Chapter 28

Sunny & Siwon made their way inside the revolving doors of the resort but Jejung shook his head, “No, I’m going to go take Miyoung to the resort’s clinic to get her checked by a doctor just in case.” Sunny & Siwon nodded in agreement while Tiffany shook her head, “No, I’m fine. I really don’t need to be checked. I just want to get a nice hot shower & go to bed & forget this ever happened.” Jejung looked down at the girl in his arms & smiled softly.

“Just go for me? It would make me feel a lot better.” She melted under his gaze & nodded, “Okay, I will go if it stops your worrying.” Jejung smiled & touched her cheek gently, “Thank you.” He averted his gaze back to his two friends, “You guys can call it a night first. We will talk about this tomorrow morning.” Siwon looked at his friend confusedly, “What are you talking about? You can tell me when you get back to our room. I will wait up.” Jejung smiled sheepishly at him & turned to Sunny.

“Um...Sunny, will it be okay if you share Siwon & my room with Siwon tonight? I want to be with Miyoung tonight just to be assured that she is safe & sound.” Sunny opened to protests but at the look Jejung gave her & Tiffany safely snuggled up in his arms, she smiled, “Sure, why not.” Siwon looked at her in surprises. Sunny grabbed his hand & headed towards the elevator within the building without giving him a chance to say anything more. Tiffany managed a weak smile at the two of them.

Once Jejung had seen them safely get on the elevator, he headed with Tiffany towards the infirmary a couple of buildings away. They entered a building with a red medical cross on it. A nurse spied them in the reception area & ushered them into a doctor’s office right away. Jejung placed her down on top of the examination padded table. He moved to sit down on one of the chairs. Tiffany blushed, “Could you go outside, Jaejoong Oppa? It’s uncomfortable to have you here.” Jejung opened his mouth but her words made sense. He nodded, “Okay, I will wait for you outside.” He shook Dr. Kang’s hand & smiled at her, “Thank you so much for helping us at this hour.” She smiled back at him, “It’s my pleasure, Mr. Kim.” Jejung gave a startled look. Dr. Kang laughed, “Everyone knows Kim Jejung. My daughter absolutely adores you. If you could possibly give me an autograph, I will be extremely grateful.”

“Sure, why not.” He thought for a moment, “I will do something better. I will give your daughter & her closest friends a VIP ticket to my next concert. I would like to meet them personally for I’m eternally grateful to her mother.” Dr. Kang laughed, “You really are a charmer. This is my job, to help people. Now, why don’t you step outside Mr. Kim, & let me have a look at your girlfriend. She sure has been through an ordeal from what you have told me.” Jejung gave Tiffany a small kiss on the cheek & then left to go outside. He stopped at the doorway, “I will be outside waiting for you.” Tiffany nodded.

Once the door had closed behind him, Dr. Kang proceeded to check Tiffany for any injuries. There were only a few bruises & cuts here & there on her body from her attackers’ brutality but when Dr. Kang started feeling around her head & checked her eyes, she frowned. She turned off the instrument she was using to check her eyes & sat down at her desk, writing down her observation. She looked back at Tiffany, “I have a few questions to ask & I do sincerely hope that you will be honest with me. It’s very important.” Noting the seriousness in the doctor’s voice, Tiffany hesitantly nodded.

“Have you ever been abused before? I mean, before this night?” Tiffany blushed & looked down at the floor to give a slight nod, “My stepfather used to beat me when he was unhappy.”

“Have you ever had any blows to the head?” Tiffany nodded again, “I was hospitalized three times when I was younger when he banged my head against the floor.” Dr. Kang looked at her sadly, making Tiffany more nervous.

“Okay, this is the last question. Have you been experiencing any abnormal headaches or dizziness & blurry eyesight?” Tiffany gasped, ‘How could she have known?’ She thought.

“Miss Hwang, I pray that you would brace yourself for what I have to tell you next. From my observations from checking your eyes & feeling your head, I predict that you have developed a sort of blood clot over the years.” Tiffany gasped, “I’m sorry, I have one more question.” Dr. Kang said, “When was the last time you had a checkup or had an x-ray?”

