Chapter III: The Hospital

The specialty care hospital was a soft creamy-white ten story building set in the middle of a large peaceful garden next to the university hospital. Inside it was quiet except for the sound of water rippling down a section of wall, like a magic waterfall that pooled in a small pond complete with tiny koi fish. But deeper into the building the more sterile and silent it became until everything was a stark white and the only sound there was, was that of fans and belts of the medical and office equipment. The air seemed constantly moving and became chilled and left a taste of antiseptic in the back of your throat.

Jiyong knew this wasn't just an ordinary hospital. The people here weren't just sick…they were all dying. He tried to ignore it; he kept his eyes glued straight ahead to the reception desk. God he hated these places.

"I'm looking for Park Sanghyun's room." He said when he finally made it to the desk.

The middle-aged nurse glanced at her watch then eyed the oversized stuffed anime type animal under his arm. Jiyong figured it could have been a cat, with wings and bolts of lightning on its fur.

"Visiting hours are over."

"I know, I won't stay long." Already his stomach was starting to cramp. The hospital smell was threatening to gag him.

The nurse glanced at the stuffed animal again and nodded. "Alright, his sister is with him now, so I don't see how it could hurt. You'll have to scrub up first. Sanghyun's immune system is very low right now. We have to be careful with what germs come in contact with him."

She did a quick check, looking down at a clipboard. "Take this hallway to the elevators."

She pointed down the hall. "Go to the fourth floor. When you get off you'll see a set of doors leading to the oncology department. Right inside is a small anteroom where you'll scrub your hands, arms and face. Make sure the outer door is closed before you open the inside one. You don't have a cold or anything? Sniffles or a cough?" The nurse eyed him closely.

"No."

"Fine, Sanghyun's in room three."

Jiyong thanked her and pushed away from the desk and headed down the hall. His unease increased with every step he took deeper into the hospital. Memories started to surface about the last time he was in this sterile environment. He didn't think it would be so bad. But standing there in the middle of the hallway, he was brought back to Taeyeon's last days. He had spent many hours in a place just like this; waiting while doctors operated…hoping, praying staring dumbly into space and then eventually losing everything that mattered to him. Just as he reached the elevator Jiyong shot a look out the large windows to the parking lot beyond the garden. He could just make out his car from where he was. He could turn away now and go home rather than plunge himself into someone else's Hell and misery. He didn't owe Dara anything. They were strangers to him. She didn't even tell him that the money was going to her dying little brother. She didn't want him to know, wanted to keep him out of her personal life. There had to be others who could help her.

The elevator opened. But if she had someone…why would she come to him? Offer to sell her baby to him for help? Was he her last resort?

Jiyong winced, his shoulders sagging under such responsibility.

‘Damnit!’ He hadn't asked for this! Jiyong stomped into the waiting elevator.

All he wanted was a child of his own. And he was willing to sacrifice every yen of life-insurance money he collected from Taeyeon's death to avoid any further relationships. But the fear of responsibility didn't stop him from stepping out of the elevator at the fourth floor and walking to the oncology doors.

No, it was Dara's gaunt cheeks and the lack of life in her beautiful eyes. The mystery to what had caused those things had been solved.

And Jiyong could understand her pain. He knew how she felt and as much as he didn't like the idea of getting involved, he just couldn't walk away. The nurse's station in the department was deserted. Jiyong washed up as he was told to before continuing. No one stopped him or asked him questions. He figured that people in this deep in the hospital were of no harm. No one greeted him, only the hushing sound of breathing machines and various beeps. There was no one to stop him from walking down the hall and poking his head into room three.

No one to stop him but himself. He hovered just outside the room until a soft voice pulled him in.

"Dara-noonai, is that you?"

