Chapter 58

All Tiffany could remember was the sound of sirens as she was rushed to the hospital in her own ambulance. Waking up inside, her arms reached out frantically to grasps onto Jejung but what met her grasps were the hands of a stranger. She panicked & started getting up from the stretcher when she felt more hands lightly pressing her back down, “Where is my husband? I want to see my husband. Why can’t I see him?” She started to cried tears of frustration. She hated herself more than ever for being blind at this moment. She wanted to know if he was okay. She wanted to see him, “Please let me see again? I want to see again.” Tiffany sobbed endlessly.

The paramedics watched the struggling & bleeding woman helplessly. Like many others all around the world, they had recognized the famous singer Kim Jejung & his darling wife, Tiffany. They knew about their deep love story & really were at odds at the moment, “Ma’am, if I had the power of god, I would make you see again, but I’m sorry I can’t.” The paramedic holding her hands said. Her voice became distressed but low as she realized her defeat & weakness, “Please, let me feel him at least? I want to know if he is okay. I need to be near him right now.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am. He is being taken to the hospital in another ambulance.” He & the other paramedic steadied her on the stretcher. Tiffany’s face was getting paler by the second from the amount of blood that she already lost. She replayed the event of what just happened in her mind again, & remembered the noises that she heard as Jejung pushed her away & was hit forcefully by the speeding car instead. Tears continued streaming down her eyes as she remembered the blood that she felt from his head & body wounds. Her breathing became more & more strained as she relived the accident. She wheezed & coughed, letting the asthma attack overcome her as she closed her eyes & welcomed complete dark oblivion once again. She vaguely heard the paramedics’ cries & curses as they hurried to pump fresh oxygen back into her lungs.

Tiffany dreamed the dream again. In the dream, she wasn’t blind & pregnant. She was how she was before she left Jejung. In the dream, she was in the arms of Jejung’s embrace one minute & then he suddenly disappeared into thin air, “Jaejoong Oppa? Where are you? Where did you go?” She would ask, looking everywhere for him. She would then find him in roses park, inside their treehouse. He would smile at her & open his arms widely again, to embrace her once again, “Miyoung.” He would say, & that was all it took to make her smile & feel her heart swell with love for this man but as soon as she got to him, he would once again, vanish.

“Oppa? This isn’t funny anymore. Come back this instant.” She would then hear his voice all around her, “I’m over here.” He would say, from one corner, “Over here.” He would say, from another & then another but in the end, she would always blindly reach out for him only to feel the touch of the wind. Feeling more & more frightened by his lack of presence, Tiffany started crying for him only to hear silence ensue. When she ran to look for him again, she saw his back turning towards her as he ran from her. She could feel a strong sense of hate come from him as he was lost forever, “Oppa. Please don’t leave me? Please don’t?”

“I have to. Goodbye forever.” & then he disappeared once again, & she couldn’t find him any longer. Dried rose petals fell all around her, enveloping her in their scent. Then they turn brown & crumble up to nothing but dust & they too vanish, “Come back!” Tiffany cried, as she sank down to her knees, feeling more alone than ever, “Come back.” Looking down at her hands, she gasps as her wedding ring disappeared & then the rose pouch tied to her side suddenly vanished into thin air. The two things that she vowed to never take off turn into nothing as if they had never been there.

Tiffany continued to cry out loud in her dream state. The paramedics could only look on forlornly as they pray that the ambulances will get to the hospital sooner. The premature bleeding from her womb had stopped & they found out that the baby is okay but they fear for the aftermath of her emotional state. As they finally reach the hospital & jump out quickly, they spy the other stretcher that came out a minute earlier, carrying the brave man that had just saved his beloved wife’s life. He had taken a turn for the worse.

Looking through the glass window, Mrs. Kim placed her hand over , unable to believe what had just happened. She walked over to the next window where her husband had one hand placed on the glass & just broke down, sobbing uncontrollably. Her knees grew weak & buckled. Mr. Kim turned around just in time to catch his wife, holding her against him. Together, they cried for the young couple, “Why did this have to happen to them? Life was so perfect for Tiffany & Jejung.” Mrs. Kim said, between her sobs. She would never forget the phone call that just came in an hour earlier when they were getting ready to retired to bed. She vaguely remembered dropping the cordless phone onto the tile in the foyer with a loud noises as she recover from the shock of the call.

Mr. Kim shook his head, not knowing how to answer his wife. He kissed the top of his wife’s head, “They will pull through. They have to.” Tiffany was currently in a stable condition, having only suffered from a few minor cuts & bruises. The premature bleeding from her womb before was due to her emotional distress. Her asthma was also brought under control. The paramedics were able to stop her from going into a full blown asthma attack just in time. The doctors predicted her to awaken in just a few hours. As they peered in through the window again, they couldn’t help but feel absolutely helpless as they stared at their heavily bandaged one & only son during this time.

Skidding sneakers were heard as someone ran towards the older couple. They looked up to see a very flustered Siwon. Mrs. Kim pulled away from her husband to place her arms around Siwon, “What’s happened, auntie Kim?” He asked, as he hugged her back, “Someone told me that Tiffany & Jejung got into a terrible car accident.” He finally blurted out, not wanting to accept that truth, “Please tell me that that was just a joke & that you are here for Tiffany & Jejung’s Lamaze classes?” Mrs. Kim managed a weak smile. Leave it up to Siwon to always make someone smile at times like these. She pulled away from him & went to hold her husband’s hand, gladly accepting his strength at the moment. She brushed away some more tears as she looked sadly at her son’s best friend.

Mr. Kim took in a deep breath. He motioned towards the windowed rooms next to each other, “I’m afraid that it isn’t a joke. Tiffany & Jejung did get into a car accident.” He banged the wall behind him & gritted his teeth in anger, “Somebody crashed into them in the supermarket parking lot. They didn’t have enough time to get away.” Siwon gasped, “Someone hit them? Were they in the car?” Mr. Kim shook his head, “The damage might not have been as great if they were within their car.” Siwon walked towards Jejung’s room & looked inside. He was hooked up with a lot of machines, machines that monitored his heart beat & machines that inserted saline back inside his system, machines that helped him breathe, etc. He swallowed a lump in his throat at the sight. That was his best friend in there, “Hang in there, buddy. You better make it back or else, I would never forgive you.” He said.

Siwon lifted his head up upon hearing a familiar set of steps caused by stiletto heels & saw his girlfriend. Sunny’s face was a complete mask of white. Behind her, he saw his sister & brother-in-law & they didn’t look any better. Siwon opened his arms wide to embrace Sunny but she just ignored him. She just walked quietly to the window he was at & peered inside. She pressed a hand to & cried out softly as she saw the state that Jejung was in.

Keunsuk & Sooyoung stepped up behind her. Upon the sight of his favorite friend, Keunsuk almost fell if it weren’t for his wife who steadied him. It was just too much to bear. It was the first time in all the years that he had seen him since he was born that he was hurt so badly. No words were really spoken as the group made their way to Tiffany’s room. Sunny then, finally went into her boyfriend’s arms, accepting his comforting embrace, “Why did this have to happen to them? They were just so happy again. We just talked to them a day ago & they were fine. How could something like this happen in such a short notice?” Siwon smoothed Sunny’s hair over, letting her cry on his lab coat, letting her mascara run its course all over his starched white doctor’s uniform. Nothing mattered at the moment but their friends’ safety.