By Zephyria 
75
“T-Together? Sir, you are a Bondmate, how could you with someone like me……”
A Bondmate should be with the God of War. Although I am separated from Tae-muk, that’s because I lack combat skills. Anyway, I felt uneasy as if I was taking the Bondmate away from Gil-sang. But Gil-sang didn’t seem to mind at all.
“I’ll just look around here once, and I’ll follow soon. The Commander might come before that. Don’t worry and go get some rest. You should show ‘Im’ to the doctor.”
Gil-sang was about to hand the child he was holding to the woman. Ho-eun took the child from him in between.
“I-I’ll hold him.”
Aside from the fact that I am a man and she is a woman, it seemed right for me, who had free hands, to hold the child rather than the person holding a sword. The child I received was heterogeneous and light. He seemed to have lost a lot of blood. Ho-eun’s face immediately turned serious.
“I think we need to go quickly.”
“……”
‘Im,’ who glanced at the child’s condition, nodded as if agreeing. Ho-eun hugged the child tightly and ran towards the hospital entrance in the distance. Im followed him.
Gil-sang stared at the two people moving away for a moment, then turned his head at the soldier’s urging.
It wasn’t easy to get to the hospital because the yard was crowded. Horses that hadn’t found their place yet, various weapons scattered haphazardly, shabby tents that seemed to house soldiers, and… countless corpses covered in white cloths. There was no place to step.
“……”
Ho-eun tried to ignore them and kept running. Saving the child in his arms was the priority. And finally, he entered the main gate of the hospital.
Crunch.
A strange sound came from under his feet. It felt like something was pulling at the soles of his feet. Ho-eun glanced down.
The floor was all… blood red. It was strangely soft and thick. It wasn’t just pooled blood, but accumulated blood. Judging by its stickiness beyond being soggy, it didn’t seem like blood that had gathered in a day or two.
“……”
Ho-eun’s breath stopped for a moment. He had been in and out of the hospital countless times, and he had seen countless sick and injured people there, but he had never seen so much blood.
Yes, the hospital wouldn’t only have evacuees. There would also be injured people. That was the original purpose of the hospital.
Ho-eun took a deep breath.
Somehow, he had a feeling that it would be difficult to find a doctor.
The hospital was covered in blood. The floors and walls, as well as the ceilings, were often stained with blood. It was as if red rain had fallen indoors.
Also, there were so many beds, extending beyond the wards and into the hallways, and none of them were maintaining their pristine white color. Each one was soaked with blood and damp. Blood dripping from the empty beds, where there were no patients, was eerily unsettling.
The stench of blood pierced his nose. The fishy smell mixed with the disinfectant was unlike any other smell he had ever encountered.
“……”
As Ho-eun wandered the hallway looking for a doctor, the dead carried on stretchers passed him by without end. At the same time, people with tattered bodies were also being carried in on stretchers. Those who were already dead and those on the verge of death continued to cross paths.
And screams like groans erupted from everywhere.
It hurts, it hurts so much, please save me.
No, just kill me instead.
No, no, please save me, no, kill me…….
Sometimes there were cries, and sometimes there were wails or arguments.
People who appeared to be refugees were squatting against the walls of the hallway or lying asleep on the blood-soaked floor. Everyone’s eyes were empty, as if they weren’t alive.
Thus, the hospital was filled with blood, screams, and despair, leaving no room to step. This place was a different kind of hell than the battlefield.
“……”
Ho-eun, now pale, pressed the back of the child’s head against his chest. The child had already lost consciousness, but he still didn’t want to show him this scene. It was a scene he couldn’t handle himself, so how much worse would it be for the child’s eyes?
Ho-eun continued to wander around looking for a doctor. Then, he stepped on a stream of blood flowing from somewhere and almost slipped. He reflexively hugged the child tightly. Thud, someone grabbed his elbow. It was Im, Gil-sang’s Bondmate.
“Thank you.”
Ho-eun bowed slightly. Then, Im pointed somewhere with her fingertip. Ho-eun turned his gaze in that direction.
At the end of the hallway, where light was coming in through the window, a man and a woman were wrapping bandages around the side of someone lying on a bed. The man was wearing glasses and a white coat, which was completely soaked in blood. Beside him was a woman presumed to be a nurse. Her hands, which were helping the doctor and moving busily, were covered in blood.
