**this fic own mine and my brother's. we worked this story together.

-Hospital; Day 8-

Sunny hums a lullaby and her son’s thinning hair; strands of it attach to her hand, after . She studies his face, noting the differences from the last time he was in this same situation. She smiles sadly when her eyes land on his mouth; it instantly reminds her of her father. Everyone always told her that her son had a mouth just like his father’s, but she would argue that it was, in fact, her father’s mouth. After a while, though, she would always concede and agree with the rest of them.

“You need anything else, Sunny?” Hyoyeon walks up behind her sister and squeezes her shoulders.

Sunny shakes her head, “No, go on, get some rest”

“I’ll be back first thing in the morning” Hyoyeon assures her.

“Thanks, Hyo. Call and let me know when you get there safely”

Hyoyeon pats her sister’s shoulders, picks up her purse, “I will. Night, Sunny”

“Night”

As Hyoyeon leaves for Sunny’s apartment, Sunny checks her watch and frowns. Wonders why Taeyeon didn’t show up to visit Jamie this particular evening like she has been, faithfully, for the past five days. She adjusts her son’s covers and listens to his breathing to make sure he’s sleeping well before she steps out into the hallway to get away from thoughts of Taeyeon.

Sunny walks down the corridor, nodding and smiling at the other parents she’s gotten to know over the last two weeks. Some of them wave back, or smile, but then there are some who just look back at her blankly, with lifeless eyes, and she can’t blame them for it. That’s what this does she thinks. It the life out of you. You die right alongside your child. She stops mid-step when that thought passes through her mind. Shakes her head and swipes at the tears that aren’t there yet, but inevitably will be. He’s not dying. He’s not dying! She scolds herself internally for even thinking it and forces the thought out of her mind.

When she gets to the end of the hallway, she turns around and walks back the other way. It’s become her routine after Hyoyeon leaves, since she refuses to be the one to go home and let Hyoyeon stay the night. Refuses to leave her son for that long. Hyoyeon was able to convince her to leave for a few hours during the day, for a shower and a change, but she’s always back within two hours, sitting at her son’s bedside, reading to him, talking to him, enjoying him.

She passes his room and peeks in to make sure he’s still sleeping before she carries on to the other end of the hallway. As she walks by the waiting room, she sees something familiar sticking up from behind one of the seats. She goes inside to investigate and finds Taeyeon; slumped down in a seat, chin resting against her chest, neck contorted, open laptop barely balancing on her thighs, sleeping. Sunny thinks about walking right back out, pretending she never saw her, erasing the image from her mind the way she’s tried to erase Taeyeon herself. But the latter hasn’t worked, and she knows she can’t walk away.

“Taeyeon…” Sunny touches her thigh gently. When she doesn’t budge, Sunny pats her knee, “Taeyeon…” a bit louder.

Taeyeon jumps, then, startled. Sunny stands back, arms crossed, and watches as Taeyeon becomes familiar with her surroundings.

“Sunny…” Taeyeon rubs her eyes, “hi”

“Why are you here this late?”

Taeyeon sits up and moves her neck from ear to shoulder, once to the left, once to the right. Sunny cringes when she hears the pops and cracks.

“I guess I fell asleep” Taeyeon yawns.

“How long have you been here?” Sunny’s brows wrinkle.

Taeyeon checks her watch, “Since seven-ish; I came right after work”

Sunny sits in the row of chairs across from her, “Why didn’t you go in and see Jamie?”

Taeyeon presses a few keys on her laptop keyboard and closes it, placing it back in its case. She shrugs slightly, “I didn’t want to upset you”

“What do you mean?” Sunny still looks confused.

“I know you don’t really want me here, Sunny” Taeyeon starts, “you barely speak to me, you don’t look at me, and I guess that I…” looks around the room, “I feel like I just bring tension to the room when I’m in there, and I don’t want to add to your stress” Taeyeon picks at a spot on her blazer. “When I got here, I peeked in and saw that he was asleep, so I came in here to do some work and I planned to check in on him in an hour, but I guess I fell asleep”

They sit quietly after that. Sunny waits for Taeyeon to stop being enthralled by the invisible spot on her blazer. She’s never seen Taeyeon so meek and tired, and she knows Taeyeon is trying, even if she did it all up by running away, she recognizes the effort. Knows Taeyeon is probably reliving the worst time of her life by watching Jamie deteriorate, day after day.

