POV: Female Lead (Jung Ha-neul)
The ambulance doors slammed shut.
Ha-neul sat beside Min-jae, her hands covered in his blood. His head rested against her lap, his face unnaturally pale.
This couldn't be happening.
She pressed her fingers against his neck, searching for a pulse. It was too weak.
His body convulsed slightly, and a strangled gasp escaped his lips.
"Min-jae!" Ha-neul grabbed his hand. "Stay with me! Please!"
The paramedics worked frantically. One of them yelled, "He's going into cardiac arrest!"
A defibrillator was brought in.
No. No. No.
"Charging to 200 joules! Clear!"
His body jolted violently.
The machine beeped. Still no heartbeat.
"Again! 300 joules! Clear!"
Another jolt.
Ha-neul's breath caught.
Then—a faint, irregular heartbeat.
It wasn't stable, but it was something.
She let out a shaky breath, clutching his hand. "You're not leaving me. Not like this."
---
A Terrifying Truth
The hospital was chaos when they arrived.
Doctors and nurses rushed to take Min-jae into emergency surgery.
Ha-neul followed, but a nurse stopped her. "Dr. Jung, you need to wait outside—"
"No!" She shook her head. "I need to be in there!"
She was a doctor. She should be helping. But she was also his Ha-neul.
Her hands trembled. She couldn't lose him.
Just then, a voice called out. "Dr. Jung."
It was the Chief of Cardiology. His expression was grim.
Ha-neul's heart pounded. "Tell me."
The words that left his mouth shattered her world.
"His heart is failing. Completely."
Ha-neul's vision blurred. "That can't be—"
"He doesn't have much time," the doctor continued. "His only chance is an emergency heart transplant. But we don't have a donor."
Her knees almost gave out.
Min-jae had lived with his heart condition for so long. It was always a risk, but she thought they had time.
They didn't.
If they didn't find a donor soon… he wouldn't make it.
---
The Desperate Search
Ha-neul made every call possible.
She contacted hospitals, reached out to the transplant registry, even called in personal favors.
Nothing.
No matching donors.
No hope.
Ha-neul sat outside the ICU, her head in her hands. Her Min-jae was running out of time.
Then her phone rang.
She grabbed it. "Hello?"
A deep voice answered, "We might have a donor."
Her breath caught. "What?"
"A heart has just become available. But there's a complication."
Ha-neul's fingers tightened around the phone. "What kind of complication?"
The voice hesitated. Then:
"The heart belongs to your father."
---