Guilty As Sin? | Prologue
Summary: You have just entered your new job as an intern in a hospital you worked so hard to get into; at last, after so many years, you had managed to fulfill your dreams, little by little, step by step. You had finished your studies with honors, you had a beautiful -and luxurious- apartment in the center of the city, you had just entered the job of your dreams and your relationship with your dream boyfriend was going great. Or so you thought until you met Kim Taehyung, the clinical mentor you were in charge of, who doesn't seem to mind keeping his opinion about your relationship and your idealized vision - in his own words - of your life.
Author’s note: I'm really sorry for the delay, I was busy trying to inform myself a bit about the topic before writing :( I really hope it's well understood and that you enjoy it (this is a prologue, so there won't be drama here -yet-, expect that in chapter 1!)
Pairing: Taehyung x Reader (female)
AUs: Doctor!AU (Taehyung and Reader are OB-GYN)
Word count: 2.8k
Warnings: This is only the prologue, so there is not much to warn lol, the only relevant thing to clarify is that one of oc's patients arrives at the emergency room due to preeclampsia.
Status: Unedited
Taglist: @thunderg @minjianhyung @queenv1997 @yoongtism @lizzymizzy-blogg @superbbananananana @drpepperobsessed @themwordsblog @taekritimin123 @bluecloudss @yooglefics @tan-veee @thelilbutifulthings @calmyourtitts7
You finished fixing your shirt, taking a deep breath as you looked at your reflection in the mirror. You looked good, you felt good. You had been waiting for this day for weeks, crossing your fingers for time to pass faster, so you could finally enter the BRH hospital, one of the largest and most important in Seoul. This was a golden opportunity, and you would give everything you had to hold onto your position until you were a full professional.
"Are you ready?" Hyunjin asked, wrapping his arms around your waist from behind and placing a delicate kiss just below your ear. You couldn't help but feel that little electric shock that ran through your body at the touch. "You look great," he whispered with a laugh, releasing his hold to walk toward the wardrobe.
Inside, there were a large number of neatly hung shirts, and on the floor, stored in a drawer, were dozens of ties he wore for his job. It was important for him to have a polished image, something that screamed that he was the boss, and for that, he needed good attire, or at least that’s what he always told you when you asked why he had so many ties if, in the end, he always picked the same one.
"I have to go, I don’t want to be late on my first day," you approached him, taking the black tie in his hands to tie it under the collar of his shirt. "I don't think we'll see each other much from now on... but I’ll try to manage my time as best as I can!" You gave him a smile before gently patting his shoulders. You felt your cheeks warm up when you saw him staring at you with a smile.
"Okay, don't worry," he murmured, kissing your forehead gently. "Let me know when you arrive, okay?"
You nodded quickly, grabbing your purse and phone, rushing toward the exit of your apartment. Your steps were confident and firm, you knew the way by heart, you had reviewed it more than twenty times this past week, preparing for any detours you might need to take in case of an accident or how long it would take to get there if there was heavy traffic.
Today will be a great day, you told yourself. Today, you would put everything you learned in your years of university to the test, and you would do it perfectly.
"Alright, I’ll be direct, we don’t have much time. I’m Kim Taehyung, gynecology and obstetrics specialist, and your new supervisor," said a tall man in a lab coat, placing a stack of files on a large table in the center. There were five in total, one for each of the residents present. "These are the files you need to review, if you have any doubts about any of the cases, don't hesitate to ask me; we're in a hospital, there are lives at risk, and if we can avoid ending one of them due to our mistake, that would be ideal," he directed a tight-lipped smile at the five of you; despite his direct words, his tone was quite soft, which definitely helped ease the first-day nerves. "If I'm unavailable, you can always reach out to another supervisor, and don't hesitate to trust the nurses, they are the ones who move this hospital, believe me, they know much more than you can imagine."
Everyone nodded almost automatically to his comment; one of the guys, the one with tattoos on his right arm, approached the files, taking the one on top and opening it to review the content. Only then did the rest of you, including yourself, pull out a file.
Supervisor Kim remained standing in front of the table, watching your reactions. You would be lying if you said it didn’t make you feel a little uncomfortable, but you understood that part of his job was to observe his residents. You shook your head gently, dismissing the thought quickly to focus on your work.
The first thing you saw when you opened the file was the patient's name, Kim Jiyeon, a 29-year-old woman, 28 weeks pregnant. You couldn't help but smile when you saw it was her first pregnancy. Was she excited to have the baby? Oh, you would love to see the face of one of your patients when revealing the gender of their future baby, was it too soon to think about that?
You bit the inside of your cheek and continued reading the information. She came for a routine prenatal checkup and, according to the file, there were no significant issues, which really relieved you. You didn’t want to deal with a complicated case on your first day; it was one thing to be excited and another to want to push your nerves to the limit when you were just starting your professional life.