At that moment, Ho-eun recalled something he had heard once.
‘Look at us too. We’re always patching up torn people, so the blood stuck in our fingernails never has a chance to come out.’
A long time ago, no, not so long ago, on the day Ho-eun manifested as a Bondmate, a nurse in the hospital had said that.
“……”
Ho-eun couldn’t bring himself to approach them even after seeing them. The patient the doctor was treating was in a much more critical condition. The patient’s side had been bitten off by a Devouring Ghoul, and the bandages turned red as soon as they were applied. Every time the doctor lifted his body to wrap the bandages, his limbs limply drooped and swayed.
Ho-eun looked around again. It seemed better to find another doctor, but he didn’t know how long it would take to find one, or even if he could find one at all.
Ho-eun hurriedly laid the child on a chair placed at the entrance of the hallway. Then, he carefully rolled up the child’s pants.
The soft calf flesh was deeply hollowed out. The bones were also crushed messily. Even if he received treatment now, it seemed he wouldn’t be able to walk.
He’s still a child… He’s too young…
Ho-eun pressed his lips tightly and took out a handkerchief from his pocket. The handkerchief embroidered with flowers was given to him by his mother, and he had once used it to wipe Tae-muk’s blood. He had washed it well with cold water, so there wasn’t a single stain left, and it was pure white.
Ho-eun rolled up the handkerchief and tied it around the child’s knee. He thought he should stop the bleeding first. But as the wound was pressed, the child’s limbs twitched as if convulsing, and the child faintly opened his eyes.
“It……hurts……”
“It hurts? I’m sorry.”
“It hurts……”
“What should I do… I still have to do it. Can you bear with it a little? Just a little……”
“It hurts-ah! I don’t want to! Don’t do it, don’t do it!”
The child screamed and whined. He also flailed his limbs. Just as Ho-eun was about to pull his hand away, feeling embarrassed, Im, who was next to him, grabbed the child’s thigh with both hands and pressed down hard. It was a rather ruthless touch, but thanks to that, Ho-eun was able to tie the handkerchief around the child’s knee without incident.
By then, the child’s face was completely wet with cold sweat. He seemed to be in a lot of pain. His body, which had been cold just a moment ago, was now hot and feverish. He might even develop an infection.
Ho-eun bit his lower lip and looked at the doctor and nurse who were fighting for the patient’s life at the end of the hallway. Then, with his gaze fixed on them, he said to Im.
“Please watch the child for a moment.”
Then, as he headed towards the doctor, Im suddenly picked up the child, slung him over her shoulder, grabbed her sword, and immediately followed Ho-eun. Because she didn’t make a sound, Ho-eun didn’t even know she was following him.
By the time Ho-eun crossed the long hallway and reached the end, the doctor had fortunately finished tying the bandage around the patient’s stomach. Ho-eun didn’t miss the moment and quickly approached him. And he said in a polite voice.
“Excuse me, doctor. A child is injured. His calf was bitten, and he lost a lot of blood. Can you help him?”
But the doctor didn’t even look at Ho-eun, and took off his blood-splattered glasses, wiping them roughly with the end of his coat.
“There are many critical patients right now, so please wait.”
“Yes, I know, but is there anything you can do? He’s still a young child.”
Ho-eun took one step closer behind the doctor. At that, the doctor turned around to face Ho-eun with a face full of irritation. He opened his mouth to say something, but.
“……”
He closed it again without saying anything in particular. He looked at Ho-eun’s face, then lowered his gaze to look at Ho-eun’s attire. The silk clothes, which looked very, very precious even though they were splattered with some blood. The silk Hair Tie draped over one shoulder. And the white skin that seemed like it had never seen the sunlight in its life.
The man with glasses scanned Ho-eun up and down again, then cleared his throat. He straightened his neck and puffed out his chest.
“Who is the injured child? You haven’t put your hair up, so he can’t be your son.”
“Uh……”
“Is he your younger sibling?”
“No, he’s not.”
“Then is he your servant?”
“That’s…… also not it.”
“……”
The doctor looked at Ho-eun as if asking what he was then. Ho-eun also stared blankly at him. He couldn’t understand why the doctor was asking such questions. A child was injured. He lost a lot of blood. But it was strange that the first thing he asked was about the child’s identity.