his shoulder, "Yah. You're my child, watch your language."

"Sunbae, first of all, I am my parent's child," the kid retorted.

"Hey! Just because you're friends with the world class choreographer, Hoseok, doesn't mean you can belittle me!!!!" Chanyeol baby-ed the nurse maknae.

"First of all, sunbae," he shoo-ed Chanyeol. "Hoseok-hyung is my dance mentor, and my neighbour. Now can we please focus?"

I folded my arms and laughed, "Kid's right, Chan. Anyway..who else has an idea of what the hell that is?"

We were all brainstorming, giving ideas of what the big rock-like figure is in the patient's stomach. We only have 5 more minutes until Vernon can hold the anaesthesia, it's too dangerous to give someone that much drugs to be asleep.

And we cannot even figure out what's wrong with the man.

All of us were discussing on how the surgery can go. There are times where you don't need a proper procedure, just open the skin and fix the damage. Yeri suggested that we try putting a laparoscope to view the insides.

We agreed and decided to give it a try, besides we did not bring anything else than the laparoscope to do that.

Laparoscopes is a tube that has a camera attached on it, we connect it to a monitor and insert the tube through the mouth to see what's going on inside the body. I've seen it in movies but the tube follows the flow of the body, and I'm sure the senior nurses are pros in assisting me.

Suddenly, when we were about to prepare, So-jun entered the emergency room. I assigned him to lead the nurses for a while because Jihyo is going to be with me in the operation. He walked inside with an European looking man.

"Doctor Park, you can speak English right? Jeez, this guy won't budge. He says to not operate on the patient," So-jun tells me.

I fold my arms and positioned them on my waist, "What did he tell you?"

"He just said: 'don't operate him'," he replied.

"Can we speak in English?" the guy asked and we all looked at him. "I'm sorry but that man in your surgery room is mad dangerous."

The door opened, "Chaeng, Vernon did not start anaesthesia yet, we had to stabilize the vitals. How much more time do you need?"

Oh, thank God. I thought we had to rush out fast.

"15, there's a little conflict," I answered Jihyo.

"Excuse me," the guy said. "Did I not ask to speak in English? Or you can't speak in English at all?"

He's English.

Clearly through his accent.

"I am deeply offended of your words, Sir," I spoke in English.

He throws his arms up, "Well, you can speak in English. I'm ordering you not to operate that man!"

"What makes you have the position to order me? This is my surgical team, my surgery room, and my hospital."

"You don't know who you're dealing with."

I scoffed, "And you don't know who you're speaking to."

"Of course you don't know who she is, duh, you're foreign!" Minho says and Chanyeol covers his mouth.

The guy moved closer to me, "Listen, I don't know who the hell you are or what kind of doctor you are. All I know, is that the man inside your so-called surgery room? He's a criminal, and we intend him to die."

I stepped closer, "Listen, Mr. British, all doctors around the world give the same oaths when they graduate. To solemnly swear that they save lives and disregard their race or nationality. Be it criminals or innocents. Now step aside, and let me operate."

"I won't let you do that, Ms. Know-it-all. In fact," he takes out his wallet and shows me a badge. "I'm the police, now get off the case."

"It says British Force."

"What?"

"This is America, you douche. You're powerless unless you have your so-called 'back-up', this isn't your country. Remind me to not operate when I'm in England."

Chanyeol wiped the air with his right hand and whistled, "Oooh, Chaeyoung got triggered. Yow English boy, don't take her away from her surgery room. It's where she lives!"

He managed to talk in English but with the Korean accent and tone.

I thought of making a deal with the English man, besides, fighting with him before an operation is useless. Thinking of what to do when the patient wakes up is the best thing as of the moment.

"Listen, Mr. British, I'll give you a deal," I said.

"What would that be?"

"Let me operate that idiot in my operation room, give me the information I need and after the operation, I will obviously charge him for hospital fees and you can jail him once his operation scars are healed. I'm agreeing to you if you would like more police to guard his resting room."

He nods, "Fine. You're gonna make me write a 100-paged report but as long as you hand the man to me."

"Good, now that it's settled," I leaned on my left leg. "What's the name of the patient and what's inside him?"

"His name is Han Seok Seo and inside him is the belated Queen Victoria crown gem."

No way. The man came all the way from United Kingdom and hid here in Hawaii? And inside him a gem from the former queen's crown? How the hell did he swallow it?

"If you're asking me how, getting through the airport security would be hard if you're hiding things in your luggage. Criminals who visit other countries swallow drugs, money, coins, credit cards, jewelry, gold and other important things to get through the tight security," he says. "The Royal Family has asked me to investigate on it and I've got the gem near me."

"How sure are you that we can trust him, doc? For all we know he maybe scamming us," Yeri asked me in Korean.

