Chapter 25 — The First Heartbeat

Monday, the day of the basic first aid certification exam, came faster than Thien Kim thought. The exam was held at Phan Dinh Phung High School, with the supervision of judges from the city's Red Cross, including Ms. Lien, who spoke at the previous Community First Aid Day.

The exam consists of two parts: a thirty-minute written theory test, and a practical test, in which each candidate will have to handle a randomly drawn simulated situation, under the direct observation of an examiner.

Thien Kim completed the theory section smoothly, confidently answering most of the questions thanks to the solid knowledge base she has built over the past four months. When it came to the practical part, when her name was called, she walked into the exam room with a familiar feeling of nervousness, but different from the panic of previous times — this was a healthy nervousness, the nervousness of someone who had prepared carefully and believed in her own abilities.

She drew lots of situations: a person fell down the stairs, suspected a broken arm, and had a slight bleeding wound on the head. Thien Kim carried out the full process: assessing the safety of the scene, checking the victim's reaction, treating the head wound with a hemostatic pressure bandage, immobilizing the suspected broken hand with a splint and a triangle bandage, all of which were done accurately, although not without a few seconds of slight hesitation as she considered the order of priority for treatment.

“Very good,” the judge commented after she finished, making notes on the evaluation sheet. "Especially the way you handled two problems simultaneously without missing the initial assessment step."

When walking out of the exam room, Thien Kim saw Minh Vu waiting in the hallway, having completed his exam earlier. "How's it going?" he asked, his eyes filled with concern.

"I think I did well," Thien Kim replied, a relieved smile on her lips. "Not perfect, but I think I handled it okay."

"That's the most important thing," Minh Vu said, smiling proudly.

The exam results were announced two days later, on Wednesday. Thien Kim, along with the majority of club members participating in the exam, all achieved basic first aid certification at the city level - an important milestone marking the maturity of a long journey of learning.

In the evening after knowing the results, Minh Vu texted and invited Thien Kim to go to the park near the school, where they had passed by many times while taking each other home but had never stopped for long. "I want to talk to you about something important," his message read, making Thien Kim both nervous and eager to know what was about to happen.

They met at a bench under the park lights, the December air was chilly but pleasant, the clear night sky was rare in Hanoi's winter, dotted with a few sparkling stars.

"Congratulations on getting your certificate," Minh Vu said, opening the conversation, with undisguised joy in his voice. "I know, your journey to this result was much more difficult than most people's."

"Thank you," Thien Kim replied, smiling. "But I think you have something to tell me, right? Your text message sounded very serious."

Minh Vu took a deep breath, his eyes, under the dim park lights, contained a deep sincerity that Thien Kim had never seen before, even in the moment he almost confessed his feelings a few weeks ago. "Thien Kim, do you remember that afternoon with the blood pressure monitor? At that time, I almost said my feelings, but then withdrew because I was afraid of being too hasty."

"I remember," she replied, her heart beating faster as she guessed where he was taking the story.

"After everything we've been through — from the first practices, to Community First Aid Day, to the last few difficult weeks when we almost lost each other due to misunderstandings — I'm more certain than ever about my feelings," Minh Vu said, his voice unshakable, filled with determination. "I love you, Thien Kim. Not because you are perfect, not because you always handle every situation excellently. But because you are the one who dares to face your biggest fear, dares to stand up after every fall, and dares to live true to your imperfect self. That is the most beautiful thing I have ever witnessed."

Thien Kim felt tears rising, not because of sadness, but because of an overwhelming happiness that couldn't be expressed in words. She remembered all the moments that brought her here — from that first stressful club activity, to the first line she wrote in her notebook, to the times she froze, the times she stood up, and now, this moment, when she finally felt worthy of being fully loved.

"I love you too," she said, her voice choked but utterly sincere. "I think, I have loved you for a long time, maybe since the afternoon you patiently guided me through the first compressions, when I froze for the first time in front of the mannequin. But I need time, I need to learn to love and trust myself first, then I can truly open my heart to receive love from others."

"I understand, and I think it's the right thing for you to do," Minh Vu said, his eyes filled with appreciation. "I don't want you to love me as a way to fill your lack of confidence in yourself. I want you to love me when you've truly loved and accepted yourself first, and I think, today, you've reached that point."

They sat next to each other in silence for a while, enjoying that moment to the fullest, before Minh Vu gently held Thien Kim's hand, a simple gesture but containing so much meaning after a long and challenging journey that the two had overcome together.

"I want to thank you," Thien Kim said, her voice soft, her head resting lightly on his shoulder. "Not just because of the love you have for me, but because of everything you've taught me — not just about first aid, but about how to live, how to accept yourself, how to love yourself before you can truly love others."

"I also learned a lot from you," Minh Vu replied, gently squeezing her hand. "You taught me that, no matter how experienced and skilled I am, there are always new lessons to learn, new perspectives to explore. And more importantly, you taught me that true love is not about finding a perfect person, but about finding someone who dares to live truthfully, dare to grow with you through every challenge."

"I have a question," Thien Kim said after a warm silence, looking up at him. "The little roll of gauze you gave me the day after the Festival, do you remember? During the weeks I avoided you, I always carried it with me, even though at that time I didn't dare admit to myself why."

"I can guess a bit," Minh Vu smiled lightly, his eyes warm. "You know, when I kept that tape, I didn't fully understand my own feelings. I just had a vague feeling that this would be something important, something I would want to remember later."

“Now I think I understand,” she said, smiling. "It wasn't just a milestone for my progress in the club. It was a milestone for our beginnings, even though neither of us dared to name it at the time."

Minh Vu nodded, pulled her a little closer, letting her head rest comfortably on his shoulder. "I think, in the future, when we look back, we will always remember that little roll of gauze as a symbol — not for perfection, but for starting something from the first clumsy, unfinished times."

They talked more about their upcoming plans - about the fact that Thien Kim can now confidently take on the role of vice president of the club without doubting herself like before, about their plans for the next semester, about practice sessions, and other community events that the club may organize in the future. The atmosphere between them was now light and natural, as if all barriers and hesitations before had completely disappeared.

That night, under the clear winter sky, in the middle of a quiet park, Thien Kim and Minh Vu sat next to each other, hand in hand, without needing to say many more words, simply enjoying each other's presence, after a long and challenging journey that had brought them to this perfect moment.

That night, when she got home, Thien Kim opened her notebook and wrote the last lines of another important chapter in her life: "Today, Minh Vu and I finally told our true feelings. But what makes me happiest is not that someone loves me, but that I have learned to love myself first, enough to believe that I deserve to be loved without having to be perfect. The first heartbeat I felt most clearly in my life was probably the clearest in my life. not anyone else's heartbeat, but my own heartbeat, when it finally learns to accept and love itself."