Chapter 3

It was a busy day at the care home when Joohyun arrived. There were a few elders in the garden getting some sun and a couple are in the lounge playing chess.

“Later at lunch, I’ll introduce you to everyone okay?”

“Thank you immo”

Tina sent her to her room for the next month or so. Joohyun looked around, it was a small room, definitely smaller than her room in Seoul but it gives her a warm feeling. The walls have bars of which she can use to help herself get up and walk a bit without having to call someone for help. She conditioned her mind that from her on out, she doesn’t have anyone to do things for her. She has to do everything herself.

She was placing her clothes in the wardrobe when Tina knocked on her slightly open door.

“Hyunah, lunch is ready, let’s go.”

Joohyun smiled, “Arasseoyo, gomawoyo.”

When they reached the dining there were 10 staffs about to eat their lunch when Tina called their attention.

“Everyone this is my niece Seo Joohyun, she’s the daughter of my brother, you can call her Hyun or Joohyun”

There was a chorus of “Hey Joohyun!”

“Hyunie, right there,” Tina pointed at the corner of the long table, “the girl with pink hair is Grace, one of our resident nurses, beside her is Vangy, another nurse of ours, they usually take turns with the shift along with Tom, and that is him sitting across Vangy. Tom usually get the night shift but he’s finishing some paper works so he’s still here.”

The bulky guy gave Joohyun a wave and she bowed a little for acknowledgment.

Tina move to the next table, “right over here is Cynthia, our home manager, she oversees everything. From patient needs, to scheudles, to supplies and home activities. Lydia, she works in the office side but helps out Cynthia too. We also have Cy, another nurse but a part timer so there are days when you might not be able to see her.”

“And lastly our assistants Michelle, Brandon and Chase, they too take turns with the shifts, as you can see, we take care of elders here so once in a while they may need our help to do something.”

Joohyun nodded and smiled and greeted each one. She wanted to memorize their faces and names so as not offend anyone. It also gave her her much needed boost of confidence to get well soon. In between the day she finally decided to leave Korea, and up to that moment, there were instances that she’s hesitating. Questioning herself if she can really do it but yes, she did it and finally she is here.

Tina and Joohyun joined the staff for lunch. They talked about what they usually do and made fun of each other which made Joohyun more at eased.

She doesn’t know if it’s will power and being surrounded by medical staff and heart-warming elders but it only took her a week after Joohyun arriving in the US to be able to walk by herself again. No walker, no cane, though she’s slow at first but eventually was able to walk again like nothing happened. She asked her parents to let her stay with her aunt for the time being and promised to go home soon.

One morning, she was walking outside the garden when she heard a loud thump followed by a wail. She immediately followed the sound and found Mrs. Locke on the ground. She ran to the old woman and checked for any wounds.

“Are you okay Mrs. Locke?”

The older woman shook her head and pointed to her elbows. Joohyun quickly checked and found nothing. She called for one of the assistants to help her sit Mrs. Locke back down on her wheelchair but no one is coming so she decided to move the lady by herself. She still feels some weakness in her body but she can’t just leave the old woman on the ground, so she gathered her strength as she pulled Mrs. Locke up and assisted her back down to her wheelchair. Joohyun was still trying to catch her breath,

“I’ll get you inside okay so that Grace can check you.”

She wheeled the woman in and called Grace in the other room. “Hey Grace, Mrs. Locke had a fall, I don’t think she was seriously hurt anywhere but she was pointing to her elbows.”

“Ouch!” Grace frowned then smiled, “thank you Hyunie, I’ll check on her.”

Grace went inside the room where Mrs. Locke is while Joohyun just stood outside.

“Why don’t you go in?” It was Vangy coming in with her bag. “You look shaken there.”

Joohyun smiled, “I just wanted to make sure Mrs. Locke is okay.”

“She will be, usually as long as there are no cuts nor wounds and she didn’t hit her head and she’s from a sitting form, there’s nothing to be worried about. If she complains dizziness or anything unusual after, we can get one of our providers in or send her to the ER”

Vangy can see that Joohyun was twisting her hands so she patted the younger woman’s shoulder, “Good thing you were there, you were able to help her out”

Grace came out of the room and saw the two, “she’ll be fine, we’ll check for bruises later but she has no scratches at all. Thanks’ for being quick Joohyun”

“Exactly what I said,” Vangy replied. “Mrs. Locke is not very sociable unlike our other residents; she usually just keeps to herself. She has been waiting for her children to visit her but there are all scattered all over the country.”

“Why don’t they visit?” she asked.

“Well, as far as we know, they’re really not in good terms with her. The family is filthy rich but I guess in the process, she forgot what really matters. Money can’t buy everything as they say, and with Mrs. Locke’s case, it’s true”

“Hey, have you ever considered being an MA or a nurse? I mean, as I can see, you look natural when you do stuff like this.”

Joohyun shook her head, “I don’t know. I just do what I am asked to do.”

“And you do them perfectly! Who knew a rich girl like you can learn to change sheets within the span of what 3 days?”

The 3 of them laughed.

“Don’t forget that she also cleaned up Mr. Fitzpatrick’s room when he was very sick.”

“Yeah, Joohyun, I really think you should try, I mean if you plan to stay here longer, might as well do something to pass time” Vangy urged.

“An additional nurse won’t be so bad you know,” Grace joked.

And so, she did, she told her parents about it after she’s already enrolled. Yoona helpe