Jiyong didn't want to frighten the child by leaving his shadow across his floor, so Jiyong ventured inside. The boy was in a bed that seemed far too large for his small body. He looked too small to be ten years old and his eyes were far too large for his thin face. Jiyong could tell that…in health the boy had olive-like skin but it had now faded to a sickly waxy-white pallor. His dark hair was thin and short, and he was bald in some areas. Sanghyun's bones jutted out from under his thin skin that was webbed prominently with blue-green veins. No less than 25 IV tubes ran into both arms, his neck and a few in his legs.

The sight made Jiyong's heart clench almost painfully. He almost reached up to grab the pain in his chest. Even though he didn't know this child, Jiyong ached for his suffering.

"My name is Jiyong, Sanghyun. I'm a friend of your sister." He said to reassure the boy.

Sanghyun eyed him carefully with his deep brown eyes.

"I've never seen you before." He said doubtfully.

Jiyong smiled and he moved further into the room. "No, your sister and I haven't known each other for long that we haven't. Did she go home to rest?"

"No, CL-noona made her go to the lunchroom to eat something."

"CL's a smart woman. She's a friend of your sister's right?" He knew so, from the background check.

Sanghyun frowned, still unsure about him. But after a moment he nodded.

"Hey, what's that?" He pointed to the stuffed animal in his arms with obvious excitement.

"He's for you, but…" Jiyong eyed the hospital bed.

"...I don't think you'll have room for him."

At this Sanghyun scooted over to one side of the bed. "There's lots of room now."

Jiyong laughed softly and placed the stuffed creature on the bed. The boy seemed painfully thin next to the fluffy thing.

"Hey! This is Kuma!" Sanghyun petted its bright colored fur.

"Stuffed animals are for girls but Kuma is from a boy's anime. So I like him." He said matter-of-factly.

He flashed Jiyong a bright smile and for a moment

Jiyong could see the healthy boy Sanghyun could be. The stabbing pain returned to his chest and he wondered if Sanghyun would grow up to be the strapping young man Jiyong could see in him. And Jiyong wondered how a man could abandon his baby brother-in-law or abandon Dara for that matter. Dara seemed smarter than to marry someone capable of doing as such, but love is blind.

"What are you doing here?"

Jiyong turned to see Dara in the doorway gaping at him. She was still in the clothes she was wearing to the restaurant. He chose his words carefully.

"I have hundred million won in the bank, Dara. I can't see why we can't both get what we want." He watched as Dara startled eyes darted over to her brother.

"What is it you want Mr. Kwon?" She asked just as carefully.

"I want my baby." He looked over his shoulder to Sanghyun who was busy with his new toy.

"And you want your brother." He took a business card from his pocket and scribbled on it before handing it to her.

"Call me if you're still interested.”

"Who was that?" CL demanded as she slipped into the room just as Jiyong left.

Dara gazed down at the card without really seeing it.

"That's was Kwon Jiyong." She said dumbly.

"Yeah! And look CL-noona, he brought me Kuma, isn't he huge?" Sanghyun chirped from his bed. Dara wanted to punch the stuffed thing just to have something to hit.

"Yes he's bigger than you are, Sanghyun." CL teased.

"Pish, he's bigger than even you, cat-noona" Sanghyun teased back in their familiar banter.

"I thought so; he wasn't wearing a white coat so I knew he wasn't a doctor. So that was Kwon Jiyong. Oooie what a looker, and did you see all that face? I can't believe he's gonna pay a woman to do anything."

"Hush CL." Dara hissed, glancing back at Sanghyun who had all his attention on the toy.

"Yeah, he's handsome but that doesn't mean he's nice."

CL blinked and lifted an eyebrow. "What has he done that isn't so nice?"

"Well…uhh."

Kwon Jiyong hadn't really done anything other than catch her in a lie and offer her a large sum of money that she desperately needed to do something she really didn't want to do. But her back was against the wall and he was giving her a way out. So what was it about Jiyong that was making her angry?

Deciding that she was going to act out of her own good judgment and fear, that was what make her upset. None of those feeling had anything to do with anything Jiyong had done. At least the man seemed to want a baby for all the good reasons. All the people she'd talked to seemed convinced that Kwon would make a good father. And she couldn't expect him t