AN: Continued from chapter Sixty-Four

The doctor was concerned about her patient who was starting to skip meals and slept longer than usual. It wasn’t like Taeyeon to not smile when she walked by and it was unusual to see her so lifeless since waking her from the coma. Something changed and it wasn’t for the better.

“Hey Taeyeon are you listening?”

The girl stopped from looking out the window to face her doctor, “Huh?”

“I asked how rehab is going? Dr. Kwon said you skipped all your appointments this week.”

“I was feeling tired those days.”

Dr. Jung let out a long heavy sigh as she watched Taeyeon return her attention to the window. Deciding they needed to talk, Dr. Jung pulled up a seat next to the bed, “Taeyeon how are you doing these days? Not physically…”

Taeyeon saw the doctor’s face turned into concern, “I am fine.”

“You don’t look fine. Can you tell me what is going on in there?”

Taeyeon paused for a moment, “I don’t know.”

“Taeyeon you are showing signs of depression. I want to prescribe you some medication for that but what is it that is making you feel this way? You can talk to me about anything.”

Of course Taeyeon knew her doctor was the best person to talk to but how to describe this overwhelming feeling of emptiness? It was like something or someone was by her side until recently that made her feel comfortable and whole. Now she felt lost without it.

“Does this have to do with Krystal?”

“I am not sure.”

“You woke up thinking you saw Krystal…do you want to start with what happened at that point?”

“I did see her. She was very clearly standing near you…”

Dr. Jung wrote a few notes down in her pad, “are you missing her?”

Shrugging her shoulder up, Taeyeon didn’t know, “I know where she is…I know what is wrong with her…I just…don’t know…”

“What don’t you know?”

“Is she still with us?”

Dr. Jung looked into those big round eyes wondering why her heart ached so much at that question. She was hesitant to continue as she thought about how to approach the question, "I am not sure either. Without the machines, she can't survive on her own anymore...yet she is warm to the touch and I can still see her and feel her."

Taeyeon stopped looking at the doctor who reflected her own sadness, "It doesn't seem like its enough. If she isn't talking or responding to us...are we be selfish to keep her body like that? It has been years and she hasn't shown any signs of waking up. I feel like she left us a long time ago..."

Swallowing the lump in , Dr. Jung knew Taeyeon was all too right, "Do you think it is time we let her go?"

"Didn't you say before that you were keeping her alive for me?"

"Yea..." Dr. Jung whispered.

"Why did you say that? Why wouldn't you want to keep her here too?"

"Because I already knew...I already knew she would never wake up." Dr. Jung sighed as she looked up to the ceiling draining the burden from her heart.

Taeyeon let out a bitter laugh, "here I was holding onto some hope."

"Taeyeon...I wasn't hiding this from you. I told you what being brain-dead meant. I was ready to let her go 2 years ago but then I saw you in that hospital bed wondering if you were to wake up. Your brain was active and all the signs told me that you were still fighting. I couldn't bury Krystal knowing you hadn't said your goodbyes."

Taeyeon looked back into Dr. Jung's eyes, "I am ready to say goodbye."