10*

Dara woke to the sound of a disembodied voice calling for a Doctor Ha. Her eyes fluttered open and she immediately recognized the sights of a hospital room. She stirred and heard someone move on her right.

“Dara?” It was Jiyong. He gazed down at her with a look full of tender concern.

Dara felt her heart constrict, went dry. “What happened?” Her voice sounded strange to her ears.

“You fainted. I brought you here to the hospital.”

“The marathon!”

Jiyong scowled at her. “I don’t give a damn about the marathon,” he growled. His eyes swept over her face and Dara thought for a wild second that Kwon Jiyong might actually feel something for her. She quickly wiped that thought away though. It was stupid of her to think that let alone hope for it. She remembered everything now, felt it too in her heart. And having him hovering over her like this was driving her senses in overdrive.

“You gave me quite a scare back there,” he told her softly.

She stared back at Jiyong without saying anything. It was as if was suddenly frozen shut. She nearly swooned with gratitude when she heard someone knock on the door and saw the doctor approach her bed.

Over the next twenty minutes Dr. Lee went over the test results of the blood work they had taken. So far everything looked normal. Dara listened without saying anything except when Dr. Lee asked her a question directly. Otherwise he spoke directly with Jiyong. For a moment as Dara watched the two she felt with a sense of irony how it almost seemed as if Jiyong was her husband or something with the way he was asking questions and listening to everything the doctor was saying.

When the doctor finally left Dara closed her eyes and pretended to sleep. She felt the bed dip and opened her eyes to see Jiyong sitting there looking at her. “You remember, don’t you?” he said gently.

Dara stared at him and debated if she should lie. But the way he was looking at her was confusing her. She could tell that he knew the truth even without her confirming it. With a sigh  she nodded once.

He raised his hand and very softly caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. “Do you still… have feelings for me?” he asked.

Her answer was to look away, her head turning to face the window.

“So much has changed in these past two months,” Jiyong said. He wanted her to look at him but Dara kept her eyes averted and she remained silent. “You’ve changed. I’ve changed too.”

After a minute of stubborn silence from her Jiyong said, his voice husky. “Don’t you want to know in what ways I’ve changed, Dara?”

“Not really,” she sighed. His being so near was causing her pulse to race. God, she really was crazy over him, wasn’t she? It seemed like all her emotions she once felt for him came slamming back into her leaving her feeling raw and vulnerable. She remembered every bit of detail of her feelings for him and it left her feeling both embarrassed and little knowing that she had even used her father to cajole this man’s parents into agreeing to an arranged marriage with her.

But as Jiyong said moments ago, Dara had changed as well. Her memories and feelings for Jiyong might be back, but so was the strength she’d gained in the past two months since the fall that had caused her temporary amnesia in the first place. She refused to go back to the way she was. Not if she could help it.

She struggled to sit up, pushing Jiyong away as she did so. “Where are my clothes?” she asked.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Jiyong returned. “You’re not leaving, Dara. Didn’t you hear what the doctor said? You need rest.”

“I can rest at home. Stop patronizing me,” she snapped. The air filled with tension and after a second Dara let out a heavy breath, her voice sounding weary. “I’m sorry. It’s just a little overwhelming for me right now and I’d like to be alone.”

Jiyong relaxed, trying to be sensitive to the shock she must be going through. “Let me go talk to Dr. Lee about getting you discharged and I’ll drive you home so you can rest in your own place. Okay?”

Dara nodded.

An hour later she was seated inside Jiyong’s car and headed toward home. She leaned back and closed her eyes.

She’d found out from Jiyong that he had not called her father. He seemed to know that she didn’t want to worry him and Dara had thanked him.

“Won’t you have to tell him anyway when you get home?” Jiyong had asked.

“He’ll be out this morning. It’s his day that he spends with his friends out golfing.” Dara didn’t expect him to be home until mid-afternoon since after golfing they would go out to lunch and have a drink.

Jiyong walked Dara into the house despite her protest that she would be fine. Once safely inside though she insisted he leave. “Thank you for everything now go – out! Out!” she shooed him. “I’m going to bed now anyway.”

“Why does this remind me of when you woke up in the hospital that first time,” he said, standing there with his hand to his chin. It made Dara feel like kicking him. Instead she growled and stuck her tongue out right before she slammed the door in his face. She heard him laughing on the other side as she muttered under her breath and marched off to her room.