EPILOGUE

Beep Beep Beep Beep



The gentle blips of the monitor greeted a groggy and achy Jiyong as his eyes fluttered open.



“Jiyong! Oh thank God! You scared the living daylights out of me.”



“Dara?” he managed weakly.



“I'm here, Jagi,” she murmured, grasping his hand and squeezing tight.



“Where are we?”



“We're at the Mount Sinai Medical Center here in New York. You passed out at the airport with a fever, and I couldn't get you to wake up. I called the ambulance and had them bring you here.”



“I'm sorry.”



“What are you talking about? I'm just glad you're awake. The doctor is about to come in with the results of some preliminary bloodwork, but now that you're awake maybe you can just talk to him.”



“How long have I been out?”



“Four hours now,” she said softly.



“I'm sorry.”



“Would you stop? If you're going to apologize for anything, it's for breaking your promise!” she teased.



“What promise?”





“You promised me ninety dates, mister. One for every day I was in that coma. You gave me twenty nine. We couldn't even make it to thirty,” she pouted.



“I'm sorry,” he chuckled. “But I can't keep that promise anymore, D.”



“What?” she asked, her insecurities surfacing again.



Jiyong reached out for her and pulled her down to him. She was careful not to sit on his IV lines. He placed a soft kiss on her hand, the hand with her engagement ring on it, and smiled up at her.



“Because ninety dates is not enough. I want more. I want a lifetime supply guaranteed. The only way I'll get that is if I marry you. And I just couldn't wait any longer to marry you.”



“We aren't married yet, Jiyong,” she laughed.



“I'd marry you right now if there was an officiant present.”



She gasped. The level of the commitment he felt for her just blew her away.



“But I know you. You want the whole shebang. Family, close friends, an intimate ceremoney in the perfect location. The three tier cake. The dance with your dad. And dancing the rest of the night away with me.”



“You sound pretty sure of yourself, Dr. Kwon,” she said, her heart racing.



“Am I wrong?” he raised his brow at her.



“Not so far,” she admitted. “Okay, then. Where is my perfect location?”



“If I had to take a wild guess, I'd say a picturesque little chapel overlooking the city on one side and the ocean on the other, if that exists. Your reception would be on the beach. And the honeymoon would be in Hawaii. But since we've covered that place pretty thoroughly, I'm going to go with any other tropical paradise, like the Carribean maybe?”



She sat there dumbfounded. How did he know?



“Am I right?”



She blushed.



“I'm right, right? I know I'm right,” he laughed.



“Whatever,” she bluffed then changed the topic. “All right, if you can't keep you that promise what promise will you make instead? And you better keep it this time.”



“What's the penalty if I don't?”



“Dr. Kwon, you will be banned ually for an entire month.”



Jiyong's mouth fell open and he gulped in genuine intimidation.



“You don't kid around with promises, do you?”



“Well, we both broke one so far, with the best of intentions. But I hope we learned that it didn't help the situation and resolve to stand by our word this time around.”



“Okay, D. I promise I will never work things out in my head apart from you again. I will never run from you no matter what circumstance fate brings our way.”



“And I promise to never forget that feeling. To never let anything shake me from the commitment I have to you.”



They twisted their pinkies together and sealed the promise with their thumbs and a kiss.



Just then a mild-mannered doctor with sandy blonde hair entered the room.



“Hello, Dr. Kwon. My name is Helen Wright. I'm the doctor overseeing your care.”



“Very nice to meet you.”



“It's good to see you awake. I'd like to discuss the results of your bloodwork if I may.” she paused. “Would you like for your fiance to be present for this discussion?”



Jiyong immediately tensed. Nothing good ever followed when a doctor wanted to speak with you in private. He look at Dara and seeing her hold up her pinky with a steeled expression, he sighed.



“Yes, I have nothing to hide from her.”



“All right. We're a little concerned with the white blood cell count. Even with the fever, you're well above normal range. After discussing some symptoms with your fiance, I'm growing concerned with the possibility of where our diagnosis is leading us.”



The fatigue. The fever. The bruising that took too long to heal. And now the blood counts. He knew where this was headed. How could he not have seen the signs earlier?



“Fortunately, Dr. Kwon, you just happen to be at one of the nation's most prestigious and cutting edge cancer facilities. We can get a bone marrow biopsy done within the hour and have the results by later this evening.”



“Are you suspecting leukemia?”



“Yes, Dr.”



“All right. Let's proceed with the biopsy,” he sighed, trying to give Dara some semblance of reassurance with his composed face.



“Very good. I'll put ini the order and leave you two to talk.”



“Thank you, Dr. Wright.”



She nodded and left the room.



“Leukemia?! Cancer facility? What the hell is she talking about , Ji?”



“We don't know anything for sure, Dara. But looking at these numbers. They want to take a sample of my bone marrow to see if I have a cancer that affects my blood. They'll use the biopsy to find out what, if any, kind of leukemia I have and figure out the beset way to fight it. We're gonna be here a few days, D. You may want to offer up the olive branch to your folks. I definitely need to let mine know.”



He chuckled sarcastically, “That promise, Kind of ironic, the timing of it, isn't it?”




“Don't you even go there, Jiyong. I don't want to hear another word. We'll get through the biopsy first and take it from there.”



