"We need to treat your wounds. They're going to be infected."
The wounds on the man's shoulder were not getting any better. The daggers of the goblins had been laced with dirt and bacteria, and the prolonged exposure to the soot-filled air was of no help as well. They needed to find medical supplies, fast.
"Time to take a detour. Towards the medical faculty."
The infection was getting worse, as seen by the man starting to walk in a zigzag manner, narrowly crashing into nearby trees and objects. Dodak quickly ran to his side and put the man's shoulder around him, helping him to walk. They were too far away from the library, and were only a few minutes away from the medical faculty, but Dodak felt that time was running out. As he turned to look at the man, he could see his once tan and handsome face had become ghastly pale. Beads of sweat dripped from the sides of his face as he struggled to stay up.
"Hang in there, we're almost there."
"I really might die huh."
"Please don't say that. I won't let you die."
Dodak quickened their pace and soon, they were inside the building. The building was eerily quiet, and the sensor lights that were supposed to turn on were dead. Only the natural sunlight illuminated the once grand building. The chairs around the area were flipped and overturned, the potted plants were smashed and stains of blood were etched on the floor. This was unfortunately a common sight. What made the place truly eerie was the lack of lifeless bodies, despite the spilled blood.
"To the… left."
The man pointed towards the sign above that stated 'Wards' with a forward arrow. Without wasting any more time, Dodak immediately set their path towards that direction, occasionally stumbling due to the weight of the man.
As they entered the ward room, Dodak was horrified to see the hospital beds lined with bloodstained bedsheets. It was obvious a massacre had occurred here. He quickly manoeuvred the man over to one of the few clean beds and set him down before rushing over to the pharmacy counter. As he quickly scanned through the various medicines in front of him, a chilling realisation dawned on him.
He had zero clue as to what medicine was useful, and how to administer them. The only thing he knew was paracetamol, and that needed to be administered by an IV. Where to get one, where to get needles and the proper procedures for doing so were all blanks in his head. This was completely out of his expertise.
Sweat started to bead down the sides of his head as he gulped down his spit nervously. He needed to act quickly. He had to do something. If he didn't, the man lying before him might just succumb to the infection.
"Fuck, where is the paracetamol?"
His eyes darted about, scanning everything in sight. In a corner of the cabinet, he saw labels of salbutamol and albuterol. In another, he saw stacks of amoxicillin and azithromycin. Antiemetics were in the level below those. Insulin was placed neatly at the top.
All these names were foreign to him. They meant absolutely nothing and that made him even more anxious. How was he supposed to find something to treat the man?
He had to think outside the box. The most frequently needed medicines would likely be placed nearer to the staff for convenience, while the more rarely needed would be stashed higher up. But even so, what would amoxicillin and azithromycin, which were nearer to the bottom of the wall-wielded cabinet, be used for?
A sudden clang was what brought him out of his deep thoughts. He turned towards the hospital bed to see an oddly shaped goblin. It was standing over the man, watching him intently. However, the goblin was remarkably fatter than all those that he had met so far, excluding the goblin king.
Dodak was about to throw a poisoned dagger when he realised that it was in too close proximity to the man. He could not afford to miss and poison the already infected man. So, he stealthily crept over to the goblin, walking silently yet swiftly so that he could go back to his main task of figuring out the appropriate medicine. He was centimetres away from the goblin and about to strike when he noticed a faint patch of peach skin between the green neck and back of the goblin.
"Knife wounds on the arms, likely from a fight. Wounds blackened, probably an infection that spread into the bloodstream."
A human-like, female voice came from the weird goblin as it peered closer to the injured man.
"Do you know how to treat him?"
The goblin, startled, turned around and yelped when she saw the dagger inches away from her face.
"Yes, I do. He needs antibiotics first, followed by an IV drip. They should be in the cabinet above there."
Dodak rushed back to the cabinet, vaulting over the counter as he shouted.
"What are they called?"
"Get me penicillin or cephalosporin. A type of penicillin is called amoxicillin. Azithromycin also works. Get an alcohol swab and a needle from the counter as well."
Dodak had been right. The commonly used medicines that were akin to paracetamol were nearer to the bottom. Once he had scooped up the required items, he rushed back to the goblin woman and handed her the items.
"Now close the curtains and let me work. There might be threats lurking outside. Don't let anything in."