“I haven’t had a full body checkup since the last time I was hospitalized as a kid which was when I was fifteen. That was also the last time I had an x-ray.” Dr. Kang nodded in understanding, “I’m sorry, miss Hwang.” Tiffany intercepted her, “Please, call me Tiffany.”

“Tiffany, I fear that my predictions are right. You might not have known earlier because you haven’t had a checkup for such a long time or x-rayed your head. It was too small then so the doctors couldn’t have possibly known. The blood clot has grown to a pretty sizable one. The headaches, dizziness & faulty vision also concluded my theory.” She took Tiffany’s hands in hers, “I’m really sorry about this. I know that this is another added shock to you. My advice to you is that you have surgery performed on you as soon as possible & have the clot removed before it really interferes with your eyes & causes blindness.” Tiffany took in a deep breath as the information slowly seeped into her mind.

“How much would this operation cost?”

“It can be pretty expensive if you don’t have insurance. It would be about eight thousand dollars.” Tiffany tried to not let her surprises show.

“So, the blood clot won’t have any chance of disappearing on its own?” Dr. Kang shook her head sadly, “Blindness will be inevitable if you let the clot spread any further.” Tiffany looked down at her hands & took in another deep breath before looking up at the doctor again. She smiled calmly & got off the table to shake her hand, “Thank you, Dr. Kang, for taking your time to check up on me.” Dr. Kang looked at her in surprises, “I really do advise you to have the surgery.” Tiffany shook her head, “I don’t have the money. I don’t have insurance &...& I don’t want Jae...Jejung to pay for it so please don’t tell him?” Tiffany looked deeply into the doctor’s eyes, “Please don’t tell him about this at all? I don’t want him to know. I will take care of myself & try to earn the money for the surgery.”

Dr. Kang tried to convince her some more but remembered one of the most important rules of being a medical provider, respect the patient’s wishes, “Okay, I promise that I won’t tell Mr. Kim.” She opened the door for Tiffany & Jejung quickly got up from his seat, looking Tiffany up & down worriedly to see if she was okay. He noted a bandage on her arm due to a cut & bruise from the incident. He hugged her close & Tiffany choked a bit from the emotions rushing through her. Dr. Kang smiled at the couple.

“She appears to be fine.” She lied, “You have nothing to worry about.” Tiffany noted that Yunho was behind Jejung, “Hi, Yunho Oppa.” She waved. Yunho bowed down to her politely & looked at Tiffany worriedly as well, “I’m terribly sorry about all that has happened, Tiffany.” Tiffany shook her head, “It wasn’t your fault so don’t feel bad but what are you doing here at this hour?” Yunho held up a messenger bag with the name Kim Jejung embroidered on the lapel in small print on the side. There was also a little embroidered caricature of Jejung on top of the letters. Tiffany giggled behind her hand, “That is so cute.” Jejung blushed & smiled down at her before turning back to Dr. Kang.

“Dr. Kang, I had my agent pack up some of my memorabilia at short notice & put it in this bag to give to your daughter & some of her friends if they are interested.” He blushed again, & scratched his head, “I know that not everyone likes my music.” He took the bag from Yunho’s hands & gave it to the doctor, “Here, I also put in some VIP tickets & passes inside & signed autographs as well. I sincerely hope that your daughter likes them.” He bowed down to her once, “Thank you so much Dr. Kang, for helping us.” Dr. Kang looked at the bag, picturing her daughter’s face as she got a hold of it & the various screaming friends that will be at her house as well when they knew that she had met the famous & cute Kim Jejung, “What did I tell you before Mr. Kim, it’s my duty but thank you so much for this. My daughter & her friends are going to love the stuff. Thank you. I’m off for the night & am going to head home to her right now.”

“Eh.” Jejung said, waving his hand, “It was nothing & please, call me Jejung. I hope that we will meet again, soon. Thank you.” Tiffany also thanked the doctor a second time after Yunho & left her to go back to her office. Jejung took Tiffany’s hand & started walking out of the building. In no time at all, they were back in Tiffany’s room.