"He has class, Yeri. He's even wearing billion dollar clothes," I answered.

I nodded, "Fine. But we have to settle this politically after the operation. Before you even imprison him, find the nearest Korean Embassy."

"You're really hard to get, Doctor," he smirks. "Fine, when I come back, you and the rest of the hospital is not allowed to deal with Han Seok, got it?"

"Crystal clear, British boy!" Chanyeol said.

The man walked out and we changed into our disposable scrubs.

Thankfully, Vernon granted us enough time to argue with the idiot English man. What's it to him? I get it, he wants to be a heroine but this man's dying and everyone here as given an oath.

If we disobey it, then our doctor's/nursing license will be confiscated by the government. That's the least thing I want to happen in my career. I've been doing well and working hard for years.

"Please proceed," Vernon told me.

"Scalpel," I said.

Vernon and I were friends during college. He was the only person from the anaesthesiology department who was friendly, the rest were prideful people. When I graduated medicine, he was already beginning his training in Hye Jin.

The hospital gave me a letter, personally asking me to attend their internship program. Knowing that Vernon and some of my med-school friends were there, I did not think twice.

He had a hard time getting along with surgeons. Because the surgeons wanted him to add more dosage if what he will input anaesthesia but he doesn't obey because it would hurt the patient when he or she wakes up from the sleep.

Until Namjoon-sunbae was on sick leave, the accident that made the hospital operate on 15 people at the same time made us panic. I operate 2 people at the same time with Vernon being the same anaesthesiologist.

For me, it was right that he should only place little dosage of the drugs. And for him, he trusts my skills in surgery that's why he doesn't complain during my operations. Except when I get panic attacks, that's when he'll start shouting to pull it together.

And guess who punched Junhoe when he learned that he dumped me? Okay, Chanyeol, sunbae and So-jun were there but Vernon was too.

We're all good friends, that's what.

"Vitals?" I asked.

"Normal," he said.

"Yeri, push the laparoscope further," I said.

She pushed it inside for a few centimetres and we were all looking at the screen.

"Wow, that's one hell of a gem," Seungkwan cussed.

"It's...sapphire?" Minho asked. "I mean, it's blue."

"Annie, switch with Yeri and Yeri get a forcep and another scalpel," I said. "Chan, if there's blood that'll go out, hold it in."

"That is the most disgusting job you have ever tasked me," he complains.

Chanyeol prepare to stop any blood that will go out and he stood in between Annie and Yeri.

Jihyo laughed while holding the laparoscope, "Man, you look like a girl!"

They bickered until Annie pinched Chanyeol.

Aish, these 2.

"Chae.." Vernon said.

"What?" I asked.

Yeri was helping me open the organ out and Chanyeol was cleaning the parts with blood.

"I think you should look at this?"

"What do you mean? We're already opening the organ," I said. "Yeri could you slice the stomach lightly?"

"Chaeyoung!" Vernon shouted.

We all turned our heads him.

"The screen!" he shouted again.

We turned our heads to the screen.

Oh, shit.

Is he..digesting the gem?!

How on earth is his digestive track this strong?! Digesting a gem is so inhuman!

"Is it...preparing to...break down the gem?" Yeri asked.

"What the actual...hell? Is his digestive tract that strong to do such thing?" Jihyo asked.

"I think we should focus on the operation and get the gem before it actually does," Seungkwan suggested.

Annie nodded, "If we waste more time here, the gem will really enter his intestine."

I nodded in agreement with Annie and Seungkwan.

She was right, the more I look in the screen, the farther the gem gets. I focused back to the direction of the stomach and signalled Yeri to open it carefully.

Yeri opened it and blood spewed out, like usual and Chanyeol wiped with some gauze and dropped the gauze on the floor.

"Jihyo-eonnie, move the laparoscope up," I said.

Jihyo lift the laparoscope slowly and Annie took the upper part of the laparoscope while Jihyo holds the bottom. I felt my sweat falling off, and I brush the feeling off the discomfort out but Minho wipes the sweat and did the same to Yeri.

I held the retractor while Yeri tried searching for the gem. Again, Chanyeol wiped off the blood with different gauzes and threw it on the floor. Slowly, the laparoscope was out of the patient's body and Annie went to sterilize the tube.

Seungkwan left the operation to get more gauze for Chanyeol, there's too much bleeding. Then the monitor beeped, we looked at it.

That's what I anticipated. He lost too much blooding, considering the filled gauzes.

"Get RBC, quick!" I yelled.

No less than 10 seconds, 2 RBC bags were hanged and injected into Han Seok.

"Yah, push it down, faster!" Jihyo panicked.

Seungkwan and Minho pressed the RBC bags to make the flow faster.

