Chewy struggled to regain her breath after the traumatizing experience. She couldn’t make sense of what was real or not after the drastic change of events that she just experienced. Regardless, she found herself lying on an unfamiliar bed accompanied by Jun and an unknown older woman.

“Calm down miss, you’re still not well after nearly drowning” the woman said. She was dressed in a white lab gown and had a stethoscope wrapped around her neck which gave Chewy the impression that she was a doctor. Her breathing calmed after a few seconds although she found it difficult to respond to the questions that were given to her, even the ones that came from Jun.

“It is normal for a patient to not be able to speak for a while after experiencing trauma. Though it appears that her trauma stems not from her drowning, but from a nightmare” the doctor explained. Jun wasn’t surprised to hear this as he had to watch Chewy struggle and mutter words in her sleep. What he was curious about is she saw in her dream that traumatized her so much, hoping that it could help him know more about her past.

“How long do you think she’ll be like this doc?” Jun asked.

“Not too long. All she needs is some rest and food” the woman said as she monitored Chewy’s breathing with her stethoscope.

After hearing what the doctor said, Jun decided it would be best to buy the young woman food as she didn’t have dinner the entire night. He got up from his seat and patted Chewy’s hair.

“I’ll just get some food. Rest up okay?”

Jun made his way through the hallways of his workplace, not expecting that he would be back so soon. The hospital had been unusually packed that night when it would normally quieter at that time of the day. There were more nurses going about the hallways, more chatter filled the air as staff members ordered each other about.

It was when Jun has to pass by a hallway adjacent to the one where the entrance doors where located that all the commotion started to make sense. The young man heard the blaring sound of an ambulance siren ringing from the outside world, signaling that a patient was being brought in. He decided to witness the event itself out of curiosity.

Jun watched as a group of nurses rolled a stretcher through the main hallway, he found it peculiar that the patient did not have any relatives accompanying him for he did not see anyone but the nurses surround the elderly man.

As the group moved closer to his spot, Jun was able to get a glimpse of the man on the stretcher.

And he was well familiar with the phrase ‘curiosity killed the cat’. For the patient was none other than Mr. Yoo

The elderly man lied unconscious on the stretcher, decked out in a grey shirt and a pair of white pajamas. There were no visible signs of injury on the man’s body, but his skin was very pale hinting that he might have starved or ingested something deadly.

Jun couldn’t quite digest what he was witnessing in front of his very eyes. It was like witnessing a ghost from his past, though the young nurse wasn’t certain if this was a good or a bad thing. On one hand, it was overwhelming to witness the elderly man after all these years, and in critical condition after all. But at the same time, Mr. Yoo served as his only connection to his childhood as his time with the man was the only thing that his amnesia did not wipe out.

Uncertain of what to do, Jun decided to follow the group of nurses through the hallways in hopes of finding out which room they would place the poor man in.

As the group arrived at the emergency room, the nurses pulled Mr. Yoo through a layer of green curtains. However, Jun was halted by one of the male nurses.

“My apologies sir, no visitors allowed beyond this point.” The nurse said as he held his hands in front of the man.

“Excuse me? I work here” Jun said as he furrowed his eyebrows, the overwhelming stress causing his temper to rise at a faster rate than normal.

“Why aren’t you in uniform? Is it past your shift?” the shorter of the two sassed as he stood between the gap in the curtains.

“I personally know the patient, let me through” Jun let his temper get the better of him and grabbed onto one of the guy’s shoulder. He attempted to shove the nurse out of the way but the man held his ground. The commotion began to get violent as it spurred on, gaining the attention of the other patients and staff members around the room.

“What’s going on here?” a male voice suddenly spoke up. The two struggling nurses stopped their actions as they were alarmed at the sound.

“Mr. Lee, what is the meaning of this? Why aren’t you in uniform?” A male doctor sternly spoke as he approached the two men. Even though Jun’s blood boiled, he knew that there was nothing he could do to win at that moment.

“I’ll handle this. Watch your actions before I report them to the management” The doctor scowled as he walked beyond the sheets and closed them behind him.

Jun took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his disheveled hair, he wasn’t sure how the elderly man that he cared for looked as pale as a ghost or how he was even found when no one seemed to have brought him in.

But perhaps that night wasn’t the best time to find out.

Chewy was all alone in her room by the time Jun had returned. He, fortunately, did not forget to buy lunch after his untimely incident. The young man sat down on the chair beside the bed as he unpacked the contents of his brown paper bag.

Even though Chewy didn’t have the energy to eat, her stomach responded to the aroma that came from the cafeteria-made chicken curry as we watched Jun take a spoonful of before hovering the meat by her lips.

