"Let's just search the director's office or something."
There might be a first aid kit, right? With that, Canu got up from his seat. In the distance, Kim Gayoung and Lee Ji-hyun were coming with a man named Sam. It seemed like Lee Ji-hyun was saying something to Kim Gayoung's hand, but it was too far to hear clearly. Kim Gayoung's hand was wrapped in someone's clothing, and it didn't look good.
I asked the two of them to keep an eye on Yoo Geum and walked to the bathroom. I wanted to run, but the pain forced me to walk. My side hurt with every breath.
Is it cracked? No, it's not. If it were cracked, it wouldn't hurt this much. If the pain were that bad, I would already be crying and rolling on the floor in a fit. ...I'll be fine. Let's not worry before getting an X-ray. Worrying now will only add more to my concerns. Let's postpone the worry and focus on the present.
Looking in the mirror, I saw that the color of my right and left face was different. The left side was relatively fine, but the right side was bright red and swollen. Moreover, it was completely covered in blood. Wow, this is what I look like? Plus, my right side was starting to swell. Unlike the left side, my right eyebrow was torn, and a scab had formed with fibers from the towel and thread, stopping the bleeding. I looked around and took off my shirt. The left side was fine, but the right shoulder, arm, and side, which Asa had hit, were turning red and bruised.
...I'm okay. I can walk. I can move. It's just a minor injury. I tried to boost my confidence.
Looking at the parts where I had been hit, covered in blood, in the bathroom mirror, my mood naturally hit rock bottom. Now that I think about it, I'm glad it was dark. I couldn't see the face of the person who hit me clearly. And I couldn't see the face of the person who beat me up clearly either. I didn't want to see those scenes clearly and remember them on a lonely night in the future.
To lift my spirits, I forced myself to praise myself. It's over. It's better than Lee Ji-hyun or Kim Gayoung or Yoo Geum getting hit like this. It's because it's me that it ended this way. The left side is fine, right? I've seen worse while working.
First, I carefully washed and wiped the blood from my face and neck with water. Faces bleed a lot when injured. Did the guy have a ring on? Were his nails long? ...I don't remember. As I wiped away the blood, my reflection in the mirror returned to its usual self. My heart rate, which had risen, returned to normal.
I washed the injured areas with running water and pressed a towel from my bag against the wounds. I checked my teeth by looking in the mirror and sighed. I rummaged through the bathroom drawers and found a toothbrush, toothpaste, and mouthwash that someone had left behind. I gargled with the mouthwash. My torn mouth screamed in pain, but it was better than doing nothing, so I rinsed twice and spat it out. Feeling a bit better, I walked out into the hallway. A man named James pointed to the opposite corridor with his finger when he saw me.
When I went there, it was the director's office, and people were lying on the floor. I thought they were sleeping, but upon closer inspection, one person had an axe in their stomach, another had a dented skull from a hammer, and another had all their teeth knocked out, probably from a hammer to the mouth and jaw. This is insane.
Seeing more than ten bodies lying densely like Tetris blocks, I hurriedly passed the office and went further inside. Inside, the people Canu referred to as "dying" were lying on sofas. One man had scissors and a pen stuck in his head and eyes, and another had a broken bottle in his stomach and neck, with broken limbs and a bleeding head. Fortunately, all three seemed unconscious.
...It doesn't look like anyone here needs a dentist. An emergency medicine specialist should come. Next, a surgeon, orthopedist, thoracic surgeon, ophthalmologist, and all the internal and surgical specialists from a university hospital should come. ...Except me.
Canu was taking out a dusty emergency bag from the ceiling. The red and white cross became visible as Canu wiped off the dust. Oh, it's not a cheap first aid kit? ...But when I opened it, the contents were similar to a cheap one. Still, it's something to have hydrogen peroxide and gauze. I was rummaging through the emergency bag to check what was inside when a woman nearby, who was rustling, spoke to me.
"Are you from the rescue team?"
Her voice, which had been coughing, was calm. She had just regained consciousness. Canu flinched and turned his head, and I was so surprised I almost jumped. ...What should I say?
"...No, I'm not from the rescue team."
For a few seconds, I thought about giving false hope and lying, but I couldn't do it. The woman, still looking at the ceiling, asked.
"...Is my injury serious? My neck doesn't move."
I took my hand off the emergency box and approached the woman. Canu closed his eyes, looked far away, and spoke to her.
"Bel. You fell from the sixth floor. Remember? People threw you."
"...Eunra. What happened to Tina? Did Tina escape?"
"Tina is dead."
Canu then walked around the sofa where Bel was lying and ran out of the room. I was left in the room, holding the emergency bag, with a dying person. I was holding a saline solution, and the situation felt incredibly heavy.
Watching someone die without being able to do anything. ...Oh God. I want to leave here too. Bel. Probably Belial. What can I do for her? Belial, still looking at the ceiling, asked as I stood up.
"Are you still by my side?"
"Yes, I am."
Belial was swallowing something, but I couldn't tell if it was vomit or blood. She was gurgling and coughing up blood foam with each breath.
"I want to hold Tina's hand. Is she nearby?"
"...What does she look like?"
"Martina Sanchez. She has long, curly brown hair... wearing black jeans... a green sweater and a white gown... probably wearing Crocs."
"I think she's in the next room. Everyone here is injured."
"I want to hold her hand before I die."
I was glad I could do something, so I immediately grabbed the emergency bag and left the room. Outside, Canu was lighting a cigarette with a trembling hand. I didn't even want to ask why he was smoking in the underwater facility. If I were a smoker and could use something like that to suppress my anxiety and sadness, I might have done the same. I asked Canu urgently.
"Where is Martina's body?"
"Probably in the next room."
Following Canu's trembling finger, I ran to the room next to the director's office. It was also filled with bodies. There seemed to be over thirty. I had never seen so many dead people gathered in one place.
I thought it would be difficult to find someone I hadn't seen before among the bodies, but I found her easily because Kim Gayoung was bending over, looking at people's faces. Kim Gayoung, whose hands were wrapped in a towel, was startled by my sudden entry and asked me.
"Are you looking for someone?"
"Martina Sanchez!"
"That's her."
The person Kim Gayoung pointed to was a very small woman. I put my hands under her back and knees and lifted her with both arms. She didn't look dead, just like she was sleeping. I entered what seemed to be an inner reception room of the director's office. Bel was still looking at the ceiling. I quickly asked, worried that I might be too late.
"Bel? Bel? Are you alive?"
"...I'm still alive. Cough."
I made Bel's fingertips touch Martina's dead hand. I don't know if she could feel it. As Bel entwined her fingertips with Martina's, I tried to think of something nice to say.
Nothing good came to mind. If they believed in religion, they might have something to say. Or if they were good with words, or had studied linguistics or humanities. Damn. I should have read more books.
I wanted to praise Bel for trying to evacuate people orderly despite the chaos at the underwater pollution center. It might not mean anything or help her, but I didn't want the silence to overwhelm us.
"I heard you tried to evacuate people."
"..."
"I think that's amazing. You could have escaped first, but you didn't. You did everything you could here."
"...Tina gave up her escape pod for me. Gurgling.
Bel, who had been swallowing blood foam, said:
"While protecting me, she got hit by a punch, kicked, and stabbed. Cough. She caught me when I was thrown into the air and fell to the ground with me."
The woman, with her limbs twisted, ribs protruding, and bleeding from the back of her head, described the past.
...What can I do? What can I do! Watching Bel start to spit out blood foam, I felt immense sadness. Why do I feel so heavy and angry? I felt a burning pain in my chest. I tried to control my emotions