I'll be your light

“Bye Hyun!” they all say simultaneously as he gets out of the car. “Drive safely guys. Thanks for taking me home. I’ll see you tomorrow Nessa.” Hyun says. Vanessa blows him a kiss and he catches it. Melinda and Yijung exchange a quick glance and try not to laugh.
“I’m lonely in the back by myself.” Vanessa whines.
“What do you want us to do about it?” Yijung asks with a roll of his eyes.
“Melinda crawl over to the back with me.”
“No thank you.” She laugh. “I’m quite comfortable in the front.”
A moment of silence passes before Vanessa decides to speak again.
“Your dress was very pretty today.” Vanessa says to Melinda.
“Thank you. Your dress is beautiful too. Everyone’s dress is beautiful.“ Melinda replies.
“But Melinda was the most beautiful, like dazzling. Don’t you think so too Jordan?”
Melinda blushes and looks out the window.
“She is very beautiful and today I think she blew everyone away.” Yijung answers.
Melinda can feel butterflies flutter in her stomach. She hasn’t gotten a compliment like that since she doesn’t know when.
“Um, thank you for inviting me to your birthday dinner today.” Melinda says.
“What do you mean ‘thank you’?” Vanessa scoffs followed with a giggle. “Of course we would invite you.”
“Sorry it was so late though. It was stupid of me to put Vanessa in charge of organizing the dinner. Such a ridiculous time.” Yijung sighs.
Vanessa pouts and crosses her arms. “A fancy dinner needs a fancy time.” She claims.
The car passes a park near Melinda’s house. “My house is near.” She reminds.
She sees commotion in the park, and instinctively she yells “Stop the car. What’s happening out there?”
Yijung parks the car and turns it off and the trio watch what’s happening in the park. It’s dark, but they can just make out someone on the floor and someone standing. They watch for a bit longer before the standing person bends over and terrific speed and the person on the floor screams in agony. Yijung immediately turns the headlights on and exposes three people. He opens the car door and yells “Hey!” at them but they run away. Melinda rushes out of the car to aid the man on the floor. “Are you OK?” she screams at him. He screams and cries so loud she can’t hear her own thoughts. She runs her hand over his forehead and through his hair to try and calm him down. It makes him a bit quieter… “Can you speak? Say something” Melinda attempts to get a response from him but he just groans. She fumbles for his uninjured hand and squeezes it. “Can you feel this?” she asks. He squeezes back and she feels slightly relieved. “Yijung please help me get him to my house, it’s just over there.” Melinda points across the park. Yijung takes hold of the stranger’s arms and each girl takes a leg, they haul him across the park and to Melinda’s house. When Melinda’s mum opens the door she is speechless and horrified. “Get an old bedsheet and lay it on the floor please mum.” Melinda requests. Her mum quickly does so. They lay the man down on the bed sheet and Melinda attempts to aid him while Yijung calls the ambulance. “I need to stop the bleeding in his hand.” Melinda mutters to herself. She has only been studying medicine for two years; she’s not very advanced yet so she can’t help this man much. She carefully wraps a bandage around the man’s hand, putting the slightest pressure in the layers so it can stop the bleeding. She cleans his gashes and cuts with antiseptic and puts band-aids on them. ‘It looks like the work of a 10 year old, but at least the ambulance has arrived.’ Melinda thinks to herself.

Yukwon remembered how she frantically helped him although she didn’t know him. He remembered the relief on her face when he squeezed her hand. He remembered how her pretty and elegant dress got stained with his blood. Yukwon’s eyes flutter open and sees he is in an unfamiliar place. He realizes that he is in a portable hospital bed, he sees an ambulance worker on one side of him and the girl and the boy who helped him on the other side. The both sit looking at the ground; the girl in particular looks worried. “He’s awake.” The ambulance worker says. The girl and boy look at me at the same time. She puts her hand to her chest and says something he can’t understand. More English, he suspects. “What are their names?” Yukwon asks the ambulance worker. The ambulance worker was about to ask the two when the boy answers for him. “I am Yijung and this is Melinda.”
“Do you speak fluent Hangul?” Yukwon asks.
“Yes.” Yijung replies.
“Thank you for helping me… Can you tell Melinda that I say thank you?”
Yijung nods and speaks to Melinda in English. She smiles and says something back.
“She says she will always help people who need help. And she’s happy you’re OK.”
“I’m sorry about your expensive clothes…” Yukwon apologizes as he realizes that Yijung’s cuffs are stained with blood.
“Don’t worry about it.” Yijung says.
Melinda says something to Yijung and he translates. “What is your name?”
“My name is Yukwon.” He attempts a smile but his cracked lips ache and blood escapes the slits.

The two strangers accompany him all the way to the hospital. He never knew strangers could be so nice as to help him and make sure he is safe. “Melinda might visit you tomorrow to see how you’re doing.” Yijung says. “But she says no promises.” Yukwon smiles at her thoughtfulness. Yukwon now hooked up to fancy machines and IV drips feels sleep dragging him away. The last thing he sees is police officers standing in the doorway of his hospital room.

Notes