Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 500

501. Sender

Beep- Beep- Beep- Beep-

Sounds echoed from the various machines around the bed, and Oh Siwon moved closer to get a better look at Kana.

Up until this point, he seemed alright.

One by one, piece by piece. Finally, the image of Kana, whom he had longed to see and been curious about, filled Oh Siwon’s eyes.

“……!”

The steps moving closer to the bed faltered for a moment, stopping abruptly, and Oh Siwon’s shoulders, which had been tense with anxiety, began to tremble slightly.

The sight of Kana before him was truly shocking.

It was different from the image he had seen at the accident site just a few hours ago.

At that time, he was preoccupied with the thought of getting her to the hospital quickly and was too distracted to properly take in Kana’s appearance.

That’s why the sight before him now was even more surprising and shocking.

Although the medical staff had wrapped her entire body in bandages to prevent the guardians from being alarmed, it was evident that her condition was not good, as it was visible through the bandages.

Kana, wrapped in pure white bandages, was bleeding in various places, as if blooming red flowers.

Her bones were broken, resulting in a bizarre shape that was not the usual form of a person lying down.

He had somewhat anticipated it while listening to the cautious explanations of the medical staff, but it was not to this extent.

Only now did Oh Siwon fully understand the words the medical staff had told him.

‘If the guardian wishes, we can move her to the operating room for surgery, but there is a high probability of cardiac arrest before that. Furthermore, even if we perform surgery, we cannot guarantee that the patient will recover based on medical opinion.’

He had once heard that doctors always talk about the worst-case scenario.

However, Kana’s condition was so severe that there couldn’t be a worse scenario than this.

Oh Siwon also felt it.

“Hah……!”

Oh Siwon’s tightly closed lips slightly opened, and a heavy breath escaped.

It felt as if his body was resonating as if he had been hit hard on the head with a hammer.

‘How much… how much pain must she have been in?’

Thinking about how much pain Kana must have been in at the time of the accident, he felt as if he couldn’t breathe.

“Kana…….”

Oh Siwon reached out his hand towards Kana’s face, who was lying motionless, her heart barely beating like a fragile thread.

Even as he reached out, his hand trembled so much that Tae-kyung, who was watching beside him, felt a sense of solemnity.

“I… I’m here…”

With a trembling hand, he gently touched Kana’s face.

He was so careful, as if he were touching a fragile glass marble that would break if he touched it.

“Am I too… late? Kana… Heuuk! I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Haa! I’m sorry.”

Oh Siwon shed tears that filled his eyes, repeatedly saying he was sorry.

He had so much to say, so many words he needed to say, but those countless words welled up to his chin, and the only words that came out of his mouth were ‘I’m sorry.’

It wasn’t an excuse, nor was it a word to make himself feel better.

He was truly sorry to Kana.

It was more sincere than any other word.

He was so sorry that he felt as if he was the one who had made his beloved woman like this, and he was sorry again and again.

“Ha! Kana, you must have been so scared all alone? I’m sorry…”

He heard that her fragile body had been hit by a car speeding at an unbelievable rate, and he couldn’t even imagine how much it must have hurt.

If only he had gone with her to the convenience store….

If only he had told her to stay in the car and bought the bread….

If only he had watched her until she crossed the crosswalk….

What if that had happened?

If that had happened… would this painful ending, like a collapsed sandcastle before his eyes, have changed? Countless thoughts began to gnaw at Oh Siwon’s mind.

‘I’ll always protect you.’

‘I’ll always be on your side.’

‘I’ll take care of you so you don’t get hurt.’

The words he had always said to Kana as a habit echoed in his ears, piercing Oh Siwon like an awl.

He said he would protect her, but he couldn’t protect her, and he wasn’t even by her side in her most painful moment.

The person who had sworn and vowed to love her to death had an accident just before reaching happiness.

“Uaaaaaa!!!”

Oh Siwon, who had been trying to remain calm while looking at the red blood rising more and more on the bandage, collapsed.

He collapsed miserably, like a candle extinguished by the wind.

“Uaaaaaaack!!!”

Oh Siwon, who had collapsed as if his legs had given way, screamed as if he had lost his country.

His expression was as if he had lost the whole world, rather than losing a country.

People’s reactions when they lose a loved one are all different.

Some scream, some collapse, some lose their words, and some shed tears.

Also, at first, they may deny it, ignore it, or pretend to be indifferent. But in any form, that sadness overwhelms the guardian [legal term for a person responsible for someone unable to care for themselves] like a huge truck without warning.

That truck of sadness had now run over Oh Siwon.

“Uahaha!”

Oh Siwon shed tears and more tears.

He cried so sadly and upset that the hearts of the medical staff who were passing through the treatment room seemed to collapse as well.

“Director…….”

After a short time, Oh Siwon, still shedding tears, called out to Tae-kyung with great difficulty.

