I woke up feeling her arms around my waist, smiling I slowly peeled her arms off then shifted myself so that I'm facing her. My ice princess. I quietly slipped off the bed and went over to the sink to brush my teeth. Wished this hospital had private showers so I wash up too. I spat out the toothpaste and rinsed my mouth before walking back to my bed. I gently rolled her in and covered her with the thin, almost transparent blanket. Sighing, I sat down on my bed, her hair gently. Was it the right thing to do? I might die…I might live. Oh well. There was a light knock on the door and a nurse came with breakfast, she smiled at me as she placed the tray down on the night table and then looked over at Jessica, frowning a bit, clearly not happy to see that my girlfriend had slipped onto the bed. She clicked her tongue annoyed before picking up my clipboard and scribbling something down, probably just writing down what I was having for breakfast, etc. before leaving. Jessi stirred in her sleep, mumbling something then smiling. I shook my head as I got up and examined what they had given me. Ugh oatmeal…bleh. I’ll just wait for the girls to bring me food. She stirred again, I chuckled as I saw that she had her arms above her head, just like a student being punished by their teacher and she rubbed her eyes then fell over into my arms, sighing.

“Fany, I’m still tired,” she groaned.

“Aish Jessi, you overslept again, it’s almost 11 now,” I replied.

“Mhmmmmmm but I’m still sleepy Fany-ah!”

“Heh. Go eat some of the food the nurse gave me, it’ll wake you up.”

**

I woke up early as per usual, I did my stretching exercises before going out to the kitchen to make some breakfast and research what surgery patients should eat and drink. Of course this was all for Tiffany unnie. She’s very brave to go through with the surgery, I remember how she was sitting there at the dinner table for the breakfast and then after speaking to Taeyeon unnie, she stood up, gathered all of us and firmly told us her decision. I broke down into tears almost immediately and Hyoyeon unnie was quick to embrace me in her arms, gently cooing to help me calm down but she too, had broken down in tears luckily for her, she was able to recover before anyone else saw.

Hmmmmm, oh that’s the standard protocol for surgery patients then. Just about a month and half of recovery with a liquid base diet, the patient may begin to eat semi-solid food after a month and slowly transition over to the pure solid food. For throat surgery patients though, it recommends that they take 1-2 days to simply rest in bed so I guess they’re keeping unnie in the hospital for some extra days, nosebleeds are common too, the other unnies aren’t going to like the sound of that, hmmmm, no dairy products as it might cause thin films inside the mouth and throat and may increase the pain in swallowing, lots of liquids and cold, soft food to help with the swelling and pain. That’s good, Tiffany unnie loves cold food although she won’t be too happy to hear that she can’t have ice cream. Oh well, we’ll just make patbingsoo with no ice cream for her.

“Seobaby, you’re paying too much attention to the book then me,” Hyoyeon unnie said as she wrapped her arms gingerly around my neck.

“Sorry Hyoyeon unnie,” I replied as I closed the book.

“Again with the formalities! I told you to drop them long time ago!”

“Sorry, I’m not comfortable speaking informally…”

**

I watched Jessi gingerly eating the hospital breakfast and chuckled as she scrunched her face in disgust as she set the oatmeal bowl down on the tray before getting up and marched over to her bag, pulling out a bag of carrots to munch on but ended screeching instead. I looked at her confused for a second before looking at the bag and covered my mouth to hide my grin. Looks like one of the girls had slipped some cucumbers into the mix and clearly, she wasn’t happy about it. She stuffed the bag back into her purse then lazily dragged her feet across the floor towards me. She reluctantly sat down on the bed and sighed, upset that she couldn’t have her veggie fill for the morning. I got up and went to my bag hoping to find something edible for her to nibble on. With a smile, I found a small baggie filled with soft cookies and another one filled with carrots, broccoli and peppers along with a small container of ranch dressing, that should make my Jessi happy. I walked back and placed them in her lap, she looked at them momentarily and a big grin slowly crept across her face as she happily hugged me and kissed my cheek.