He sighed deeply again. “Okay, D.”



Thirty minutes later, nurses came to prep Jiyong for the biopsy. They led him away to another room, leaving Dara alone.



Without a second thought, fingers trembling, she dialed her parents' number.



“Dara? Where are you? Why haven't you been returning any of our phone calls?” her mother began.



“Umma...” she interrupted, bursting into tears.



“Dara? What's wrong?”



“I'm sorry. I'll do whatever you want. Just don't make me leave Jiyong. I'll do anything and everything else you ask of me. Just please take me back. I need the money. I need the resources. Please. Help me.”



“Dara! What's going on?”



“Jiyong...he proposed and then he fainted............. and he had a fever......and we're at Mount Sinai....they think he has leukemia. Oh Mother!!!” she bawled, crying out all the pent up fear she dared not show Jiyong.



“Honey, we're on our way. We're sorry. Your father and I have been talking. You're right. It's your choice who you love. We'll support you. We'll help you get Jiyong everything he needs.”



“Thank you, umma,” she sniffled, feeling a sense of hope return to her.





* * *





Hours had passed. Jiyong was back in his hospital bed, resting from the physical strain of the biopsy. Dara's parents waited in the chairs to the side of his bed. Having issued formal apologies and vows of support, they waited silently as Dara and Jiyong kept reassuring each other through silent gestures, soft kisses, and squeezes. His parents contacted, close friends notified to pray, all they could do was wait for the results.



Shortly after, Dr. Wright entered the room, her lips set in a grim line.





Seeing the look on her face told him everything he feared worst had come to pass. The world stopped, and he felt himself spiraling once more into the abyss, his only tether resting in Dara's hand.



“It's like we feared. We've confirmed it to be AML.”



“What does that mean,” Dara whispered.



“Acute myelogenous leukemia. The stuff that becomes my white blood cells and other things is cancerous. It's growing too fast and it's pretty serious. We're going to need aggressive drug therapy and if we're able to get it into remission, I'm going to need a bone marrow transplant.” Jiyong said, in a voice that felt so detached from reality.



“How good are his chances?” Dara begged Dr. Wright, holding Jiyong's hand firmly, her parents, now standing, bracing her shoulders.



“He's young. He has a good chance. But we need to start his initial round of treatment right away. It's an aggressive form of chemotherapy meant to force his cancer into remission. If we succeed, he'll need to maintain that remission until we find a suitable donor for a bone marrow transplant. If you begin now, you'll be here for the duration of the treatment. Given the special circumstances, I wanted to know how you would like to proceed. We've been in touch with the leading hospital in Korea and have constructed a joint treatment plan.”



“Is there a possibility to start that first course of treatment en route to Seoul? We have a private jet with all the amenities needed to accommodate the necessary hospital equipment. Any personnel you choose to send will be compensated. I'm sure you wanted to send some of your staff to confer with the Korean hospital as well,” Mr. Park said, taking charge of the situation in light of his daughter's sudden vulnerability.



“Yes, I suppose we can arrange for that but it will take some time.”



“If it doesn't threaten the timeline of his treatment, please take the time to make the arrangements. Dara. Mother and I will head back to Seoul first to make sure everything is ready and waiting. We'll get in touch with Jiyong's parents and set everything up in his home.”



“I'm sorry, his treatment will need to be in a sterile environment because of its aggressive nature. He'll be completely vulnerable to any contaminant.”



“We'll be sure to get the best arrangements for that. As I understand it doctor, the best results are achieved when the patient is comfortable in his environment.” Mr. Park countered, ever the CEO.



“Yes. As long as sterile conditions are maintained, that should be fine,” Dr. Wright acquiesced.



“Good then. Dara. Mother and I will head back first. Jinu and Sean will be accompanying you home with the hospital personnel. Will you be all right?”



“Yes, Daddy. We'll be ok. Thank you so much,” she teared, hugging her father in a tight embrace.



Mr. Park cleared the emotion building in his throat and moved to grab his wife's coat.



“Yobo, let's go.”



“We'll see you both back in Korea,” Dara's mother said, squeezing both of their shoulders.



* * *





“This isn't exactly the way I pictured us going back to Korea,” Jiyong chuckled, trying to keep his spirits high as the nurses prepped the IV bags containing his first round of chemotherapy.



“Any way I can get you, Dr. Kwon. You're mine. And I'm not letting anyone or anything take you away from me, you hear me? We got this.”



And for the first time since he talked to Dr. Wright, he felt hope. Looking into her eyes, he believed her. As long as they were together, there wasn't anything they couldn't get past. The fates may have tried, but they would never succeed to end their love. It's like that Pastor fellow had said, even through rough times, the good would always outweigh the bad. And he could never think that it wasn't worth it to go through all this strife just to be with her. Even one more moment with her was enough to suffer and bear a lifetime of pain. This moment, this look in her eyes of determine all-consuming love, was worth all of it. Hell and back....and back again.....he'd claw his way out to be with her. He would fight for his life to give her the wedding she deserved, to be the man she deserved. To be everything she needed him to be. He steeled himself with a new resolve. He would fight for her.




“We got this, D.” he said, pulling her into a loving kiss.