“Yes, guardian.”

Tae-kyung handed him a tissue and replied.

“Kana… I will not have the surgery.”

Oh Siwon, who had been agonizing over and over since he heard about Kana’s condition from Tae-kyung, conveyed his decision with difficulty.

When he first heard that surgery could be performed if the guardian wished, he thought he should do it unconditionally.

He wasn’t a doctor, so he didn’t have that much medical knowledge. But he thought that if he had surgery, Kana’s condition, which was very bad, would improve, and she would wake up from anesthesia and call his name, ‘Siwon.’

So he was going to say that he would have surgery no matter what.

But when he actually entered the treatment room and faced Kana’s appearance, he couldn’t continue thinking that way.

The moment he saw Kana’s devastated appearance, he couldn’t have surgery.

Even now, her whole body was wrapped in bandages, but it was obvious that her body was not normal.

Oh Siwon had already heard what kind of surgery he would have if he had surgery.

However, if he had surgery, the surgical tools would have to rummage through every corner of Kana’s body, which was already pitiful to see, and it seemed that she would become even more pitiful than she is now.

She was in a medically difficult condition, and he didn’t want to make her more difficult. And he didn’t want his father-in-law and mother-in-law to face their daughter’s last moments in that state.

This decision was a very difficult decision for Oh Siwon, and it was the best decision for now.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

“……I’m not okay, but I think I have to do this. I don’t want to hurt Kana, who is already in pain, again.”

“Yes, I understand what you mean, guardian.”

“Um…”

Oh Siwon hesitated for a moment as if he had something more to say, then continued.

“Director, I’m sorry, but can you grant me one request?”

“Tell me.”

“I want to be with Kana by her side, is that okay?”

Oh Siwon wanted to stay by Kana’s side until the very end.

He still had a lot of things he couldn’t say, and he wanted to see her appearance so that he could see it even when he closed his eyes.

Above all, he didn’t want to leave Kana alone here. She was usually a timid and fragile person, and he couldn’t bear to leave her alone in this place filled with machine sounds.

“I know my request is unreasonable, but just once… just once, please.”

Tae-kyung was lost in thought for a moment.

Usually, a guardian can come into the treatment room for a while, but they don’t stay there all the time.

This is because it can be a problem for the medical staff to take care of the patient.

But this time, he decided to make an exception. In the case of Kana, unlike other patients, there was not much that the medical staff could do at the moment.

And in fact, it was a situation where cardiac arrest could occur at any time. So, knowing Oh Siwon’s heart to be with her, Tae-kyung decided to grant his request.

“Okay.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

After that, Tae-kyung placed security guards in the treatment room.

This was because of a situation that might happen even in the slightest chance. And the medical staff checked the situation from time to time.

Oh Siwon, gritting his teeth and forcibly calming his mind, sat down on the chair that the medical staff had brought.

He pulled the chair close to Kana’s face and told his beloved wife what he wanted to say.

“Kana, do you know you were so pretty today? When I saw you today, I thought you were an angel. Isn’t that funny?”

Oh Siwon forced himself to smile and pretended to be okay, continuing to talk.

“They say that when a man and woman date for a long time, their loving feelings naturally decrease and turn into affection. But strangely, I’m not like that. I think my love for you grew more every year or two we met. I still get so excited and my heart flutters when I meet you.

No. Actually, you’ve always been pretty. You’ve always been pretty from the first day I saw you until now. You’re so pretty. Even now in my eyes… in my eyes, you’re… Kana…”

Oh Siwon, who had been talking for a while, couldn’t easily continue his words.

Anyone would know that it would be difficult to say even a word in this situation.

Above all, Oh Siwon’s heart ached as if it were being pierced with an awl at the fact that the final destination of what he was saying now was to say goodbye.

“Kana…”

Unlike what he thought, Oh Siwon said Kana’s name the most.

Even if he wanted to say other things, something rose from his chest and his mouth wouldn’t open.

Until the darkness of dawn gradually faded, Oh Siwon stayed by Kana’s side without moving.

“Are you okay, guardian?”

“……Yes. I’m okay.”

The medical staff came in from time to time to carefully examine the two.

Oh Siwon, who was holding Kana’s hands tightly, leaned his back against the wall and sat on the floor as his legs gave way.

“Kana…”

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrr

It was then, as he closed his eyes tightly and quietly called Kana’s name. The vibration of his cell phone rang loudly in Oh Siwon’s pocket.

He indifferently took out his cell phone. And the moment he touched the screen, his pupils dilated and contracted greatly, and his eyes shook greatly.

His expression was so realistically surprised that he looked like he had seen something he shouldn’t have seen in front of him.

That’s because Oh Siwon had just received a text message, and the sender was written as ‘My Love.’

The person who sent the text message was Fujiwara Kana, who was lying in front of him.

His wife who had the accident.