And she’s tried to be kinder. But when she sees her she can’t help but think of those five days that she spent alone, wondering if Taeyeon was ok; resenting her for invading her mind and stealing focus away from Jamie. And she hates herself for being weak and wanting nothing more than to run into Taeyeon’s arms and stay there forever.

“You should go home to the girls” Sunny finally says, her heart keeping itself locked down and protected.

Taeyeon nods sadly and begins gathering up her things. “Will you tell him I came to see him?”

Sunny stands up and walks to the doorway. “Yeah… I will”

When they step out into the hallway, they go their separate ways. Sunny stops and turns around, watches Taeyeon press the button for the lift and stand with her head bowed while she waits.

Sunny takes a deep breath. “Taeyeon…?” she calls, loud enough for her to hear, but softly enough not to disturb anyone. Taeyeon turns around just as the doors open and she sticks a hand out to prevent them from closing.

“You’ll… come back tomorrow, right?” Sunny purses her lips and waits with hopeful eyes.

Taeyeon nods once and steps inside the lift, “I’ll always come back, Sunny”

The doors close, and the last thing she sees are Taeyeon’s apologetic black eyes looking right back at her.

....

....

....

....

-Hospital; Day 13-

“What do you mean he’s in jail, Mum!” Sunny’s chin begins to quiver and she tosses the phone to Hyoyeon.

“What’s wrong, Mama?” Jamie coughs a few times and looks at his mother.

“Nothing, sweetheart” Sunny tries to smile at him, “everything’s fine”

“Who’s in jail?” his eyes are wide with a mischievous curiosity.

Sunny shakes her head, “An idiot!” she raises her hands at the ceiling and yells.

Jamie laughs at her, but stops immediately when she shoots him a warning glare.

“I’m going for a walk, Hyo” she says to her sister who’s talking on the phone. She grabs her jacket and reaches for the door handle but the door is already being opened.

“Afternoon…” Taeyeon chances a smile at her, but all she receives back is a frustrated and hoarse growl as Sunny pushes past her.

“Hi Sunny… bye Sunny” Bella waves.

Taeyeon and the girls walk in and Jamie literally bounces with joy. “Yay… my friends!”

Hyoyeon hangs up the phone and holds out a hand to all of them. “Masks” she says, her lisp obvious. “He’s got a cold, and doctor says no visitors without masks”

Taeyeon dutifully grabs three masks wrapped in plastic from the box on the shelf and hands one to each of her daughters. They all look like seasoned veterans the way they rip open the packs and put on the masks with ease. Jamie laughs at them as they approach his bed. The girls engage him in conversation while Taeyeon talks to Hyoyeon.

“What’s wrong with Sunny?”

Hyoyeon rolls her eyes, “It’s Sungmin” she says, as if those two words will explain everything.

Taeyeon thinks for a moment. “His father?” she quietly asks.

“Well we don’t call him that but, yeah, I guess”

Taeyeon stands there and stares at Sunny’s sister, waiting for her to elaborate. She widens her eyes out of frustration, “Well?”

“He’s gone and done something stupid, like the ing moron that he can be”

“…And?”

“He’s in jail” Hyoyeon whispers.

“For…?”

Hyoyeon sighs, “I guess he was trying to put together some money so he could come and see Jamie, and he stole some money or something” Hyoyeon puts on her coat, “I need to find Sunny. Can you stay with him?”

“Of course”

Hyoyeon walks swiftly out of the room and Taeyeon joins her daughters at Jamie’s bedside.

…

…

“Sunny…”

Sunny looks up at her, face streaked with tears, “How could he be so stupid, Hyo?”

“It’s Sungmin” Hyoyeon sits next to her sister on the bench in the hospital garden. Sunny nods.

“Did you talk to Mum?” Sunny links arms with her sister.

“She’s being a right about it all. Says she won’t put up the money for him to get out. Guess she still hates him for not impregnating you the proper way or something”

Sunny laughs and sniffs. Hyoyeon smirks. “Maybe his mum will help him” Sunny says it, but she doesn’t believe it.

“Doubtful” Hyoyeon sighs, “Mum said he was crying like a baby when he rang her”

“He must feel so alone”

“God, Sunny, don’t feel sorry for him” Hyoyeon scolds her, “it’s his own fault”

“He just wants to see Jamie, Hyoyeon”

“Yeah, well, there are ways to earn money other than stole some money”

“I thought he had a job”

“He does, but it’s . Must’ve been pretty desperate to do what he did”

Sunny looks at her big sister, “What can we do, Hyo?”