"That's enough, save the half for later," I told them. "Yeri, did you find it already?"

"Yah, Kim Yeri, palli!" Chanyeol stressed.

"His vitals are still normal, calm down," Vernon inserted.

Yeri lifted her head, "It's not there."

We all looked at each other.

"Insert the fucking laparoscope!" I shouted.

It was inside again, and we searched in the stomach. We all gasped to what we saw. There was a piece of the gem, maybe it got cut off when the chemical reactions happened in the stomach.

Jihyo pushed the laparoscope into the entrance of the small intestine, we all worried for this. The digestive pace is too fast, it should've slowed down since there's anaesthesia.

"There!" Jihyo shouted.

"Minho, scalpel," I commanded.

He gave me the scalpel and I tried guessing where the small intestine's entrance is. The entrance varies on the person, if he's chubby, then it's a little more in the bottom but if he is fit, then it's a few centimeters on top of the belly button.

"Park Chaeyoung! You can't just guess where the hell his small intestine is! For all we know, you're cutting the intestine," Chanyeol shouted.

"Hyung, have you ever been to a operation wherein Chaeyoung guesses everything and still gets everything right?" Vernon asked.

"No," Chan replied.

Vernon laughed, "You should see her guess everything."

"Hey, in my defence, this is my first time doing an operation with her. I'm always assigned with Tzuyu, alright?" Chan rolled his eyes.

After putting some iodine on the skin, I cut it. Yeri was stitching the stomach and was preparing to close that portion of the skin.

"Minho, clamp. Seungkwan, assist," I said.

The clamp opened the skin and vuwala. I opened the entrance of the intestine without any kind of CT scan.

"You're gonna give me heart attacks, Chaeyoung," Chanyeol spoke.

Jihyo laughed, "Your face grew pale."

I lifted the intestine, not using any kind of tools because I'm so panicked about the gem and thinking of the name of the tool got me mind blocked. So I checked my gloves, I decided to change it before I even lifted the intestine.

After changing the gloves, I lifted the small intestine carefully. Of course the gem can't enter the intestine, it's too big. Most likely liquids can, but the gem is too big. I suspected it to be lying behind the intestine.

"Uhm, Chaeng? I understand that you're looking for it IN the intestine not BEHIND the intestine?" Jihyo asked.

"Trust me, it's there," I said.

I needed Yeri to assist me in this but she was still stitching the stomach with Chanyeol, Seungkwan was making sure the clamp won't return to it's closed form, Annie is not here, Jihyo is holding the laparoscope..it's only Minho.

"Yah, Lee Minho," I said. "Hold the intestine for me."

He pointed at himself, "M-me?"

"Who else is she talking to? Duh, you," Yeri said while stitching.

He walked next to me and took the intestine that was resting on my forearm.

"Hold it like you're hold a baby," I told him. "Or you're going to kill him."

Minho nodded and was shaking. I was reminded of my first of attending a surgery, my reaction was exactly like his but I was able to manage when Namjoon-sunbae told me to relax and disregard my emotions in the operation room.

And knowing me, I was able to do anything easily. I disregarded my emotions, and it made me see clearer. Made me think straight.

Jihyo pushed the laparoscope and I monitored on the screen. When I saw something shiny in the screen, I asked her to stop pushing. I'm amazed the tube can still go down this far, it usually has a limit.

I let my hand feel the laparoscope's tube and followed it until the end of the scope. Then I pushed my hand inside and felt the gem. It was to risky just grabbing it, so I tried to push it to my directions using my fingers.

"Minho, get the forceps," I asked.

He used one hand to get the forcep and gave it to me.

The forceps finally reached the gem and I took it out, once I got the gem outside, Minho slowly placed the intestine back.

"Yeri, can you please stitch," I said.

I took one of the oval shaped basins and placed the gem there, the other piece of the gem is also there and we looked at it.

"Good job, everyone. Finish whatever is needed to be done," I said and we bowed to each other.

I walked out of the operation room and I disposed my scrubs and threw my gloves in the medical waste.

Quickly, I walked through the back door and I smelled the fresh air. Not so clean but at least it's air. And I sighed and sat down on one of the plastic chairs.

My phone is still in my room, there isn't anyone to talk to. Besides, I'd like to breath. A migraine started to kick in. One of my most stressful surgeries.

But like always, whenever I'm in an operation and finished after dinner, I felt hungry.

There's no one to treat me food, I have to cook it before I even eat it.

And whenever we start eating, and I start complaining about the operation, he'll laugh and ruffle my hair.

And he'll always say, "You saved a life, Park Chaeyoung."

----

You saved a life Chae, it's alright.

school is nearing, i'll bombard updates.

something's coming up for chapter 22, no?

alright, that's it for now!!

see you again on next update :)

iz out-----