You studied the information one last time before feeling ready to leave the office; your shift officially started at 8 in the morning, which was in nine minutes. You took a deep breath, trying to keep your emotions in check. You were too nervous, too excited, too scared. It was a strange combination, but that’s how you felt.
"Hey!" The guy with the tattooed arm placed one of his hands on your shoulder, smiling widely at you. There was something about the softness of his voice and the strength of his body that confused you a little. He didn’t really fit with... well, with him. "What case did you get? I got a post-partum checkup."
You looked at his hand, feeling a wave of discomfort wash over your body. You couldn't remember the last time someone other than your boyfriend touched your shoulder casually, especially a young man—and, to be honest, quite handsome. Still, you didn’t say anything, not that he had done anything wrong, after all.
"Uhm, I have... I have a prenatal checkup," you murmured, looking at the file in your hands. Why was time moving so slowly? It should already be 8, you should be working, not talking to the guy you barely knew.
"Really? What a coincidence! You’re doing a prenatal and I’m doing a postnatal," he laughed before finally releasing your shoulder. He stopped in front of you, his big smile reminding you that you shouldn’t be so uncomfortable with him. "Oh, by the way, I’m Jeon Jungkook, nice to meet you," he gave a slight bow, slipping his hands into the pockets of his lab coat. "I really hope we get along."
You nodded slightly, looking around. The other residents were chatting among themselves, discussing who knows what while letting out friendly laughs. And then there was Taehyung.
He hadn’t moved an inch from his initial position at the head of the table, the only difference was that now his hands were resting on it, his body leaning slightly forward, and oh, he was staring at you intently.
You almost choked on your saliva when your eyes met his.
"What about you?" Jungkook asked, looking at you as if he were expecting an obvious response from you.
What was he talking about?
"Excuse me?" You turned your full attention to him, trying—and failing—to ignore your supervisor's fixed gaze on you. Did you have something on your face? You hoped you didn’t have anything on your face.
"Your name, what is it?" He raised an eyebrow while one corner of his mouth lifted in a teasing smile. You felt stupid for a second, and your face didn’t take long to betray you as it warmed slightly from the embarrassment.
"Oh, yeah, sorry," you awkwardly took the tag hanging from your neck, showing it to him as confidently as you could, though it was too obvious that the shaky movement of your hands was due to nerves. "My name is Y/N."
"Alright! Time for your shifts to begin, remember to move quickly and precisely," Taehyung said from his spot, giving two overly loud claps before walking out of the room with all of you following behind. "I’m going to assume you were given a little tour this morning," he gave a slight bow to one of the nurses passing by him. You couldn’t help but notice how the nurse’s cheeks turned a soft pastel pink. It wasn’t like you could blame her; he was quite attractive. "This is where we split," he smiled softly once he reached the consultation counter, giving a slight nod of his head before speaking again, "I wish you the best for your first day."
"Thank you so much, Doctor," murmured patient Kim Jiyeon, your first patient. Her hand gently touched her belly, and her face seemed to glow with joy. You assumed that any woman who loved the idea of having children would be happy to hear that her test results had come out well.
"See you, Miss Kim," you made a slight bow, waiting for her to leave the consultation room so you could straighten up. You never thought you’d be lucky enough to treat such a kind person on your first consultation, but here you were, smiling like a fool as you remembered how pleasant it had been to attend to her.
You couldn’t help but feel your chest warm as you thought about how wonderful it must be to see a mother meet her child for the first time, how the father would react to holding him in his arms… you had really made it to where you had always wanted to be.
Satisfied with your work, you finished the necessary report and decided to head back to the front desk where you last saw your supervisor. The desk was right in front of the entrance, so you could be present in case anyone needed your help.
There weren’t many people in the waiting room, probably because it was still quite early. You were about to lean against the desk to ask something of one of the people behind the window when a man quickly entered the hospital.
You knew you were screwed the moment he ran toward you and grabbed your shoulders tightly, shaking you back and forth in a desperate motion.
"My wife needs a doctor, please help!" The man's hands practically dragged you toward the hospital doors, and you almost went pale when you saw a woman with swollen face and hands, clinging to the entrance door with one hand while clutching her belly tightly with the other.
"Get a wheelchair!" You rushed to get to the woman, supporting her as best you could. Though it was your first time treating real patients, you knew perfectly well the symptoms they should have, and the swollen face and hands were definitely not a good sign.
You quickly thanked the nurse who provided the wheelchair, feeling your chest race every time the woman cried out in pain. Both of you helped the woman sit down and rushed her to a stretcher, with her husband following behind. His panic-stricken expression perfectly mirrored what you were feeling at the moment.
