*Two Months Later*

I jogged on the sidewalk next to the Lake feeling the harsh early morning cold wind grazing my skin painfully as I wore a hoodie and biker shorts. I wasn't sure how long I was jogging for but it was long enough to make my legs go numb, but I didn't stop. Doctor Park has been forcing me to jog everyday before stepping foot in the hospital. He wasn't aware of what was going on but I don't want a zombie operating on my patients. That's what he said when I tried to work two months ago, after the call with Miss Choi.

So it became my habit to force myself out of bed every day. But no matter what I did I still felt numb, I felt empty.

It scared me

I didn't want to live the rest of my life like this. I missed being able to feel... alive. Where I didn't have a gloomy cloud of guilt following me around. He was the only one who ever made me feel alive. Its been two months and I didn't hear anything from him. Not even from the news. I was constantly worried about him, its seems like what Miss Choi said was true. Yeonjun wasn't taking over the CEO position anytime soon.

I have been conflicted on whether or not I should go and apologise to him, just one more time maybe this time he will be able to forgive me, or whether I should just wait and let him have his space and when he is ready he will come to me. But I wasn't confident if he would come back to me ever again. But grieving is not an easy process, I knew that by heart and I wanted to be next to him through the hard times, but does he want me to be there? From our last conversation it didn't seem to be the case, but what if he changed his mind?

Focus focus

I reminded myself, jogging sessions were meant to take my mind off of him and not think about him. I got back to my apartment and got a quick shower and got ready for work before heading to the hospital. As soon as I step into the hospital I went straight to my office and started to prepare for my patients appointments, mainly cases of post surgery check ups. Thankfully I finished all of the appointments before receiving a call from the ER.

I rushed down the hallway and into the ER, I saw Doctor Park wave at me. I rushed towards him and hats when I saw a young boy around four years old lying unconsciously on the bed

"He was playing soccer with his siblings when the goal pole fell and hit him straight on the forehead." Doctor Park explained "The father immediately called the emergency stating his son was unconscious and not breathing with a visible swelling on his forehead"

And indeed there was a huge red swelling on the young boy's forehead that is starting to turn blue.

"CT scan?" I asked and Doctor Park pointed at the computer "Ohh it seems like the a portion of his skull to be pushed into the brain creating pressure on the brain. We have to remove the bone fragments and make sure his brain goes back to its original size before repairing his skull" I said "Thankfully I don't see any major brain injury its just his skull"

"Okay, but Doctor Kang Taehyun is not available, I have a surgery in few minutes. Think you can handle this?" Doctor Park asked

"Sure no worries. Should be a simple procedure" I said, with that he left and I stayed. After we managed to shave the young boy's head, I pressed my fingers gently on the impact and could feel an indent that was in the skull.

"Marker" I said, and the nurse handed me one, I started to map out the surgical sight and the incision that I will need to get this procedure done.

"Okay get him into the operation room and I will talk to the parents and come in" I said to the nurses who nodded and with that I left the emergency room and went to the lobby waiting area.

There were a grown man with two other children seated next to him "Mister Seo?" I asked making him look up as worry and guilt filled his eyes

"Doctor! Is my child all right?" he immediately asked

"Due to the impact on his head it caused his skull to fracture and push into the brain causing a pressure on the brain. He needs an emergency surgery" I said

"Oh god this is all my fault. I should have been more careful" the dad said as he was on the verge of breaking down

"Don't worry, his brain did not have any major injuries. Its just the bone that needs fixing up. It will be a long way to recovery to get him to walk again and to eat but that will be done through physiotherapy. It might take maximum three years for him to fully recover" I said

"That's a long time. My son was supposed to have a bright future ahead of him. He is still young" the father said

"He still has a bright future ahead. Don't worry sir, I will try my best to help your son" I said pulling a small smile, the father sighed deeply before nodding

"Doctor" I heard a small voice speak up, I looked over to see a six year old girl look up at me "Make sure to give my brother lollipop if he recovers well"

"Ofcourse" I chuckled "He is strong, he will pull through and he will be back to play with you"

"Thank you Doctor" She said smiling

"Condition?" I asked as I made sure that the head of the patient was secured in the head frame that was supported by four large pins

"Stable," Miss Jeon said. The patient's hair was all shaved off so we had a better look at the bruises. I started to inject a substance to num up the skin of the patient, even though he is unconscious but he can still feel pain and without numbing him, he can go into shock and eventually death.

Especially when he is really young, it's really easy for him to slip under

"Okay" I said, signalling the nurses who sterilised the surface of the scalp making sure there is no bacteria, applying ointment before placing a sterile drape with adhesive side on the patient's head.

{Sterile surgical drapes are used during surgery to prevent contact with unprepared. surfaces and to maintain the sterility of environmental surfaces, equipment and the. patient's surroundings. The ones with an adhesive side helps absorb any liquid spill that might occur during the surgical procedure}

"Stable. Ready for operation" Miss Jeon said.

"Scalpel" I said and the nurse put one in my hand. I started to cut the skin. Once I was done, I slowly started to separate the skin from the skull bone using a small metal spatula. That way we can easily open up the skin flaps to reveal the skull bone. That way if there was a skull plate that wasn't intact it does not fall out

{skull plate: is basically a piece of the skull bone that is not intact with the rest of the skull}

"Ohh that looks painful" I said as the bones were shattered into pieces and it was curved inside of the brain. Thank god all of it looks fixable and manageable. I took the pieces out slowly, and placed it into a metal bowl so that I will use it to reconstruct the skull back up. Once the bones were removed, I checked around to make sure that the dura mater wasnt scratched or wounded, which it wasn't, hinting that there will not be any bone matter that made its way into the brain.

{dura mater: The tough outer layer of tissue that covers and protects the brain and spinal cord and is closest to the skull}

I start to plan out how the skull pieces should go, while waiting for the brain to go back to its original shape. Surely enough the brain started to go back to its original shape, recovering from all the pressure it was under.

I used a liquid paste to reconstruct the skull pieces together before placing it back into its place and filling the small empty spaces with the paste to ensure it was all set.

Just as I was finishing up and stitching back the skin together. A phone rang in the operation room and a nurse answered it

"Hello?... Yes?! Doctor Cha!" The nurse called out my name as panic filled her voice

"What is it?" I asked calmly, already used to the chaos that happens in this hospital.

"The patient Jung Haru has experienced a seizure and puss is leaking out of her ears"

I felt my whole body freeze in its place