Gary regains conscious, but he couldn’t open his eyes. The strong smell of detergent tickled his nose. His fingers moved ever so slightly, but it was enough to wake Jihyo up.

“Gary?” she whispered, cautious hope in her voice.

His lips trembled in an attempt to speak, but no words could form.

“You’re awake, right? You can hear me?” she asked again, her voice tight with fear. Tears trickled off her cheeks, landing on his hand. She pressed the bell for the doctor, who came promptly and did a brief check-up.

The long story was incomprehensible to her. It was filled with so much medical jargons. The short story was that the tumour in his brain has shifted, and basically it’s pressing on some important nerves, which results in temporal lack of control of several muscles. Would it worsen? The doctors don’t know. Will it kill him? They don’t know either. They never know anything.

Gary could open his eyes now. His eyes teared reflexively due to the bright light.

“Gary!” Jihyo called, running over to him. His heart ached when he saw her red, swollen eyes. How much fear did he cause her?

He raised his hand, with much effort, and caressed her cheeks. He doesn’t say anything, but that was all it took to get her crying again.

The rest of the day was spent in the hospital, with Gary going through one check-up after another.

Again, he felt like dying right away. He felt like this was worse than death. When he was para