"I need you to help me lift her onto the stretcher," you looked at the nurse, who nodded firmly before leaving the woman lying on the stretcher. Both of you worked to stabilize the patient as best you could, and it wasn’t until you took her blood pressure that you truly grasped the seriousness of the situation. You suspected her pain wasn’t from contractions, but you really hoped your diagnosis in the middle of the crisis was wrong. "Please call Doctor Kim."
As soon as the nurse left the room, you tried to distance yourself from the woman, careful not to hurt her at any moment. "How many weeks is the baby?" you asked while observing her vital signs. You urgently needed an ultrasound.
"She’s 32 weeks," murmured the man, watching anxiously as his wife lay on the stretcher, tubes in her arms, and a mask helping her breathe. "What’s wrong with Minji, doctor? Will she be okay?" He stayed silent for a moment before finishing, "Will our baby be okay?"
Your heart tightened in your chest when you heard his question. You couldn’t guarantee the well-being of either of them due to hospital policy, and Minji's condition, as he had called her, wasn’t looking good. You didn’t want to say something and then have to watch the man break down with the news.
You felt a great weight lift from your shoulders when you saw Taehyung enter with the nurse. His steps were firm and quick, and his face was much more serious than when you saw him last. You couldn’t help but feel guilty for having called him on short notice; had he gotten upset about that? Should you apologize?
"Give me a second," you said kindly to the man, moving toward Taehyung while rubbing your sweaty hands against your coat. You were on the verge of a nervous breakdown, but the patient needed you, so you would push down the urge to collapse on the floor and cry, and you would tell your supervisor everything you knew so far. "Her name is Minji, she’s 32 weeks, she came in with severe abdominal pain, her face and hands are swollen, and her blood pressure is far above normal. She had trouble breathing on her own, so we put her on a respirator," you whispered, keeping your gaze fixed on Minji.
"What do you think it is?" Taehyung, just like you, seemed to be paying close attention to the woman’s condition, focusing on her vital signs and blood pressure.
"Her symptoms are typical of preeclampsia. It’s hard to detect it earlier due to the commonality of its symptoms during pregnancy, which would explain why it hasn’t been treated until now," you looked at Minji’s husband, guilt and sorrow flooding you almost instantly. You needed to work on controlling your emotions. "I wanted to ask for an ultrasound to check the baby’s condition and see if we need to intervene in the pregnancy or not."
Taehyung nodded silently, approaching the stretcher and signaling to the nurse to follow with a gesture. "I need a portable obstetric ultrasound here in the emergency room immediately. Tell the imaging technician that this is an obstetric emergency. Ask them to prioritize fetal viability and amniotic fluid examination," while he spoke, he checked the fetal heartbeats with a portable Doppler monitor, frowning at the irregularity in the rhythm. "Also, make sure the ultrasound specialist is informed so we can get quick results."
"Are you her husband?" he asked the man, who quickly nodded, quietly saying his name.
"Alright, Mr. Jihoon," Taehyung remained as calm as possible while helping the man sit in one of the nearby chairs, "Your wife has a condition called preeclampsia. In simple terms, it’s when the mother’s blood pressure rises dangerously, and it comes with other symptoms like protein in the urine," he said in a soft tone, trying to calm the man while explaining the situation. "Right now, we’re trying to keep her stable with some medications. Is she allergic to any medications?" He sighed when the man nervously shook his head. "Perfect. We’re going to do an ultrasound to check the baby’s condition. Doctor Y/N told me she’s 32 weeks, so it’s crucial to be sure how advanced the situation is."
"W-what happens if it’s too advanced?" murmured the man with a trembling voice.
You nearly choked on your saliva when you saw Taehyung signaling for you to answer his question.
"If... If preeclampsia is too advanced, we’ll need to treat your wife with corticosteroids before proceeding with the birth. It’s dangerous to intervene before 34 weeks of gestation," you said softly, trying to imitate Taehyung’s calm tone. You knew he had years of experience, but that didn’t change the fact that you envied his composure. Would you be like that after working here as many years as he had?
Taehyung nodded silently, looking at Jihoon with a gentle smile. "There are no signs of seizures yet, so there’s still a chance it hasn’t reached a stage that would endanger the natural delivery of your child."
Jihoon nodded silently, resting his elbows on his knees and running his hands through his hair. He looked utterly devastated, and you understood. Just hours ago, he probably thought everything was fine with his wife and her pregnancy, and now he was receiving the news that she had a condition that affected her pregnancy and could endanger both of their lives.
You wanted to approach the man to offer some comfort, but almost immediately, Taehyung’s large hand held your wrist, gently shaking his head, signaling for you not to do what you thought you were about to do.
Yes, maybe you had forgotten his presence at your side for a moment.
You returned to your original position, taking deep breaths to calm the nerves that were slowly starting to settle after your supervisor’s arrival, who now seemed unwilling to take his eyes off you. Again.
You let out a long sigh, refocusing your attention on Minji’s blood pressure.
Your professional life was just beginning, and it already felt like a mess.