“I don’t know, Sunny. I don’t know…”

…

…

Sunny walks inside the room and finds Taeyeon and the girls masked and engaged in a game of Candy Land; Jamie laughing hysterically. She washes her hands and dries them on a paper towel.

“What the hell is he on?” Taeyeon asks when Sunny joins them by the bed.

“Just a mild pain killer; he was complaining about pain this morning. And he’s also on some meds for his cold”

“A nice cocktail then, eh James?”

“You’re stuck in the licorice” he points to Sophia and laughs.

“He’s kind of annoying” Bella says, “he won’t stop laughing”

Sunny rubs Bella’s back, “I like him laughing”

“Me too” Sophia agrees, drawing another card from the pile, “he has a nice laugh”

“Everything alright?” Taeyeon asks Sunny.

Sunny just nods at her, like she suddenly remembered that she’s not supposed to be nice to her. She feels a pang of guilt when Taeyeon looks away, like she knows what Sunny’s thinking. She did this, not me. Sunny hardens.

“Finish your game, Jamie needs to rest soon” she announces.

Jamie stops laughing and the mood in the room changes. The rest of the game is played out quietly. A giggle escapes Jamie once in a while, and the inevitable soon happens; Bella being victorious and crowned queen of candy, while Jamie’s left frowning with dilated pupils.

“Sunny, can I talk to you for a minute before we leave?” Sophia asks, opening the door and waiting. Sunny looks to Taeyeon, who shrugs, and then follows Sophia out into the corridor.

Sophia takes off her mask, “I want to say sorry, for the way I behaved” she says right away.

Sunny squats down and holds Sophia’s hands, “You don’t need to apologize for anything”

“I don’t want you to think I don’t like you, because I do. I love you, Sunny”

Sunny hugs her. “I love you too”

“I want you to be Mum’s girlfriend” she says into Sunny’s hair, “you make her happy”

Sunny pulls back and smile sadly at her, “You needn’t worry about things like that; it’s between me and your mum”

Sophia shakes her head, “But she cries all the time. She doesn’t think we hear her or see her, but we do”

Sunny’s heart breaks for them.

“I know she was selfish, but…”

“I don’t want you thinking about it anymore” Sunny interrupts, “you’re eight, and you should be thinking about playing and having fun. Alright?”

Sophia shrugs. “Maybe you could remember the good times, instead of the bad times” she walks back inside the room and leaves Sunny squatting in the hallway.

“What the are you doing, Sunny?” Hyoyeon walks up behind her minutes later, looking at her as if she’s lost her mind.

“Nothing” Sunny stands, “I’m going for a walk; tell them I said goodbye, yeah”

“We just came back from a walk… Sunny…” Hyoyeon calls after her but she’s already turned the corner. She rolls her eyes and goes inside the room. “Sunny said bye” she tells the three masked visitors.

“We’ll be off, then” Taeyeon nods. “I’ll be back tomorrow, James” she blows him a masked kiss. He catches it with his hand and smacks it on his mouth.

“Bye, Jamie” Bella and Sophia wave identically.

On their way out, Hyoyeon grabs Taeyeon’s elbow. “Here” she puts a piece of paper in Taeyeon’s hand, “you want to help her? Then help her” Hyoyeon’s expression is challenging. Taeyeon tightens her grip on the paper, takes off the mask, and raises an eyebrow; accepting the challenge.

…

...

“Have fun, girls” Taeyeon dismisses her daughters and they run off into the playground, splitting off in different directions. One heads for the swings, the other for the climbing structure. Taeyeon watches for a while, and then situates herself on a nearby bench, making sure she can see them both.

She takes out the piece of paper from her pocket and scrolls through her address book on her Blackberry. She presses the green button and looks over to the playground. It takes a minute to connect.

“Hello… Mr.Yoo … yes, it’s Kim Taeyeon … I know, sir… yes, it’s been a long time… yes, I’m well… work is fine, but I do miss you all back at the firm… I know… yes, I’m sorry to disturb you at home on a Saturday, but… thank you, sir… yes… yes… I need to ask a favour of you…”

**this fic own mine and my brother's. we worked this story together.