Following that, she removed her goblin gloves made of their flesh, sanitised her hands and pulled on surgical gloves. Then, she focused her full attention on the man. When Dodak did not close the curtains and instead watched her do her work, she made a 'tsk' sound of disapproval and motioned towards the curtains before resuming her work. Dodak obliged and pulled the curtains, leaving the man with the goblin woman they had just met.
Dodak then walked to the door and leaned against the corridor.
Today, because of him, he had almost made the man lose his life. He had made someone that he knew would follow him without hesitation, go with him to these dangerous places. He knew he had to get stronger. If any of the people he cared for were to die because of him, he would never forgive himself.
His mind wandered off to Jisung, who he had not talked to for a day. Ever since the greenhouse incident, Jisung had been glued to Song Jiwoo and last he heard, they were still focused on their very noble mission to save everyone that they could and bring them to the library. Dodak had warned Jisung it was a foolish plan. Cha Haeul would eventually be unable to sustain the growing requirements the library needed, and there was no one else that was capable of growing food like her. While their last conversation ended on a sour note, Dodak hoped he would be able to convince the aforementioned before it was too late.
Before his mind could wander off too far, the stains on the wall shot him back to reality. All the crimson splatters across the walls and floor could not have been from the goblins as their blood was black. However, the perpetrators of the stains were nowhere to be found. The hallways were empty and there was an evident lack of bodies. Something had happened to them. While unlikely, perhaps there was a group of survivors in the building that had cleaned the place up. The woman in the goblin flesh could very well be one of their people.
"You can come over now."
Dodak heard the woman's voice from inside the wards and quickly made his way beside the man. He looked better than before, but still evidently fatigued. The woman stepped aside to allow Dodak to get closer to the man.
"I'll talk to you later. It seems like you have some important things to talk about."
After the woman left, Dodak wrapped the man in a tight embrace.
"I thought I was going to lose you. The wounds didn't seem that infected after we left the central square, but then they became so serious all of a sudden. Then the medicines were all labelled with names I didn't understand. I should have thought of all this. This is my fault."
The man remained silent and patted Dodak's back before caressing his hair.
"Don't be silly. I thought the wounds were fine as well. Turns out goblin blood and dirt is really dirty. And hell, how were you supposed to know what those medicines were even for? You're not even medically trained. This all wasn't your fault. You did your best and brought me here. If it wasn't for that, I probably would have been dead."
"So much for being able to handle yourself."
As it turns out, comforting might not have been the man's strong suit, for sniffing sounds started coming from Dodak and small beads of tears rolled down his face.
"Fuck, don't cry, okay. I'm still alive right?"
It was as if those were the trigger words to open the floodgate. More tears started flowing out from the hazel eyes.
From the corridor outside, the woman in the goblin costume could only peek inside the room and knit her eyebrows.
"These two need to get a room…"
~~~
"Are you finally done bawling your eyes out?"
As Dodak stepped out of the ward room, he was met with the woman in the goblin costume who had saved his friend.
Now that he had the luxury of peace, he could finally register her in his mind. She had a pale, smooth complexion that was contrasted with her curly, black hair that looked like she had been electrocuted. She was still largely in her goblin costume, which upon closer inspection, was made of actual goblin body parts. They were still relatively fresh, as noted through their horrid stench. The goblin headpiece, which she had placed on the ground, was basically a carved pumpkin but with a goblin head, where only the exterior of the head remained as a costume.
"Yes, I'm done…Thank you for saving him."
"No worries. I'm not exactly a trained medical personnel so…it was a shot in the dark. Anyways, I'm Kim Harin. I studied biochemical engineering, hence the vague knowledge of the drugs and this weird suit."
"I'm Hye Dodak."
Kim Harin's cheek muscles tensioned as she gave a smile before picking her goblin head back up. It was evident she had something on her mind.
"It was nice meeting you. But you should probably leave before nightfall."
Her voice was adamant and her eyebrows were knitted tightly.
"Why? If you need any help, please do tell me. I need to return the favour anyways."
She looked at Dodak sternly, her eyes narrowed. Even though she was shorter than him, she felt equally as oppressive as him. She glared at him for a while before she sighed and brushed her hair.
"Guess it doesn't hurt to tell you. But you'll probably run away in fear after hearing about this. Let's go inside to talk. It's not safe out here."