The hospital was only 15 minutes away, but the drive was 25 minutes long. Lori kept having to pull over to quiet Ji-woon’s cries and readjust the cloth. She was grateful when she finally drove into the lot. When they parked. She picked up Ji-woon and ran through the entrance straight to the front desk. She panted out a barely comprehensible explanation, but the attendant understood easily when she saw the blood stained cloth under the young boy’s chin. She made a phone call and then instructed Lori to an office down the hall once she hung up. 

Once inside the doctor’s office, Lori had to soothe Ji-woon while the doctor sutured his chin. She knew the process would be painless, but Ji-woon hated the sight of needles. He would get nervous at the sight of a safety pin. Lori distracted Ji-woon by telling him stories and reminding him of how proud Daddy would be if he let the doctor help him. After a few minutes, the doctor was applying a small gauze and handing Ji-woon a stuffed teddy bear. Her baby boy had suffered so much today, so Lori was happy to see him smiling. 

She was carrying Ji-woon out into the hall when she saw Mrs. Choi talking with Dong-chan. Lori couldn’t help but notice how Dong-chan kept holding his stomach. His skin looked a little pale too. As she moved closer, Mrs. Choi looked up and stood to meet Lori. 

“Lori, I’m glad I caught you.”

“Is everything okay?” Lori felt her hip starting to ache, so she switched Ji-woon to the other one.

“I’m afraid not. It seems like the boys had gotten into some spoiled yogurt.”

It seems? Lori thought. She raised an eyebrow and waited for Mrs. Choi to continue.

“I’m so sorry. I thought they were still playing in Han-jae’s room and didn’t realize they had gone to the kitchen to get a snack.”

Lori was becoming irritated. “Why would you keep spoiled yogurt in the fridge? Why didn’t you call? DC’s been home for a full two hours after getting back from your house. I’m sure you probably noticed the signs of food poisoning in your own son during that time. And don’t you usually have the kids ask before they get a snack?”

Mrs. Choi was a bit taken aback by the questions but recovered quickly. “My husband left it. He had forgotten to throw it out. I’m sorry I didn’t speak with you sooner. It was only an hour ago that I noticed Han-jae looking queasy before I took him to the hospital. And I typically allow him to eat whenever-”

Mrs. Choi stopped mid-sentence when she heard a loud cough and a gurgling sound. Both she and Lori turned around to see Dong-chan retching on the floor. Lori ran back into the doctor’s office and asked him to help her other son. The doctor sent a message to the front desk to send over some nurses and a clean up crew. When they got back out into the hall, Dong-chan had stopped throwing up and was being helped by two nurses into a nearby bathroom. A janitor came shortly after and began to clean up the mess. 

Lori took April and Ji-woon into the doctor’s office. Mrs. Choi had bid her last apology before excusing herself to check on Han-jae, who was down the hall. Lori felt a small pain spreading through the back of her neck, up to her head. The clock on the office wall-phone told her it was 4:30pm. Himchan should be home within two and half hours. Lori prayed that God would give her the strength to take care of the kids, and finish the meal before her husband returned. 

While waiting for the nurses to clean up Dong-chan, the doctor gave Lori a prescription for him along with instructions on how to help him feel better. She added it to the other prescription she had been given for Ji-woon’s chin. The doctor checked Dong-chan once he came back. When she got the okay to take him home, Lori herded the kids into the car and stopped at a drug-store before going back to the house. Once inside, she made a quick snack for April and Ji-woon. She gave Dong-chan his medicine and a glass of water before instructing him to take a nap. Once her other two had finished eating, she had them to take naps as well. Lori returned to the kitchen exhausted. All she wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep for two days straight. She opened the fridge and took out the cake batter she never finished mixing before she left. She hoped it would still turn out okay. 

While the cake was baking, Lori went to her bedroom to do some more work. She passed by the mirror and couldn’t help but laugh at her reflection. She looked like a frumpy ahjumma. She was wearing a pair of old jeans and her husband’s over-sized hoodie. In the rush of events, she had apparently forgotten to wear a bra. She hoped the doctor hadn’t noticed. Her bob looked a mess, and it was still slightly damp from the shower she took that morning. Speaking of showers, she probably needed to take another one. Her armpits had sweated due to the heat of the kitchen. There were also dark circles under her eyes from the lack of sleep. 

After taking a good look at herself, Lori opted to shower instead of work. She supposed she could work on the blueprints later that night. 

The hot shower helped a bit. Lori’s muscles didn’t feel as knotted and her headache was gone. She wrapped her hair in a towel before going to the kitchen to take the cake out of the oven. In spite of the hectic day, it came out beautifully. Lori smiled to herself. Himchan would have the perfect dinner afterall. She left the cake on the counter to cool. She and the kids would frosten it later. She returned to her room to blow dry her hair. Lori hoped the sound wouldn’t wake the kids. She had only intended for them to nap an hour, but she needed time to prep herself. She decided another hour wouldn’t hurt.