About 1PM, the same nurse returned with my lunch, which was again not that appetizing but I had no choice but to eat it since well, I skipped breakfast and indirectly made Jessi eat it hehehe, she scribbled more stuff onto my chart and disappeared as quickly as she came with the breakfast tray. The lunch was jajangmyun with kimchi and pickled radish as the banchan. It was a big bowl and offered to share with her and she nodded. Halfway through lunch, Dr. Jeong came in to debrief us of what will be happening in the few days. She left very detailed instructions for me to follow and to sent the information home for the girls, should they decide to make or buy food for me.

Jessi nodded carefully after each instruction. Dr. Jeong also said that my surgery will be in two days so it’s best that I get a lot of rest and drink plenty of water to help with the pain in my throat. She said to slowly cut back on any solid food and that the hospital will be providing more liquidy breakfasts and lunches. I thanked her as she left and turned to Jessi, who was packing up her stuff. She said the girls needed some help with something at home. I kissed her lips, cheek and forehead before letting her go. After she left, I got up, went out of my room and told the nurse at the front desk that I’ll be out in the garden to get some fresh air. She nodded with approval and pointed me towards the place. I followed the arrows until I came outside, the sound of the birds singing entered my ears, a soft breeze blew by as it caressed my long light brown hair, there were a few patients sitting outside playing chess, chatting or simply just enjoying the wonderful weather. I sat down by a willow tree on the bench. An elderly woman came and sat down next to me. She turned to me smiling, she had an IV with her but she kept smiling.

“You seem familiar, dearie,” she said after a long silence.

“Ah halmuni, I believe so too,” I replied with an eye smile.

“Oh I remember now, you’re Tiffany Hwang from Girls’ Generation.”

“Neh. So halmuni, why me?”

“Why not, child? It’s not everyday a celebrity comes to the hospital. Besides, you seem a little anxious, child. What’s on your mind?”

“I’m scared, halmuni. This is my first surgery.”

“Ah. I see. I was in your shoes at one point too. I remember fighting with my parents to not the surgery. I thought that the doctors were going to kill me instead of save me. Then again when you’re a young seven year old, that’s what you thought surgery was. Listen well, child. I don’t need to know what surgery you’re getting at this hospital but it’s nothing to worry about. Just imagine you and what you have are in a fight and you’re the one just punching and kicking that illness until it falls over, waving a white flag in surrender. You see, child, this old lady here…I have gone through at least 10 procedures at this hospital and look where I am. Alive. So, Tiffany Hwang, you’re a strong little lady. You can win this fight!”

I looked at the old lady with admiration. She was right. I could do this. It was just one procedure. What did I have to lose? Time passed and the old lady got up to return to her room, not before giving me her name. Kwon EunKyung. A beautiful name indeed.

It wasn’t long before night finally came along. I sat on the chair, looking out the window at the Han River. I sighed as I the cross around my neck. It was just one small surgery Tiffany. You’ll be fine. If you believe you will make it through, you will. Stay positive. Remember what halmuni told you. Umma, will be there next me as I slowly at slip into a light sleep during the surgery? I know you’re always with me. Umma, I’m scared still. Scared because I don’t know what will happen in the future. Unsure of what tomorrow will bring. You always told me to stay strong but at times like this, it is hard for me to even do that. Umma, your Miyoung wants you to be here to comfort her. To tell her, it’s okay, you’ll be fine. Pray to God for protection as He is the Creator and our Protector. Umma, I really, really miss you. I wish God didn’t take you from me so soon. 

~~

Aish, apologies to all my readers who've been waiting for an update but hey I'm back now. LOL the preview I gave in the previous chapter was for chapter 19 ahaha oops...did I spoil too much? :P So author-sshi has decided to end this fanfic in two more chapters and will be writing a sequel to this afterwards. There's just too much drama coming up :) Anyways, thanks for patiently waiting...3 weeks, I am back!!! Pic is of Tiffany in somewhat deep thought..IDK.