Chapter 110
Chapter 110
We met the doctor about twenty minutes later.
We hadn't gone looking for him. He'd found out we were here and made time to come to the cafeteria where we were sitting.
He wasn't wearing glasses, but he gave off the impression of someone with poor eyesight. His hair was slightly mussed, as if he hadn't had a chance to fix it, and he was dressed in blue surgical scrubs. The white coat he'd thrown over them made it obvious at a glance that he'd been here since this morning and was still going.
The dark circles under his eyes only reinforced that image.
The doctor's eyes widened when he saw me, and then he turned deathly pale when he spotted Yang Hye-in. He seemed to have an excellent memory, as befits a physician.
......Judging by that reaction, he might not have known we were here. Maybe he'd just come by for a coffee because he was exhausted and happened to run into us.
We were sitting near the entrance to the cafeteria, so I had a clear view of the doctor freezing up the moment he tried to walk in.
"......."
When he showed no sign of approaching us no matter how long I waited, I stood up first.
I walked over to him and spoke.
"Do you remember the day I came here?"
They say the proper way to start a conversation is to ask how someone is doing first, but unfortunately, I don't know much about dealing with people. It's only been a week since I started learning in earnest.
So what came out of my mouth was that kind of direct question.
The doctor looked down at me, his lips slightly parted, then nodded.
"Could you spare me a moment?"
I threw another direct question at him.
*
The doctor didn't look particularly comfortable, sitting in the cafeteria surrounded by people who could fairly be called beauties, or rather, pretty girls. That was only natural. Even if he could brush off the three he'd never met before, Ye Sa-ra and Yang Hye-in were people who could make his job vanish in an instant.
The doctor and I sat facing each other across a small table, while Yang Hye-in and the other girls had taken the tables on either side of us. We were just using three two-person tables, but since the doctor was in the middle, it wouldn't be strange to describe him as being 'surrounded.'
"Are you alright? Your body, I mean."
He remembered someone he'd only seen once, and even though that person had barged in on him demanding his time, the first thing he asked was that. He must have been born to be a doctor.
I'd thought that any school in the Hwayeong Academy Foundation orbit was full of the same kind of people. Though, to be fair, that opinion had changed a lot over the past week.
I nodded.
"Yes, I'm fine."
At least, I hadn't found any wounds or anything on this body in the week I'd been examining it. And there hadn't been any new injuries, either.
It would actually be more accurate to say she'd gotten healthier than before she lost her memories. She'd been eating much better than usual, and her stamina had improved considerably. I still couldn't claim it was good compared to other people, but at least now I could run a full lap around the field without collapsing.
Honestly, it was bewildering at first. Whenever mealtime came, I'd be ravenously hungry, and I'd find myself eating more than I remembered ever eating before.
Just how much care had that person taken with this body?
"That's...... a relief."
The doctor said that and took a sip of his coffee. Then he glanced at Yang Hye-in, and darted a look at Shin So-hee, who was sitting beside her in an identical outfit.
After that, he leaned slightly toward me and spoke in a low voice.
"Has anything...... similar happened since then?"
They could probably all hear him even if he whispered.
But no one interrupted.
"No."
I answered as curtly as I could.
"Just how badly damaged was my body at that time, to make you ask such a thing?"
But at the same time, I asked about the situation back then properly.
"......You don't remember?"
The doctor spoke with a grave expression. His eyes flicked toward Yang Hye-in again. Was he thinking she might try to stop what we were saying? It wouldn't be strange if he thought that.
......Maybe bringing Yang Hye-in here was a mistake.
Still, the doctor seemed to remember my condition from that day clearly. Even though three months had already passed.
It must have been that memorable. Plenty of people probably come in with worse injuries than mine, but there likely aren't many who check themselves out in that manner.
After a moment's hesitation over what to say, I nodded.
"No, I don't remember much from then. The pain made it hard to think."
"......."
The doctor's face grew serious again.
"......Are you absolutely certain there was no domestic violence?"
That would depend on how far you stretch the definition of violence.
I caught a flinch from Yang Hye-in out of the corner of my eye, but I decided to ignore it for now.
"No, there wasn't. But because of that incident, my memories since then have been hazy. I'm not sure how I even managed to attend school. Would it be possible to know what kind of state I was in back then?"
That was what I really wanted to ask. The moment when the other 'me', the one no one sitting here except Yang Hye-in knew, first opened her eyes.
Things like her physical condition or what drugs were involved can be confirmed by requesting a medical certificate, just as Yang Hye-in had said. But the person who remembers my state at that time best is only the one who saw me in person.
And I was someone who couldn't go outside the house often. So people who could have seen me outside are rare. And people who would remember it clearly are even rarer.
