Doctor Demon

Siwan watches the girl in apprehension. She fainted outside the ICU and even though she is not in any danger, her health is very frail. He filled out all the forms for her yet, no doctors are willing to treat her. Siwan has summoned his friend who is in private practice related to cosmetic and burn surgeries to patch her up and thankfully, he treated her cheek. It is not a deep burn so the skin will heal in a few days.

The girl is unusually thin and pale for her age. Siwan heard about Yeon Ciara's commotion and how she abused the girl. He knows the Cho family well even though they did not recall him. When he was young, he used to play with Sungki but they were not close. Sungki had a sadistic trait which disgusted Siwan as well and he avoided the Cho's as much as possible.

Right now, he is more concerned about this girl. Who is she and why are the Cho's so adamant on not letting her baby receive any treatment?

I just hope she can wake up on time, he prays.. The girl stirs and slowly opens her eyes. For a moment, she is confused about where she is and tries to get up only to feel very dizzy.

"Relax," Siwan tells her. He lightly touches her shoulder but she flinches back in fear. Jisoo cowers in a corner as if scared of him. Siwan is surprised to see her shaking and hiding her face from him. He backs off and keeps a gap between them.

"You fainted outside the ICU," he says. "So I had you admitted here. You've been here for almost twenty four hours. I...had to call a burn specialist from outside to take a look at you and your baby. As for the management, you don't have to worry about that. I have submitted a complaint to the health ministry about this. The minister is a friend of my mom's so he is investigating the hospital for negligence."

The girl slowly peeks at him from behind her curtain of hair. He is the only person who dared to help her and is even kind enough to fill out the form for her. This man can lose his job or worse, have his license revoked. But he is standing by her.

"Thank you," she finally says. Her voice is low and hoarse as if she is in pain even while speaking.

"I didn't do anything," Siwan states. "But I have to say that you can do everything."

The girl is silent but Siwan knows that she is listening. "I can tell that you've been abused by your in-laws," he says. "And that Yeonjoo's state isn't an accident. Who tried to burn her?"

To his surprise, the girl let out a giggle.

"Why are you laughing?" he frowns.

"At your question," Jisoo says. "Who tried to burn her? I laugh every time I think about the irony. The man who was supposed to love and protect her. The man who is responsible for her birth. Someone who claims to love me as well."

Siwan's blood goes cold. "You mean...her father?" he demands from her.

"It's strange, huh? How can a human being do this? I sometimes wonder if he's human at all?"

Is he? Is he human? Siwan also wonders. The atrocities of his own father are now rushing back to him. What Kang Danny did to Shinho is haunting Siwan to this day. The brother he could not save from that monster.

"There are monsters who wear the skin of humans," he said. "Sometimes, we don't see them for who they are. They deceive us with kind words one day and then on the next day, they'll unleash their inner monsters on us. No one deserves that treatment but life isn't always fair."

Jisoo does not know why, but at that moment, those words affected her very deeply. She can feel that the young doctor knows a monster like that too. It is evident from his words.

"Why did you help me?" she whispers.

Siwan is silently wondering about her question. Why did he help her?

"I have a selfish reason to help you," he admits. Jisoo clutches her knees, scared of what he is about to say.

"I guess, I want to make myself feel better," he snorts. "There's a guilt I've been carrying for years. By helping you, I'm trying to tell myself that I've been absolved of the guilt."

"What...what is it that you are guilty of?" she asks.

Before Siwan could reply, a nurse came barging in. "Doctor Kang!" the nurse exclaims. "The Cho baby!"

He was on his feet in an instant. Jisoo was also alarmed and got off the bed, ignoring her dizziness to run after Siwan. He barges into the PICU but Jisoo is stopped by a nurse.

"My baby is in there!" she yells at the nurse.

"I know but we cannot let you in there!" the nurse exclaims. Jisoo is crying hard, clutching the nurse who gently consoles the poor girl. She falls to the floor, crying for her baby.

"Yeonjoo!" she screams. "My baby!"

Inside, Siwan checks the monitor. The baby's organs were badly burnt. Even his friend at the burn clinic was unable to do much for her. She is holding on to life by a thread and it is increasingly becoming weaker.

Siwan treated the burns again, hoping that the baby will hold on only for a few minutes more. Just live, dammit! He hoped.

"Nurse!" he shouts. A nurse arrives and he orders her to get someone from the burn unit.

"Sir, none of them want to come!" she says in an apologetic tone. "They are all scared and also angry at you for submitting a petition against them-"

"IF THEY DON'T COME RIGHT NOW THEN THIS BABY'S DEATH WILL BE ON THEIR HANDS!" he yelled. "DAMN THEIR DEGREES! I'LL MAKE SURE THAT EVERY ONE OF THEM IS STRIPPED OF THEIR BLOODY LICENSES!"

The nurse gulps. She knows that Siwan is from a very influential family and even if his father was disgraced, his family still possesses enough influence to buy the hospital itself. The nurse cowers and goes to find the doctors.

Siwan kept the baby on life support but her health is declining. He glances at the heart monitor, hoping that she will survive.

Live, he begged the child. Just live!

Beep. Beep. Beep.

In slow motion, he looks at the monitor again. The curves have flatlined and the baby's heartbeats stop.

A few doctors enter the PICU to find that they are too late. Siwan was still staring at the monitor in a trance-like state.

"Doctor Kang…" the nurse says. "You...you have to call the time of death."

Siwan gulps. "Time of death, Monday, 27th of July, 20XX, 11:40 PM," he announces in a heavy tone.

…

Jisoo is sitting on a bench outside. Siwan is also there and has broken the news to her. She did not move and Siwan is afraid that she has fainted again.

"We have a funeral parlor inside our hospital," he said. "If...if you want, I can arrange it for her."

He did not dare to look at her. Like a coward, he is unable to meet the eyes of the woman whose baby died under his care. His first patient, the one he fought so hard for, was dead.

A nurse approaches him and whispers into his ear, "Doctor, the minister will be arriving today. He's very much interested to know why the Cho's warned all the hospitals not to treat the child. Someone even leaked to the media that the Cho's tried to have their own granddaughter killed. This is turning into a media scandal!"

"I'll talk to the minister," Siwan said calmly. He turns towards Jisoo but to his shock, she is gone.

…

*Present*

Siwan sat on his chair, reminiscing about that girl who was his first patient. After she left, the Health Minister conducted an investigation into the hospitals which refused to treat Cho Yeonjoo. Doctor Shin and many of the doctors at the hospital were suspended. Siwan was rewarded for his bravery but he refused to take the awards because he felt that he did not deserve them.

As for Yeonjoo's father, Cho Sungki, the scandal hit him severely. As a former Top Idol, he fell from grace. Someone leaked to the media his wedding pictures and also a video of how he tortured his child. The public was so ashamed that they demanded the Cho's to disown their son and hand him to the cops.

Yeonjoo's mother, Jisoo, signed a case against him but like a coward, Cho Sungki killed himself. He died a coward's death. After he died, Jisoo secretly cremated her baby and disappeared without a trace.

But a few days after that incident, Siwan received an unexpected gift. Someone had sent him a bouquet of very beautiful blue hyacinths with a short and concise note.

"Thank you," Jisoo had written. After that, he never heard from her again.

Over the years, Siwan wondered what happened to her. At first, he could not recognize Jiwoon. She had cut off her beautiful long hair, sporting a . Unlike the skinny, pale girl who arrived that night, she was now stronger and even brave. She had completely transformed herself, changing her name to shed off her past.

"Guess she's now tracking down the monsters in human form," he smiled.