Medical Note 

[I figured it's best if you read this onset of the chapter so there won't be any confusion]

Having a bone marrow transplant is a complicated five stage process.

1. a physical examination of the donor's body to assess the general level of health
2. obtaining the stem cells that will be used in the transplant (known as harvesting) [there are several ways to harvest a bone marrow but in this case Jiyeon's bone marrow will be extracted from her hip bone, a general anesthesia is needed and she will need to stay in the hospital for up to 48 hours after the operation
3. preparing for the donee's body for the transplant (known as conditioning)
4. transplanting the stem cells 
5. the recovery period, during which you will be monitored for any complications or side effects

You can read further about the procedure on these websites:

NHS.UK

NYTimes.com

Baby Jessica is set to arrive that day at the hospital. Minho made sure everything is in order. He didn’t need Jiyeon to ask him to do it. He knew just by looking at Jiyeon that she wanted him to do everything he can to sort everything. He didn’t ask her what happened; he was just there for her.

Jiyeon was on a continuous operation spree as if making herself pre-occupied. She didn’t want to be bothered. She didn’t want to talk about anything but purely her patients and surgeries. She was currently doing a bypass surgery in one of the operating rooms. She was in the middle of the operation when Minho’s voice interrupted them.

“Yah… Jiyeon…” Minho pressed the speaker button from the viewing area of the operating room where interns from the hospital could watch surgeries live. Minho kicked out the rest of the interns in the viewing area before calling Jiyeon’s name. She didn’t look up nor did she acknowledge that she heard him.

“Baby Jessica is set to arrive in a few hours. Everything is all sorted out. As soon as she arrives, we’ll have to start conditioning her body. I checked with Oncology and you haven’t scheduled your physical examination yet.” Minho informed her, patiently waiting for her reply. Jiyeon stops for a moment, he sees her take a deep breath and then she continues on her surgery.

“Jiyeon…” Minho called her name again.

“Leave me alone, Minho. I’ll schedule my exam after this.” Jiyeon said coldly.

“Don’t you want to at least be there when your…”

“Go. Away. Minho.” Jiyeon interrupted Minho before he could say anything more. She didn’t want to hear him continue. Minho sees her continuing on the surgery like nothing happened. He could see her shutting everyone else out. He knew it was a way of self preservation. People resort to different ways of self preservation. He, of all people, should know that. There was recognition in his eyes and he just sighed because he understands how Jiyeon is feeling.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything for you…” Minho said in resolve, still hoping for a hint of reaction in Jiyeon.

“I’m not worried. You owe me this for that kid I operated on from your foundation. You’re going to do everything you can to make sure no one screws up because… because you owe me.” Minho heard the slight falter in Jiyeon’s voice. Though her words and voice are full of arrogance and ungratefulness, he knew that it was her own way of pleading him to take care of Jessica.

*****

Jiyeon just finished with her operation. She was in the hallway of the 3rd floor of the hospital and was headed to the Resident’s Lounge to rest for a bit before her physical examination.

“Unnie!!!” She stopped walking and immediately recognized Chaerin’s voice. When she turned around, she saw Chaerin along with Seung Hyun and Jaejoong.

“What are you guys doing here?” Jiyeon asked in irritation. Chaerin glared at her and crossed her arms over her chest.

“I’m mad at you, unnie. You haven’t been showing up on our wedding meetings. You’re supposed to be my maid of honor and all you do is avoid me at all cost! And you didn’t even tell me you already have a new housemate! You even let her in the smaller forbidden room where you keep all sorts of old things. Now I find out that you actually have a baby… you have a baby girl… unnie… I’ve seen your baby… oh my gosh… she looks exactly like you… it’s just like looking at a mini-Jiyeon…” Seung Hyun held Chaerin’s arm, stopping her from speaking. Jaejoong and Seung Hyun could see Jiyeon’s face going pale, her hands forming into fists, her knuckles going white. Her face ashened upon hearing Chaerin talk about baby Jessica.

“She’s not my baby. I have no baby.” Jiyeon grated, her eyes turning into shards of glass. It was as if she was repeating those words in her mind like a chant. Chaerin abruptly closes and finally notices Jiyeon’s stilled reaction.

“Unnie…” Chaerin embraced her tightly and caressed her back.

“I know you’re not as unfeeling as you’d like to appear to be… you must want to see your baby…” Chaerin said shakily. Jiyeon pulled away from Chaerin.

“She has two parents who love her and she means the world to them. She’s not my baby. Never was, never will be.” Jiyeon turned her back on them and walked away.

*****

Jiyeon didn’t end up going to the Resident’s Lounge to rest and she headed straight to the Oncology department for her physical examination. As part of the examination, they need to run some scans to check the conditions of her internal organs, her overall level of health will play a big part in how well she recovers after her procedure where they harvest the bone marrow from her body.

She was deep in thoughts when she noticed Woobin not far away from her. Out of instinct, Jiyeon followed him and she knew that it was just great that she followed him because he looked like he was headed towards baby Jessica’s room.

“Woobin.” Jiyeon called him before he could go any further. He stopped abruptly and turned to look at Jiyeon.

“Don’t even think about seeing the baby.” Jiyeon uttered coldly.

“Jiyeon, I just want to see her… to look at her… to at least be able to hug her.” Woobin’s voice was low and shaky. He was trying to control his emotions, trying to stop himself from breaking down.

“You should have thought of that when you asked me to get rid of her.” Jiyeon cut him off. She took slow calculated steps and stood up in front of him, her eyes showing a hint of pain.

“Suppose if you come and see her, how are you going to introduce yourself? Are you going to tell her you’re her father?”

“Jiyeon, there must be some way we can have her back… I’ll take care of both of you… we’ll be a family…” Woobin replied in desperation.

“Family?” Jiyeon gave out a bitter laugh.

“Wow. The ing nerve.” Jiyeon laughed some more.

“So you’re planning to go and see her and then take her away from her parents? You will put her through a gruesome court battle just so you can have her and we can be a ing family.” Jiyeon delibe