I intended to trace that person's footsteps, little by little.
As if climbing back up through my memories.
"At that time......."
The doctor frowned slightly, crossed his arms, and thought for a moment before speaking.
"You seemed unable to properly grasp the situation."
"I couldn't grasp the situation?"
"Yes."
The doctor nodded at my question.
"Because even in a situation that was absolutely not okay, all you kept saying was that you were fine."
Was that really because she couldn't grasp the situation?
"And you were in considerable pain."
"......."
The bruise marks that had been on her back.
"Would you happen to have any records from then? Not a medical certificate, but maybe photos documenting my condition......."
"......."
The doctor was silent for a moment. No, it wasn't just that he didn't say anything; his face had gone pale at my words.
Why?
Seeing the doctor keep glancing toward Yang Hye-in, the reason probably had something to do with her.
"Well, that's......."
"Could you wait over there for a moment, at a distance?"
I cut him off mid-sentence as he gingerly tried to speak. Yang Hye-in rose without a word and swiftly walked far away.
She went all the way to the window across the room, turned around, and stood waiting while watching us.
"And, the others as well......."
The doctor said that, still in a cautious voice.
"......Please."
At my word, Yu Ha-neul, Lee Su-a, and Shin So-hee looked at each other, then gave me a small nod.
They stood and walked far enough away that they were closer than Yang Hye-in, but still couldn't overhear our conversation.
Though they were all still looking this way, just the same.
Passersby glanced at us.
"......Is this alright now?"
"Yes......."
The doctor nodded, then started to pull his smartphone from his pocket before hesitating.
"So, what I'm about to show you...... I took it just in case you ever needed to show something to the police. If......."
"Yes, it's fine."
Even though I nodded, he still looked a little worried as he turned on his smartphone and swiped through the screen. Then he timidly handed the phone over to me.
......What was on the screen was a photo.
A photo of me.
No, you could say it was a photo of that person, in a sense.
Someone was lifting up my clothes.
And filling the camera frame was a back, completely discolored a deep, bluish black.
It wasn't just bruising. It was at a level where you wouldn't find it strange to learn that the area had been deprived of blood circulation for a long time.
The person in the photo was slumped over, utterly limp. Had she screamed in agony until she exhausted herself and collapsed?
There were only a few photos. As the doctor had said, they didn't look like personal keepsakes; only the back and the rear of the arms were photographed.
"Those are all the photos, but her condition was more serious than that. The back of her head and her legs were nearly the same. As if someone had tormented her relentlessly."
If these injuries were caused by another person, then calling it 'torment' isn't adequate.
"Were the wounds only bruises?"
"......Yes, they were. That's precisely why I thought it was abuse."
The doctor meant that if there had been an accident capable of causing this much damage, it wouldn't have ended with just bruises.
"......If you need help, you can tell me now."
Did he know how dangerous those words were?
......It meant he was that kind of good person.
Kind enough to worry about a girl he'd never met before and even report it to the police.
I handed the smartphone back and spoke.
"No, I'm fine. That kind of thing won't happen anymore."
At the very least, transferring my body over by taking medicine is on hold.
Even if I could do it without dying, it would mean subjecting that person to that much terrible pain all over again.
I thought I had a bit of an idea why these wounds had appeared.
I decided not to question whether it made logical sense. It was something that had actually happened.
At least, it seemed clear that when this person woke up, it wasn't right after I fell asleep.
......Did she know?
Did she know that it was me who had caused her such immense pain?
Even knowing that, did she still move for my sake?
......If it had been 'me,' I couldn't have done that.
Well, I couldn't even properly protect my own life, after all.
*
The reason he'd come to work at this hospital wasn't money.
It was because he wanted to save people.
It wasn't that he had some moving backstory like the doctors in TV dramas. It'd be more accurate to say that he grew up watching those dramas and ended up thinking that way.
Yeah, it was honestly just as unglamorous a reason as saying he became a doctor for the money.
But, even so.
He thought that a doctor abandoning their profession for money just wasn't right.
......Though, to be honest, saying he hadn't been rationalizing things to himself after sending that patient away last time would be a lie.
"......."
He stared down at his smartphone for a long time. It had been about an hour since the victim who'd sought him out had asked to see his photos and then simply left.
She hadn't demanded he delete them, nor had she asked him to hand them over.
She'd just looked at the smartphone, given a bitter smile, said thank you, and walked away.
"......."
Was it right to just let this pass?
With a victim right before his eyes, was it right to just brush it aside, concerned only for his own well-being?
A doctor is someone who saves people.
......No, that can't be right.
He pulled up the phone keypad on his smartphone.
As he typed 112 onto the screen, he thought that even this was, in truth, far too late.