“Say ahh” he smirked as he mimicked a father by wiggling the spoon. Chewy blushed at his gesture and parted her lips just a bit to allow the food to enter.

“You have to finish all of this, you don’t know what I went through to get it” Jun tried his best to come off as a joker, when in reality the experience shook him to the core.

Jun tirelessly fed Chewy despite his physical exhaustion from the brawl he just endured. He ensured that the young woman would reach her fill, even buying an extra order in case she wasn’t satisfied. Unfortunately, Chewy refused to finish her meal as she was too exhausted to do so.

“You were calling out my name in your sleep” Jun began as he rested his arms on the edge of Chewy’s bed. This wasn’t the first time that he had watched her suffer a nightmare, but he found it peculiar that this one, in particular, involved him. Jun recalled the instances that he had dreams about her as well and the fact that she was experiencing the same thing fueled his belief that perhaps the girl was the key to unravelling the mysteries in his life.

“I know it might not be the right time but, can you tell me what you saw?” he asked. Chewy simply looked away and took deep, stuttering breaths. Jun took this as the signal to give the girl some space and time to recover.

“I-I…” Chewy began to speak. Jun was alarmed by this as he wasn’t expecting an answer.

“I saw… a boat”

And it hit the young man like a tidal wave.

He felt like his ears were playing tricks on him or that he might have been stuck in another dream. But he knew it was all to real when he grabbed Chewy’s hand and felt the warmness circulating from the appendage.

“What else did you see?” Jun impatiently asked, his voice nearly breaking from the tension coursing through his veins. He pondered if it was the same boat that he had been digging up, the same one that has been haunting him for weeks.

Jun held Chewy’s hands tighter as he mentally begged her to tell him the contents of her dream. Unfortunately, forcing herself to recall the dream only gave Chewy a migraine in the process.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to answer that right now” Jun said as he helped Chewy drink from a water bottle.

“Why didn’t you tell this to the doctor a while ago, she could’ve helped you” he asked.

“I don’t know it’s just… I feel safe with you” Chewy said as she looked at Jun with her weary eyes. It was that moment that Jun felt his heart beating twice as fast as normal. The moment he realized that he had done something right. That, for once in that confusing phase of his life, everything he had was worth it.

He saw it in her eyes, the first time he had seen Chewy’s eyes engulfed in warmness and trust instead of fear and uncertainty.

He hoped to find some certainty in the young woman in front of him.

“I’m scared Jun, I feel like bad people are coming for us” Chewy’s voice broke, but somehow Jun could sense a hint of neediness in it.

And so, Jun took a step to be braver as he pulled the slim girl into an embrace

“Don’t worry, as long as I’m breathing, I won’t let anyone ever heart you” Jun said as he ran his fingers through the young woman’s hair.

Chewy made a leap in her book as she hugged the nurse back.

Somewhere in the deeper parts of the hospital, Wendy was cramped up in her office. She sighs as she closes her laptop before getting up from her office chair.

The woman walks towards her office door, taking a look at the small window situated in the middle of the frame before pulling on a wire to send down shutters that cover the glass.

She reaches for her pocket for an iPhone X that she uses to dial a number, a scowl forming on her face as she waits for the other line to be picked up.

“What is it?” the deep voice of a middle-aged man greets her. The man was clearly impatient, contrasting the RnB music that could be heard in the background.

“She’s alive” Wendy says.

“Who?”

“You know who I’m talking about” the irritation on the woman’s voice began to break out.

“Where did you see her?”

“In Jun’s house”

The older man cursed, the sound of breaking glass following suit.

“But I don’t think he remembers yet” Wendy continues before the man could respond.

“How are you certain?”

“He doesn’t remember me yet” the woman gritted her teeth at the thought.

“I don’t you suppose you ought to get her yourself” she continued.

“Don’t be stupid”

“I need you to find a way into his house. If he doesn’t remember you then you will have a better chance at gaining his trust”

“I’ve been trying but his condition seems to be stubborn”

“May I remind you that I put you where you are and I can easily take that away from you. Do as I say, after all, we both want something from this”

Wendy sighed at the older man’s stubbornness, but she couldn’t deny that he was right

“Understood, Mr. Lee”

I don't know why it took me this long to make the plot flow properly, but yeah I feel like I've dragged this story too long and I'm just gonna let everything finally fall into place

I understand if a lot of ya'll lost interest in this story since I'm pretty much always absent for a year haha.

But I can assure ya'll that it'll end pretty soon now.

Thank you for those who supported me this far